You probably have heard the story of the little girl who went to the parade with her mom and daddy. The crowd was pressed together along the curb and the tall people ahead of her made it impossible for her to see, so her daddy lifted her onto his shoulders. She patted him on the head and said, "Thank you, daddy, now I can look farther than my eyes can see."
 
So can the church - on its knees. Kneeling in the presence of the Great Promiser, our hearts can look farther than our eyes can see. Our hearts can see the parking lot filled. Our hearts can see people having trouble finding a seat. Our hearts can see marriages being healed. Our hearts can see addictions being broken. Our hearts can see men and women, boys and girls, moving to the front of the church in surrender. Our hearts can see the population of eternity growing. Every time the church meets. Every time.
 
When a church collectively cries out for a fresh anointing for its pastor, He does that. When we come into His presence expecting Him not only to show up, but knowing that there will be miracles as we watch, He does that. If we believe His promise that profound transformation is the new normal, He does that. If we irrepressibly believe His promise to build Christlikeness into a people awaiting His return, He does that.
 
I recently came across a sentence written by a friend, and it haunts me. We are so readily enraptured by the intoxicating tyranny of the familiar. God wants to do more. He is impatient with our patience with church-as-usual. Here's the stem-winder sentence I can't shake: "I despaired at the thought that my life might slip by without seeing God show Himself mightily on our behalf."
 
Oh, God, I ponder that and it terrifies me. I read the promises. I know what can be. I know what will be one day, yet even in His Sovereignty, our God waits. He is desperate to do in His church what He is desperate to do through His church. What if we were to let life slip by and forbid by our casual unbelief God doing what He wants to do?
 
The world languishes for miracles because the church languishes for miracles. But it doesn't need to be thus. He is the Life-giver. For people and for churches. He does that. And He wants to do that where you are.
 
-By Don Jacobsen

H ouses  O P rayer  E verywhere
Like us on Facebook