On Christmas Eve I felt the Lord was speaking clearly and
saying:
"Behold I
am doing a new thing...do you not see it?"
Following this
He led me to Isaiah 57:6
"These I
will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt
offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar;
for my house
will be called a house of prayer for all nations."
His house IS a house of
prayer, and I felt again a stirring into the prophetic call upon New Zealand to
be a nations' nation. This can only come to pass as we unite as one
people to press into the call and purpose that is God's heart for this
nation. As we enter 2018 I hear a strong call to move beyond focus on
reconciliation into unity - a stage of trust and common purpose. We have
long spoken of and worked towards reconciliation, but I believe a higher goal
is now to be sought.
New Year = New
Prayer
I can feel prayer building
like a rumbling volcano! I don't know how or what it will entail or look like,
but it has begun. Many have been completely emptied in order to begin to
carry what is in God's heart for this time.
We Kiwis are great
independent individualists, but we need to let God lead us into His unity and
common purpose for this season, not religiously but in love and truth.
I feel great urgency about
this, and feel it is possible in God and by the power of His Holy Spirit.
Those who pray will be
required to surrender and follow the sovereign leading of His Spirit in their
prayer. It will require laying down what we have been called to
previously and embarking on a new prayer journey for this season.
Reconciliation between
Maori and Pakeha has long been a desire and goal, but I feel God saying that it
is far more essential that both be reconciled to Him to release and reveal the
unity He gives. It looks so impossible at times but we know that nothing
is impossible with God. The necessary unity can only be found in Him.
This will involve a very
powerful work of the Holy Spirit which will have all the elements of true
revival. A completely sovereign and seemingly impossible event, higher
and greater and stronger than anything we could ask or imagine. It is
most likely that this will not look at all as many expect and desire revival to
look!
THE WAY FORWARD IN 2018 - RECONCILED TO GOD / UNITED IN HIM AND IN HIS PURPOSE.
This will mean that many
who have stepped away or grown lukewarm, and many who have never known their
God, will suddenly be drawn by the Holy Spirit into powerful revelations of His
love and truth.
Isaiah 57:8 will become true in this nation:
The Sovereign
Lord declares - He who gathers the exiles of Israel:
"I will
gather still others to them, besides those already gathered."
It is important to
understand that this will be the work of the Spirit of God, not the work of men
and women.
Luke 10:38-42 tells us the
story of Martha and Mary. Martha was distracted by all the preparations
that had to be made & felt that Mary, who was sitting listening at
Jesus' feet, should have been working with her.
Jesus response to Martha
should be heeded at this time:
"Martha, Martha"
the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but few
things are needed - or indeed only one! Mary has chosen what is better,
and it will not be taken away from her."
Jesus was in fact
perfectly capable of providing the food along with the teaching if it was
necessary!
May the Lord give each one
of us the courage, faith and love, to obediently follow His leading and
instruction in this critical season of our national history.
