13 When you cry out, Let your collection of idols deliver you. But the wind will carry them all away, A breath will take them. But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land, And shall inherit My holy mountain."
14 And one shall say, "Heap it up! Heap it up! Prepare the way, Take the stumbling block out of the way of My people."
15 For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
We hear about revivals throughout history: the Great Awakenings and regional outpourings of God's Spirit as people come together and seek His face. We can place ourselves into a position to receive what God wants to demonstrate in us and in His Church. If we desire to experience a move of God, we have to move to a place in which He can use us...that's not necessarily physical, but it can be; but our hearts have to move toward God and we can express our desire in prayer to see Him do His work.
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Jesus taught us about the power that comes from agreeing with one another. In Matthew 18, after laying out principles of Biblical reconciliation and restoration of relationships, He stresses the
importance of agreement; it's more than just a "strength in numbers" thing, it's an invitation to experience an expression of profound spiritual power.
18 Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."
Greg Mathis is the Senior Pastor of a church in Hendersonville, North Carolina called Mud Creek Baptist Church. Before COVID-19 hit, he was scheduled to attend a mountaintop prayer retreat with other pastors on property owned by a 95-year-old man named Fred Lunsford. On the church's website, there is an article that he wrote that details the meeting that a number of ministers had with Rev. Lunsford earlier this year. According to the article, they discovered that "he was one of the brave soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day in 1944."
But, there is something that Lunsford is very passionate about. The pastor relates:
While Rev. Lunsford is a very patriotic American, it is his burden as a soldier of the cross for a spiritual awakening that really captured our attention. He told us that he spends every day longing for it, praying for it, and truly believing in it. He invited us to travel with him the two-mile track to his special prayer place to join him in prayer for a spiritual awakening.After they prayed together, Lunsford challenged the ministers to increase their numbers and bring 100 preachers to his prayer garden. The group actually recruited 200 to come together on May 5 to pray for revival. Then the Coronavirus hit; it became apparent that the preachers could not physically gather at Lunsford's mountain. But, Lunsford was not deterred:
He said, “through prayer God has shown me that the promotion of the Praying on The Mountain event was simply God’s way of getting the attention of 200 preachers who realized the urgent need to come together and pray.” Fred went on to say that God revealed to him, “now that I have their attention, I want them to help organize an army of prayer warriors who will fast and pray on May 5th for a spiritual awakening. Fred said, “I should have seen this coming because God kept giving me hints of this when so many laymen kept asking me if they could be a part of the Praying on The Mountain event for a spiritual awakening. There was a growing interest, but logistically I wasn’t sure how we were all going to physically gather everyone together into one place to pray on that mountain on May 5th.”Mathis writes: "Fred is asking God to impress on the hearts of at least 10,000 Christians who will join him from their special place of prayer as he prays on the mountain on May 5th for a spiritual awakening in America."
The former head of the National Day of Prayer Task Force has said, "yes!" Tomorrow afternoon at 2:00pm Central Time, Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee President and CEO Ronnie Floyd, according to Baptist Press, "will host an online call at sbc.net/pray with the pastors and leaders who initiated the prayer movement."
Lunsford, Mathis, and Fruitland Baptist Bible College President David Horton will join Dr. Floyd and others on the call. The article relates:
Floyd said after learning of the prayer movement, he watched a sermon message in which Mathis announced the May 5 gathering and called Christians to pray. He said he is eager to partner with the pastors in a unique, focused, prayer mission.
"As soon as I watched the message on America by Dr. Greg Mathis as well as his compelling interview with 95-year old Pastor Fred Lunsford, I joined the team to pray on May 5th for spiritual awakening in America," Floyd said.
The Mud Creek Baptist Church's website has announced that well over 100,000 Christians have committed to pray, in fact, the number has exceeded 175,000. And, Lunsford "...realizes the National Day of Prayer is later that week, but God has impressed on him to lead thousands of Christians to fast and pray on May 5th. Fred states, 'We can’t pray too much. There is an urgency for Christians to pray now! God is not waiting on Hollywood, the media, or even politicians to give a revival. God is waiting on the church!'”
And, prayer is one of the tenets of an evangelistic movement this entire month called GO2020. You will be able to hear U.S. Director Dave Gibson on the Monday edition of The Meeting House program.
So, let's consider these concepts together:
First, the COVID-19 crisis has perhaps given us some extra time - that time can be used to pray; and it certainly seems as if God is communicating a strong call to revival and spiritual awakening during this season, with several movements occurring here during the month. With the time God has given to us, we can seek to be efficient in prayer.
Fred Lunsford has a piece of property on a mountain - originally, he had invited pastors to join him there; due to the Coronavirus, he now invites people to go to their own special prayer places. So, we can ask ourselves, what is your special place of prayer? In Matthew 6, Jesus referred to a "closet," or "inner room." It's a designated prayer area where we can spend focused time before the throne of God. Now, we are also invited to pray on the go, wherever we are, to "pray without ceasing." But, we can also make sure we have a place where we can engage in passionate, concentrated prayer, without the distractions that life can bring.
Finally, regarding Praying on the Mountain, the effort began with a few ministers, and the intent was to expand it to 100, then it became 200 - with the virus, the effort became viral and went to 100,000 and is well on its way to 200,000. The idea has taken hold and it has spread rapidly. This sets the stage for a profound prayer effort, recognizing that there is power in agreement. Jesus is in the midst of two or three, he taught in Matthew 18 - imagine what He can do with hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions.
And, prayer is one of the tenets of an evangelistic movement this entire month called GO2020. You will be able to hear U.S. Director Dave Gibson on the Monday edition of The Meeting House program.
So, let's consider these concepts together:
First, the COVID-19 crisis has perhaps given us some extra time - that time can be used to pray; and it certainly seems as if God is communicating a strong call to revival and spiritual awakening during this season, with several movements occurring here during the month. With the time God has given to us, we can seek to be efficient in prayer.
Fred Lunsford has a piece of property on a mountain - originally, he had invited pastors to join him there; due to the Coronavirus, he now invites people to go to their own special prayer places. So, we can ask ourselves, what is your special place of prayer? In Matthew 6, Jesus referred to a "closet," or "inner room." It's a designated prayer area where we can spend focused time before the throne of God. Now, we are also invited to pray on the go, wherever we are, to "pray without ceasing." But, we can also make sure we have a place where we can engage in passionate, concentrated prayer, without the distractions that life can bring.
Finally, regarding Praying on the Mountain, the effort began with a few ministers, and the intent was to expand it to 100, then it became 200 - with the virus, the effort became viral and went to 100,000 and is well on its way to 200,000. The idea has taken hold and it has spread rapidly. This sets the stage for a profound prayer effort, recognizing that there is power in agreement. Jesus is in the midst of two or three, he taught in Matthew 18 - imagine what He can do with hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions.
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