caring MORE for the Father's house than for our own

I have been a bit quiet on this blog, but quite regular on agodman.com :) and on facebook. Encouraged by some of the saints and family friends I decided to try something new: compile and put together the statuses on facebook and post them here on the blog! :) Since not many of the readers of the blog are my friends on facebook, why not present the riches in the Word of God to everyone!

This past week we were getting into the Building up of God's House, the Father's House, the House of Jehovah. You can read extensively on this subject via agodman.com, but I will also post below some of the statuses from Facebook on this topic. Praise the Lord for the depths of the Word of God and the ministry of the age which opens up the Word and brings us into the intrinsic meaning of what the Bible really says!

Lord, save us from seeking our own things! Save us from RUNNING after our own things while Your house lies waste! O Lord, IT IS TIME! We will come to build! We bring the wood and build the house! Gain what You are after, Lord, the building! We give ourselves to You for this, for the building up of Your dwelling place!

We need to have the sense that the church is the Father’s house – here the Father lives, rests, propagates His life, dwells with His children, and the desire of His heart is fulfilled. Today the Son is building a house for His Father, which the Father would call it home, and this house will match His characteristics and taste.

The Bible is a book of building. The central divine thought in the Scriptures is that God desires a building. Whatever God is doing today is part of His building work. The Lord's coming back depends on the building up of God's house, His dwelling place. Lord, gain the building! We come to build!

Saints, may the Lord have mercy on us that we may be unveiled to see, unloaded that we may receive, unoccupied to have the capacity to apprehend, and emptied that we may be filled with God’s heart’s desire to obtain His house, the Father’s house.

How blinded we have been, shut in with what concerns us, while God's house lieth waste - Lord, break through, overturn us! We'll go up to the mountain - bring wood and build the house. We will never say, Another Day! We will come, o Lord, to build!

Lord Jesus, mingle Yourself more with us today! Build Yourself into us. Make Your home in our heart. Lord, make us mingled persons who have their being fully mingled with the Triune God. Lord, more mingling today!

The extent to which we are the church in reality depends upon how much we are mingled with God. When we by the Lord's mercy allow the mingling of God with man and man with God to work and build in us, we will have the reality of the church as the Father's house, the house of Jehovah.

But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love (Eph. 4:15-16).

We need to let Christ possess, occupy, and saturate our entire inner being, so that He may build His house, the church. The genuine church life is actually an issue of Christ personally making His home in our heart to occupy every corner of our inner being.

Lord Jesus, soften us; / You know the source from which we came. / By calling on Your name, / Lord, let no earth unturned nor rocks remain — / Lord Jesus, grow in us. Amen, Lord Jesus, have a way to grow in us!

Read more on this topic by consulting the following articles:

• seeing a vision of God’s building and caring FIRST for the Father’s House
• seeing the significance of the Father’s house and being mingled more with God
• building up the church by growing in life and letting Christ make His home in us

Picture source: a dear sister on Facebook framed this verse.

year 7 conference in Coventry - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

It's actually, One Meaningful Thing I'm About to Do today :) since the conference starts tomorrow morning. As I was saying yesterday at the end of the article, I need to finish this 30day challenge with the "One Meaningful Thing I Did Today" here - and so I'm taking the weekend off :) to spend time with the saints and the young people.... There's a year 7 young people's conference I'm going to for the weekend - so excited and happy about it! :) But I'm still considering what challenge should I start on Monday September the 19th... As for today, here it is:

Year 7 Conference in Coventry - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today

Not sure if YOU were raised up in a Christian family, or a family of seeking believers, but when someone grows up in such an environment he / she is very blessed! Just imagine: your whole life as you grow up you're surrounded by God-men, people who love God, those who are being transformed daily, people who enjoy God! I still remember how many of the other believers we met with when I was young took care of me, helped me, were really interested in me, and they were so happy to see me! I was growing up in the saints' homes, they visited our home, we were together... - such a blessing!

In such an environment you grow up loving the Lord, knowing the Lord, singing, reading the Bible... - but it is quite difficult to know One Particular Point in your life when YOU GOT SAVED. Some people do remember such a time, others remember the time the Lord touched them and they got baptized - but me, together with so many others, I don't remember "when I was saved"! Of course, I WAS SAVED, and I AM SAVED, but there wasn't a specific time in my life - that I remember - that I took this decision... Well, the same happens with many children and young people today, and so we are very burdened to SOLIDIFY THEIR SALVATION, to make sure they are saved!

