Back to the Upper Room
The Command
During December 2009, the Lord spoke to me by saying, "I want my apostolic leaders to return to The Upper Room." My question was, “Why the Upper Room?” The Lord insisted that the church has lost complete understanding of what happened in The Upper Room 2000 years ago and how important it is for the modern day church to get back "The Spirit of Prayer".
Why Back to the Upper Room?
To have a church without understanding the importance of prayer and more specifically "The Spirit of Prayer", is to have a church that operates in the possible of what man can do. That by itself is not church but something else. Only "The Spirit of Prayer" makes a church a relevant. The church may be able to run for a long time without being in touch with the Upper Room but must ultimately return there at some point. The power and authority that comes through prayer cannot be obtained in any other way. To wish away, or ignore our roots, will serve no purpose for it is His church, and He will ultimately take it back and send it in the direction He desires.
The Heart of Jesus
Once you see and feel His heartbeat, it will affect your life forever. He is passionate about His church, and He is a God who has His own way of doing things. He will never divert from how He started His church, and He will never abandon His own convictions. I saw His heart broken over His people. One of the things that touch the Heart of God is the fact that He gave the church His Holy Spirit and still we do not understand prayer. How can The Muslim world dedicate so much time to prayer without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? God keeps first and foremost His leaders responsible for the status of the church. His Heart is yearning to urge us back into "The Spirit of Prayer". That is what will turn the tide back in the favor of His Church. Pleasing His Heart is not an option but something that is about to happen. God is raising up people all over the Globe pleasing His heart.
Who is responsible for bringing the church back to her knees?
The first leadership office He keeps responsible is those who call themselves Apostles and Prophets. Broadcasting to the world that you are an Apostle is one thing, but living the life of a true New Testament Apostle modeling your life after the life of The Apostle Paul is another thing. Unless you have an understanding of His Heart and how He feels about the Upper Room, you simply do not walk in the fullness of who He is. What He demands, and where the church needs to go, is something dear to His Heart, and He expects the five-fold ministry to understand this. In modern day, there are many that claim to be fivefold minister’s but refuse to walk in "The Spirit of Prayer". Without prayer, your office is non-existing.
The Power of Prayer
The power of prayer is much more than a mere statement. This power is a forgotten one in the modern day church. The power of prayer is the single most absent aspect of modern day church. Talking, writing or mentioning this could separate you from believers. Prayer, the engine room of the church, has become quiet. To turn off the engine of a Boeing jet at 30,000 feet is unthinkable. It would lead to a disaster. To lead a church without this engine room is also unthinkable. When the sound of prayer is absent, the spirit of conviction is gone. Our single most desperate plea to the Lord should be to help us get back the desire for prayer and the understanding of how crucial the spirit of prayer or for that matter spirit of conviction is in the church. Jesus prayed, and so should we.
Our Creator is the only one that can answer prayer. You may have a god, but unless the god is alive, he cannot hear you. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is alive, has an ear and can therefore answer prayer. Our prayers are not a release of words that float through the air. Our prayers are literally heard by God as He stands ready to answer. Our answer to prayer is heaven born. Your earthly need is about to receive a heaven born answer and how can one in the light of such truth even think of not praying. Teach us, Oh Lord, how to pray again.
Interior of the First Church
The interior of the Upper Room was one of expectancy and waiting on the Lord. It was a room ready for the unexpected. Prayer is a position of expectancy for what heaven could deliver any moment. Allow God to decorate the interior of your church with His presence. We put great emphasis on interior decorations and have a modern day approach in how we do things. This is all good and I love it myself, but let us complete our churches by allowing The Holy Spirit to come do the spiritual decorations for what is desperately missing in the modern day church. The Spirit of prayer, His presence, will first and foremost bring the spirit of conviction. You can never have the spirit of prayer upon your life and your people without having the spirit of conviction. These two walk hand in hand. Through His precious Holy Spirit, He has begun the process of redecorating His Church from the inside out.
Spirit of Prayer versus Prayer
I thank the Lord for all prayers. Even a prayer on paper being read by someone is precious to our Lord. Not all prayers are done in the spirit of prayer. Jesus had this anointing for prayer on Him while his disciples fell asleep. Jesus carried the Spirit of Prayer on Him. It is not about how many hours or how intense you pray. Hours in prayer could become an exercise of works, because works by itself has no power. When I refer to the Spirit of Prayer, I refer to a constant hunger to whisper words of love, care, adoration, respect and much more to the Lord. Someone that has the Spirit of Prayer on him or her will find that a prayer service cannot satisfy their hunger after Him. The Spirit of prayer never leaves you, and you could even find yourself praying in your dreams.
I remember dreams where I was in crusades preaching or a conference worshipping so intense that I literally felt the anointing in my dreams. When I woke up, I could feel His presence all over me in my room where I just had the dream. His Spirit reigning in our lives is not an exercise of works but it is like finding yourself in a river where the force of the water takes you to places with no effort involved. Let the Spirit of Prayer consume you now, to usher you into a new season, for it is time.
Brokenness, Humility and Transparency
Prayer and carrying The Spirit of Prayer is not a thing of arrogance. The more you find yourself in prayer, the more you will walk in brokenness, humility and transparency. During several months of conference calls with leaders from all over the globe, this became the trademark of all our calls. Leaders under the mantle of prayer became so broken and touched by the Lord that several had to leave the call to get back their composure and join the call later. Carrying The Spirit of Prayer is almost like being baptized again in a divine passion for humanity and a brokenness that is almost foreign these days. The Spirit of Prayer on anyone will reveal the world in the exact way Jesus sees the world. Having His heartbeat in you is like having a divide fire that consumes you. A person will know see the world the way He sees the world. Let Him take you captive today through "The Spirit of Prayer."
