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Growing Communities of Prayer Leaders
I pray this message finds you…
Tell my family, I Love them, and always have…Papa.
Years ago, the group Sting wrote a song called Message in a Bottle…
It leads out with…
“Just a castaway, an island lost at sea, oh Another lonely day,
with no one here but me, oh More loneliness than any man could bear
Rescue me before I fall into despair…”
Days before “COVID☢19” happened I was telling my friends of a 20-year-old prophecy that boldly claimed, “the year the Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl, revival will break out!”
They WON!!
Wait a minute!
Sooooo… “This” is what Revival looks like???
Years before “COVID☢19” happened one of those same prophetic types stood me up at a prayer conference and began to prophesy over me… “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! … Confidence! Confidence! Confidence! … Not self-confidence, but confidence in what the Lord has shown you… You will see breakthrough, through the breaking of bread…”
Hmmm… I could take this powerful revelation in a lot of different directions right now… Do I feel prepared? Well, no, not really… Do I feel confident? I must admit, I have a tendency to lean into my own confidence… Oh Lord, help me shift my confidence to what You have shown me… In hope of bringing some revelation and understanding to this wild ride we are currently in, let me share a dream He gave me a while back…
Dream: I was sitting on the floor of my living room with a helper going through boxes of my stuff… I came across a missing watch… I thought “Wow! I found my watch!” I began to listen to my helper talk about a ministry that she cared deeply about... she began to share her heart about them and then quickly transitioned into praying for them… she asked the Lord to wrap them in sunshine and warmth as they were out ministering… I looked out the large windows in front of me and wondered what she was actually seeing… I stared in disbelief and fear looking over her shoulder seeing the most intense storm I have ever seen...the wall of the storm was wide, dark gray and devastating... I felt my house was going to take a direct hit... I crumpled to my knees in the fetal position and simply covered my head... I could feel the storm as it closed in on my house, testing its foundation and structure, it seemed to go on for minutes and then eventually passed by… What happened next, I will never forget… the horrendous sound of a home being ripped apart, then another, then another… I began to weep and intercede for the people in my neighborhood…faces of my friends and neighbors streaming into my mind, crying out for them as I realized many of them were lost... at that moment, I remembered my watch… I began to look for where it had fallen in the melee … I found it under a couch… Grasping it tightly I looked out the window only to see a second storm approaching... this storm was quite different… blinding white with a large red sash blowing through it… It was the largest storm I’ve ever seen... once again, I fell to my knees and this time I began to pray knowing my house would be consumed... I began to cry out “Hold us, Lord! Hold, us!” clutching my watch tightly... I heard the Lord say as the storm encompassed the house "I'm holding you; I'm holding you" my spirit answered saying “He's holding us, He's holding us” meanwhile I kept saying "Hold us, Lord! Hold us!" as the Lord continued to answer me "I'm holding you; I'm holding you"
I awoke…
This is one of those dreams where you don’t just wake up, go write it down, then go back to sleep… Something deep happened in my spirit…
As I look outside tonight into the current storm, can I hear what the Spirit is saying? Can I see what the Lord is doing? I want to see what He sees… I want to care the way He cares… Yet, I recognize my own desperate need to be held all the while thanking Him for holding US!
I must stand my watch! I must see my neighbors differently now!
So here we are, in the middle of COVID☢19!! The invisible storm… Globally running amok! Oh, and this time it’s not just over “there” “somewhere” … It’s actually running through the streets of my own city! Right in the middle of Passover!? So, let me get this straight… We have a moment where the entire world is in desperate need of Passover?! WOW!!
I’m reminded that the Lord has instructed us as believers to break bread together and share communion with one another… What does this mean to me right now? My family? My neighbors?
In the Gospel of Luke, a teacher of the law approaches Jesus, asking Him “how can I inherit eternal life?” Jesus answers by reminding him of the greatest commandments in the law “love God… love your neighbor as yourself” which just stirs up another question “who is my neighbor?” Jesus then invites us into the story of the Samaritan, teaching us to show mercy, love, and compassion… even to someone considered a despised enemy.
So, let me ask you a question… Praying your house is under the Blood of the Lamb, and your inheritance of eternal life is secure in Jesus Christ, which of your “neighbors” do you see as worthy to be under the Blood of the Lamb? Just some of them? ALL of them?
We live in this world whose sins were taken upon the Lamb of God Himself!! Are we telling our neighbors of this good news?
Let me finish with this… There was a time in my life when my focus would have been on the overdue judgment for the sin all around me instead of my own desperate need for a remedy from this deadly plague… Yet, the Lord is shifting my heart more toward His everyday… I believe this passage in Psalms beautifully expresses His heart toward us and the world He lovingly created.
The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. Psalms 145:8-9
· The Lord is merciful…
· The Lord is compassionate…
· The Lord is slow to anger…
· The Lord is Love…
· The Lord is good…
· He is good to all…
· His mercy is over all…
· His mercy is over ALL that He is made…
Two millennia before “COVID☢19” Jesus Christ, in compassionate Love, goodness and mercy lived among us only to be brutally crucified on a cross, we buried Him… Yet, through the power of the Holy Spirit, He was resurrected, taking the keys of hell and death and is now seated at the right hand of the Father! Halleluiah!!
Papa, help us always remember that You see each of us through the Blood of Your own Son… have mercy on those who reject Your sacrifice…Teach and empower us to lead them to you… to the foot of the cross… and thank You for being our Passover!
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said,
“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” 1 John 1:29
Every time I see Jesus coming toward me, I’m thankful for His shed Blood that takes away the sin of the world…
Especially mine!
Shaun
Are you a prayer leader?
Are you the Prayer Leader of your local church? We would love to connect with you and get you plugged into the other Prayer Leaders in our community... Please reach out to us shaun@cityprays.us or beth@cityprays.us
Thank You!
THANK YOU for your love of Jesus Christ! THANK YOU for your devotion to prayer. THANK YOU for your desire and hunger to see the fullness of God manifested in our region! Hallelujah and Amen!