To be saved is simple - you repent and believe into the Lord! Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved(Rom. 10:13)! So this weekend we have a small conference dedicated to the young people in school year 7 who are open and ready to receive the gospel! As I was sharing yesterday, we are praying so much for this time! We are praying that the Lord would have a way to expose the world, expose Satan, the Satanic scheme and his usurpation, the slavery in Egypt under Pharaoh... and strengthen the young ones to choose the Lord! Pray for us in this time - we need the prayers of all the Body!

For the Lord to return, He needs a generation of young people who are absolute for Him, those who are the voluntary consecrated ones, the Nazarites of today! David defeated Goliath when he was 13 years old - therefore, there's no limit to the age: you can't say, "You're too young...". As soon as someone is conscious of being a sinner, conscious of God's salvation and His way of redemption, he can repent and believe into the Lord! We pray for these ones - who know their God and have resolutions of heart! Lord, gain these ones even this weekend! Gain some young ones all over the earth to meet Your need!

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I am looking forward to your comments - what do you think the next challenge should be? Leave me your thoughts... [most probable: one picture of London and some description + one thing about the Lord I enjoyed today! - but I want to hear what YOU think...]

outrageous: this is total disrespect! - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-days challenge)

I'm not talking about myself being disrespectful - even though I can't say I'm not(sometimes)... - but I'm talking about someone else being disrespectful. You would think that in a modern world people respect one another since there's so much propaganda about emancipation, feminism, equality in rights, no racism, no distinction between nationalities or races, no bullying, or even the principle of "no slaves and no masters". In the 21st century, with so many systems and policies in place - all of which are to help man relate to others in the best way possible - the people today are still very much inclined to be rather rude and disrespectful than polite and respectful. I'll tell you why and how in a bit via,

Outrageous: this is total disrespect! - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today

After I finished work today - yes, I do work half day on Saturday... - I was passing by an "open market", many of which are available all over London these days. You get fresh vegetables there, different kinds of cheeses, all types of foods (Carribean, Argentinian, continental European, Mediteranean, etc), all sorts of bread products and milk based products, etc. This one I was passing by was a small one, but there was something there that caught my attention - some nice vegetables!

Yes, I know you know I love Pepsi ;) and I need to cut it short - why not rather drink the pure water which can actually quench your thirst?!? - but it may surprise you that I also love vegetables! Probably because of the way I was brought up, I love having a salad on the side with almost anything - even when eating pizza, KFC, fish and chips(or any other fast-food/unhealthy dish), or a sandwich, bread with stuff, or any "second dish" in a meal. I love tomatoes, cucumbers, salad, radish, corn, cabbage, etc. I love both to buy them separately and make them in a salad AND the ones ready-made from the stores...

Anyways, to cut the story short, there was this lady who was selling nice vegetables, and I approached her to ask about the price, but she would not pay attention to me. She was engaged in a relatively meaningless conversation with another person who was selling some cheese,s and even though I tried to get her attention, she would not talk to me. I waited a bit, tried again - nothing. This is outrageous - I'm the customer, she's the seller, she traveled all the way here to sell her vegetables, and when I am interested to buy, she wouldn't talk to me! This is total disrespect...

The Customer is Always Right and the customer should always be served... - since I work in sales, I know this and, though I may not like it all the time, I apply this principle... So I went and took out some cash, calling on the name of the Lord to really touch Him within... You know, you can be offended or bothered by situations like these. Or if not, maybe they give you a bad taste, they disappoint you... I just called on the Lord's name, took out some cash, and returned to the lady - who now smilingly served me and was OK to sell me some vegetables :) [the story ended up well :) ]

I was thinking about this after it happened... so many little things can bother us or even offend us. What do we do then? Many people say, I'm FINE, It's Alright! - but something within feels uncomfortable, and there's a discontentment being built up over the days, months, and years... You never know how and why but out of the blue someone "explodes" and starts arguing with someone else. It's these little things, these little unconfessed and undealt with issues, that build up and eventually overflow from us.

The people in the world are bitter, disrespectful, not polite, and rude - because NO ONE is nice to one another! How can anyone be nice to others in a genuine way if he does not enjoy the Lord who is GOOD and can be the proper human being in us? Maybe some are nice outwardly, so "polite and respectful" - but when you get to talk to them to know them, there's nothing there, it's just a facade - the "British politeness" is very common especially in England (dah!). What about us though?

Lord, what about me? Am I a bitter, unpolite, and disrespectful person? O, Lord, is there bitterness being built up in me as I go on in life? Lord, what's my attitude towards other people?

