Greetings to you in the name of “Holy One” Habakkuk 1:12, and Jesus Christ – THE Crucified and Risen Saviour! What a beautiful winter morning! I trust that you have had a good week – having been watched over as you travelled the roads, having received a persistent healing from God’s hand, having participated in divine encounters, and having received many blessings. Now, stretching before us is a weekend and an opportunity to ‘pause’ and experience God in worship gatherings, in fellowship times, and in those quiet moments when you are simply enjoying life. I will be praying for you today, asking that you might receive…”just one touch from the King! … the Holy One!”
This week in my reading and studying I came across a quote that seemed aimed at answering questions that had been dancing around in my mind, and the quote is: The one concern of the devil is to keep the saints from prayer. He hears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks our wisdom, but trembles when we pray … Prayer turns ordinary mortals into men (women) of power … It brings fire. It brings rain. It brings God. There is no power like that of prevailing prayer. – Samuel Chadwick. “Prevailing prayer” – that is ‘keep asking until you receive prayer’. It was Charles Spurgeon who said that some of the best fruits on God’s tree are on sturdy boughs that require more than one shake to get them.
I believe in the “prayer meeting” and in the “time of intercession’ during worship services. It was Charles Spurgeon who said: The prayer meeting is an institution which ought to be very precious to us, and to be cherished very much by us as a Church, for to it we owe everything.” Prayer releases the Holy Spirit’s power…and that is a promise that is made available through the activity of prayer. One of the reasons, I believe, that prayer meetings and powerful intercession has lost their attraction is because they are based on our inabilities not a facade of ability. I have learned, and so have you, that when we have no sense of power–it is then we are ready to receive from God. Therefore if dependence on God is the objective, then personal weakness is an advantage.
We will be embarking on a spiritual journey beginning this coming Wednesday called, “Lent” – beginning with Ash Wednesday e and ending on Palm Sunday. On any ‘journey’ it is important to know what to take with you and what to leave behind. Ash Wednesday we are encouraged to rid ourselves of the burden of unconfessed sin, bad attitudes, hobbling habits, and all that would hinder our travel experience. May I suggest that one thing we make sure we take with us is a tenacity to keep prayer meetings in our life. Remember…for we owe it everything. Charles Spurgeon.
Have a great weekend and be blessed!