Susan and I are decorating our house for Christmas this week. Last Saturday several people came and decorated the church for Christmas and for our Annual Church Fellowship Dinner on Sunday, December 2nd. Nearly 75 people showed up for the food, fun, and fellowship. It was a great time, and I've included a few photos in today's blog. Many people brought tremendous side dishes and desserts, of which I could not sample them all. What I did eat was wonderful and delicious.
I love this time of year. It seems that a lot of our problems are put on hold so we can enjoy faith and family. We tend to let some of the things that concern us wait until after the first of the year, because we don't want to be left out of the activities. We even have some people in our church putting off surgery until January, so as not to miss out on the fellowship.
I'm looking forward to our Christmas service this year. Susan and I will once again sing a song together. We might even have some other special presentations then. What will really bless me is when we all come back that evening and sing Christmas Carols, followed by hot chocolate, apple cider, and cookies in the foyer.
Since New Year's Day falls on Tuesday this coming year, we thought it would be a great time to host a Watch Night Fellowship and Prayer Service on December 31st. We will have snacks and board games to occupy the evening from 8:00 P. M. until midnight. Then, at the stroke of twelve, we will have some worship and prayer to bring in the new year and dedicate it, and ourselves, to the Lord.
A Season of Prayer
The Lord has impressed upon my heart that 2013 will be a season of prayer. Instead of planning activities and outreaches, we will turn to prayer and see what the Lord can do. With the completion and dedication of the new Prayer Tower, I believe we will begin to see a great outpouring of God's Spirit as we pray. Our sons and daughters will begin to turn to the Lord like never before. Many testimonies will arise from our prayers. As the Christmas season is upon us now, so a season of the Holy Spirit's outpouring is fast approaching.
Spiritual Discipline
We must take the Lord's call to prayer seriously. I have found that many people who say they are praying are really only hoping in their minds that God will do something. What is actually happening is that there is very little specific asking of God in prayer. He said if we would ASK he would answer. We must move from hoping to actual asking. As with Bible study, I also find we, as a church, are lacking in real prayer. In Luke 11:9 Jesus said, “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” The first step in seeing God do something in our lives is to ask.
Recently God has dealt with me about the second step — seeking. The reason some of us are asking and not receiving is that we fail to seek the answer God said he would provide. We need to start looking after we have asked. Another way I've seen this is that we continue to ask of God for things, but we seek God for himself. We need to press on to know him better and understand his will and purpose. Like James says, we do not want to "ask amiss."
Most Pastor's would not want to admit what I'm about to say, but I've always had trouble in prayer. Not that I don't frequently pray, daily, but it's the type of prayer I struggle with. So many of my prayers are focused on me, "Lord, help me." "Lord, teach me." Lord, show me." Me, me me! I believe the Lord wants that to continue, but he also wants me to become more of an intercessor for others and stand in the gap for the church. He wants me to do more for those around me through prayer. Teaching is good and it is my gift in the body of Christ, but prayer empowers what is preached. I need to work smarter, not harder. Pray first, then preaching will do more good.
Typically, when someone asks me to pray for them, I offer up a prayer to the Lord and that's it. Seldom do I continue in prayer until the answer manifests itself. Sometimes I've even forgotten that I prayed over something until a person reports an answered prayer to me. I need disciplined intercessory prayer in my life.
I know that some people want to cast all of their prayer responsibility on someone else. You would not believe how many prayer requests are actually from people who won't pray, even for themselves. The lazy saint says, pray for me, pray for me. And we will, but there comes a time when a person must bow their own knee to the Lord and ask for themselves. I have no inside track and special audience with the Lord. He hears the heart's cry of all of his children.
Issues of the Heart
All of this shows me a new dimension in ministry where I have never been before. I have been too focused on trying to be a good minister, and as a result, I'm failing to be a good minister who prays. Like it says in 1st Samuel 12:23 “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.” Prayer, in this passage, appears before preaching. I spend a lot of time working on what I teach to the congregation and sometimes my failing is actually praying for the congregation.
Intercession is the new spiritual discipline the Lord is bringing me into this coming year. Part of me says, raise up others to do it. However, the Lord says to me that I need to be an example of a believer in all areas of my life, including prayer. Like so many, I trust the Lord for his goodness in other people's lives, and sometimes fail to ask on their behalf. After many battles here in Union City, I believe God is restoring all things to me, including a prayer life that has wained.
Revealing the Father
The final thing the Lord has been showing me is how to seek him through prayer. I rarely think of seeking him through prayer. I usually seek for him to speak to me through his Word, and he does. Now though, he wants to speak to me in my spirit through prayer. I've thought back over my past prayer life and remember a time when this was more prevalent. Somewhere along the way I began to fear that the voices I heard would be from the enemy or even my own flesh, ambition, or desires. So I began to rely more heavily on the Word for direction and ended up missing the voice of the Spirit on occasion. This past year God has spoken several things to my spirit and is reviving my intimacy with the Holy Spirit and his leading.
The Bible calls this seeking his face. Moses said this. He wanted to see the Lord. John saw him on the Isle of Patmos. Seeking the face of the Lord is seeking his presence. Not what he gives, but who he is. In my efforts to serve the Lord I've failed to wait on the Lord. Obtaining knowledge, understanding, and revelation have been so important to me that his presence has become an afterthought. Along with a new dimension of intercession in my life, I believe the Lord wants me to experience a deepened longing and fulfillment of his manifested presence. I know the Prayer Tower is where this is going to happen for me. I'm already beginning to feel things in the spirit — things I haven't felt since I used to spend nights in prayer in a Methodist Prayer Chapel in Arlington, Texas over 30 years ago.
As I've stated in church, I am praying for their understanding as I devote 2013 to intercession and seeking the presence of the Lord. I know though, that the dramatic results will be seen plainly in my life and in our church.
“My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek.”
Psalms 27:8