Not Unto Us

I declare that I will be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. I declare that I am putting on the armor of God, to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For I understand that I do not battle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and against the spiritual wickedness in high places. I declare that I shall stand in the evil day, and having done all, I will stand.

Belt of Truth

I declare that I am girding my loins with Truth. Truth will be the foundation for my life, as I walk day by day. I will search the scriptures for Truth, letting the water of the Word wash over me, cleansing me from all unrighteousness. I will allow the Word to purify me. I will worship the Lord in Spirit and in Truth.

Breastplate of Righteousness

I declare that I am putting on the breastplate of righteousness. I will guard my heart by walking in the righteousness of Christ. I will clothe myself in righteous deeds, motivated by love for Christ. I will walk in the Spirit, not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh. I will have clean hands and a pure heart, and I will not lift up my eyes to an idol, but my eyes will be singularly fixed on Jesus Christ.

Feet Shod with the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace

I declare that I have shod my feet with the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace. I will be faithful to walk out my life where the Spirit of God leads me, proclaiming to all the good news of Christ’s resurrection. I will be ready to give my testimony as the Spirit leads me. My steps will not be warring steps, but will be peaceful steps. I will love others with a pure heart.

Shield of Faith

I declare that I am taking up the Shield of Faith. My faith will not waver in the face of adversity, nor will I allow fiery arrows of doubt to penetrate my faith. I will put confidence in my God, who is mighty to save. His arm is not shortened, that He cannot save, nor is His ear deaf that He cannot hear. My shield of faith will join up with others’ shields of faith to form a wall of faith, quenching the fiery darts of the wicked.

Helmet of Salvation

I declare that I am putting on the helmet of salvation. I will take captive every thought and submit it to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. My mind will be continually renewed, as I meditate on those things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, full of virtue and praiseworthy.

Sword of the Spirit

I declare that I will wield the Sword of the Spirit. I will learn the Word of God as a fencer learns to use a sword. I will be skillful, meditating on the Word constantly. I will sing psalms and spiritual songs, memorizing scripture. I will study to show myself approved, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

I declare that today I will pray always that God would supply my needs. I will look to Him for my needs, and to no other. I declare that today I will be faithful to watch as I pray, looking at the things the Spirit would reveal to me. I will intercede for the saints I am aware of, that God would supply their needs according to His riches in glory. I declare that I will speak boldly the mystery of the gospel, no matter my circumstances or condition, as I ought to speak.

I think everyone should go read Mike Bickle’s dream on Rev 12. Go on, read it. I’ll wait.

This has hit me hard – if the leadership of a day and night continuous prayer movement is not ready for the coming trials, what about those of us just struggling to “get in the game” on a Wednesday evening? It is sobering to realize that I am not ready. I can look to my actions just today – my selfishness, my anger, my hardness of heart – and see clearly that there is quite a lot of soul and precious little spirit in my day-to-day walk.

The other thing that struck me from the dream is that Bickle says the church needs to be moving in power. I agree wholeheartedly. I am very frustrated at attending prayer meetings and seeing people walk away still suffering. Interestingly enough, I think that when I see a change in my life as described in the previous paragraph, then I’ll see a change in the prayer meetings I attend.

How glorious will it be to see the church rise up in power and authority? How glorious to see that happen today?

I was able to watch the inauguration on Tuesday while waiting for over 2 hours in a pass & ID office on Ft. Monroe. While I was not moved to tears like more than one person in that office, I do believe this is a significant event.

In 2007, Raegan and I (and many others) prayed specifically that the curse of slavery would be broken in this country, and that any racial wounds that still existed would be healed. In 2009, an African American has been sworn in as the president. Answered prayer, anyone?

Itzhak Perlman (violin), Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Gabriela Montero (piano), and Anthony McGill (clarinet) played a musical arrangement Air and Simple Gifts by John Williams. Simple Gifts is a hymn that I know as Lord of the Dance. Because the inauguration was running about 5 minutes behind, and the president-elect officially becomes president at noon, President-Elect Obama became President Obama as the musicians played Lord of the Dance. Can God get any more explicit that He is in control? I suppose a thunderbolt or something could have been employed, but I like this method.

There are many policies of the current administration that I disagree with. Taxes, health care, energy, etc. I believe it is impossible to find explicit energy policy in scripture. “And yea, thou shalt drill for oil in coastal regions only in a manner consistent with the environmental protection agency’s guidelines. An area of 3,000 cubits on each side shall be used, and no more. Thus sayeth the Lord,” is nowhere to be found. So I understand there can be disagreement in some matters of national policy. Sure, guidelines & principles can be found (good stewardship of resources) throughout scripture, but not explicit policy.

