Pointers from our online gathering on 7th September.
A new prayer has recently been written for the Community to use. We prayed it at the beginning of our gathering, during our initial time of worship.
A Prayer to Jesus, the Cornerstone
That in our ascended worship His will be done in the Church on Earth according to the pattern which is in Heaven.
Lord Jesus, you are the head of the corner,
The true cornerstone which holds your Church together.
You have made us to be living stones in the Temple of the living God.
Align us with the Father’s will as we align ourselves with you;
Align us with one another in love and in the unity of the bond of peace, as we share in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
Make us true, O Lord, as you are true;
Our Cornerstone, our Head, our Foundation,
Our King of Kings and Lord of Lords,
Amen.
We continue to ask the Lord to teach us what He wants His people to learn about how to ‘govern’. As always, we surrendered the time of our gathering entirely to the Lord, waiting on Him as we offered Him our worship. The following are some of the key points raised:
- Ps 24 – a psalm for all of us to pray. In particular, v8 speaks of “…the Lord mighty in battle.” How does the Lord engage in battle in the heavenlies and how is that implemented on earth? We are ‘in Christ’ in both realms. There are ‘gates’ in the heavenly realms which need to be opened. one gate particularly pertinent to us is the ‘gate of unity’. There are many obstacles that need to be removed. There are also ‘gates’ which have been opened that need to be shut. Part of the role of governing relates to how we deal with the ‘gates’. John 10.1-3 “…anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”
- Rom 5.11-19 is like a plumbline. When a wrong gate is opened through sin (v12) it results in death (v14). Jesus puts this right (v17). The re-ordering of our lives starts with our thought-life, by aligning our thoughts with God’s Word and fully embracing our identity and calling in Christ. Alignment with God is a place of liberty and abundance (2Cor 3.17), not constraint, in which we are free to flow in His will and His way. The key is in our commitment to see through the Lord’s eyes, not with our earthly vision (Col 3.1-4)
- 3 words: Order – God is a God of order and we pray for His order in our lives and in the earth; Disorder – this is the mark of the days we are in. Disorder leads to sickness; Re-order – this is the battle needing our engagement in the heavenly realms where we are to actively pray and act to ‘re-order’ that realm. Order relates to government and it starts in our personal lives. In the measure that we embrace and align our whole lives with God’s order, we will bring order to the places where God has positioned us, in widening circles, as in the ripples of a stone in a pond.
- Image: an old map with a cherub in the corner, blowing to show the direction of the prevailing wind, with the words from the children’s story, “I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow the house down”. Interpretation: There is an angelic breath in the heavenly realms being experienced throughout the world. In the measure we ‘receive’ this breath, gates will be opened. Ezekiel was instructed to “prophesy to the breath” (Ezek 37.9). What does this mean for us now? The breath of God’s Spirit brought the dead bones to life and ordered them as an army. We are urged to “..pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” (Eph 6.18). We sang the song ‘Wind, Wind, blow on me….’ as a prayer.
- It is essential that we pray to be aligned with God’s timing in body, mind and spirit; being out of His timing will produce anxiety. The Lord has led us to establish a pattern of prayer within the Community, when we affirm our oneness in and with Him and with the whole Body of Christ, throughout all generations: Morning Worship 6-7am, Midday Office Prayer, Prayer at 10pm.
Words given during the gathering:
- The gate to be opened is a deeper walk into My Kingdom. Ask and seek My innermost being. Come deeper into My heart. Wait for the right heartbeat.
- Come into My heart. Walk in through the choir of angels; hear the trumpet sounds triumphantly; look to the clouds, all different shapes; keep your eye on them.
This is a time of great urgency in the nation. It is time for us to rise to our calling, not just to petition God for His help. First and foremost, there is need for a constant declaration of the Lordship of Jesus into the heavenly realms, in unity and with the power of the breath of the Holy Spirit.
“I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.” (Ps 34.1-3)
