“1 “Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?”” (Mal 3:1- 2)
In hearing the ads on Sonshine radio, reading the material on this website or looking at other forms of communication, many people might ask, “Who are you (World Mission Prayer Centre) to call the church in Perth to prayer”? ““Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” (Luke 20:2) The authority of those who call to repentance under a claim of inspiration from the Holy Spirit is either “from heaven or from men?” (Luke 20:4). As in the case of John the Baptist, the authority of the watchman over a city is always from heaven. How do you discern then if a call, like this one, is from God – from a true or false prophetic group?
False prophets say ““Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.” (Jer 6:14). They focus on physical well- being, protection from war, famine and plague; they love financial prosperity. True words of God however have as their primary focus spiritual and eternal well being. ““Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” ” (John 6:26- 27).
False prophets are popular with men; 26 “Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26).True prophets are not universally popular, 26 “Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” (Luke 6:26).
As in the case of John, the word always comes to the watchman in the spiritual wilderness (Luke 3:2). We are definitely in such a dry place today. We have a boom economy and a church declining both numerically and devotionally. Every sin problem you can find outside the church you can find inside the church. This is not news; but it calls for action.
Sooner or later, the spiritual state of a group reaches the bottom of a J curve. This is the point when God says, “Have you had enough, it is time to get serious and cry out to me!” When God is about to do something redemptive, he always tells his prophets “7 Surely the Lord God does nothing, without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7 cf. Acts 11:28); and through them he “sets his people a praying” (Wesley). This prayer does not cause revival but it creates conditions in which a spiritual work can endure and flourish.
This is why it is a matter of great encouragement to hear that godly folk, intercessors and prophetic people all over this city are being woken early in the morning to pray, they are unable to rest, they are being given dreams and so on. This is a divine signal that it is a time to pray like we have never prayed. But what are we praying for?
We are not primarily praying for the Christian community – even if there is much pain in the church. Nor is our final goal that many people will be saved. The ultimate goal of our prayers must be the glory of God through the healing of the church and the salvation of multitudes.
6 I will say to the north, “Give them up,” and to the south, “Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth— 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” (Isa 43:6- 7).
Jesus died to “bring many sons to glory” (Heb 2:10). He was willing to die on the cross for the privilege of seeing the Father have a great family “ransomed for God, saints from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev 5:9)
The passion of God’s heart is for a great end time gathering of all peoples from across the world, and he invites us to be a part of it. There is a catch, and the catch, like the cross, is the cost. We will never be able to be able to carry this through to its God appointed destiny unless we pray with depth, constancy and sincerity in a way that the church in this city has never done before.
Jesus commanded, “27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27) He then warned that without this step the builders would not be able to complete their work, or the warriors win their war. It is emphatically true that unless we “prepare the way of the Lord” (Luke 3:4) “that all flesh might see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:6), then God’s purposes for this city will not be achieved.
This is a challenge and an opportunity not to be missed.“ Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” (Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22)