One very important principle is that we as human beings and as believers in the Lord need to have a proper fear and respect towards God. If we fear God in our humanity, we will also respect others who are around us. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. The more we spend time with the Lord, the more He shines on us and exposes us, the more we both love Him and reverently fear Him. This preserves us and protects us from many evils that can happen to human beings - the proper fear and respect towards God safeguards us against the evil one.

So.... as a customer I may be RIGHT and I can try to prove my point, get the seller's attention, argue a bit, make a big case out of it... or just "sweep it under the rug" saying, It's all good... But I can also choose to turn to my spirit and call on the name of the Lord. I can open to Him and confess my situation and my feelings... - and then something happens. It's not just that "I will be OK", but my attitude towards that person will be a proper one, a kind attitude and a good demeanor. O, Lord.... save us more in these little things of our human life!

only the real water quenches my real thirst - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today(30-day challenge)

The MOST difficult thing to do in life is to REGULARLY do something that you know it's good and you should do it. For instance, blogging ONCE a day, as a "30-day challenge", together with the Lord, is not easy at all! There's the job I have to attend to every day, there's other things I need to personally take care of, there's the gym, there's the saints, there's the home meetings, there's the further coordination for upcoming events, there's the skype calls and skype coordination and skype prayer... - and then I need to write something before midnight today! O Lord Jesus.... As I was saying in a tweet today, I am still looking to the Lord as to what should I share today..

I love Pepsi. I don't like Coke, but I love Pepsi - it is sweet, fizzy, bubbly ;) and nice. I prefer Pepsi to Coke. Yet neither are not too good for health - so I need to keep the volume of Pepsi down... But I realized one thing - even though Pepsi is a nice beverage, it doesn't really quench your thirst! It gives you the fizz, the hype, the push to do something, it tastes sweet, but when it comes down to it, Pepsi(and any other fizzy drink / natural drink) doesn't really quench the thirst... And this observation brings me to today's,

One Meaningful Thing I Did Today - Only the Real Water Quenches My Real Thirst

Especially after a 30mins run on the cross-trainer at the gym, with a heart level way too much over the limit, on level 8 of "difficulty", you get thirsty. Yes, you sweat, you "loose water", so you definitely need to get some water in. So many times I chose to drink something slightly different than water - I shall not name the beverage, since, as many know, I like "mixing" drinks :) - which may have tasted good and got me hooked on it, but it didn't quench my thirst. After today's run at the gym I chose to drink water - and even though I had it not in a large quantity, I was satisfied!

 Water is really tasteless, colourless, it is not sweet, it is not "delicious", many times it is "stale" in the sense that it's not "fresh spring water"... It's not "exciting" to drink water, and water doesn't get you "hyped up". It's not very attractive(especially in the world today) to drink pure water. It's sometimes "boring" to drink water... that's why people choose to drink other things. [by all these things I'm not saying that there are not some people who love drinking water and love water, neither am I saying that there's something wrong with anything else but water. It's a principle I'm trying to put out and get to...]

It's the same with the Lord. Some people say, It's too simple and too "plain" to just call on the name of the Lord to be saved(Rom. 10:12) - maybe you need to do something difficult, you need to do some penance, you have to repent really really hard, to feel that you are very sorry, and even fast for a few days... and then the Lord will forgive you. The Bible says clearly that "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness"(1 John 1:9). It's as simple as agreeing with the Lord when He shines on you and exposes you,

Amen, Lord, I agree - I have sinned. Forgive me and wash me with Your precious blood. I trust in You and not in myself. Amen!

And you are cleansed! It is the same with touching the Lord and being in His presence - you don't need to do some strange things like "going to the mountains to be alone with God and feel His presence", or "retreating in the desert to be closer to God". You don't even need to do a lot of physical effort or psychological research / introspective look so that you might find and touch God - "Whoever draws near to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him"(Heb 11:6) + "For the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all those who call on His name"(Rom. 10:13). It is as simple as calling on the name of the Lord,

O Lord Jesus!

and you touch Him! It is as simple and "plain" and "not exciting" and "not hyping you up" as opening your heart to the Lord - and you will get His presence! We are thirsty, just like the woman in John 4 - thirsty for "this water"(John 4:13). Whoever drinks of this water (career, money, golden futures, social ranking, good family, good husband or wife, good education, sports, etc - anything apart from God that we drink of and find delight in) will thirst again! But whoever drinks of the REAL Water - Christ Himself as the Spirit - he will by no means ever thirst again! I want this REAL WATER!

