by Audrey Church | May 16, 2020 | Our News
This article was written by Maurice Hamel. His perspective resonated with me, so I asked him if we could share it with our friends at House of Good Hope. I pray this article also speaks to you.
What Does God Expect of Us
During the Coronavirus Shut-down?
In His great mercy, God has allowed this Coronavirus pandemic to get the attention of people throughout the world in a way that we have never experienced. Literally billions have been told to stay indoors in hope of stopping the spread of the disease. Much of the Church seems preoccupied with riding this out, with the expectation that it won’t last forever, and things will soon be back to normal. Few seem to grasp that God is doing something big here, that this is triggering a revival in every nation that has been forced to shut-down. Even fewer seem to grasp that there is work to be done in the hearts of the saints to enable that awakening to reach its full potential.
Instead, there seems to be the perspective that this will bring revival and that God is going to judge the world for its wickedness. But that is not how God’s promise to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 reads:
“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Consider how God used Jonah to bring revival among the Gentiles in Nineveh. Jonah wanted nothing to do with showing mercy to the enemies of Israel and needed to be disciplined by God, until he got with the program. Being in the belly of the whale was not pleasant experience, but he needed to be persuaded by God to not be arrogant and uncaring for the lost, even the lost who were wicked sinners and enemies to God’s people. Jonah needed to be brought to the place where he humbled himself. Even after preaching the message he was sent to give, he did not intercede on their behalf, but instead chose to be a spectator sitting in the shade waiting for evil to be punished.
There is some Jonah in each of us. Have you considered that we might be in the belly of the whale right now, and it is us whose attention God is trying to get? Yes, He wants to bring a revival, a Great Awakening, but each of us who decide we would rather be spectators, rather than seeing what God is doing and getting to work, will miss out on the eternal reward that He had planned for each of the workers in His field.
When Daniel realized that the 70 years of captivity prophesied in Jeremiah 25:11-12 had been fulfilled, he did not merely start watching the news to see what God was going to do in fulfilment of His promise. He took it upon himself to actively take the matter to God to ask that the promise be fulfilled.
You see, while God is going to accomplish what He has pre-ordained, it is left to each of us to decide whether we are going to participate in His accomplishing that plan. We are his ambassadors on earth, His people, and to some extent that we cannot only partially grasp, He does things through us as His ambassadors here. That is what prayer is about. He wants us to ask. He wants us to participate.
Our ultimate protection is not the vaccination that will be available next year. God is doing something much bigger here; something with eternal value. The Coronavirus pandemic may not be the judgment of God on sinners. It may be the warning to the lost to repent, because something worse is yet to come.
God has a plan and it is good. He is merciful, wanting none to perish. In His mercy, there a revival among the lost throughout the world is occurring. In His good pleasure, we are being allowed to participate.
God has work for us, for as long as He leaves us here. He has a role for us to play in enabling this revival. Yes, it will happen regardless of what we do, but if we participate as a laborer in His field, we will be given a share of the harvest.
There will be different levels of reward given to each of us depending on whether we build with wood, hay and stubble or with gold, silver and precious stones. In heaven there are mansions being prepared for us. Do you want a mansion with a view or a mansion in a trailer park?
Don’t miss out on this opportunity. Rather than being a Jonah sitting in the shade waiting to see what God is going to do, be a Daniel, humble yourself, confess your failings, and pray for His mercy. Ask God to fulfill His promises. Participate.
The portion of 2 Chronicles 7 promise that the story of Jonah shows us is that we must humble ourselves and that we turn from our wicked ways, even if we don’t seem that wicked in comparison to the things that the world is doing. How can we do this? Hebrew 13:20-21 explains it this way: “May the God of peace … make you complete … to do His will, working in you what is good and pleasing in His sight.” Instead of focusing on God’s laws, seek to live the heart and spirit of God. Then you will accomplish the works of God.
Listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to your heart and make the changes that are necessary. God will accomplish the great things He is trying to achieve through this pandemic. He needs our participation. Going out to share the gospel with other is good, but first do what He has asked you to do, humble yourself, seek His face the turn from your wicked ways.
By Maurice Hamel 5/13/20
by Audrey Church | Dec 23, 2019 | Blog, Our News
TABERNACLE PRAYER: GOLDEN LAMPSTAND
7 Spirits of God – Isaiah 11:2
“And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING, the Spirit of COUNSEL and MIGHT, the Spirit of KNOWLEDGE and the FEAR OF THE LORD……
Spirit of WISDOM…..
2 CHRONICLES 1:10
Now give me WISDOM and KNOWLEDGE that I may go out and come in before this people……
Proverbs 8:1-7
Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud; “To you, oh men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man. Oh simple ones, learn sense. Hear, for I will speak noble things and from my lips will come what is right, for my mouth will utter truth, wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
EPHESIANS 1:17
….that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory may give you the Spirit of Wisdom…..
