February 27, 2022
1 Peter 2:9-10 NIV
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
CONSIDER THIS
This is the Church Jesus is building:
1. Chosen people 2. Royal Priesthood. 3. Holy Nation. 4. God’s Special Possession.
We believe the Church of Jesus Christ is the dwelling place of Almighty God on the planet Earth.
Therefore, all we believe to be true about the Living God, we believe to be true about his people.
If the holy love, power, and presence of God is dwelling within God’s chosen people, God’s royal priesthood, God’s holy nation, God’s special possession, it means at least two things. First, it means we have been granted extraordinary authority. Second, it means we possess enormous responsibility. Think of it as response-ability. We have the authority and responsibility to respond in a way no other organization or institution on planet earth possesses.
We must pray. And I’m not talking about prayer as the “when all else fails do this” sentiment we see written on placards and Instagram posts every time something bad happens in the world. I am talking about prayer as battle strategy. Prayer as war. The call to prayer is not a call to “say prayers” and then move on. Prayer is the call to a deep awareness of the presence of God, a surrendered attention to the Lord of the Church, Jesus Christ, a keen atunement to the voice of the Spirit, and a bonded attachment to one another across the Body of Christ. The call to prayer is the urgent admonition to lay aside the religious customs of casual prayer and enter into the zone of the Kingdom of Heaven, abiding together in the presence and person of Jesus Messiah for the sake of the world.
We desperately need to grasp the real facts on the ground (not as reported by the news media but as informed from the revelation of the Word and Spirit) and understand the rules of engagement. Given all we are exploring about the nature of the Church Jesus is building, here are the facts on the ground.
1. The Body of Christ is a global fellowship bonded together by the Holy Spirit. Remember, we are living stones being built together into a spiritual house. Our connection is not institutional in nature but supernatural. We are quite literally part of each other—connected like a hand is to an arm. This has enormous implications for the church in Ukraine and in Russia.
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 1 Corinthians 12:26
2. Jesus Christ is the head of the Body—the Lord of Heaven and Earth—resurrected and ascended, living and active, speaking and listening, guiding and directing. He leads the intercession of the Church. We must lift our hearts to Jesus, set our minds on Jesus, fix our eyes on Jesus, offer our bodies to Jesus. He is the Commander of angel armies and Lord of the Church.
3. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of prayer who is praying without ceasing in words, and in groans too deep for words. As we invite the Spirit to fill us with his own prayers, we will begin to sense the agony in the Earth and our hearts will begin to attune to Spirit’s praying. Prayer is not something we initiate. Prayer is the initiative of the Holy Spirit. We do not initiate—we participate. Prayer is not ginning up more spiritual activity. Prayer is getting low to the ground and cultivating receptivity.
Church, the time for casual prayer has passed. The age of prayer as last resort is over. The practice of prayer as worrying our anxieties is done. We are waking up to the sobering presence of Jesus Christ as our Great High Priest. We are beginning to sense the desperation of the Holy Spirit who travails for the deliverance of the whole earth from the rogue and defeated power of sin and death.
Church, we are going to be praying this week on the Daily Text. War is nothing new for this world, but something seems different this time. Coming out of the fog of a two year global pandemic and into this moment of unprovoked brutal assault seems next level for some reason. There is an awakening afoot in the world. Let it begin with the people of God.
I am sensing a holy detour in this exploration of the letters of Peter. As we have explored the Church Jesus is building, my sense is he is inviting us to come inside and tarry together.
THE PRAYER
Jesus, you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. We desperately long for the Church you are building. Holy Spirit, would you lead us onto this holy ground and into this sacred assembly. Praying in Jesus name, Amen.
THE QUESTION
I hope you are not hearing these writings as being critical of our local churches and especially our leaders. There is no time for that kind of naval gazing. This is much deeper than that. I wonder if you are sensing a deepened longing in your spirit these days. Are you getting in touch with the desperation of the world for God? these are the birth pangs of awakening. Let’s stay with it.
P.S. Join Us For An Ash Wednesday Gathering Online
I want to invite you to join us for our upcoming gathering, A Night With New Room: Ash Wednesday. It will be online on Wednesday, March 2, 6:30pm CST and will run just over an hour. It will be available to see on demand following. We will be led by Steve Cordle (author of our Lent Resource The Jesus Shaped Life), Jessica Lagrone, Lo Alaman, Mark Swayze, and I will be there too. It is a free event but you will need to register to participate. Do that here.
For the Awakening,
J.D. Walt
Sower-in-Chief
seedbed.com
3 Responses
JD, again, this series seems to exist for such a time as this! We, the church are at the point where the rubber meets the road. How we react to world events right now will determine which side we land on when this set of events run their course. The Word of God has already determined the final outcome. In my morning’s meditation with God, previous to reading this post, it was revealed to me that we are indeed at war in the spiritual realm. There is much written on the internet about a “one world government “ attempt to enslave the world. There is truly only one legitimate “one world government “, and that’s the kingdom of God. The other one is a fraudulent attempt by the god of this world to maintain control. I think it no coincidence that the timing of this war coincides with the coming of the Lenten season. This is Holy war indeed, and will not be won with the weapons of the flesh.
I read this post out loud to my wife, weeping as I read. You expressed the brokenness and grief that has been in my heart the past few days. O, God have mercy! Wake up Your people to lay down their swords and hit their knees in humble prayer.
Keep listening. Keep writing the Daily Text. I am beginning to groan in the Spirit. The Church in I would the Time of War. Ukraine / Russia present an opportunity to groan, intercede as Christ intercedes. I would not say, “sensing a holy detour in this exploration of the letters of Peter.” I would say it is part of the Spirit working through the letters of Peter. Can I get a witness?
As we shared Saturday morning on the Pastor’s Retreat Zoom I was searching for Scripture. Can I get a witness? What found me “It is too small thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes…” (Isaiah 49:6-7) of the United States of America churches…. We are given an opportunity to intercede for and in the world as Christ does, to groan with the Spirit right here right now.
This morning in worship I was groaning and praying. We always pray for the Church and the world and say Lord hear our prayers. I ask the Spirit to give me the words. When the time came I was groaning; groaning through all the morning prayers. I asked the altar side prayer team at our local church to pray that I would be humble as I groan with the Spirit. That I would not feel, think I have some special gift but would be humble.
Brother DAle