We had quite a day yesterday. As you may know, we are meeting in King's Fellowship for now (thanks again to Al and Sue Gordon for being so generous with their building and supportive of our efforts). We have loads of meetings each Sunday and are having such a good time learning and growing in the nuances that make a house of worship and intercession work. Each hour brings a new format and approach to worshipping through the scriptures (more on this is found on the "Mechanics" page). It has been challenging at times, but mostly it has been life-giving and lots of fun.This Sunday we had one hour in which Yvonne led us by singing through Psalm 130 and 136. Steph partnered with her as she read and prayed through the passages. It was rich in meaning and so enjoyable to be a part of. We are singing through the scriptures! We are meditating on the truth that is in the heart of God and beginning to think more and more like Him.
Following their hour, Joel led us in an hour of exploring the theme found in Psalm 27:4 (...one thing have I desired). Steph and I partnered in praying and reading relevant passages and allowing the Spirit of God to guide us in our ever-deepening understanding of His truth on this topic. Here is a tip for you: Psalm 27:4 and Revelation 4 go really well together!! Trust me...or come next time to sing through it with us.
Orv and Gina led the following hour of Devotion, songs that express the heart of worship to the Lord. In this set there is always room to express ourselves in free and creative ways. I love these sets. Whenever I ask someone to lead one of these for the first time, I always tell them, "imagine you are sitting in your living room with your guitar or piano...now how would you sing out your love and affection to God with nobody there? That's what we want in this set..." And, they do it! Don't worry about getting all the songs right. Don't worry about how many songs are sung. Sing from your heart and let the rest of us sit and enjoy God as you minister to His heart.
I always speak at 6:30 and we had 30 minutes focused on the role of prophetic singing in a house of prayer. Shane interviewed his lovely wife Kristi on her journey in prophetic singing. There was some powerful insight for all of us in her story. Then Shane prayed for her! I love it when Shane prays. He can pray for me any time. The man believes it!
Then, for no reason I could explain at the time, the evening went sideways. We began our prophetic intercession meeting at 7pm with Johan and the team leading us. We always do 90 minutes each week on the theme of intercession for the city of Winnipeg. I was surprised to notice almost right away that what had been a free and easy day suddenly become difficult and heavy. Nothing seemed to be clicking. The people that came to pray were heard saying "wow, that was terrible" after their prayer was proclaimed.
Now, I am fully aware from considerable experience that feelings usually mean nothing in this activity. If it is wonderful, its great to feel but it doesn't make it any more powerful a prayer time. And, in this case as with others, NOT feeling good things didn't lessen the impact of our prayers together. Feelings here on earth don't really matter to God when He hears our prayers.
But, it makes staying focused really challenging. After almost an hour of pressing ahead, many were saying to me "we need to stop and ask the Lord concerning this". SO, we did...and He spoke a challenging word to us. "TURN...really TURN...I know you want to....I know your heart is focused to do so....but I ask you to make it real action....TURN". It was wonderfully challenging, painfully sweet. The Lord is so interested in His people being like Him that He calls us again and again. He got our attention with our own frailties, showed us that good meetings do not equal kingdom living and then challenged us in love to live it out.
Joel took over again on the keyboard at 8:30 and we went another hour responding to this challenge, singing through the issue of our need of Him, declaring our tendency to wickedness and weakness and generally asking for His will and not ours in our lives and in the life of Sanctuary.
His challenge is our invitation to more. We can say YES! and figure it out as we march forth in love. Suddenly, songs and prayers from the earlier sets of the day come flooding back. It all fits together. It all makes sense. You are the holy one on the throne of Revelation 4. It is our one desire to gaze upon your beauty and see you in this. My soul does wait for you more than the watchmen wait for the morning. Your love does endure forever. And we are in love with You alone.
He is not far off. Turn to Him. And pray for us as we do the same.
Brian Creary
Ministry Director
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