EZEKIEL'S CHARGE

PRAYER!

One of the greatest take-aways from Ezekiel for the church of this era is the recognition of the need for all Christians to “watch and pray”. Ezekiel underscores the consequences of what happens when both religious and secular leaders fail in their fidelity to God and man. In Old Testament times, the anointing of God rested upon only certain individuals-primarily the prophet, the priest, and the king; but some people were endowed with special supernatural knowledge and skills for special tasks, such as the technical abilities needed to construct various parts of the tabernacle and the temple.

Today, God still anoints and uses men and women for various spheres of ministry. However, now, in the church age, all believers are given certain gifts, as well as mandates to carry out/carry forth for the kingdom of God. One of those mandates, which involves every born-again believer in Christ, is the calling to labor in prayer. Prayer isn’t glamorous. It’s work which takes focus and discipline; but it’s necessary for us to maintain a Godly lifestyle, to pray out the will of God for ourselves and others, and to have the powerwe need to be effective witnesses and (spiritual) warriors for the kingdom of God.

One of the ways that we can be most effective for God’s kingdom is through daily prayer for others, as well as our churches, cities, our country, and the world; and we don’t even have to leave home to do it.[ However, this does not take the place of corporate ( or group) prayer, and attending church services and Bible study regularly, which are vital to our Christian walk]!!!

This ministry, and its website, are geared to help you engage in prayer, along with many others who will be praying. The Book of Acts gives us several examples of how corporate , “unceasing” prayer for a specific issue(s) is mightily effectual, beginning with the Upper Room infilling of the Holy spirit at Pentecost in Acts, chapters 1-2. Paul and Barnabas were commissioned for a missionary journey as the prophets and teachers “ministered to the Lord and fasted” with them in Acts 13:1-2 (although we don’t know what length of time was involved in their praying/waiting before the Lord). In the prior chapter (ch. 12), we see a powerful example of what the prayers of the faithful can do. In it, we see how God delivered Peter from prison, supernaturally, when believers gathered to pray around the clock until Peter was set free; and they were amazed when he showed up at the house where they were gathering to pray. There is a great lesson about corporate prayer that this passage illustrates; but there is also a lesson about fervor and determination we see. Those believers decided at the outset that they were going to pray around the clock until Peter was delivered. I believe that God is still no respecter of persons today; and that our prayers also, made around the clock, can cause bodies, souls, minds, cities, countries, and our world to be set free by our Lord today!

Not long ago, the Lord showed me, in a quick vision, a denominational preacher who had on a clerical collar (I believe he was an A.M.E. minister) in a bank; he was standing at the counter in front of a teller. There were other people waiting in line behind him, and slightly to his right. Suddenly, in the matter of about 10 seconds, the minister only turned slightly to his right, stretched out his hand, and said, “The kingdom of God has come nigh you”. Many of the people fell to the floor under the power of God and got up healed or set free from something. However, there were a number of them who just stood there the entire time, and one lady had a “so what”, and disgusted expression on her face. What I took away from what I saw, was God is going to bring forth unusual displays of His power ( as He has been dealing with me about), in signs and wonders in the coming days, and our prayers will be the catalyst for them ( or what brings them about), all for His glory, and the up-building of His kingdom.