In our School of Prayer, this past Monday night, we started a new series called “Studies in the Bride of Christ from Genesis thru Revelation”. It stimulated quite a bit of lively conversation in light of the Paris attacks. We discussed Ephesians 5:27 – “….so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish”. Also, Revelation 21:2 – “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a Bride adorned for her husband….”
We discussed ways on how the Lord prepares His Bride. How does the Lord prepare His Bride? We all acknowledged the way it looks now — we the Church, Jesus’ Bride are certainly not ready yet! We all still see lots of spots and wrinkles in ourselves individually as well as corporately. We talked about how in past history God allows persecution, even martyrdom to purify His church. We discussed how Christianity grew and thrived in the midst of terrible persecution, even in recent years in places like Communist China as well as in other nations.
We asked if could it be possible that the Lord might be using these recent acts of terrorism as part of His plan to purify His church? One of the things we discussed was Jonathan Cahn’s prophetic word through Isaiah 9:10-12, after 9/11 happened, Some of the leaders of our nation even quoted parts of these verses – they kept saying “We will….”, using portions of Isaiah 9:10-12 as their reference. They didn’t take into consideration this statement, this attitude was something God hated. It is a sign of pride and self-sufficiency. In essence they were saying, “We can take care of ourselves, we can fight back, we don’t need God. We will rebuild. They may have attacked us, but we will counter attack and we will crush our enemy. We will not allow this to get us down. We will make ourselves bigger, better and stronger”. The same attitude was even displayed in France this past week.
Did anyone not consider what Isaiah 9:13 says: “The people did not turn to Him who struck them, nor inquire of the Lord of Hosts”… viagra france acheter.
It’s all about the “we”. What about God in and through all of this? Have we considered that maybe God may be allowing this because He wants to get our attention? As we discussed this, the word “repent” kept coming up in our conversation. Can it be possible the Lord is calling His church to repentance? Not to plot and plan and scheme on how to fight back, or find ways to defend ourselves? As we talked, I kept remembering all what I read in the prophetic books of the Bible and got chills. The Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever. Malachi 3:6 keeps running through my mind: “For I the Lord do not change….” He is the God of the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. If the Lord can allow pagans from outside nations to buffet His chosen, His beloved people who He brought out of Egypt, what right do we think we have some sort of special graces or dispensation to not suffer calamity today?
How many years have our people have been immersed in idolatry and immorality? How long do we expect God to close His eyes to all of that? Why do we expect to be treated differently than His own beloved people? Why do we expect the Lord to overlook our nation and western civilization’s blatant sin? Families are crumbling, now being “redefined”, we’re murdering our children, allowing sex to be exploited and selfishly spending our abundant resources while approximately 1/3 of the world is malnourished or starving. How long will this be allowed until the judgment comes?
I remember John Paul Jackson’s prophetic words from 2008, about the “Perfect Storm”. Is a “divine set-up” soon coming? Are we ready for this?
The God I read about in the Bible is a gracious and kind God, I believe that with all my heart. The Lord has a passion and a love to reach the lost, the broken, the hurting. But on the other hand, I read about God being a Righteous Judge. He hates man’s pride with such vengeance. God hates the self will, the “I will”. I remember reading in the Gospels Jesus’ harshest words were not toward those caught up in blatant sin or paganism, but toward the religious leaders. Didn’t He call them “white-washed tombs, hypocrites”? What would Jesus call us today? I’m a religious leader myself and I cringe at that thought.
We need to remember that Jesus never preached against Rome. Jesus never declared that Israel should defeat the Roman Empire – though everyone was waiting for Him to lead them into shaking off the tyranny of Rome. Jesus never sought to raise up an army to overthrow the Roman dictatorship. Today we need to recognize that, we need to remember that today in light of what we’re facing now.
I keep hearing: “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near”. Instead of declaring the “I will’s”, maybe we should think about our doing a season of repentance and prayer, even throw in a little fasting in our churches…..before we decide to go out and crush our enemies?
What is God saying about all of this? I have a sense that more is coming, much more. Just as in Joshua 7:2-5 where the people may have thought they’re facing a little enemy they can easily crush themselves without God’s help, but ended up getting defeated, are we facing something much more than what the eye can see?
Our School of Prayer meets at 7:00 every Monday night at 107 Forster Street, Hartford. All are welcome to join us!