As I was reading 2 Chronicles – Solomon’s request to the Lord when he was asked for anything he wished – that request struck me! Of course Solomon’s request pleased the Lord so much. But is there more? The Lord has been leading me for years to ask Him for the Spirit of Wisdom. I once went on a sabbatical several years ago. I spent an entire month doing nothing but sit at the Lord’ feet. All I heard was this: “ASK ME FOR WISDOM”. Through Ephesians 1:17 I saw that wisdom is a Spirit, not part of me or my intellect. For years I used to believe that wisdom was a cultivated discipline of the mind, of our own intelligence. Or at the very least, wisdom was obtained through many years of living. When I prayed about this for a month, the Lord revealed to me that WISDOM is not part of me, never was and never will. WISDOM is spirit, a manifestation of Holy Spirit. We can only get true wisdom through intimate relationship with Holy Spirit. Wisdom is never generated from us! As least not the kind of wisdom I want.
I believe the Lord asks from all of us, “What do you want? What do you truly want?” This is our opportunity, just as it was with Solomon. The Lord sets us up so we can run to Him and ask Him – our Heavenly Daddy – what do we want? Our Heavenly Daddy sets up so we can run to Him and ask for Wisdom.
Lord, You are my Heavenly Daddy. You are my “Papa” And as my “Daddy”, my “Papa”, You ask me what I want? What do I truly want? Lord, I ask You for the Spirit of Wisdom. I need to know which road to take. How can I use what I have to fulfill all that what You placed inside me and cause my heart to burn. That’s what I long and yearn for. Dear Lord, I cannot do anything without Wisdom and Revelation. Give me Your Spirit of Wisdom and Revelations so I can do what You call me to do.
When Paul wrote those words in Ephesians 1:17, was he remembering back to King Solomon’s prayer in 2 Chronicles when he had that encounter with God so many years before? When Paul wrote that prayer to the Ephesians, did he know that this was the heart of God; to ASK GOD for wisdom and revelation? Somehow I believe he did.
Lord, give me the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation. I so want to understand You more! I want to know You more. I want to think only Your thoughts. No more misguided ideas!
WISDOM: Chokmah (Hebrew) This feminine noun originates from Chakam. The word means wisdom, intelligence, insight, judgment. It is always used in the positive sense. Chokmah is used to describe an entire range of human experience: embroidery, metal working, military strategy, diplomacy, shrewdness, prudence, and practical spirituality. Therefore, all wisdom has its source in GOD. HE is all-powerful and all-knowing. Chokmah is personified only to a point. It does not have a separate existence. The figure of wisdom was never regarded as independent of God. It is only one of His attributes. The noun is not a woman, only feminine in gender. True wisdom leads to reverence for the Lord. Therefore skeptics will never, ever find this kind of wisdom and they will never know the true meaning of life.
by Audrey Church | Aug 4, 2019 | Blog, Our News
The Lord, the Beautiful One is sending us to Israel! We are not going to Israel even though we’ve all of us very much want to go. No!! The Lord is SENDING us to Israel!
- Such a difference.
- Such a vast difference.
- Such a vastly great difference!!
I totally believe in and I expect life-changing moments – God encounters! We could go to Israel and it would be a wonderful trip. I love to travel and any trip is a beautiful learning experience that would broaden my horizons. I love learning about different cultures, different lifestyles, why people think and believe the way they do. I love the incredible variety of scenery, high mountain peaks, oceans of water and oceans of plains and fields. I love exploring ancient societies, especially those I read about, and am curious about. I may not know much about it, but I love to see and experience the atmosphere for myself. I can pick up sensations, spirits. I smell the atmosphere and I pick up stuff. I become aware and sensitive to all that goes around me, possibly what went on before.
But this trip to Israel is different. This trip will be vastly different! I expect it to be different. Especially vastly different from the last time I went. Twelve years ago I went with my sister’s church group. That was so beautiful! It was especially dear to me because I was able to experience Israel for the first time with my mother and my sister. This was a time of bonding and a time of healing with my family.
We are going as ministers not as tourists. The Lord has a plan for me, the Lord has a plan for all 4 of us.
The anticipation of our going to Israel is as delicious as the actual trip! The preparations and the plans are so delightful! I feel as though I’m “ascending the mountain toward Jerusalem” as the children of Israel did in ancient times, full of anticipation of entering the gates of the temple! Psalm 84 is so coming alive in me! The very thought of our entering through the gates gives me such a wonderful anticipation! As what Hali Berry says, this thought makes me want to wag myself tail! I am excited! Like a high-energy puppy, I am wiggling all over, jumping up and down with joy and excitement at the thought of going on this trip to Israel!
God is sending me to Israel! God is sending US to Israel! We are not going because we want to. We are going because God is sending us! Something very incredible is going to happen to us while we’re there. Had we ever thought about the preparations we’ve already made by our going through Tabernacle prayer this past year? This may be part of the preparation process for our Israel missions trip. Our using the Tabernacle prayer format sensitizes us to the process of praise, repentance, cleansing, infilling of Holy Spirit, assimilating the Word, all of which leads to pure worship and intercession. The Tabernacle prayer is the Lord’s design: our going to HIS “house” instead of our asking God to come to “our” house.