Today I realized that just as "I love drinking Pepsi thinking it will quench my thirst - but it doesn't!" I may tend to try to do other things than the simple practices of life (which need to be scheduled into my daily living) and I expect to be filled and satisfied, but I'm not! Only Christ satisfies, and only His way of redemption and salvation can bring us to drink of Him as the living water and be satisfied! Other waters - Christian Rock, Christian Hip-Hop, Christian music bands with all kinds of instruments, Christian drama, Christian pantomime, etc - all these "exciting things" outwardly really don't quench our thirst! Only the simple, pure, unadulterated, fine, nourishing, refreshing, renewing, healthy, flowing, and living Christ as the living water can actually quench our thirst!

No, Christian Rock music cannot quench my thirst! No, any R&B music or Pop Music cannot quench my deeper thirst! Not even classical music or jazz - no theater or movie, nothing of multimedia, no youtube movie... - nothing of the entertainment today can really really quench our thirst! No, a new gadget that comes out cannot satisfy my hunger! No human achievement and nothing physical or psychological really quenches the thirst in us! As simple and pure as it is, we need to drink of the Lord Jesus - as He said in John 7:37-39! At the end of a long feast, when supposedly the people were filled and satisfied, the Lord stood up and called all the ones who are thirsty to come to Him and drink! Just come to the Lord and drink!

Why drink of the "Pepsi" of the world when you can drink of the living "water" that Christ can offer you - and live, be refreshed, be renewed, grow in life, and be satisfied with the Lord - for real!?!

Treasuring the Morning Revival Time with the Lord - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

This particular matter is in no way "special" or particular for a normal believer in Christ, since every morning, a normal Christian wakes up a bit earlier to spend time with the Lord! Right? O Lord Jesus, make us this kind of normal believers! This really should be normal - the first thing in the morning to contact the Lord, spend time with Him, enjoy Him, read the Word, pray to the Lord, pray over the Word... - just open to Him to enjoy Him!

It has become something of a habit to me - going through the training in FTTL (which I warmly recommend everyone!), then being in the church life, working, having responsibilities, serving with the young people and with the students, serving in the church life, being in the brothers' house - to have morning revival every morning. I treasure the Holy Word for Morning Revival and we recently went through The Crucial Elements of the Bible, the Central Line of the Bible, the Crystallization-Study of Isaiah, and now we are in the Crystallization-Study of the Psalms. Wow, every morning praying over the verses in the Bible - even while dressing up, brushing my teeth, cleaning, fixing a small breakfast, or... on the way to the bus! This brings me to today's topic of,

One Meaningful Thing I Did Today - Treasuring the Morning Revival with the Lord

As I was saying before, by the Lord's mercy and NOT from myself, somehow every morning I have a time with the Lord(it has been built up in the past 10 years!) - and I treasure it! Why bring it up now today? Well... last week we were in, The Excellency of Christ(as seen in Psalms 8), and this week we're getting into Psalms 15 and 16, so this morning I was excited about it: YES, a new week, a new topic, new Psalms....

BUT - there's always a BUT, right? - I don't know how this happened, but I realized that I need to do two important and urgent things before I left for work! Many times things happen - urgent things, important things, things that demand our attention - right when it's time to have morning revival! Most mornings you feel fresh and ready - especially after breakfast or after shower, but when you come to have morning revival, it's almost as if you're either too tired to do it, or too busy to do it. It's late, so you need to get going with the day - get a "fast food morning revival": a "doughnut pray-reading of the Word" and a "sip of reading the morning revival", "wiping our mouth with an Amen, Lord!" then run off to the things of the day!

O Lord Jesus... why do we need to have morning revival? Why do we need to be revived every morning? Or, to quote many young people I am around, Why do I HAVE TO have morning revival? When you're on your own, setting some time aside in the morning to wake up a bit earlier and spend time with the Lord - you pay a price you pay to meet your Beloved Lord Jesus! The Lord is so real, fresh, and living in the morning for you to touch Him! His mercies are new, and His compassions never fail(Lam. 3:22-23)! The Word of God which we read and pray over in the morning is a source of supply for the whole day! The portions in the Word and in the ministry which we enjoy in the morning time are being deposited into us and become a constant supply for the day, the week, and for our whole life.

And it's all because we PAY THE PRICE to wake up a bit earlier to spend time with the Lord. Or maybe on the way to the bus stop to go to school / work, you call on the name of the Lord + on the bus you read some verses / the morning revival. Or while you're on the tube as a small sardine compacted with the others around you - they read the newspapers or listen to music, but you inwardly call and outwardly read and re-read the Word / the morning revival. Or maybe you go for a walk or a run, and you open to the Lord, converse with Him, take some verses and muse + pray over, digesting them and chewing on them.