This Monday, we will finish our last class on “Communion With God” in our weekly School of Prayer at House of Good Hope. I personally started this class on my own last winter, long before it was introduced in the School of Prayer. I started it originally with the goal of obtaining college credit. But the class was so good, I then introduced it on Monday nights. Many told me they’ve learned so much, said how great it was! Mark Virkler excellently teaches us how to hear God’s voice, and he taught us many tools on how to do this. Everyone in our class now knows the 4 basic keys:
1. Quiet yourself down
2. Look for vision
3. Tune in to spontaneity
4. Write what you hear God say to you.
All this looks very simple, but it’s a discipline I found we still need to learn. I was doing some of it, but not all 4 steps. Following all 4 has stretched and challenged me. And this comes from a seasoned journalist! I’ve been journaling almost all of my life: since I was 13 years old, after I read the book – Diary of Anne Frank. Her story so moved me, I decided to write down my thoughts and keep a record of my life. I’ve kept this up ever since, now have a bookcase full of my journals.
Everyone who comes to this house of prayer knows how strongly I emphasize the importance of keeping a journal, I regularly hand out notebooks to encourage those to start journaling. But one thing I’ve not done is to record all that what I hear God saying to me, as what Mark Virkler says: “the art of 2-way journaling“. I found I almost never allow Holy Spirit start the conversation with me when I pray. I rarely ask the Lord what HE wants to discuss with me, all of it is only about what’s on my heart, not God’s. As with most of us, I start my prayers with what I want to pray about. For almost all my life I’ve only written what “I” thought, or what “I” am going through. I never bothered to record any of the dialogue I have with the Lord; what He says to me (unless it’s a “biggie”!), and I’m an intercessor! If we believe God is real and He is keenly interested in all that we do, why can’t we go to Him, ask questions and write down what we hear the Lord say to us? We all believe God speaks directly to our hearts, why can’t we just write down what we hear? For me, this way of 2-way journaling has been life-changing! It has been a discipline for me to learn to quiet myself down and wait to hear what the Lord wants to say to me. I ask the Lord in prayer, and I do record my prayers, but I’ve been negligent in waiting for the Lord to answer me – and especially writing the answer down when I get it! I’m also very good at writing down my thoughts, my ideas, my strategies, etc. Not God’s.
As I’ve been practicing this “2-way” thing, one important topic the Lord has been discussing with me is my “trust” factor. I keep hearing the Lord ask me: “Do you trust Me?” Yes, I believe every word in the Bible is real. Yes, I do believe the Lord takes care of His children, provides for their needs as they relied on Him. Yes, I do believe that the miraculous is here today, I’ve even witnessed some powerful miracles in my life and in those who I’ve prayed for. Yes, I believe in prophecy and I do believe the Lord uses me at times. I believe in all of that. But do I truly believe in all of that…..for me? All the time? Do I also trust the Lord to meet MY needs? Especially my every need? Do I truly know how to depend on God for my everything? I remember one time wanting to discuss with the Lord something that was in my mind, but suddenly I found myself redirected to start thinking about my job. The Lord asked me – “Do you trust Me?” The Lord was asking me: did I trust God that HE is my Provider, not my own 2 hands or my paycheck? Until this was brought up, the thought never occurred to me. I’ve done a lot risky things in my life, but I always trusted in my weekly paycheck to provide for me. Not in God.
I suddenly saw a picture in the movie Aladdin – he had his hand out to Princess Jasmine and asked, “Do you trust me?” I heard the Lord ask me: “Do you truly trust Me to provide for your daily bread? Do you truly trust Me to provide for your every need?” Princess Jasmine knew if she took Aladdin’s hand, she would be going on a risky wild and crazy ride, there was no going back. But Jasmine desperately wanted to go with Aladdin. So, as risky as it was, she took his hand. She took the risk, went on that wild and crazy ride and loved every minute of it!
So here I am, in my prayer room with that image embedded in my mind. Like in the Aladdin movie, I saw the Lord extend His hand and ask me: “Do you trust Me?” Like Princess Jasmine, my heart beats quickly when I hear the question, yet I’m afraid. I hear the Lord asking me to take risks, even greater risks than I’ve had in the past. Am I willing? Do I trust Him? Do I trust God with my everything?