However, some issues I believe can be found explicitly in scripture. I believe that the blood of innocent babies cries out to the Lord day and night. I believe any nation that blesses Israel will be blessed, and any nation that curses Israel will be cursed.

I also believe that President Obama can be the conduit through which God sends the end of abortion to America. I believe that President Obama can encounter the living God and become a man that will stand for justice and God’s will. God changed the heart of Nebuchadnezzar, a decidely ungodly man, into one who would declare openly that God is Lord. God can certainly move President Obama to defend the innocent unborn.

This inauguration marks a significant time in our history, and I believe is a miraculous answer to prayer. I believe many more prayers will be answered before this administration is over. The Lord of the Dance is dancing right now.

Psalm 24:3-4 says “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.”

Being in the Lord’s presence is something that we should all desire. It is the “one thing” of which David speaks. It behooves us to see what it takes to stand in God’s presence. Four things characterize the person who can ascend into the Creator’s hill:

1. Clean hands
2. Pure heart
3. Soul not lifted up to an idol
4. No deceitful swearing

Each of these requirements can get a full message. I’m going to look at #2, the pure heart. Jeremiah 17:9,10 says that the heart is desperately wicked, and that God searches the heart and tests the mind. We don’t have the capacity to read our heart accurately. So how can we determine if we have a pure heart? How will we know if we can ascend into the hill of the Lord? Should we just try to ascend, and hope that our heart is pure? I contend that while we may not be able to see the wind of our heart’s motives, we can put up a weather vane and see the direction of the wind.

In Matthew 15, Jesus is confronted by the scribes & Pharisees. They are complaining that the disciples of Jesus are not following the proper rituals to cleanse themselves before they eat. Jesus lays the smack down on them as it were, and explains how they do not defile themselves by what they eat, but they defile themselves by what they speak (Matt 15:11). The disciples ask him in private to explain, and Jesus expounds: “those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.” The words we say are a weather vane for our heart. You can know if you have a pure heart by listening to your words.

The entire book of James discusses very practical things relating to this issue. James 1:6-8 says “…let him ask in faith… for he who doubts … is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” James 3:9,10 says that with our tongue we bless God and curse men. The same mouth produces both blessing and cursing. This is not good. James 4:5 says that the Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously. He desires that we would be single-minded towards him. This means that our mouth would produce only blessing. That’s right. Blessings would be the only thing that proceeds from our heart, to both God and men. James 4:8 – “…Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

A pure heart will be one that blesses those around it. The mouth attached to a pure heart will overflow with life-giving blessings. So what does this mean? Let’s look at Ezekiel 16. God speaks the simplest blessing possible. He does it twice. It is the best thing we can say. God saw Israel, and said, “Live!” When in doubt, speak life. As a single-minded follower of Christ, we should be speaking life everywhere we go. In Ezekiel 37:1-14 God tells Ezekiel to command the dry bones to live, even though the bones themselves (the house of Israel) said “Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!” How should we respond to despair? How should we combat a culture of death? We prophecy life! We must speak blessings of life to a dying people.

Jesus gave us an example of an intercessory prayer in John 17. He is praying to the Father on our behalf, right before He went to the cross. In verse 14 He says, “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them”… now Jesus could have taken this opportunity to say “so smite the haters with a plague!” or “throw down the wicked by your mighty hand!” These requests would be for justice. Micah 6:8 says to do justly and love mercy. So Jesus, rather than demanding justice, rather than speaking curses, speaks life. He says in verse 15, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.” Jesus spoke life. He asked God to protect His people. He asked for God to provide for His people. This has two effects: it brings a blessing to the persecuted and brings an opportunity for mercy to the persecutor. By not calling for judgment on the wicked, Jesus is giving them a chance to repent, to receive mercy.

We should all be speaking life. Sure, it can be hard to say to God, “Yes, these dry bones can live again.” But we can ask God to enlighten the eyes of our heart. We can ask Him to give us a heart of flesh, so that we will be moved with compassion on people. It’s hard to bring down curses on a person you love. God will grant your request. James 4:6-8. “He gives more grace.” More grace. More grace. More grace.

Psalm 19 is one of my favorite Psalms, comparing the speech of nature with the speech (testimony) of God’s law. In verse 14, David says “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.” Our words and our heart are tied together inextricably. This request, for our heart and words to be acceptable to God, is impossible in our own strength. But David says that God is our strength. He can do this work in us. He is also our Redeemer, bringing us back when we fail.

Go out, and speak life. Bills piling up? Ask God to show Himself mighty and break in to your life with provision. Your health is poor? Ask God to rise with healing in His wings. Do you see someone hurting? Comfort them with words of life. Allow yourself to be moved with compassion, and ask God to purify your heart, that your words may be acceptable and full of life.