Or maybe... - it's up to you: you can experiment, try, and invent your own way in your own time, your own schedule, to touch the Lord! It is so important to touch the Lord first thing in the morning that you will treasure your time with Him more than your apportioned food! Yes, you're physically hungry, but you're more hungry and more eager to enjoy the Lord than to have some breakfast! Or maybe you have the morning revival / the Bible right by the cereal bowl / "the full English Breakfast" / your breakfast dish, and as you eat(physically), you really eat(spiritually)!

Coming back to this morning, even though usually I set aside 20-25 minutes of pray-reading the Word, musing on it, reading the portions, reading them again, praying over the main points, reading the outline, etc - however the Lord guides me - this morning I only had 5-10 minutes with the Lord! I was distracted - I took care of "those two urgent things", and time was up - I had to go to work! Then I realized - I need MORE of the Lord! Ooooo.... I need more of Christ! More FOOD! More of the Word! So on my way to work I continued to pray over the Word... at work I re-read the portion really quick... and something really precious came out -

Who may sojourn in God’s tent? Who may dwell with God on His holy mountain? Only Christ is qualified!

How precious it is that we can have a time with the Lord in the morning! I am learning every day to treasure my time with Him. Maybe even wake up earlier, spend more quality time with the Lord. Don't wait for inspiration, and don't wait even to "go to your desk to the morning revival book or the Bible" - start with the shower! Call on the Lord's name in the shower, ask Him to cleanse you with His blood and wash you in His Word just as the shower washes away anything of the old.... As you brush your teeth, why not muse on and pray within, Lord, what about my speaking? Sanctify and purify my speaking to others! You need to wash your hands - Lord, cleanse my doings and my deeds, sanctify my living! ... - there are so many little things you need to do in the morning, and you can enjoy the Lord / pray / do them with the Lord! O, Lord, our time with You in the morning!

Baptizing a Brother into the Triune God - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

Wow, it's almost midnight, and I just got home from the wonderful home meeting with the saints in East London's place! The best thing to do on a Friday night after a full week, in spite of your tiredness, is to get yourself into a home of the saints and just BE there! When your body is presented as a living sacrifice for the church life (Rom. 12:1), you will get the benefit of being revived, refreshed, renewed in your mind, supplied in your whole being, strengthened into your inner man, and filled with life! I mean, how can one still be tired and down when all the saints enjoy the Lord while singing,

So why not open up and call His name, O Lord! / Find your spirit where His grace has been outpoured! Call His name / Taste His grace / Exercise before His face! / He's longing and yearning, / He's hoping and waiting / He's ever desiring / For you to turn to Him!

HE KNOWS your deepest thought - your every situation! He understands your heart, He knows your history! Wow, there's nothing in His way - He's just waiting for you to say, Lord Jesus, My wondering heart I give to You! Once we open, we give our heart to Him, He comes in and makes His home in our heart - He strengthens us with power through His Spirit into our inner man! And so here it is,

One Meaningful Thing I Did Today - Baptizing a Brother into the Triune God!

Baptism - in the Poland camp 2011

I have never met this brother, but the Lord in His sovereignty has arranged that a brother who is now in the hospital would have a friend, and this friend of his wants to receive the Lord and be baptized! I don't know how the Lord does it, but He's definitely the best at being God and arranging everything for His economy! So this new brother came to our home meeting tonight and we knew, He Wants To Receive the Lord and Be Baptized! So we just enjoyed the Lord, spoke the gospel, called on the name of the Lord together, and put our brother into the water!

To be saved is so simple - you just need to call on the name of the Lord! This person that I have never ever met, through believing into the Lord, became my brother in the Lord IN AN INSTANT! Regeneration is instantaneous! Then, as the Bible clearly says, "He who believes and is baptized shall be saved"(Mark 16:16), we took our brother and we put him into the Triune God! We baptized him into Christ, into the Body of Christ, into the death of Christ, and into God Himself! It is such a privilege to be there, where the Lord receives an offering, a real sacrifice, a saved sinner through grace who gives himself and his whole being, his whole life, and his future to the Lord!