During December 2009, the Lord spoke to me by saying, "I want my apostolic leaders to return to The Upper Room." My question was, “Why the Upper Room?” The Lord insisted that the church has lost complete understanding of what happened in The Upper Room 2000 years ago and how important it is for the modern day church to get back "The Spirit of Prayer".
Why Back to the Upper Room?
To have a church without understanding the importance of prayer and more specifically "The Spirit of Prayer", is to have a church that operates in the possible of what man can do. That by itself is not church but something else. Only "The Spirit of Prayer" makes a church a relevant. The church may be able to run for a long time without being in touch with the Upper Room but must ultimately return there at some point. The power and authority that comes through prayer cannot be obtained in any other way. To wish away, or ignore our roots, will serve no purpose for it is His church, and He will ultimately take it back and send it in the direction He desires.
The Heart of Jesus
Once you see and feel His heartbeat, it will affect your life forever. He is passionate about His church, and He is a God who has His own way of doing things. He will never divert from how He started His church, and He will never abandon His own convictions. I saw His heart broken over His people. One of the things that touch the Heart of God is the fact that He gave the church His Holy Spirit and still we do not understand prayer. How can The Muslim world dedicate so much time to prayer without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? God keeps first and foremost His leaders responsible for the status of the church. His Heart is yearning to urge us back into "The Spirit of Prayer". That is what will turn the tide back in the favor of His Church. Pleasing His Heart is not an option but something that is about to happen. God is raising up people all over the Globe pleasing His heart.
Who is responsible for bringing the church back to her knees?
The first leadership office He keeps responsible is those who call themselves Apostles and Prophets. Broadcasting to the world that you are an Apostle is one thing, but living the life of a true New Testament Apostle modeling your life after the life of The Apostle Paul is another thing. Unless you have an understanding of His Heart and how He feels about the Upper Room, you simply do not walk in the fullness of who He is. What He demands, and where the church needs to go, is something dear to His Heart, and He expects the five-fold ministry to understand this. In modern day, there are many that claim to be fivefold minister’s but refuse to walk in "The Spirit of Prayer". Without prayer, your office is non-existing.
The Power of Prayer
The power of prayer is much more than a mere statement. This power is a forgotten one in the modern day church. The power of prayer is the single most absent aspect of modern day church. Talking, writing or mentioning this could separate you from believers. Prayer, the engine room of the church, has become quiet. To turn off the engine of a Boeing jet at 30,000 feet is unthinkable. It would lead to a disaster. To lead a church without this engine room is also unthinkable. When the sound of prayer is absent, the spirit of conviction is gone. Our single most desperate plea to the Lord should be to help us get back the desire for prayer and the understanding of how crucial the spirit of prayer or for that matter spirit of conviction is in the church. Jesus prayed, and so should we.
Our Creator is the only one that can answer prayer. You may have a god, but unless the god is alive, he cannot hear you. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is alive, has an ear and can therefore answer prayer. Our prayers are not a release of words that float through the air. Our prayers are literally heard by God as He stands ready to answer. Our answer to prayer is heaven born. Your earthly need is about to receive a heaven born answer and how can one in the light of such truth even think of not praying. Teach us, Oh Lord, how to pray again.
Interior of the First Church
The interior of the Upper Room was one of expectancy and waiting on the Lord. It was a room ready for the unexpected. Prayer is a position of expectancy for what heaven could deliver any moment. Allow God to decorate the interior of your church with His presence. We put great emphasis on interior decorations and have a modern day approach in how we do things. This is all good and I love it myself, but let us complete our churches by allowing The Holy Spirit to come do the spiritual decorations for what is desperately missing in the modern day church. The Spirit of prayer, His presence, will first and foremost bring the spirit of conviction. You can never have the spirit of prayer upon your life and your people without having the spirit of conviction. These two walk hand in hand. Through His precious Holy Spirit, He has begun the process of redecorating His Church from the inside out.
Spirit of Prayer versus Prayer
I thank the Lord for all prayers. Even a prayer on paper being read by someone is precious to our Lord. Not all prayers are done in the spirit of prayer. Jesus had this anointing for prayer on Him while his disciples fell asleep. Jesus carried the Spirit of Prayer on Him. It is not about how many hours or how intense you pray. Hours in prayer could become an exercise of works, because works by itself has no power. When I refer to the Spirit of Prayer, I refer to a constant hunger to whisper words of love, care, adoration, respect and much more to the Lord. Someone that has the Spirit of Prayer on him or her will find that a prayer service cannot satisfy their hunger after Him. The Spirit of prayer never leaves you, and you could even find yourself praying in your dreams.
I remember dreams where I was in crusades preaching or a conference worshipping so intense that I literally felt the anointing in my dreams. When I woke up, I could feel His presence all over me in my room where I just had the dream. His Spirit reigning in our lives is not an exercise of works but it is like finding yourself in a river where the force of the water takes you to places with no effort involved. Let the Spirit of Prayer consume you now, to usher you into a new season, for it is time.
Brokenness, Humility and Transparency
Prayer and carrying The Spirit of Prayer is not a thing of arrogance. The more you find yourself in prayer, the more you will walk in brokenness, humility and transparency. During several months of conference calls with leaders from all over the globe, this became the trademark of all our calls. Leaders under the mantle of prayer became so broken and touched by the Lord that several had to leave the call to get back their composure and join the call later. Carrying The Spirit of Prayer is almost like being baptized again in a divine passion for humanity and a brokenness that is almost foreign these days. The Spirit of Prayer on anyone will reveal the world in the exact way Jesus sees the world. Having His heartbeat in you is like having a divide fire that consumes you. A person will know see the world the way He sees the world. Let Him take you captive today through "The Spirit of Prayer."
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