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onething Nashville – Recap
Our first onething regional of the year started off with a powerful move of God’s Spirit. A crowd of 1,400 gathered at Belmont Church in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, and we waited for the Holy Spirit to move among them like He has been ministering to our student body at IHOP–KC since November 11.
As we waited on the Lord before our first session on Friday night, the Lord filled us anew with His Holy Spirit and boldness. Our hearts were expectant, as we called upon the Lord to bless those who had gathered for the conference, and within the first worship song, the presence of the Lord filled the sanctuary and the overflow room. We gave a history of the student awakening at IHOP–KC, set in the context of the ten years we had previously spent crying out for God to send us His Spirit in a greater measure. Our faith was stirred, and we began asking God to visit Nashville in power and to raise up His house of prayer.
That night we witnessed many being touched by the power and fire of God’s Spirit, and many experienced the love of God in a new way. The next day, a young lady testified that she had experienced the love of God so strongly, and that she had been set free of suicidal thoughts and immoral desires. In their place, love for God was burning in her heart. Another young man came under the power of God and testified that he had been delivered from homosexual tendencies. Many were healed of physical pain, and one man was instantly healed of a shoulder injury; he removed his arm sling and left the conference carrying the sling in his hand.
On Saturday we taught about intimacy with God from the life of Mary of Bethany, about the knowledge of God in the person of Jesus, and about fasting and prayer. Our worship team led a Q&A session with hundreds of singers, musicians, and worship leaders. We also gathered around eighty student leaders and college campus ministry leaders to strategize and pray for revival on college campuses.
The Lord met us powerfully again that night. The joy of the Lord came, and many were set free to enter into authentic worship. Sixty students attending from Lee University experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit resting on them for over two hours. Many of them experienced the fire of God’s presence and the joy of the Lord. They left filled with boldness to see God’s glory come on their campus.
Please continue to pray for our onething regional conferences. We’re asking God to pour out His power, and presence, and to strengthen the believers who gather for these conferences.
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The Humility of God
Today as I sit in the prayer room and listen to the singers sing the Word of God, I am mindful of the humility of God. Jesus, the most humble man to ever live, beckons us to put on humility like He does. Humility is the true fragrance of God, and it gives an effective witness for the kingdom. Our words, our attitudes, and our facial expressions must always be soaked in humility as we go out and when we’re at home. He is exalted and glorified when we choose to put on humility.
Jesus walked among the ones He created, so high above them in power, in wisdom, in influence, and in insight, and yet He lived as a humble man from Nazareth. We see the true humility of God in the face of Christ. As we respond to the cry of heaven to put on Christ, the Holy Spirit will give us power and strength to be like Him.
He gives grace to the humble; He makes happy the poor in spirit. We go low, and He lifts us up.
God, give me power and grace as I choose to put on humility in all that I do and say.
Thank You, Jesus!
A Greenhouse for Growing Messengers
Week to week, month to month, and year to year, the prayer room is full of mainly young people sitting, standing, and spending hours a day worshiping, studying the Word, praying, and coming before God. Singers and musicians worship Jesus and go deep in the Word with fasting and prayer. They reach for the creative music of His heart. As singers sing the Word back to God, the Spirit meets them with revelation, and they sing of the mysteries of God’s heart.
The prayer room is an excellent place to cultivate the Word within our hearts. We in the room have the privilege of reaping from the labor of the singers and musicians. We benefit from the environment of adoration that they create. When God anoints the music, we hear sounds that minister deeply to the human spirit.
The prayer room is fertile ground for the cultivation of messengers to be filled with the Word of God so they can preach the gospel and declare the coming of Jesus with conviction. It is a training ground for the development of communion with the heart of the Father and of faithfulness in our hearts to His Word. As we invest our time in the Word and in worship, faith is built in our hearts that allows us to speak the truth of His Word boldly.
Thank you, Jesus, for giving us the gift of years to gaze on You in Your house. Raise up greenhouses of prayer and worship to You all over the earth.
From the Prayer Room
Yesterday during the 10:00am set, we were crying out for the church of Peoria, IL, because there are eighteen congregations in that city coming together to fast and pray for twenty-one days. The Lord whispered two things to me while we were praying. One was that the Church uniting together in the humility of prayer and fasting is the wisest thing she could do in this hour. When we humble ourselves before God, He lifts us up and causes His light to shine forth in power. Oh, that our cities would be full of churches united together in fasting and prayer for God to rend the heavens and come down! The other thing He said was that it is wisdom for the Church to be praying. During the set, we were aiming our prayers towards the believers in Peoria, IL. Nearly all of the prayers in the New Testament do the same; they focus on the Church. When believers are touched and filled with the Holy Spirit, the sick in that city are healed, the lost are saved, and the oppressed are set free. This is why we focus our prayers on believers being filled, encouraged, strengthened, and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Be blessed.
From the Prayer Room
Yesterday, during the 8:00am set, Justin Rizzo’s team was singing based on a passage in 1 Corinthians 15, concerning the hope of the resurrection of the saints when Jesus returns. As soon as the prayer leader, Brandon Hammonds, introduced the passage to be sung you could feel a shift in the atmosphere in the prayer room. It was as if the spirit of prophecy instantly came upon us in the room, and especially on the singers. Jon Rizzo, the chorus leader for the set, sang out a spontaneous oracle and broke it open. People all over the room began to be filled with the “wine” of the Holy Spirit; people were laughing, rejoicing, and worshiping our beautiful God as He came and rested upon us. What a way to spend your Wednesday morning!
Jesus has defeated death. It has been swallowed up by the power of God. On that glorious day when He comes again, He will openly manifest His power over sin and death as He raises the dead and transforms those still alive to be like Him. Amen and amen. Be blessed today as we look for and beckon the return of Jesus.
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