Having just finished our 21-Day Global Call to Prayer and Fasting with our international Foursquare family, it’s appropriate to follow up with some real-life stories of God’s intervening in our world to accomplish His purposes and plans.
I trust you’ll take the time to read about them in the latest edition of Foursquare Leader. God has always had a clear view of the future, and His goal is to help us align with it. Prayer is one of the unique partnerships that allows us to engage in a spiritual platform. This gives opportunity to:
- understand better God’s heart
- be refreshed in His presence
- convey our needs and hopes
- combat the evil in our world and
- petition Him on behalf of our globe, our nation, our city, our family
Prayer is a discipline that can often seem like a fruitless venture. Time and time again, we are the recipients of the heavenly Father’s gifts, and One who constantly surprises us with answers that exceed our expectations. It’s one of the reasons He is so worthy of our worship.
In Luke Chapter 1, an angel informed the priest Zechariah that his prayer had been heard and that God was going to give to him and his barren wife, Elizabeth, a son. He would be not only the delight of their old age, but also the one who would pave the way for the message of salvation from God’s own Son.
The author described it as God’s showing mercy to Zechariah and Elizabeth. And when it came to pass, their family and neighbors rejoiced greatly in the Lord’s favor being bestowed. We’re able to see that God always has a plan; it’s just not always obvious. Just as Zechariah did, we often go about our daily business faithfully, having no earthly clue that a sovereign God is arranging heaven and Earth to fulfill His plans and purposes through us.
This year, our theme of Empowered flows out of Acts 1:8, when Jesus told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Luke recorded that the disciples held a “prayer meeting” in the upstairs room of the house where they were staying.
Those 120 people waited 10 days, and in that time, they came to a significant place of unity. In that environment, God poured out something so powerful and so compelling that it emboldened this small group of believers to become an army of courageous storytellers, prayer warriors, missionaries and evangelists.
This entrance of God’s presence, evidenced by tongues of fire and the sound of a roaring windstorm, changed the course of history. It happened to men and women, to the young and old, to the learned and unlearned. This event made a statement that God’s kingdom would be available to everyone, not just a select few.
Our entire Reimagine Foursquare journey has focused on aligning ourselves to the mission of reclaiming the assignment that was given Adam and Eve (tarnished by the fall): to be fruitful and multiply, and to rule and to tend the earth that He created. Beginning through His chosen people Israel, and now the church, God is re-establishing His kingdom on Earth, as it is in heaven. It’s a glorious story of redeeming things stolen, lost and broken back to God’s purposes.
The redemptive journey takes center stage with the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s Son and the second Adam. Now, through the empowerment of the church by the Holy Spirit, we have the privilege of helping lead that charge to bring mankind back into God’s fold, His family. And one day we’ll physically stand before Him together and worship forever. Until then, we have a mission to populate heaven with as many others as possible.
When we gather in Hawaii this year, May 30 – June 2, for Foursquare Connection 2016, we’ll celebrate together our renewed focus to make His priority our priority. We’ll hear stories of His kingdom advancing and growing. We’ll celebrate where fruitfulness and multiplication are happening. And we’ll counsel together on how we can continue to lead together toward the Great Harvest.
I hope you’re planning to join us for this powerful gathering of the Foursquare family. It is in a beautiful setting, and it is also a state where God is extending great grace through the Foursquare family. See you there. Mahalo.