What a wonderful decision - to believe into the Lord and to be baptized! To cut off the past, renounce the old man, by publicly declaring that you love the Lord and you want to follow Him from now on! Into the water goes the old man, and he stays there; out of the water comes a new man, a new brother, in the newness of life! I am continually amazed at this simple yet wonderful principle of the divine life - it is real, it happens before our eyes, and we're in it by being in the church life! When we heard that this brother wants to get baptized, another sister ALSO got baptized - a new beginning, a river-crossing, a leaving back all the doctrines and forms, everything of the old, and being brought into the newness of the Body of Christ!

You've gotta love the church life! You've gotta love the Lord! You go to the meeting sooo tired, barely making it there, and you are strengthened within by your singing, opening, fellowshipping, calling, praying... by your inward turning to the Lord! And then, after you're brought to your mingled spirit, you never know what happens next - all you know is that you're one with the Lord, and you're watching Him doing it all in you, for you, and even as you! What a way to have the "real party" on Friday night! Praise the Lord for the church life - filled with babes and sucklings, those who learn through lots of mistakes and failures to Praise The Lord! Praise the Lord for bringing us into His Kingdom! [this article is STILL being edited...]

Get some rest + the Prayer Meeting - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

After that football yesterday with the brothers, my whole body is aching... and it's the same with several of the brothers, I asked them on facebook. For some reason, though we played football "with our legs", even our back (in the case of the older ones) and our arms are hurting... Football exercises or stretches some muscles in the body that one does even not know he has! But exercise is good... even though I was almost limping when I was walking the whole day today...

On Tuesday evening right after work I usually have approx. 1.5hrs of gym - and it's so good to exercise before you go to the prayer meeting! You get your whole body in gear, and while you are at the gym, you can also get your spirit into gear! The Bible says that "bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness profits for all things"(1 Tim. 4:8) - so even while you exercise the physical muscles, why not exercise the "spiritual muscle", the spirit, to either call on the name of the Lord, pray, say Amen to the Lord, listen to some spiritual messages or some hymns, or converse with the Lord! ... but today since I was so tired, I...

One Meaningful Thing I Did Today -
Get Some Rest + The Prayer Meeting!

I got some rest right after work! You know, it's really good to get some rest! The human body needs rest, and in this rest there's also the supply to go on! You can't just "push it" and "press on" until there's no more breath in you... even in the Lord's work, in serving the Lord in our spirit, we need to learn how to REST first, enjoy the Lord first, and then do something for Him with Him in oneness! So I got some rest, and even though it was just a couple of hours, it gave me strength :) I was advised by someone I need to get some more rest... but being a "young man", many times I tend to discard such "menial and trivial things" as "taking a nap"...

O Lord, I want to learn how to balance my living, my resting, my eating, my exercising, my spiritual exercise, my cleaning, my attitude, my relationships... only You can do this in me, Lord - keep me coming to You about all these aspects of my living! Lord, make Your home deep down in my heart, and be the Proper Human Being who Fulfills God's Plan in me!

And after such a wonderful rest, I made it to the Prayer Meeting! Especially as Tuesday night draws close, there are a million reasons, problems, and other things that come up and give you that feeling, Nah, maybe I shouldn't go to the prayer meeting today - I suddenly need to do this or that, to go there, do some shopping, etc. It's in all of us, and it happens all the time! It doesn't happen on Wednesday or Saturday night, but when it comes to the Prayer Meeting time, it's almost as if there's an invisible person who brings up things to hinder you to get there!

But once you "get your bones to the meeting" and you get together with the saints and start fanning into flame the gift of God which is in you, once you start praying, you have the deep realization that you can be one with the Lord for the advancement of His kingdom! We may pray for the students, the young people, the freshers' fair, the Amana Bookshop in Central London, or even for the personal needs of the saints - but in all these, when you exercise your spirit, you touch the reality of the Praying Christ! We pray - one with the Lord! In all our prayers we basically say,

Come Lord Jesus! Your kingdom come! Your will be done! We bring You this situation or that person - may Your perfect will be done! Release on the earth what has already been released in the heavens! Bind the strong man and release the captives! Bring in Your kingdom in us, in the church, in our city, and on the whole earth! We stand here on earth one with You, Lord!

I guarantee you, no matter how tired you are when you get to the prayer meeting, and no matter whether you may have fallen asleep during the prayer, or maybe you didn't pray too much - it is the greatest blessing to participate in the prayer ministry of the church, even to have the Prayer of the Age! What can we do more than pray one with the Lord for what is on His heart? Why would we work so much and accomplish so little when we can pray more and the Lord will accomplish so much more? (adaptation from bro. Nee). It is so good to be in the prayer meeting of the church!