Stuggling in Prayer for Others

During my coffeetime with Jesus this morning I read of a brother in the Lord name Epaphras, a Colossian Christian in prison with the Apostle Paul. I am amazed at what Paul writes about him in Col 4:13. Listen to this:

"Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God."

Amazing. Epaphras really believed the power of God could work through prayer. He believed this so much that he was willing to struggle on behalf of others so God's good purposes could be realized in their lives. Epaphras' prayer life was not one merely sweet with the aroma of God's good presence; his prayer life in part at least, was a struggle, a fight. And he was willing to fight on behalf of others so God could do whatever He needed to do them, so He could do whatever He wanted to do through them.

Please join in me in struggling in prayer on behalf of all who will attend the ARC Gathering, "The Empowering Presence." Join me in struggling in prayer so those God wants to attend this gathering - ARC member or guest - will in fact be there and will not give in to any temptation to not attend. Join me in struggling in prayer for those whose intellect may be getting in the way of receiving whatever God wants to do in their lives. Join me in struggling in prayer for those who need God to blow up their God boxes in any way so they can experience more fully who He is. Join me in struggling in prayer for those who need a breakthrough of any sort in their relationship with Holy Spirit. Join me in struggling in prayer for those who need any healing of old wounds that are still impacting their present in unhelpful ways - especially wounds from any charismatic heresy or practice they've experienced in the past.

Please join me in prayer. Let's fight the good fight. Let's be like Epaphras.

Thanks for your gift of time, and your willingness to struggle, on behalf of others (including ourselves) that we might encounter, experience, and receive whatever God has for us during these days we gather in Huntington Beach.

Praying for The ARC Gathering: The Empowering Presence

God's grace and peace to you all,

This morning during my coffeetime with Jesus I found myself moving into prayer for Lee Grady, Dave Householder, and all of our workshop presenters and worship leaders for the ARC Gathering on June 17-19. Please join me in prayer for these brothers and sisters, that they might hear a word of revelation from God as to what it is He wants to speak and do through them during the gathering. And please join me in prayer that God might be preparing our hearts to receive what He has for us.

As we move toward the gathering let us join in the prayer: "Lord, do whatever You need to do in us, so that You can do whatever You want to do through us." We pray for God's Spirit to fall upon us and be stirred up within us these days and to manifest His presence in whatever ways He knows we uniquely need. May He grace some of us with a spirit of repentance that turns us away from pursuits that feed our own ego. May He grace some of us with freedom from besetting sins that we have not been able to shake for years, even decades. May He grace some of us with healing for old wounds of the past that have still been influencing our present in unhealthy ways. May He grace some of us with a stirring up of His presence and power within us to enable us to serve Him even more effectively wherever He chooses to send us. May he nurture the growth of the fruit of His Spirit that we may become more and more like Jesus in who we are, not merely in what we know. Come Holy Spirit, come in power and in freedom and have Your way with us!

Let us pray that we all go home different than when we came. Let's pray that for ourselves and all those from our congregations who attend. Is there someone from your church body the Lord wants you to specifically invite to be there? Listen for the Lord's prompting and as He may bring someone to mind, dare to invite them. This gathering of course will not be the only place someone can have a God encounter. However, it may be God's appointed time and place for some; so, please listen and then act as you're prompted by God's Spirit. I remember experiencing this shortly after I came to The Master's Institute Seminary to join the staff. We were taking students on a missions trip to Mexico and I was prompted by a thought to invite a staff member to join the students on the trip. At the time, I wasn't sure if this was God or not, but the thought would not go away so in the end, I did invite the staff member. That staff person said yes, came on the trip, was powerfully impacted by the Holy Spirit, returned and became a student at MI and this Saturday, will graduate. Is there someone God is bringing to your mind, putting on your heart, to specifically invite and encourage to attend?

It will be fun to see what the Lord says to us, does in us, and then does through us as we go home to continue the ministry of Jesus in the world today through the power of Holy Spirit.

In God's Unshakable and Extravagant Love,

Mike

Grace for Waiting on God Shamelessly, Persistently and Expectantly

“Some in the ARC and some friends of the ARC are in need of my grace for the season of waiting they are in.” This seems to be a thought impressed on my mind this morning as I sit, have coffee with Jesus, and listen to birds in the trees outside my living room window chirping the good news of the coming of Spring.

