Sweet Detour

Tonight, after our prayer meeting, I went out for a milkshake with a dear brother from our prayer group. We talked for about an hour about what God is doing in our midst, and towards the end I shared the ache of my heart to see some of the reality of God manifest in our midst; in holiness, deliverance, healing and revival.

I shared a recording of a live Misty Edwards worship set from IHOP, where she sang:

I still believe:

In the fullness of You.

You said in the latter days –

I still believe.

No disease known to man will stand.

I still believe:

That You will set my heart on fire.

I still believe:

That You will manifest Your power.

I still believe. I still believe.

Because I’m so grateful for all that You’ve given.

And I will not despise the day of small beginnings,

But God, I’m so hungry for the more.

I still believe. I still believe.

I’m so grateful for Your hand, and I’m so grateful for all You’re moving, I’m so grateful for where You’ve brought us –

But God, but God…

I still believe:

For the greater works than these.

I still believe:

For the power on the heart and the power on the hands, I believe:

That we will be a people that love You undividedly.

I still believe.

I still believe:

That Your name will be glorified.

I still believe.

I still believe:

In the middle of worship, Your presence will show up like never before.

I believe it, I believe it!

I still believe:

The stadiums will be filled with the fear of the Lord and the love of the Lord.

I believe it, I believe it!

I still believe:

That no disease known to man will stand.

I still believe in the coming rain.

And I still believe:There’ll be a place where a young man can find deliverance.

I still believe it! I still believe it! I still believe it!

And I still believe:

Many, many, many souls will come in, like the flowers of the field,

I still believe.

And I still believe:

A great awakening is coming to this land,

I still believe!

And I still believe:

The dead will rise, I believe it!

The lame will walk, I believe it, I can see it!

The deaf will hear, I believe it!

And I still believe:

That the fear of the Lord will be our portion, as the multitude see the demonstrations of power in our midst.

And I believe it.

And I still believe. I still believe:

That the dreamers will dream and the prophets will prophesy, I still believe.

And I still believe:

In that latter, latter rain. I still believe. I still believe.

So open up the heavens, just let it rain, let it rain, let it rain!

The dead will rise and testify.

I can see it and I believe it.

The blind will see and many will believe.

And I can see a great awakening, I can see a great outpouring, in the midst of a great shaking.

I believe it, I believe it.

There’ll be a sign in the heaven and a wonder in the earth, and many, many, many will see and believe and tremble, and fear You, and fear You again.

I believe, and I can see the clouds are gathering, even now, even now make us ready for the rain.

Anyway, I was sharing my heart with my brother out of this song, and when I left, I started heading back home.

Usually, I just make a beeline for the house, but I felt the Lord leading me a different way. At first I ignored it, but only a block or so into my regular (direct) route home, I took a U-turn and went back, and took the route I felt the Lord leading me on, which was totally inefficient (by my reckoning) and out of the way.

I started driving while listening to the song, and I started to really feel the Holy Spirit speak to me through the song. I really identified with His desire to manifest His power on the earth, and His desire for a resting place (Psalm 132) on the earth.

There were parts of the song while I was driving around (seemingly aimlessly, but totally in the will and plan of God) that I just sobbed openly, seeing and tasting God’s desire for planet earth — His desire to transform our lives (and our planet), hampered only by our utter contempt for His presence (I speak of Christians, not unbelievers).

At the end, when I finally started heading towards home, I could feel God’s thankfulness… that I stayed in His presence and listened to His heart concerning a matter, through a song. Friendship with God really blows my mind, especially considering what a weak and flawed vessel I am.

TheCall DC 2008

I just got back last night from TheCall DC. I met up with a church group taking a bus to DC from Dallas last Thursday, and after 30 hours on the road (whew!), we arrived at DC. After a couple hours of late sightseeing, I headed back to the hotel for some z’s before the big day.

The Call was awesome, and there were many times when I was just gripped with intercession, to the point of crying out in groaning and tears. I also loved breaking into the small prayer groups… It’s awesome to pray with some zealous intercessors! There was much needed repentance and rending of hearts there. I pray that those who went (especially myself) are marked forever, and will never again succumb to “walking as men.” (spiritual mediocrity and slumber)

I really wish that more went, but I am thankful for 70,000… I believe that number means more in the heart of God than 500,000, 1,000,000 or 1,500,000 would mean to me.

The busload of people I went with were some of the most awesome believers I have ever met. I really fell in love with that group, and their love for one another (and others) and their culture of prayer was absolutely breathtaking.

On the way back, God decided to really mess us up. Just a few hours into our trip back, our bus broke down in Lexington, Virginia. At first, the fact that we were stuck in this small city frazzled us (we weren’t sure if we were anywhere near civilization at first), but as we started rolling with the punches, God’s plan unfurled. We did some sightseeing of Stonewall Jackson’s grave, and we all sat down to pray and discuss the prophetic meaning of “stone wall.”

That night, we had a prayer meeting that I won’t soon forget. The bus company put us up in a hotel owned and operated by an awesome christian family. They let us use the back room after they closed down for our prayer meeting. One of the members of our party was a paralytic, who was confined to a wheelchair. After several minutes of intense and prevailing prayer, she regained feeling in one of her legs and was able to stand with help, but not walk yet. I went back to the hotel, and on the way up to my floor, someone shouted that she was now walking! We all lost it and started worshipping Jesus at the top of our lungs, screaming “Hallelujah!!” as we ran back downstairs. I saw this sister who had been confined to a wheelchair with incurable paralysis walk, run, dance and worship Jesus with no physical limitations… we were all beside ourselves, and several people were kneeling in the grass, weeping and praising God.

The next day really ministered to me as well, as several believers prayed for my healing, physically and emotionally. I really met the Lord there and my heart was really refreshed. Oh, the glory of a prophetic company!

