- More Prayer from the Father’s Heart
Begin by quieting your heart and spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring whatever is on the Father’s heart, and pray what comes. Let us cry out for mercy for the nation after nation that He puts on your heart. Conclude by asking for more intercessors; here, and around His world. Jesus said, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into His harvest. (Matt. 9:37-38). Since God is still saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us? (Isa. 6:8), let’s start by saying with Isaiah, Here am I. Send me. Remember Pastor Jim Cobrae’s much-repeated line? ”Tell somebody about Jesus.” That’s the God-assignment of every believer, including you! Then let’s obey Jesus. - More Laborers for the Harvest
Pray for Muslim-background believers to preach Jesus to Muslims. Pray for former Hindus to share the gospel with Hindus. Pray for Buddhists, who now believe in Jesus, to love their family and friends to Jesus. Pray for missionaries who are creating and providing materials and motives for them to do it. Pray for Messianic Jews to bring orthodox and secular Jews to Yeshua the Messiah. Pray for atheists and New Age-ers to be born again and then to convert others like them. Pray BIG prayers. The end-time harvest must be enormous, in the billions, for Revelation 7:9 to become true: a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language. Pray for millions of end-time harvesters in each of the above categories. Pray for Jesus, the Head of His Church, to give apostles, prophets, evangelists, - article_categories/pastors and teachers, for church-planting movements in every ethnic people-group, so all the new believers will be discipled until they are truly following Jesus, including “telling somebody about Jesus.” - More Outpouring of the Spirit on the Local Church
Where will the apostles, prophets, evangelists, - article_categories/pastors and teachers in the end-time harvest come from? The local church, of course. Cyprian, the 3rd Century Bishop of Carthage wrote, “No one can have God for his Father, who does not have the Church for his mother.” Now let’s combine that piece of common sense with the prophecy of Joel. I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams. Your young men shall see visions: And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will shew wonders…before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord (Joel 2:29,-30). God doesn’t call the qualified. God qualifies the available. Christian ministry arises out of the local church as Jesus, the Lord of His church, anoints available servants with the Holy Spirit. Case history: As they [5 prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch] ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent forth by the Holy Spirit, they went. (Acts 13:2-4 NKJ) So began the first missionary journey of the man we would learn to know as the Apostle Paul. The church had already ordained Stephen and Philip as deacons, whom the Holy Spirit further anointed with an apostolic ministry [see Acts 6, 7, & 8]. Would you like Jesus to do those kinds of things in your local church? Have you asked Him to? Did you know that He already has, and wants to do lots more?
A Final Thought
On June 29, 2018, I awoke and noticed the clock said 5:17. In the next few minutes, I saw these words in bold black: Pray for The Rock as if the salvation of the world depends on it. So I got up and confessed that I didn’t know how to pray that, and asked the Holy Spirit for help. I still need help…yours? As I realized over the next few weeks that the Sovereign Lord of History has already determined and decreed that He will pour out His Spirit on all flesh, I began to picture it. What will The Rock Church and World Outreach Center look like when He pours out His Spirit on all flesh in this local church? What will the children’s ministry, youth ministry, young adult ministry, Bible College, etc. look like then? What will our “normal” services of worship, praise, and preaching look like? And what will we look like as we not only declare, “The Inland Empire shall be saved,” but go out, 15,000 strong, to save the Inland Empire, with every member baptized in the Holy Spirit, trained in and exercising the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and walking in the Holy Spirit (holy love)? God doesn’t expect The Rock to save the Inland Empire alone. I envision at least 100,000 Spirit-baptized believers working to save the 4 million people in the Inland Empire, and to save our marriages, families, neighborhoods, schools, businesses, law firms, hospitals, courts, etc. I also am praying that 25,000 of them will be from The Rock, not counting the less eager members here. This can only happen as Jesus baptizes people in His Holy Spirit in the local churches that are hungry and thirsty for what only He can do. Will you join us in praying? Is this the will of God? For sure! Why don’t we have this yet? You do not have because you do not ask. (James 4:2). Let’s share the vision and pray fervently for The Rock, as if the salvation of the world depends on it!