Some of us are in a season of waiting on the Lord. Waiting on Him to bring the breakthrough we need in our own lives, the live of our families, or in the lives of our congregations. Some of us are still praying for family members we’ve seen no noticeable change in for years and waiting for the answer to those prayers is making us weary. Some of us are praying for people or issues in our congregations and there’s been no breakthrough; and there’s nothing we can see on the horizon that would indicate a breakthrough is imminent. Some of us are still praying for old ways of thinking and old habits that weigh us down to change and we keep falling back into them. Some of us are praying and waiting for words from the Lord that have been spoken over us, family members, or our congregations to finally come true.

I would not attempt in any way to invalidate the weariness, the frustration, the fatigue, and perhaps even the despair you’re feeling. I would not dare try to throw some superficial platitude your way to try to talk you out of how you may be feeling. But for all of us in the ARC, and those of you who are friends of the ARC, who may be in this season of waiting I would say: Please, don’t give up. Please don’t stop waiting with expectancy on the intervention of the Lord. Please, don’t settle for less than all God has for you; don’t settle because you may be in a season of fatigue and frustration. In a book I’m reading these days comes this encouragement for me, and perhaps for some of you:

“Prayer is about being made in the likeness of Christ. Conformed, reformed, transformed. There is simply no substitute for becoming like Christ other than being with Christ, and especially with Him in solitude and suffering and sorrow. And so prayer is about waiting. Prayer is the poetry of waiting. It is the language of those who know that what is now is not what should be and not what will be, if we wait.

Moses, Samuel, Nehemiah, Paul, David, they had to wait. They had to wait for people - stubborn people, lazy people, rebellious people, cowardly people. But mostly they had to wait for God. God, who had made known to them His purposes but was in no apparent hurry to accomplish them. God, who promised a land flowing with milk and honey but could hold up the journey for forty years in a land parched of water and with only one thing on the menu in order to work out some character issues in the people. God, who could depose King Saul and anoint David, but could then watch for the next dozen or more years as Saul clung to this throne and crown and hounded David into beggarliness and vagabondage.”

God’s grace empowers us. Because of God’s grace we are able to do that which we in our strength and abilities cannot do. Some of us may be in need God’s grace for waiting because that is the season we are in. Grace to wait shamelessly, persistently, and expectantly on Father God. That’s what Jesus tells us to be like in Luke 11 when He shares the story of the man who comes knocking on his friend’s door for some bread. The man is shameless in his knocking, he is persistent in his knocking and he is expectant that at some point his friend will arise and answer.

The disciples have asked Jesus to teach them to pray and Jesus gives them a model for prayer in verses 2-4 and then says, when you pray be like this man. Our waiting on the Lord is not merely a passive kind of waiting. Our waiting is an expectant waiting. Our Father is a good father and He will answer our prayer. Because He is a good father we can trust Him for the timing of the answer and the way the prayer is answered. Because He is a good father we can trust that during the season of waiting He may not only be at work in answering our prayer but in transforming us in ways we need to be transformed. He may be changing us in the very process of waiting to think, speak, and act more like Jesus.

Father God, give us Your grace to enable us to keep on praying, to keep on waiting, to keep on being conformed and transformed. In this process of praying and waiting, make us more like Jesus. Transform us to think, speak, and act more like Jesus. Transform our family member, our congregation to think, speak, and act more like Jesus. Then in due season, in the fullness of time, break through, Lord. Do not let us miss this. Do not let us settle in somewhere short of the breakthrough, content with something less than you have for us. Give us, we pray, Your empowering grace to pray, to wait in expectancy and move forward by faith in You, our good Father who does answer prayer and most certainly gives good gifts to His children (Luke 11).

Part 3 - For Mission, Not Merely Ministry

This is part 3 in answering the question: Why should I attend an ARC Gathering on the Empowering Presence of the Holy Spirit this year? Why should you and I attend? To stir one another to lives of mission, not merely ministry. To be filled afresh with the presence and power of Holy Spirit who can increase our effectiveness for both.

As I write this I am on vacation with my wife, Debi. We’ve been graced with the gift of a condo by some friends from a former parish. It’s on the third floor and overlooks Manzanillo Bay in Mexico. This morning as I have my coffeetime with Jesus, I find myself writing the following in my journal:

“I’m on the balcony in Manzanillo, strong cup of Sumatra coffee on the table beside me. The waves are crashing on the beach below as I read O. Hallesby’s book, Prayer. I find myself beginning to pray Matthew 9:37-38 about sending workers into the harvest based on something Hallesby wrote in his book. I’m praying for God to use the ARC to send workers into the harvest to reach those not yet present. I’m praying that none who are called into the harvest will remain home. I’m praying that God uses the ARC to send us, as lovers of God to intentionally love those not yet present. I’m praying God sends us into the world with a passion for lost souls…

…A passion for lost souls. Are we passionate for the salvation of the lost? I am theologically. I used to be practically. Now, most of my time is spent in ministry to those already present. Nothing wrong with that, unless it’s at the expense of rationalizing away reaching out to lost souls. Is there a passion for lost souls within us? Have we settled into caring for those already present at the cost of those not yet present? Oh God, make me, make the ARC passionate for lost souls. Make us passionate for mission, not merely ministry. Give us a longing to go where the lost are already gathered to love them you’re your unshakable and extravagant love. Give us Your heart for those not yet present.