Now we’re going to His land!
I feel like tiny Frodo in The Lord of the rings, with the ring in his pocket. Frodo risked everything as he, a tiny Hobbit was entrusted to do a mighty huge thing with that ring. He is freeing up, releasing the very atmosphere of a huge demonic darkness as he takes this journey with the ring. Others around him have no clue, no understanding at all about the vastness of his assignment. It was huge! The whole world depended on a small weak little Frodo to complete his assignment or it will fall into further darkness and chaos. Yet the whole world had no clue about Frodo or what he was planning to do.
We four women are traveling from Hartford CT with an assignment to pray for prayer houses, Messianic congregations, churches and Ministries in Israel. We are all middle-aged, insignificant, unmarried women. We all are weak in our own individual ways yet we are assigned to go to Israel now, through of all places, Moscow, Russia! Even with the way we’re going: flying on a Russian airline to Tel Aviv via Moscow – there is a sense of destiny. The whole world might be ignorant of our assignment, but the Lord knows. HE is sending us. He will keep us and he will protect us. Our names will not be on the 6 o’clock news, but we are famous in God’s eyes.
I have a sense there will be a shift in the very atmosphere of the world through our missions trip. We will do things no one may know or even care about, but what we will do will shift the very atmosphere.
We have no clue absolutely no clue at the vast importance of this assignment! We are going for one reason, but there is more that we will make ourselves available to. Something vastly more. Who knows? We may meet that one person, sow into his or her life, and that person would have powerful influence over what’s going to happen in the next generation.
The Lord has magnificent plans for us, we have no idea how magnificent they are! Possibly we may have no idea until we get to heaven.
by Audrey Church | Aug 3, 2019 | Blog, Our News
Today is the first day of the month of Av. What a better day to start a blog on our Israel missions trip! Someone at my office, a young girl suggested that I write a blog describing our trip. That way we can keep people posted and what we’re doing while in Israel. I will do this as often as I can.
Our missions team has been reading books and watching videos about Israel, especially the history of this marvelous country. There are four of us going on this mission trip:
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Carol Bracken
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Deb McCann
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Margarita Cuevas
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Audrey McIntyre
We are all going on this trip by faith. We’ve all done fundraising, worked extra hours on our jobs, sold things; anything we can do to raise money for this missions trip. I am amazed at the faith and the tenacity of my friends! None of us are young girls, all are in our 50s & 60s. Yet even in our middle years, we’re all up for an adventure, even with little to no money! Two of us are on SSI, and one is between jobs.
And God has been so good to all of us! Somehow the money has been coming in, sometimes slowly sometimes quickly, but all miraculously! if you are reading this blog, please keep two of us in prayer? Margarita and Deb are still working towards getting money for the trip. They have most of the money in, but still need another $1,000. Please pray the Lord will bless all four of us with the finances to go?
Right now I’ve been praying through some of my own fears and concerns. We’ve been doing the Tabernacle format of prayer at the house of prayer, and one thing that the Lord has taught us is when we’re at the Altar of Sacrifice, we must throw everything into the fire. All all of our worries or concerns, our fears, our hopes, our desires, as well as our sins. All must go through the fire. This is a place of unloading and unburdening; a place of letting go. So, as I was unburdening myself, I found I have a lot of concerns about this missions trip, possibly even a little fear. One of my biggest concerns is the airline that we will be flying on to get to Israel. We are going on a Russian airline, Aeroflot, flying a connector flight to Tel Aviv by way of Moscow. I’ve read the reviews online about this airline company, and they have not been very good! The airline has a reputation of losing luggage, not making connections on time, not to mention the two Aeroflot airplanes crashing within the last year! I’ve been doing a whole lot of praying in this area. But I trust in the Lord. I believe in a good and a great God! I believe that if the Lord wants us to fly to Israel by way of Moscow, there must be some sort of reason. God in his sovereignty, is leading us into a divine setup. Our missions team have been praying together about this trip, and we all have a sense of destiny. I totally believe that our lives are going to be changed dramatically because of thi missions trip. We’re all excited about our going, even though 1-2 of us may be experiencing a little apprehension.
As you read these blogs, please keep us in prayer? Pray the Lord will remove fear, apprehension, etc. and will provide every last penny so all four of us can make this trip.
One thing we want to do is have enough money to bless some of the ministries we’ll be visiting. If you want to partner with us in this, you can send a check to:
House of Good Hope
P.O. Box 4042
Hartford CT 06147-4042
Or you can donate through our website: www.hartfordprayer.com.
Some of us have fundraising pages through GoFundMe (Margarite Cuevas) and GiveSendGo (Carol Bracken, Audrey McIntyre). You can donate to each of us personally as well.
Many thanks and blessings to you,
Audrey Church McIntyre