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
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?