I’m reminded this morning of the words of theologian and friend, Ray Anderson: ‘Those who are gathered around the meal of Christ must arise with the mission of Christ burning in their hearts. We sup with Christ in order to run with Him. The church needs to unleash her members and become a sending church rather than a gathering one.’ I’m reminded of Acts 4:29-32: ‘Now, o Lord, hear their threats, and give us, Your servants, great boldness in preaching Your word. Stretch out Your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of Your holy servant, Jesus.’ After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.’”

Why attend one of the ARC gatherings this year? It may be one place where we can all gather in the same place at the same time as the disciples in Acts 4 were and cry out to God. Cry out for a passion for lost souls. Cry out for a filling of the Holy Spirit that will stir that passion within us. Cry out for a filling of the Holy Spirit that gives us a holy boldness and enables us to proclaim and demonstrate the Word of God with genuine power from on high. Oh God, use us for mission, not merely for ministry. Oh God, cause us to rise from the table with Your mission burning in our hearts so powerfully that we cannot remain within the walls of our churches and homes. Oh God, fill us afresh with Your Spirit. Give us a holy boldness. Impart to us an authentic experience of Your power for mission, not merely ministry.

A Band of Brothers and Sisters Who Refuse To Settle For Less

This is part 2 of answering the question: Why should I attend an ARC Gathering on the Empowering Presence of the Holy Spirit this year? Why should you attend? Why should you be intentional in inviting members of your church to attend? Because there is something powerful about gathering together with a band of brothers and sisters who refuse to settle for less than all God has for them. There is something powerful about gathering together with a band of like-minded brothers and sisters that raises our level of faith and expectancy. There is something freeing about being able to fully be who we really are with a like-minded band and not having to worry about “toning it down” or making apologies or playing theological word games for wanting more.

The Alliance of Renewal Churches is like a band of brothers and sisters. We are there to help one another stay focused on the mission at hand. We are there to stand shoulder-to-should, giving courage to one another as we engage in the great cosmic conflict of our age because courage has a relational component to it. We are there to pick one another up and carry each other through seasons of life that are challenging, discouraging, and painful. We are there to not allow one another to settle for less than all God has in store for us. We are there for one another because while alone we may be gifted, together we are a force to be reckoned with.

We can do none of this, however, without the empowering presence of Holy Spirit. He is the One who can transform us to be that band of brothers and sisters. He is the One who can bring healing to the broken parts of us, bringing forth wholeness out of our pain. He is the One who can set us free from strongholds we have run to and hidden in for too long instead of running to and trusting God. He is the One who can strengthen us and encourage us for the works God has called us to put our hands to. He is the One who can give us gifts to accomplish the tasks at hand and the fruit of character that make those gifts taste even sweeter. He is the One who can raise our levels of faith and expectancy. He is the One who can make us truly a team, not just a group of individuals who use team language. He is the One who can stir in us a holy boldness in place of a fleshly arrogance and sinful pride. He is the One who can impart to us a desire to lay down any and all selfish ambitions. He is the One who can stir in us a passion not merely to be leaders, but to be lovers of God who lead.

We need Holy Spirit. We need His empowering presence to have freedom to move in us and through us. This is one reason we will gather for the ARC Southwest (June 17-19) and Midwest (October 21-23) gatherings this year. We will gather to invite Holy Spirit to move in freedom and in power in our lives, in our families, in our congregations, and throughout the ARC. We will gather to invite Holy Spirit to truly make us a band of brothers and sisters who are there for one another, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, not allowing each other to settle for anything less than all Father God has for us. This is why we will gather and we will settle for nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else.

Why Should I Attend an ARC Gathering on the Empowering Presence of the Holy Spirit – Part 1

The theme for the 2010 ARC Southwest (June 17-19) and Midwest (Oct 21-23) Gatherings is: The Empowering Presence. We believe God wants to encounter us as we gather together with an experiential reality of the presence and power of His Holy Spirit. In the coming weeks I intend to write some postings on this blog site responding to the question: Why should I attend an ARC gathering on the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit? Today’s posting is Part 1.