Another picture the Lord gave me was of Bilbo Baggins from the Hobbit, one of my favorite stories. I so relate to Bilbo! Part of me wants to remain safe and comfortable in my little “hobbit-hole”, yet part of me craves adventure: wild, life-threatening crazy adventure! Bilbo finally made the decision to go on the adventure that was put before him. Here he was, running down the lane, coat tails flying, off to meet his adventure. I keep hearing the other hobbits yelling at Bilbo, asking what’s he’s in such a hurry for? Bilbo’s response was: “I’m going on an ADVENTURE!!” Am I willing to risk it all? Am I willing to go on an “adventure” with Jesus? Do I trust the Lord with my……everything? Can I TRULY trust God?
I hear the Lord ask me if I can trust Him, not only for His ability to provide for my daily needs, but for me to partner with Him; in a sense, “go on adventures” with Jesus. We all have dreams. Some of us even may sense the Lord leading us in some sort of direction. Like me, many of us talk about it, but we’re a bit too afraid to launch out in what we hear the Lord leading us to. We think we need more training, more maturity, more money, more of something we think we don’t yet have. And…..we don’t have enough trust in God to truly believe He will provide all of that for us! We spend all of our lives preparing for our adventures, yet too afraid to step out and have them. For some of us, suddenly we find it’s too late. We missed it.
Are you willing to go on adventures with Jesus? Has the Lord challenged you in this area of trust? Are you willing to go so far as even lay down your time, your career, even your resources to go on these adventures with the Lord? Are you willing to be stretched?
Am I willing?Are you willing?
“DO YOU TRUST ME?”
Starting Monday, September 28, 2015 our Monday night School of Prayer will be studying and discussing the “trust” factor. The class will be called – “Do you trust Me?” We will explore what it means to go on these “adventures in God”, allow ourselves to be stretched further, even beyond than what we’re used to. This will be a class with no tests, with no right or wrong answers. It will more of a discussion forum, mixed in with lots of prayer. Together we will discuss and learn from each other what it means to truly trust in God for our everything. Everyone is welcome, no charge for the class. Offerings will be taken each weekto cover costs. Respond to this message if you would like to join us?
Come, let’s go on some wild and crazy adventures with God!
HARP & BOWL WORSHIP AND INTERCESSION Sunday, May 31
4-6 PM
107 Forster Street, #2
Hartford CT 06106
Twice a month we get together to pray, every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month. We use the “harp & bowl” format of worship and intercession as described in Revelation 5:8-10 and modeled at the International House of Prayer, Kansas City MO www.ihopkc.org . The Harp and Bowl style of worship, which features musical prayer, derives its name from Revelation 5:8, which describes heavenly creatures which each “had a harp” and “were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” A common feature of harp and bowl worship is antiphonal singers, who use the Bible as a song book along with spontaneous instrumental accompaniment. Ephesians 5:19 instructs us to make music in our hearts to the Lord. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16 –17, we are told to be joyful always and to pray constantly. “Harp and Bowl” combines music and prayer, one empowering the other; worship makes prayer enjoyable and sustainable for longer periods. This allows us to connect with the Holy Spirit and joyfully flow in our prayers. God promised in Isaiah 56:7 to give His worshipers joy in His house of prayer. Many are discovering that through joyful prayer, they are being drawn deeper into the heart of God. In “Harp and Bowl”, the intercession is rooted in intimacy and encounter with God; we pray using Scriptures as the starting point and pattern for our prayers, and the musicians and singers function as intercessors just as much as the prayer leaders. The prayer leaders speak their prayers, the singers sing their prayers and the musicians play their prayers, all in worship to the LORD.
This Sunday will be our next harp & bowl night. All are welcome! **Zack & Becky Mitchell – worship and prayer leaders.
SCHOOL OF PRAYER: New class starting Monday, June 1
This is from one of our friends who is part of House of Good Hope, Linda Maynard. Lin is an excellent writer and has written in many blogs over the years. Be blessed as you read this:
TUESDAY scenario with two friends driving in a car
Kim…” Gosh look at the SKY! Lin” peering out the windshield
Lin…“Yeah”… kind of feebly
Kim…” Over there…LOOK OVER THERE!!!” “Don’t you see that?”
Lin…. quiet… not sure what to say.
