THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD – THE HOPE OF THE NATIONS!
Saturday, January 7, 2010 at 8:36pm
My prayer, above everything else, is to see God’s glory revealed in our churches, and in our lives – beginning now.
The other day, a prophetic word from Pastor Phil Cappuccio got me thinking about the powerful presence of God that we have experienced, through the years, and it made me long for more of His presence. That’s what His Word is supposed to do within us.
In many of our churches today, we have a ‘good’ anointing, but its just not enough to transform a generation. We must have more! The good news is; that God is willing to pour out more of His presence upon this generation, if we will come hungry, and have a passion for His presence.
After you’ve experienced the presence of God like many of us have throughout the years, you learn two things. If God poured out His Spirit in abundance before, He will do it again (If we actively seek Him for more). And secondly, we can’t be satisfied with less, if we want to receive His presence in abundance.
For those who have never experienced God’s presence in a transforming, life-altering way, I want to give you a brief insight into what a mighty anointing is like. Some of you will remember how we used to stand for hours in His presence, worshipping God with audible praise, and feeling like worship service didn’t last long enough, though it was an hour or more long. But many of you have never fallen under His anointing, without anyone touching you, simply because the weight of His presence was too heavy upon you, to stand.
I have seen battle-hardened veterans, who haven’t shed a tear in years, weep like babies, when God’s presence broke open the well in their lives, and washed away years of hurt and bitterness. In Cambodia, as we worshipped the Lord, I have seen hundreds of Buddhists and Hindus grasp their chests, gasp with delight, and begin laughing for joy, as the presence of God removed the pain of sin from their hearts, and filled them with His presence.
Worship, at times like that, wasn’t about the music we sang, or even the language we sang them in, it was about the message WE sent to God; that we loved Him so intensely, that we were willing to give Him what He wanted (worship), more than desiring to have Him meet any of our needs.
True worship demands sacrifice on our part. We must put our desire to please God above everything else on earth, period. It cannot be about pleasing the crowd, or rocking the house. True worship must be the expression of our love, stemming from a pure relationship.
Within an environment, where every heart longs for more of God, it’s amazing what the power of God can do. People are saved, bodies are healed, bondages are broken, and the prophetic declaration of God comes with such power and precision, that it changes our lives forever.
Don’t take me wrong, I am not criticizing the church, or modern worship leaders, they are worshipping the only way they know how. The problem is, its just not enough to take us where we need to go in God. We are presently confronted with a generation that is desperate to discover the reality of God. Nothing else is capable of convincing people that God is real, and really cares about their needs, than to have His overwhelming presence descend upon them.
» Read more: The Hope of the Nations!
