Behind the Curtain: “Pray Together WA”
“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever…” (Heb 6:19-20)
Introduction
Last Wednesday intercessors gathered online to cooperate for the upcoming PRAY TOGETHER WA to be simultaneously live-streamed (http://www.praytogetherwa.com/ or https://m.facebook.com/praytogetherwa) and broadcast by 98.5FM. The above biblical text was shared to point us to the sort of praying the initiators of this meeting are wanting. Whilst supportive of this venture, I have prayerfully discerned some consequences from such a deluge of intercession that few of us might predict, or even desire.
What Curtain?
When the dying Jesus “yielded up his spirit…the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.” (Matt 27:50-51). This signified that the separation between sinful humanity and God sustained by the Law had been taken away. Through Christ, we may freely enter the holy presence of the Lord, both a state of affairs, “seated with Christ in the heavenly places” (Eph 2:6), and an exhortation to be obeyed, “since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from a guilty conscience…” (Heb 10:19-22). Though in Christ the barrier of the Law has been taken away, in practice unconfessed sin and a guilty conscience is a barrier blocking our entry into the holy presence of God. Our hearts are a curtain to be rent (Joel 2:13) if revival is to come. Since the first mark of revival is repentance (Acts 2:37-38), heart confession must be the foundation of Pray Together WA.
Beyond the Curtain
The glorious depths of experiencing a fully forgiven life beyond the curtain in the heavenly holy of holies is humanly unimaginable. To pray to the Lord with “unveiled face” will mean to be filled with the Spirit of glory (2 Cor 3:17-18). Perspective in the throne room of God operates in a single direction, Christ-wards (John 14:6). Looking solely towards Jesus, he alone fills our field of vision and we become totally unaware of temporal worldy realities. The usual markers that define our identity, like denomination, gender, age, nationality, ethnicity, forms of spirituality or ministry gifts fade away. Behind the curtain we will be stripped of all that breaks down our sharing in the unity of the Father and Son to which we are called as Church (John 17). To enter the throne room means to go beyond all barriers and will have has remarkable and unintended consequences for us all.
Uncontrollable
The Church as we have known her has been plagued by control issues. But to pray inside the glory-filled holy of holies is to enter a place where unglorified human flesh cannot control you. Beyond the curtain “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is (only) liberty” (2 Cor 3:17). It is to prayerfully enter the uncontrollable beyond the boundaries of sustaining and enlarging our existing groups. Do those involved with Pray Together WA, or any of us, understand how profound such spiritual realities truly are?
Only Love Heals
Let me bring greater clarity to the “unfathomable” (Eph 3:8) realities I am seeing. To exist in a Christ-centred boundaryless state isn’t like the annihilation of personal identity longed for in Buddhism. It’s the opposite to the postmodernism philosophy which sees human nature as fluid and capable of endless self-invention e.g. gender. It is the revelation that the fulfilment of all my self was meant to be is found in Christ alone. Access to the throne room will release healing stream in prayer to those caught up in all demonically driven ideologies; And Christ cannot be equated with the forms of Christianity. “In the Spirit” (Rev 1:10; 4:2) beyond the curtain we will see our Father is the One from whom all good things proceed in Christ (Eph 3:14; Heb 2:11). Behind the curtain we will enjoy immersion in the Trinitarian identity (2 Pet 1:4). With all our divisions undone we will navigate through love alone. Just as Father, Son and Spirit have navigated to conquer evil from the beginning (John 8:44).
The How is the Cross
Hell is where all those things whereby people have defined themselves, gender, nationality, religion, race, class etc. are stripped away. Such eternal absolute anonymity is unbearable (Matt 8:12). Jesus has removed the threat of hell for us on the cross so that we can trust him as our sole source of identity. On the cross the Word made flesh “condemned sin in the flesh” (John 1:14; Rom 8:3) by turning our sinful self-absorption inside out. Our egocentricity was reversed and healed in Christ when under the hellish torment of experiencing Father -abandonment he nevertheless oriented his whole being away from himself towards heaven. This is the meaning of the biblically unique emphatically repetitive cry, “My God, my God…” (Mark 15:34; Ps 22:1). When Jesus owned God as his God despite experiencing the limitless anguish of hell on earth the curtain of guilt that exists in guilty hearts was rent in two. By resurrection and ascension into heaven “behind the curtain” Christ entered perfect God-centred consciousness for us.
Unprepared
As I started to see these things in prayer a great and holy fear (cf. Heb 5:7) overcame me. We are not prepared for such spiritually profound things. Our overconfident prayers witness to a lack of preparation for a move of God beyond anything we have previously experienced. Nevertheless, the Lord is raising up a generation with great humility for the outpouring of his glory (1 Pet 5:6). As older and younger intercessors believe together in their hearts that there is nothing in us worthy of Spirit -outpouring then he will suddenly visit us.
Conclusion
In naming ourselves by denomination (Anglican etc.), doctrine (Reformed etc.), spirituality (Pentecostal etc.), local assembly (Sorrento Baptist etc.) we have adopted an identity-spirituality more divisive and pain-creating than the identity-politics of our day. In praying for union with Christ behind the curtain we are asking the Spirit to immerse us in a holy consciousness radically different from our limited earthly orientations, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28). Living with Christ as our sole identity will revolutionise the Church and release miraculous healing for multitudes of lost people who in their hearts feel, “I don’t know who I am.”
“Behind the curtain” means uncontrollable new creation life for which we can only be prepared by prayer, prayer and more humble prayer. “Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord have mercy”