She thinks “she is a LOT more excited than me….I see very dull coloring”
Kim…”Can you see the separations and the breaking of the colors?”
She continues, “I LOVE the sky, I have ALWAYS LOVED THE SKY!”…” I am ALWAYS LOOKING UP!”
Lin… thinking, “maybe if I tell her about the project I heard about the sky and how they did the experiment with people…They were supposed to pay attention to the sky and look up every day and note the reaction from other people on the street.
Kim chimes in again “I have NEVER seen anything SO BEAUTIFUL have you???”
Lin…Sinking down further in the seat and thinking…” I just don’t see what she sees and from what I can see … it doesn’t seem ALL that exciting”
They arrive at Kim’s home and they part, with Kim all aglow with the wonder of the Lord and of the sky and of nature.
As Lin drives home, she is struggling even to see the road…it is very blurry. She can’t quite figure out why it is SO bad.
“The road is dark and I think I’d better not drive in the dark anymore.”
WEDNESDAY on fb
Lin cannot believe what she is seeing… photo after photo… of magnificent beautiful and colorful skies that others, who live locally, have posted from Tuesday, just before
“Wow! How come I missed those?” thinks Lin.
UNTIL….
“DUH!!!”
…It dawns on her, that the skies she saw in the pictures on fb ,were of the VERY same sky, Kim saw the day before…EXCEPT Lin was unable to appreciate them at all…even with Kim’s excitement.
She WANTED to see…
…she TRIED to see…
…she STRUGGLED to see…but to no avail…
Kim had been practically jumping up and down.
Lin remembered why ….She had forgotten her GLASSES that day!
Her vision was compromised…and was not in any way crisp and clear.
What Lin saw was dull and muted, although the beauty that showed forth was right there.
The masterpiece of God’s artistry was not clear at all, to Lin
Lesson…” Without good vision…people perish”
And although some may think they have a clear picture…t is FAR below the brilliance and majesty of God’ Himself.
If people can’t see what God is doing,
they stumble all over themselves;
But when they attend to what He reveals,
they are most blessed. Proverbs 29:18 The Message
Penned by
Linda Kosinski Maynard
Something is beginning to flow here in Connecticut……..
“Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; there was water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east….” Ezekiel 47:1
This morning, as I read this passage from Ezekiel, the Lord reminded me again of a vision I had years ago:
I saw the Church, a small country church sitting on a small hill. It was so small that didn’t look like much, it looked small weak, insignificant. There was very dark all around the church, but the lights were on inside this church. In fact the lights were blazing so brightly the windows glowed a bright yellow-orange. The sound coming from this little church was the sound of deep, intense, slow and resonating worship. It was the sound of worship that came from the depths of hearts pouring out their passion, their lives and their hearts out to God. Oh the sweetness of the sound that came out of this building! The deep, slow, heart-wrenching worship! The melody wasn’t one of the pretty songs we hear in church, in fact some of the people were singing out of tune. But the sound was so sweet and so intense because the worship came from the depths of their beings. It was the type of worship that I knew pleased the heart of God. It was the type of worship that changed the atmosphere. The church was small, the people were few, but the worship came from those who were passionately in love with Jesus and were actively pouring out their hearts to Him. Everyone; every man, woman and child worshipped deeply together in oneness. The sound was intense and it was mesmerizing.
“Going on eastward, with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured in his hand….and then led me through the waters….it was knee deep. Again he measured….it was to his waist. Again he measured and it was a river I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that cannot be crossed.” Ezekiel 47:2-5
I walked toward this tiny little church with its lights blazing in the darkness and listening to the sweet intense worship flowing out of it. As I did, I felt the ground was very wet, it was soggy. I found I was walking through puddles of water. I looked and to my amazement, I saw little trickles of water flowing out of the very foundation of this little church! I then realized the water had something to do with the worship that was going on inside the church. The people’s worship caused the water to flow from the foundations of this tiny little church. I turned around and watched the water flowing from the church in trickles, it poured down the street, becoming a river. The river poured down into the towns & villages, bringing nourishment as it poured out.
