"God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on Him." - Hudson Taylor
Greetings Canada’s Kneeling Army,
I pray that this letter finds you prospering and abiding in the all-sufficient grace of Almighty God’. As we prepare to go into our prayer closets and prayer gatherings, praying with fasting this First Friday February 2010, let us continue to reflect on what “The Fear of the Lord” really means for the spiritual transformation of Canada.
Intercessors, Proverbs 1:7 teaches that, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction”. It is therefore to conclude that the Fear of the Lord is literally a spiritual key opening the door of defining moments; they give witness to the fact that Almighty God is active and working in and through our lives! Each and every one of us, I am certain, can find at least one or more moments in our lives which bring us back to a full focus on Jesus Christ; a time when our faith is strengthened in the possibilities that are found in the person of Jesus Christ.
Elijah, arguably Israel’s greatest prophet, arrives on the scene when devotion to the true and living God was at an all time low and the “Fear of the Lord” non-existent. Friends, are you having problems imagining Israel at this time? Just look around our nation today and you will have a pretty good picture of what was taking place. Now let’s keep in mind the prophets of Baal numbered 450 to one faith-filled obedient prophet of the (at the time) unpopular God of Israel. From that defining moment, without contradiction, history proves once again that, “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro through out the whole earth to show Him-self strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9a)
Yes, I know how difficult it can be and how isolated and alone that it feels on the front lines of spiritual warfare. However, this is your “defining moment”. Yes, when you pray by faith and see little or no results it can be “dis-couraging”, but remember that your history is being written and you are literally carving out a defining moment in time. That is exactly why the prophet Elijah’s testimony is so relevant in this decade. I love the way The Message bible conveys James 5:16-18; “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.” The Apostle James, the half-brother of Jesus, also reminds us in James 1:2-8 (The Message), “ 2-4Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. 5-8If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open."
My brothers and sisters, our faith must be strong enough to “finish the course” to cross the "finish line"! Almighty God lovingly gives us “divine tests” allowing us the privilege to make "defining moments", which victoriously produce “divine faith" enabling us to accomplish the "divine task". Intercessors, the devil played with Elijah’s mind as he does with so many sincere God-fearing prayer warriors (1 Kings 18:41-46). I can almost imagine the conversation that went on in the prophet’s head:
“You went and told Ahab that God was sending rain and now nothing is happening.” You didn’t really hear from God. This drought is going to continue.”
Sound familiar? You ask, “So what do we do now that we know what’s taking place?” The first thing we need to do this First Friday is confess, according to James 5:16, “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed”, the sin of being more certain about what the devil has been suggesting than the truth of God’s word. Second, as we corporately pray with fasting all over Canada, let us purposely give the Holy Spirit our “earthly license for heavenly intervention”. We have been given authority in Canada; we must also give God a permit to work through our lives. It’s as simple as declaring, “Lord I give you my permission to rule, release revival, and route the enemy in my home, in my church, in my community, and in my country, through “me”! Heaven is waiting for our cooperation and obedience. And finally, we must send our faith up the mountain of “Canada must be Saved” and know on the other side of nothing…there…is… something!
Elijah did not pray just three times, not just four times, not just five times, not just six, but it was on the seventh meeting with God that his servant came back with a little encouragement. He said, “I didn’t see much, but I did see a tiny little cloud, about the size of a man’s hand coming out of the sea.” My friends it was something small, but Elijah knew he had prayed until something happened. Sometimes our "defining moments” are difficult, harsh, and hurtful; sometimes, our "defining moments" are easy, pleasant, and peaceful; but, "Through It All,” Andrae Crouch tell us "we learn to trust in Jesus, we learn to trust in God, we learn to depend upon his Word!" Defining moments are designed to let us know where our hearts are; they are aimed at letting us know where our faith lies! Each defining moment, is also a "deciding moment!” Almighty God is asking us, "Where will we place our faith?” Are we willing to serve the Lord no matter what? Friends, it is in these "deciding moments" that we must make a choice that we alone can demonstrate these truths; Greater is He that is and the Lord Omnipotent reigns in Canada!
“Going Again!”
