Dear Fellow-labourers of the Most High God,
Three years ago the Lord put a burden on my heart to begin to pray for the heart-ache, heart-break, and heart attitude of His Church. I came to Him earnestly questioning why we, the children of God, were living such defeated, discouraged, and depressed lives when we have such victory in Christ. It was in that place of determined inquiry that the Lord invited me on a 40 day pilgrimage of discovery. "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3).
Although I didn't realize it fully at the time, the Lord's invitation to sit and feast at His table would provide the opportunity He longed for to reveal to me the vast ocean of understanding and unlimited riches of wisdom available in His Word. He had been waiting for me all along to just "be still" so He could wash me in the water through His Word and prepare me to become part of the very answer that I was seeking.
When we pray to God we become active participants in the work of God, and oftentimes we become the vessel He uses in His response. The Lord is the One Who prompts our hearts to pray, and as soon as we respond He can begin to work. Unfortunately, many of us are like the "harrassed and helpless" wandering sheep in Jesus' day. We have not abided with our Lord as we should and have found ourselves vulnerable and weak, unable to recognize the sound of our Shepherds' voice who is calling us from the temporal temptations and trappings of the world to walk beside Him in a field of eternal abundance and freedom. Many of God's children have become captivated by the world and fallen prey to its' deception. God, in His compassion, is wooing us back to Him!
It is a sign when God moves His children to pray (and they begin to respond!) that He is about to pour out His mercy and grace upon His people. He is preparing the way for the wonder He is about to unveil and He is calling His children to take part in the process. The world is pressing in intentionally to prevent us from accomplishing the Lord's plans, but His work will prevail as He pushes His children forward into the field!
"Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'?
I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields!
They are ripe for harvest."
(John 4:35)
Last year, initiated as"The Year of the Lord's Favor", was a divine invitation to all God's children to experience the abundance available and the fulfillment found in sitting at His table. Thousands responded to the call of our Master Shepherd, obediently surrendering, with fasting, the artificial substitutes of the world to feast upon the riches of His Word. Throughout the year the Lord faithfully continued to build a vital work force of laborers ready to enter the field. Maybe through your journey the Lord has revealed your purpose as a pioneer like Moses or David, as you may find yourself courageously being called to lead the way for a new ministry, or maybe you are like the 12 who are committed to ministering God's word and devoted in prayer for all the saints, or of the 72 with a heart for evangelism and proclaiming the gospel of grace to the world, or of Gideon's 300 who are called to stand shoulder-to-shoulder to fight the darkness of evil with the Light of Christ and gain back precious ground that has been lost!
Wherever the Lord has led you, your devotion to the Word of God and prayer will be the key to your success in the land you've been called to conquer (Acts 6:4). Actively seeking God in His Word brings reassurance and peace that He is in control. Activating His Word, by speaking it boldly and offering it to the Lord in prayer, unleashes His power in our life to accomplish His purposes in the world (reference Isaiah 55:11). He is looking for the faithful few who will respond with fervent prayer.
"I looked, but there was no one to help,
I was appalled that no one gave support;
so my own arm worked salvation for me,
and my own wrath sustained me."
(Isaiah 63:5)
When Jesus declared "the year of the Lord's favor", He brought, in the flesh, fulfillment to His promise to bring salvation to the earth (reference Isaiah 61:1,2; Luke 4:19). "In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you" (Isaiah 49:8). Only through His blood can His people and His land experience the restoration and healing it so desperately needs. The cry for deliverance was answered 2000 years ago - through His suffering on the cross and His victory over the grave! Today, He is looking for our response to the answer He has already given and for willing hearts to enter the field that has been prepared and to do the work of sharing the testimony of His mercy, love, and grace. At the very heart of this process is the prayers of the saints!
Our time of feasting at His table has been necessary to prepare us to enter His field. We are being called to return to the work of the Father and set aside the worries of the world. The time has come for us to lay down our concerns over this temporal life and pick up, with confidence, the cross of our conquering, and eternal, King. We have been fighting the enemy at the border, allowing him to impede our progress, instead of entering the field and reaping the harvest for the kingdom of God! Jesus Christ promised He will return for His Bride. May His promptings for His beloved cause us to respond with faithfulness and obedience to return to the task we were commissed to do (reference Matthew 28:18-20)!
"Sow for yourself righteousness,
reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;
for it is time to seek the LORD, until He comes
and showers righteousness upon you."
(Hosea 10:12)
As the times we are living in grow more challenging, and the love of most continues to grow cold, may the church respond to the heat of the fire being stoked in our lives as the Lord burns down the disease of apathy that has paralyzed our impact in the world, and, instead, ignites a flame of passion for accomplishing His will and radiating His Light in this dark and fallen world.
"Let us not become weary in doing good,
for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
(Galatians 6:9)
Join us this year as we journey through this season of Harvest, allowing the Lord to cultivate a life of prayer and devotion to His Word in the hearts of His children. May our love for the Lord grow exponentially as we commit to daily meeting with Him in prayer and faithfully feasting on the abundance of His Word. May our intense passion for the Lord result in a renewed passion for His work and a willingness to enter His field to proclaim His message of salvation and reap a harvest of righteousness!
Our prayers are with you as you daily seek Him and continue in the work you have been called to do. God bless you!
Dear Heavenly Father, we praise Your wonderful and mighty name. We are so thankful that we experience Your presence each day through the gift of Your Holy Spirit. Today we ask for an open heart to respond to Your Word and to understand Your will. Give us greater insight and understanding so we can walk with wisdom in this world. We ask for Your protection as You lead us out to boldly proclaim Your Truth in a world that is aggressively opposed to Your truth and to Your people. We ask for Your strength to stand firm on Your solid foundation. May we obediently follow You down the path that You have prepared us and may we walk through the doors You have opened for Your servants to share the good news of Your gospel message with the world. May Your Word be on our tongues like fire that we may proclaim it clearly as we should, and with power. Encourage Your servants daily through Your Word as they meet with You in humble prayer. Forgive us for the times we have not sought Your direction, and, instead, depended on our own strength or the advice of others. Teach us to abide daily in You that our lives would be a sweet reflection of Your love and compassion to this lost world, and may our every word and deed bring honor and glory to Your holy and exalted name. In Jesus' name. Amen.
"May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father,
who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope
encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word."
(2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)
"May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance"
(2 Thessalonians 3:5)
See you in the field!
Grace and Peace,
Traci Alexander
Trumpet and Torch Ministries
Psalm 27:4, 13-14