“…..And wherever it goes, every living creature will live, and there will be a great many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh…..so that everything will live where the River goes. Fishermen will stand by the sea…..it will be a place of the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of many kinds….and on the banks, on both sides of the River there will grow all kinds of food….Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing…… Ezekiel 47: 7-12
Can you see this picture? Just as this River flowed out from the Temple in a trickle, so the Church, even this small sparsely populated church, as we deeply and intensely worship God together with all that we have and all that we are – a River starts to pour out from that worship! We may only see it as a small trickle flowing out from our small, insignificant buildings, but as we worship God deeply, the water gains momentum, becoming a River that no one can cross.
Many years ago, at a time when most of our state leaders actually believed in God, a “State Scripture” was chosen by them. Just as we have a state bird (robin), state flower (Mountain Laurel), state mammal (whale), etc., we also had a state Scripture. When I discovered this, I started praying through this Scripture as I prayed for Connecticut.
At one time Connecticut’s State Scripture was Revelation 22:1-2 “And he showed me a Pure River of Water of Life; clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the River was the Tree of Life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the Tree were for the healing of the nations”.
Can you see our state as that River of Life? Can you see Connecticut as the source of refreshing, provision and healing? I believe this is the prophetic destiny of our state. Connecticut has been called or nicknamed “The Provision State”. Flowing through Connecticut, flowing out of Connecticut the Lord is calling for a huge River that offers nourishment, refreshing, provision, healing and restoration to the people of many nations across the world. Can you see that? Connecticut had been the source of creativity and provision in many ways in the past, but only in the physical and soulish sense. The Lord is calling for the Connecticut Church to birth this River in the spiritual sense, through worship and prayer.
CT 7 NOW
In late 2012 & beginning 2013, the Connecticut Church held 7 monthly worship gatherings across the state in 7 months, fulfilling a directive word given by prophet Chuck Pierce June 9, 2012. He declared: “If you would worship together over the next seven months….you will gain access to the double keys that are above you in the heavenly realms.” Churches and ministries from a wide variety of backgrounds and denominations came together to worship God corporately in obedience to this word.
40 DAYS OF WORSHIP
Last fall the representatives of the Connecticut Church, over 130 churches and ministries came together once again across the state and worshipped God deeply for 40 consecutive days in over 50 different locations: from church worship gatherings with community churches gathering together, to worship at the firehouse in Sandy Hook where that awful tragedy took place the year before, to the steps of the State Capitol Building where leaders from across the state repented of the CT church not following the 10 Commandments.
To the world, all of this may have looked like small feeble efforts. Not a huge percentage of the state was even aware this was going on. There were some large worship gatherings, but on the whole and especially to the world, this was something that went unnoticed. We may not have even noticed it ourselves, but as we came together to worship God, a small trickle is beginning to flow. The Lord’s River is beginning to form, even though right now it is still yet a small trickle.
IMPACT CONNECTICUT ( impactconnecticut.com)
On March 28 & 29, another gathering is being planned (Impact Connecticut 2014 conference). This, I understand, is both a celebration of what God is doing in Connecticut and an equipping conference. This is what I hear the Lord saying: Let us take this opportunity to gather together at this gathering, and at all times we come together and spend that time worshipping God deeply and intensely. Let our focus not be on the organizational structure or works, but instead on bringing in the Presence of God through our deep intense worship and prayer.
I fully believe the worship and prayer is the birthing of the bringing forth the potential destiny of our state. Something is beginning to “brew” here, something is beginning to bubble up from the ground. But it does not start with our skills, or our works. It’s not about our own ability to organize programs or even offer training right now. This is not the River the Lord is now calling to pour out of Connecticut.
The River of God flows through worship and prayer.
Through our worship and our prayer, the small evangelical Connecticut church will issue forth that huge River of God. We all know the Connecticut evangelical church is small. Compared to other places, especially to the world, the Connecticut church looks small and insignificant, just like that little church in my vision. But as we look up and begin to worship the Lord deeply and intensely, what can happen in Connecticut? We may only see a small trickle flowing from the worship, but as it flows down, it gains momentum. That little trickle of worship will become a Huge River that no one can cross! It can become filled with multiplication of incredible “fish” that fishermen will have to spread their nets to catch.
Isn’t it time the Connecticut Church began to connect with God as we’ve never connected before?
Princess Jasmine knew if she took Aladdin’s hand, she would be going on a risky wild and crazy ride, there was no going back. But Jasmine desperately wanted to go with Aladdin. So, as risky as it was, she took his hand. She took the risk, went on that wild and crazy ride and loved every minute of it!