Walking in the sun
Faith for the Harvest
MOMENTS OF MEDITATION
 
           A weekly newsletter of Faith Harvest Ministries               August 31, 2015 Issue 31                    
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 Prayer is a holy engagement. It is a meeting place with God. From the very dawn of time, it was the Father's full intention to provide prayer as a means of entering into a holy embrace with mankind. It was to be such a sacred embrace that it would tie the spirit of man to the heart of God. Unfortunately, sin came in and severed that tie. It not only dislodged man's position of intimacy with God, but it disrupted the flow of heaven on earth. God was limited in his ability to work through man, and man was certainly limited in his capabilities to function on the behalf of God. If we desire to see the full economy of heaven flow down from above we must recognize the importance that prayer holds in restoring the divine link.
   THE DIVINE LINK
        The Sacred Call to Entering the Secret Place      
       
"When you pray enter into your closet, and when you have shut the door
pray to the Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in
secret shall reward thee openly." 
                                                   - Matthew 6:6
 
     Prayer is a spiritual language of the heart. It demands more of us than just the activities of our soul. I think that is one reason why John Wesley described our faith as being a heart religion as opposed to some formal, intellectual or moralistic religion. In one of his journals he writes: "The true religion of Christ must rise infinitely above and lie immensely deeper than all of these." In other words, we must realize that until the heart becomes engaged in the activity of prayer it falls short of the spiritual reality of meeting with God. There must be a strong dislike and distaste for anything that falls short of the engagement of our heart, for even Jesus said, "And when you pray, don't be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men..." (Matt. 6:5). But rather, "...when you pray enter into your closet and when you have shut the door pray to the Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly" (vv. 6). Jesus is not talking about a literal closet. He is talking about the closet of our heart.
     The word "secret" is the Greek word KRYPTOS. It actually refers to the hidden man of the heart or the secret man of the heart (1 Pet. 3:4). In writing to the Romans, Paul said, "For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly, in the spirit, and not in the letter whose praise is not of men, but of God" (Rom. 2:29). The word "inwardly" is KRYPTOS, the same as secret. If we want to engage a relationship with the Father or if we want to communicate with him then we have to enter into the secret place, in the recesses of our heart, because that is where the Father dwells. The deeper we involve our heart in prayer the more contact we will have with our Father.
     That's why there is a real need for us to put our whole heart into prayer, because out of this sacred place we discover the secret to activating the economy of heaven on earth. E.M. Bounds came to understand that. He states in his book on the Purpose of Prayer: "God has conditioned the very life and prosperity of his cause on prayer." Think about it. When Adam fell he caused the very atmosphere and condition of God's economy on earth to dive into a spiritual recession. All that God intended for man was snatched from his reach. He was unable to be a force for good because he lost his right standing with God. When Jesus came on the scene he was able to do phenomenal things because of the intimacy he had developed with his Heavenly Father. The Bible says, "He did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth" (1 Pet. 2:22). The secret to his success was utilizing prayer as a means of shutting out sin and keeping himself pure in heart. Christ built a divine link between heaven and earth through prayer and was able to go about "doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him" (Acts 10:38). While others had become subject to the fallout of a spiritual recession the Lord used the means of prayer to kick start the economy of heaven on earth. Spending quality time alone with his Father in prayer caused him to discover the secret of touching heaven and changing earth.
     That is exactly how it will be done with us. Now that we have our relationship with our Father restored, we simply need to spend time in that secret place of prayer so that the very life and prosperity of God's cause can flourish through us. I believe this is the key to revival. I believe this is the key to signs and wonders showing up in our lives. We must activate our heart in prayer.
     The will of God is that heaven and earth become locked together through the divine link of our heart and God's heart in prayer. If we want to see heaven move on earth then we have to embrace prayer from the heart. We have to make this our main business in order to grow the economy of God on earth.*

PRAYER
Father, you said in your Word for us to "Pray without ceasing." This is my desire. I want to be a person of prayer. Draw my heart into a place where I live to pray. I know this is the divine link to carrying out all that you desire to do through me. It is through me giving my whole heart to a life of prayer that I will see the move of God in my life. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
 
CONFESSION
I will be a person of prayer. I will make it my daily duty. I choose to grow more deeply and more intimately fond of my time alone with my heavenly Father, and out of that alone time I will discover my purpose and destiny. I will step into the full instrumentation of my gifts and calling and see to it that the economy of heaven flourishes in me and through me.
 
DEFINING MOMENTS...
There are fundamental laws that govern the economy of heaven on earth. What God wills to accomplish he has stored away in the secret place of prayer. That is how Jesus was able to receive his instructions to do what he was called to do. It is no different for us. Prayer is the key to making that divine connection where the authority to enforce the execution of God's will is fully discharged. As God makes us in the crucible of prayer, we emerge with the power of the Maker to make whatever changes need to be made for kingdom purposes. The Lord spoke to my heart and said, "The Creator in us can release his creative power when we allow him to create in us a praying heart."

 In His Grace,
 
Pastor David
Faith Harvest Church