To God be the glory! What an amazing time we had on Thursday night. It was a time set aside for the simple act of seeking God’s face and drawing closing to Him. The evening began with encouragement from the book of Psalms, Chapter 8. “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” Think about this verse. God’s name is present everywhere in and on this planet. And whenever you see, hear, or experience something on His planet, His name is not only glorified by His creation, it is also glorified by our recognition of His works.
As we entered God’s gates with thanksgiving in our hearts, we most definitely entered His courts with praise. For the next 45 minutes, the presence of the Holy Spirit was so thick in the sanctuary that many of those present simply cried out to God. God impressed upon us to verbally wail and cry out to Him. Our voices and words (both in earthly and heavenly tongues) were sent forth to the throne room where our Lord and Master would be certain to hear. I gotta tell ya’, when you are obedient to God and do what He asks of you, He is overjoyed and doesn’t send blessings, but unloads blessings down on His children. It is hard to describe, with the inadequacy of words, just how special you feel knowing that the One who fashioned everything we are minutely aware of is so in love with you and wants you to spend time in communication with Him. It’s mind-boggling!
Once the Spirit had prepared us, we gathered together for corporate prayer over needs within our church body, for ourselves, and for our community-wide Block Party on July 12th. As we started this time of focused prayer on specific needs, these scriptures were laid on Don’s heart for those present:
“Praise be to the Lord,
for he has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to Him in song.
The Lord is the strength of His people,
a fortress of salvation for His anointed one.
Save your people and bless your inheritance;
be their shepherd and carry them forever.” (Psalm 28:6-9)
So, since we were obedient to God in our praise and worship, and cried out to Him, He heard our cry for mercy. We took our needs to the Lord in prayer, knowing and believing that He heard us. Once we had finished with corporate prayer, the Holy Spirit was manifested in the speaking of tongues. This is where it gets good. In the interpretation, God promised us He would do things that we have not seen yet, and that His property (our church) would experience it. We thanked God for His grace, mercy, and gifts to us and decided we might try to leave at this time—it is hard to leave God’s presence, particularly at this heavy a level. Before we left, God laid it upon Bonnie’s heart for us to “cast our lines” into the sanctuary. God is using another simple act for His glory on Sunday.
This entire night revolved around God’s glory. From the music to the praise and prayers lifted up, God’s glory was highlighted by every word and action that evening. This marks the second prayer meeting we have had with plenty more of them to take place, if the Lord wills it. Keep watch for information on upcoming meetings mentioned in our bulletin and announcements on this blog. To God be the glory forever, for His name is worthy of all our praise (and then some).
