What Are You Hungry For?

As I sit down to write this blog entry, I can hear my wife Kelley in the background talking to my Mother-In-Law Marilyn about Thanksgiving dinner which  is next week.  I must admit, the menu I have heard them discussing sounds absolutely wonderful!  It is a more recent tradition of ours that at Thanksgiving, Kelley will make me a "once-a-year" treat that I am completely crazy about.  She got a recipe from the Rachel Ray show that has become one of my favorite holiday traditions!  Here it is:  2-cloves of garlic, a jar of green olives, Ricotta cheese and cream cheese.  Put it all in a Food Processor, blend it together and serve it on Melba Toast!  Oh Yeah!!!  Ok, for some that may not sound like that is something they are hungry for, but for ME,...... I can't wait!

Let me ask you another question:  "How "hungry" are YOU for a genuine move of the Holy Spirit?"  I don't mean some contrived, pumped-up, manipulated THING we generate and then slap the label "REVIVAL" upon.  I mean a genuine "MOVE" of the Holy Spirit that melts peoples hardened hearts, causes people to want to align their will with God's will, and generates an all out renewal of genuine passion for Christ, and compassion for the lost!  THAT type of "MOVE" of the Holy Spirit is rare and few and far between!  Well, to be completely honest with you,........... I am VERY "HUNGRY" for THAT move of the Holy Spirit,  genuine ....... REFORMATION!

I believe another major key in answering the question that this series of blog postings has been addressing entitled:  "Where is the Power?"  Is that the Followers of Jesus have got to begin to pursue a genuine "outpouring" and "move" of the Holy Spirit like were talking about above.  When in our hearts, we become SO tired of the status quo!  So fed up with that which is "PUMPED-UP" and "PRIMED" and absolutely tired of seeing the Church of Jesus Christ completely MISS the point of what we're even here for!  When that kind of hunger is present in a Believers life and we begin to cry out to the Lord to send us genuine renewal and reformation, and "HUNGRILY" pursue it, I believe we WILL see it!  OK, someone may ask:  "Why do we have to "HUNGRILY" pursue the move and power of the Holy Spirit?"  The answer is really quite simple.  When we as the Followers of Jesus begin to pray and cry out to God, and begin to seek an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that changes our hearts and converts unbelievers hearts, we are demonstrating something very needed in the Church today!  We are demonstrating to God that we desire HIM and HIS will more then ANYTHING and EVERYTHING else in this life!

OK, so why would God want to see this type of "hunger" from His people?  Because, when we begin to develop this kind of "hunger" for the move of the Holy Spirit, things begin to happen in our lives.  First, even though we may begin "hungrily" seeking the Lord quite mildly at first, as we are in the process of seeking Him, and over time, our hearts begin to change.  We go from seeking God in a mediocre type of way to "hungrily' pursuing Him!  Passion for Him begins to develop within our hearts, and we begin to change!  Now, we are not just going through a spiritual exercise that we have committed to, but our hearts, which have now changed, begin to cry out to God for genuine renewal and reformation!  Secondly, as we are being transformed through intimacy with Christ, we begin to "SEE" things from His perspective.  His passion becomes our passion!  What He desires we begin to desire!  We, as the Apostle Paul said, are being transformed into the image of God's Son!  Thirdly, as we seek the Lord with this type of hunger, people around us begin to see what God is doing in our hearts and it serves as a type of motivation within the Church.  The Church begins to transform as one person who is visible to the rest of the Fellowship of Believers is transformed!  it has a type of "spreading" effect like fire, but in this case, what is spreading is a "hunger" for God  And Finally, as we begin to "hungrily" seek the Lord like this, we begin to see God move.  The Lord promised us that if we "hungrily' seek Him, He will certainly respond to us, and we will "find" Him.  We will experience Him and know Him in a deeper more intimate way!  Listen to what the Lord said about this in Jeremiah 29:13 --- "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart!"

The change that takes place within our hearts, within our churches, and ultimately within our communities as we "hungrily" seek the Lord and the outpouring of His Holy Spirit upon His Body once again, is so desperately needed RIGHT NOW in our churches, our families, and in this world!  Yes, I can't wait for that special Thanksgiving treat my wife makes, I'm so hungry for it!  However, so much more than that, I am genuinely "HUNGRY" for the move of the Holy Spirit, and His power to be unleashed upon His Church once again!  Dear Reader,........ "WHAT ARE YOU HUNGRY FOR?"

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread!

What is it about prayer that is so hard?  Why, when we as the people of God, think about spending time with God in prayer are we suddenly engulfed with the enormity of work that prayer entails?  Why do we have to "schedule" prayer time?  Why are we forever reading about prayer, studying about prayer, attending seminars on prayer but not doing very much praying?  I truly think there are two reasons for this strange enigma that surrounds prayer.  But before we get into these two reasons, let me remind the reader that we are discussing the answer to the question:  "Where is the power of the Holy Spirit?"  This was a series of messages that the Lord gave me we I asked Him that very question in prayer.  Now, I apologize for the delay in getting this next installment of my blog posting out, as it has been a while.  However, I have had a bout with pneumonia and bronchitis which left me very weak and tired.  So, feeling a "surge" of energy today, I am continuing with this series.

The first reason I believe we battle to pray is a spiritual one.  I believe the devil will do absolutely everything he can to keep the people of God  from praying!  We see this in the Gospel's where the enemy had successfully turned the Temple of God from being a House of Prayer into a den of thieves.  Ironic isn't it, that what was attacked and subsequently altered was the element of the Temple that made it a place of prayer?  The devil absolutely knows what could happen if the people of God in America went from passivity to pro-activity concerning prayer!  In fact, one of the elements that has been missing from our church, has been the element of our church being a "House of Prayer."  I am glad to say that we are on the road to correcting that!  My wife Kelley, has started a time of prayer on Thursday Nights at 7:00 pm.  It has become the "focal point" of our weekly services seeing God so powerfully responding to our prayers!  Truly we are seeing the powerful truth in what the Lord said in James 4:2---"You have not because you do not ask God!"  When the people of God begin to truly become people of prayer, and our churches become "houses of prayer," then we will begin to see God moving powerfully and miraculously in our families, churches, and communities!

The second reason we battle to pray is because it IS a DISCIPLINE!  That means it's..... WORK!  And if we will be honest with ourselves, the Church in America is NOT used to Christianity and living out our faith to be issues of work!  We prefer comfortable, soft, mild, "just go to church and I've done my spiritual service to God," Christianity.  But truly, this perversion of the faith, is NOT Christianity at all!  Within Christianity, there are several "DISCIPLINES" that are necessary in maintaining the intimacy and power so many of us are hungry for!  Prayer requires more then what many are willing to take the time for, and that's EXACTLY why we are so devoid of the power of the Holy Spirit in the American Church!  The initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit was preceded by 50-days of prayer by the people of God!  For approximately 2-years, the founders of the Church of God (Cleveland, TN.) prayed for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and a "movement" was birthed!  Can we ACTUALLY think that we will experience the kind of power that we have all read about in the New Testament Church and in the historical documents of the early Pentecostal movement ANY other way than the way Believers have been seeking His power since Pentecost?.............  ABSOLUTELY NOT!

My prayer for each and everyone of you who read this blog is that you will begin to become praying people.  The people of God who are seeking deeper intimacy and power with Him, to impact this world for Christ, available to us all............. THROUGH PRAYER!