In order to live fully into the destiny God has for us individually and corporately we must be experiencing the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit. I use the word, “experientially” intentionally. While every Christian has the presence of the Holy Spirit within them, not every Christian, not every Christian leader, is living in the power of the Holy Spirit. While we may have a theology of the Spirit, we do not always have an ongoing life experience of Him moving in and through us to continue the ministry of Jesus in the world today.

On the Alliance of Renewal Churches (ARC) website, under the posting of our non-negotiables we state: The ARC is a network in which the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit are celebrated, not merely tolerated. We are committed to fostering a radical dependence upon the Holy Spirit.

I like that statement. However, a statement does not reality make. We cannot settle for merely having a good theology of the Holy Spirit written down on paper or posted on our website. We cannot settle for giving lip service to the personhood and reality of the Holy Spirit; we need a real encounter, and multiple encounters, with Him. Theologian, Gordon Fee, writes:

"If the Church is going to be effective in our postmodern world, we need to stop paying mere lip service to the Spirit and to recapture Paul’s perspective: the Spirit as the experienced, empowered return of God’s own personal presence in and among us, who enables us to live as a radically eschatological people in the present world while we await His return."

Fee also writes, “We too often treat the Spirit as a matter of creed and doctrine, but not as a vital experienced reality in believers’ lives.” Are you experiencing all there is to experience in your relationship with Holy Spirit? Are the leaders and members of your church? Am I? Are we really as fully yielded to God’s will in this aspect of our relationship with Him as we can be, and as He longs for us to be? Are we open to receiving and experiencing whatever He wants to do in us so He can do whatever he wants to do through us?

The stirring up of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit is not just so we can have a “Holy Ghost feel good” experience. The stirring up of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in a follower of Christ is for the purpose of empowering us to continue the ministry of Jesus in the world today. God wants to empower us to continue speaking the words Jesus would speak and doing the things Jesus would do so that people can be saved, healed, set free, and empowered to live fully into their God-given destinies.

So why attend a gathering like the ARC’s this year? It is one way you can be intentional about restoring the power and presence of the Holy Spirit experientially in your life, not settling for merely holding to a theology of it. Coming to one of the ARC gatherings this year and gathering with like-minded brothers and sisters might just be one way you can say to the Lord, “I’m not willing to settle for anything less than all you have in store for me in my relationship with Holy Spirit.”

To register for the ARC Gathering in June, go to: www.robinwoodchurch.com. We'll see you there!

The Mary Prayer

I got some of you didn’t I? When you read the title of this blog posting you thought, “Oh man, is Mike going Catholic on us? Is he going to start asking us to pray to Mary?“

No, I’m not going to ask us to start praying to Mary; I am, however, going to ask us to start praying like Mary. Over a period of time God has been teaching me that I have become too adult-like in my faith in some ways that are not helpful or healthy. One of those areas is my prayer life. He has been teaching me through His Word and through encounters with young children like Anna Grace Sellers that He wants to restore child-like qualities to my life – particularly in my prayer life.

So, I took note as I read in O. Hallesby’s classic work, Prayer, when he referenced Mary, mother of Jesus, as an example for us to emulate in our prayer lives. Hallesby writes the following based on the account of the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee in John 2:1-11:

“Mary teaches us through her example that we do not have to try to help God fulfill our prayer...Notice what Mary says to Jesus. Just these few, simple words, “They have no wine.”…To pray is to tell Jesus what we lack. Intercession is to tell Jesus what we see that others lack…To most of us prayer is burdensome because we have not learned that prayer consists in telling Jesus what we, or others, lack. We do not thing that is enough. Instinctively we feel that to pray cannot be so easy as all that. For that reason we rise from prayer many times with heavy hearts, ‘Can God hear this prayer of mine? Will God heed my humble supplication? And how will he do it? Everything seems so impossible.’

…And when the answer is not forthcoming at once, we think that we must do something in addition to what we have done before God can hear us. Just what this something is, we are not certain of in our own minds. And this uncertainty causes that inner anxiety and worry which makes prayer so painful….And especially will our prayer life become restful when it really dawns upon us that we have done all we are supposed to do when we have spoken to Him about it. From that moment we have left it with Him. It is His responsibility then, if we dare use such a child-like expression. And that we dare to do!

Instead of our former anxiety and worry we will now often be able to experience a certain child-like inquisitiveness, having left the matter in the hands of Jesus. We will say to ourselves, ‘It will be interesting to see how He solves this difficulty.’”

Let us pray this year like Mary, and like children such as Anna Grace – shamelessly, persistently and expectantly (see Luke 11:1-13).