Prayers of Revival

If He came so that we could have life and have it abundantly, do you ever owner if you're just missing something? The difference between what He actually wants for us and what we think he wants for us is cavernous sometimes. We are so good at playing church or acting "the part" inside our little boxes, that we can lose ourselves, we can lose the unique identity he plugged into our DNA.  We all go through seasons of struggle and survival... it's when those seasons go on for months and years that the enemy rejoices. I know I have allowed life, autism, financial struggles, insecurity, fear, and my need for security and control keep me in seasons of spiritual decay (aka complacency) for too long. I also know that it's those things that cause everyday to feel like groundhog day that keep me feeling discontent and disconnected to God and His people.

Last night a group of women came up to fight for the important things in life... we came together to fight for our marriages, our kids, our callings and our identities in Christ. Don't break out in song yet... rather than stringing together fluffy kumbaya moments we proclaimed truth over each other and in prayer for ourselves. IF WE LONG FOR TRUE REVIVAL IN OUR LIVES WE HAVE TO FIGHT FOR IT, we have to long for it, we have to stand up and accept that abundant life Christ promised us... and that's just what we did!

We finished the night with these african revival prayers I stole from Brian Brennt in his Circuit Rider's pod casts. There is something powerful about 70 ish women standing together and shouting them out loud together. If you couldn't come last night, here is what we prayed, say these words, believe these words and the embers of revival will ignite!

{Prayer 1}
I receive Christ's fire and fresh ANOINTING in the name of Jesus!

{Prayer 2}
Every yoke working working against spiritual growth in my life, BREAK in the name of Jesus!

{Prayer 3}
Every area of incomplete deliverance in my life, receive complete deliverance BY FIRE in the name of Jesus!

{Prayer 4}
Every destructive habit designed to waste my calling, DIE in the name of Jesus!

{Prayer 5}
Holy Ghost fire DESTROY every work of darkness in my life!

And here is what we proclaimed over each other:

“Arise, _(insert your name)__! Let your light shine for all to see.
For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you_(insert your name)__.
Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth,
but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you.
All nations will come to your light;
mighty kings will come to see your radiance_(insert your name)__.

-Isaiah 60:1-3 (thanks Kelli for this!!!)

"If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do." -James 1:5-8

Today pray these prayers and believe HE WILL ANSWER THEM! It's a new day time for a fresh start... it's time to move mountains, no more excuses!

[life desensitized] fighting to live beyond complacency

The other night I was watching one of the multitude of one hour crime dramas and I drifted to sleep while watching the head M.E. sew up a corpse after an autopsy. After years and years of watching shows like CSI, Law and Order, Bones and others seeing a dead body splayed open on a metal table with a doctor elbow deep in intestines and organs is nothing. It looks so real but it doesn't affect me... doesn't make me sick, in fact it's kind of expected now. Ready to throw up your breakfast??? Or have you been as desensitized as I have been??

I know this is a big jump but just like my mind being desensitized to the gruesome reality of a TV world filled with murder and graphic autopsy... I feel like my heart has been desensitized to the absolute POWER of God's word. I was reading my friend Fiona's blog the other day... (A Little Bit of Honesty) and she was talking about the verse Philippians 4:13 hitting her like she had just read it for the first time...

"For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength."

Read this and soak it in... seriously do you realize what this is saying... WE CAN DO ALL THINGS with faith in Christ. I think so many times I read over verses like this and think hmmm thats cool but really my lack of faith keeps me from thinking this really applies to me.

When we read God's word and don't fully live it... and don't fully believe it actually applies to us, the enemy has us right where he wants us. We come out of church or bible study feeling fluffy and comforted by a God who is generous and can help us when we need it... HELLO?!?!?!?! That's us being desensitized to the absolute POWER of God's word and promise and will for our lives! That's us walking out of our churchy time in complacency and consumed with enough feel good crappy fluff to keep us content to live an ordinary life bound by safety and comfort for one more week. 

For so long I have been frustrated with studies, sermons, retreats and worship songs that make God seem fluffy and turn us into a heard of spiritually selfish consumers... BUT guess what.. It's not the sermons or the studies or the songs that weaken God's word, IT'S ME!!! I have the power to either make God's word a pile of self serving fluff.... OR I can actually believe the words that are written, I can CHOSE to live in them and not just say them or sing them in a pretty song. They are POWERFUL, they are LIFE SHAKING, they are WORLD CHANGING words that  do apply to me and that do apply to you. 

He doesn't just want to fill us up with fluff so we can survive our own lives... he wants to fill us with the power of his GRACE that will flow through us to change ourselves so we can encourage others and actually affect the world we live in. 

Today I have several powerful verses that after reading in new light, with new eyes have knocked me on my butt!!! THEY HAVE SERIOUSLY BLOWN ME AWAY... because I am choosing to live in them today... I am choosing not just to read them and think "how nice"... I am reading them and praying IN FAITH that God will do this in me... TODAY... when we pray and believe MIGHTY things can happen... I will no longer be desensitized to His Spirit!

James 1:5-6  If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.

John 14: 12-14   I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

Romans 8:15-16   So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.

2 Peter 1:3-4   By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

Ephesians 1:19-20  I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

These are just a few of my favorites... today I am fearlessly confessing I have made these verses fluff in my life... but I am now shedding the crappy fluffy attitude of spiritual consumerism and complacency... and I am choosing to live powerfully in the faith that what I read is actually true.