On the bus ride back, I was literally weeping… All I could think about is coming back to a barren environment in my city and my church, and other situations in my life that seemed to have a lot of death. I dreaded it, but the Lord is still meeting me as I set aside time to talk to Him.

I sure miss the fellowship, though.

I hope to have links to some of my videos of The Call posted soon.

Burn Oklahoma City (again!)

I had the pleasure of spending around 17 of the last 24 hours in worship, prayer, intercession, and contending for my city and nation…

The amazing thing is that even after it was all was said and done, I went by myself to IHOP to break my fast and get some dinner down… I sat there and I felt like my heart was still so hungry for Him. I had some great times of worship and loving Him in sweet little ways, but I think the intercession itself (even though it is necessary and important) distracted me from the one thing He wants me to concentrate on: loving Him and knowing Him as the priority of my life.

The Simplicity of Yearning

Gentle reader, please slow down.

In the frantic pace of life, it is often difficult to hear the still small voice of the Father. Count the cost, establish your priorities, and spend some time with Him.

Simplify.

In Psalm 42, the sons of Korah write:

Psa 42:1
To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation (Maschil) of the sons of Korah.
AS the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
Psa 42:2
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?

So often when I read the Psalms, I assumed that the writers were only crying out to God to fix their circumstances. Now I realize that the adverse circumstances in life cause our hunger to intensify (if we have developed hunger), and cry out to God… so that we may see Him, touch Him, and drink Him in.

We must enter into the holy of holies of yearning… not for stuff (outer courts), not just for sign/wonders/anointing/ministry (the holy place), but for the Most Holy Place… Jesus Himself. We must long for Him because of who He is, simply and fundamentally.

If you have Misty Edwards’ Relentless CD, I suggest you pop it in, and play “Dove’s Eyes” a few times while you consider these things… It’s what I was listening to (on repeat) while I was thinking about writing this post.

For those who don’t have the cd yet, here’s the words:

I don’t want to talk about You like You’re not in the room
I want to look right at You I want to sing right to You

I believe that You are listening
I believe that You move at the sound of my voice

Give me dove’s eyes

Give me undistracted devotion for only You

Belligerent hunger

Mat 5:6 Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Mat 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

I remember praying a season ago for God to give me hunger for Him. I was going through life very bored and spiritually dry, and I just didn’t have a hunger for the things of God. Well, as He always does, He answered my prayer in full force.

There are times when I get belligerently hungry for God. I usually try to find a place alone to search Him out and worship Him, otherwise I am very annoying and vexing to those around me.

It makes me think of one of my favorite worship songs from a few years ago, David Crowder’s “Intoxicating:”

Intoxicating You are to me
Illuminating You are to see
Truly breathtaking You are to breathe
Sending my head spinning You are, You see

And I’ve lost my mind, I’m sure to find
Need to apologize for my
Lack of inhibition, for my belligerent condition
But with You this near I’m dizzy

Inebriating You are to me
Completely captivating You are you see
Sending my world spinning You are, You see

And now I find a blurry line
Here between You and I
Raise the cup, drink ’til I’m full
Sing ’til I can’t, ’til my voice is gone
And my head is spinning

Illuminating You are to see
Truly breathtaking You are to breathe
Sending my head spinning You are, You see
It’s on the Illuminate CD, but a far better version is on Sunsets and Sushi

I really love that kind of hunger. It is very precious to me, because I have to pray for it continuously.

The easy way

I was meditating on the temptation of Jesus as I was getting ready this morning (Matt 4), and I noticed a theme. Every time the devil tempted Him, he tried to get Him to step outside the bounds the Father had imposed on Him, specifically, to fulfill the will of the Father according to the flesh (Gal 3:3). I think this is a huge problem in the church today. We see the problems of the earth and we try to solve them the quick way, the easy way… the way of the flesh.

Had an abortion? We have a teaching series on that!
Just got divorced? We have a teaching series on that!
Struggling with pornography? We have a teaching series on that!

Now, I have a lot of respect for godly teachers and good bible teaching, but it takes more than just teaching to change a nation. A whole lot more.

Jesus told us that when we’re confronting the worst that the world has to offer, we must contend in fasting and prayer (Matt 17:21, Mark 9:29). This is the hard way, the slow way. The way of God, because it a) causes you to undergo change in the inner man (Eph 3:16) and b) it causes you to draw near to the Father’s heart, and learn his ways (Psalm 103:7).

Burn Oklahoma City

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of joining in with the good folks from The Burn Oklahoma City for 24 hours of worship, prayer, fasting and contending together for our city, our nation, ourselves and for the body of Christ.

It was a pretty awesome event that left me hungering for more. We had some really sweet times of worship and prayer.

I had the opportunity to grab the mic a couple times and speak forth (more like whimper) a prayer that God had burning on my heart, only to stumble back to my seat in tears, completely broken and thankful for what God was doing.

A longing…

Pro 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But [when] the desire comes, [it is] a tree of life.

I had been praying for a while for 24/7 prayer to break forth in Oklahoma City. For the longest time, it seemed like OKC was the only major city not to be hit by the prayer movement. There is much work to be done in the realm of intercession for this city. I couldn’t help but notice at least four ambulances drive by our location downtown during the 18 hours I spent there. But even more distressing than that is the spiritual condition of the city.

Wake up, Oklahoma City. Your Bridegroom awaits.

humbled

I got challenged twice yesterday. Once by a dear brother who was challenging me and calling me to sobriety concerning the consistency in which I live my life. Then at our tuesday night prayer meeting, I got the sense that while the Lord was there, He was holding back to some degree because of the unpreparedness of my heart. It’s one thing to join in a chorus, it’s another thing to be given a place of leadership… this terrifies me with a godly fear.