Our church turned a corner last year in our pursuit of God. We started off with His presence very real, but over time that dwindled away in our worship, and in our corporate gatherings the gifts stopped flowing as they once did. My wife and I realized the Lord desired a consistent, unified, personal invitation for His Glory to keep coming. Without us drawing near to Him from a place of humility, hunger and personal worship, both at home and at church, He did not feel welcomed. So, we established intimate corporate prayer from 9:30am to 10am on Sunday mornings. It's not a time to jump up and down, bounce off the walls, and shout Hallelujah. No, not at all. It's an heartfelt approach to God, and an invitation extended to Him where we seek His face, and show our desire to host His Presence.
What we did not realize is that most of our church never understood what we were doing. They were locked into one approach to God, and one style of prayer and worship, that this time of seeking Him did not connect fully. Those who came at 9:30am were often talking in the back of the sanctuary. Others were distracted with things and they walked in and out of the prayer time. Some came late, and caught the end of prayer, or they just stayed outside the room and got coffee. Others wanted to fellowship with each other rather than get before the Lord. As a result, His Presence continued to diminish, and Esther and I were left more hungry than ever for Him.
The simple solution was found in 1 Kings 8:11. Here the people of God were unified, humbled and seeking God as one. In that place of purity, unity and humility God came and we read; "...the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD." It's time to go back and teach the people what the Lord wants from us all. When we are one , seeking after Him alone, He will come.
Today's Word: The Lord is drawn to those who are unified, humble and hungry for Him. Approach Him like this as one, and His Glory will be there.
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