Apologies for the late posting – yes, it has been 6 days since we had church, but there are 2 very good reasons why I’ve taken so long to write this post:
- I have been really busy;
- It’s taken me this long to recover and to try and understand what happened.
I had a coffee with our Senior Pastor yesterday (actually I had hot chocolate & he had water, but we met in a coffee shop). During the meeting I specifically asked him about Sunday’s service & he helped me clarify my thoughts.
I had woken up at 5am on Sunday (unintentionally) and had decided to pray & study rather than go back to sleep. I spent 2 hours with God and had a totally awesome time! I knew that as a result, something had shifted on the inside of me, in my thinking (I came out of that prayer time a different person). I had also prayed specifically for the morning’s service and felt “pumped” about what I expected to happen.
Have you ever had one of those service’s where things didn’t go quite as you expected…?
Right from the start it felt like I was wading through a thick, heavy fog (even from before the service had started when I was encouraging the team as we prayed together). The whole of the worship service felt like a constant battle. In fact, it has taken me until today to “recover” to the place where my predominant thoughts of the service weren’t clouded in heaviness.
Whether the cause of the opposition was warfare (from demonic forces), or people’s choice not to engage & enter God’s presence is largely irrelevant (though I believe it to be a mix of both – usually the latter caused by the former).
The facts are that there were people who did meet with God; there were times of extended free worship. Lives were impacted and changed; and after the word, people responded to a call to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit (to be filled with the Holy Spirit in power).
Incidentally, one thing I need to be aware of is that I don’t (and absolutely cannot) “earn” the right to enter God’s presence, just because I had spent time praying (I don’t believe I was thinking that, but it’s a worthwhile “check”). Although, if everyone who came to church on a Sunday had deliberately purposed in their hearts to worship and had spent time with God before the service, then I know that would have a radical impact on the way things go - more about that in another post.
The Bible says, “no weapon that is formed against us shall prosper” (Isa. 54:17) and goes on to say, “…If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).
The enemy might come to try and intimidate and say things like, “give up now”, or “it’s too hard”. Well, the enemy is “a liar and the Father of all lies“ (Jn. 8:44).
It’s interesting to me that even as I write this I am battling tiredness; yet the moment I decide to stop writing I am instantaneously energized. The bible says that “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (Mat. 26:41).
So, whether I’m facing down the lies of the enemy, or the carnal sin nature, none of that changes the truth that God is good and His word is true; “God is not a man that He should lie” (Num. 23:19); He always has been and always will be, He is the beginning and the end (Rev. 21:6); all things were made by him and are held together by the power of His word (Jn. 1:1-3, Heb. 1:2-3).
God is soooo for us! Blessed be the Name of the Lord!! That just makes me want to echo the words of King David, “I will bless the Lord at all times” (Ps. 34:1); and “My heart is fixed oh God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise” (Ps. 57:7) (emphasis added).
The set list this week looked like this:
- Lord You Are Good (Israel Houghton) Mike
- Your Grace Is Enough (Chris Tomlin) Mike
- More Than Words (Mike Ellis) Mike
- More Than Life (Hillsong United) Ali
- Your Blood (Ali Loaker) Ali
- Everlasting One (Ali Loaker) Ali
therealworshipleader
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