Tuesday, May 02, 2006

A People of One Thing

A People of One Thing… Ps 27:4 One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.


Andy Stanley once said, “Vision is a clear picture of what could be; fueled by the conviction that it should be!” Our vision is to help believers develop deep lives of prayer, worship, and fellowship with God.

It’s simply the First Commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and body. From that place flows the Second Commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves. The second commandment is comprised of the compassion, mercy, and evangelism works or the fruit of the Spirit which should grow in every Christ-Follower.

Biblical ministry always flows from the place of prayer. Mary of Bethany was an ordinary young, single woman with no exceptional leadership gifts or public ministry. There was nothing you or I would note as exceptional about her, an ordinary woman of her day. All that scripture tells us of her paints a picture of extreme devotion. Her life is remembered as a life that moved God. Each time this Mary appears scripture, she was sitting at the feet of Jesus (Lk 10:39;Jn 11:32; 12:3)

Luke 10:42 “But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” Mike Bickle has this to say about her: “Mary had one thing beating in her heart, and nobody could pull it away from her. This “one thing” is not the only thing in the kingdom of God. Jesus did not say, “There is only one thing that you will do in the Christian life.” Rather, He pointed to Mary’s heart of devotion and said that such a gazing heart is all you need to focus on: the rest will flow from that. Joyful intimacy with God is the great power source of the kingdom of God. It’s the means by which the Holy Spirit continually supplies the heart with power.”


A wise person once said, “You can not give what you don’t have.” So we are here in Kansas City to learn more than simply the mechanics of building a House of Prayer, but rather to become lives of prayer. We are currently involved full time in the Intro to IHOP- Internship. After this internship ends we will go on staff as full time intercessory missionaries (non paid 50 hour a week position.) The time is split with 30 hours in the prayer room and 20 hours of dedicated ministry service. Nearly 500 full time intercessory missionaries like us live a life of prayer together in community (Acts 2). By the Lord's grace, He will draw us to a deeper place as we go together into His heart. We spend our days in the prayer room studying, praying, interceding, and meditating on Scripture with others who are hungry for a reality in Christ. Then, we go out and minister to the world around us.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home