Experience Breakthrough.

Back on August 30th, in a Morning Briefing entitled “The Deeper Life”, I wrote that I believe God is calling you and me to live just that—the deeper life. To let our roots go down deeply into the rich foundations of the living Word of God, like the Psalm One man. “He delights in the teachings of the Lord and reflects on his teachings day and night. He is like a tree planted beside streams—a tree that produces fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither. He succeeds in everything he does.”1 Deeper.

And along with the precious words of God, we want to go deeper, learning to ‘knock, knock, knock on heav’ns door’ in prayer. I invite you to get a hold of a copy of Jim Cymbala’s book, Breakthrough Prayer, if at all possible. At the end of each week, we will discuss some aspect of prayer—just how the simple prayers of the faithful can bring about revolutionary, miraculous change.

So, let me start right there, as it the end of the week. In the Spring of 2000, my pastor recommended a book, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire; he said it would ‘jumpstart’ our prayer lives. ‘Who doesn’t need that?’ I thought, and bought the book. That book, (Jim Cymbala’s first), changed my life. It made me WANT to pray because I read the accounts of shattered lives put back together by a loving God in answer to the prayers of his people. (also in Breakthrough Prayer) It helped me BELIEVE GOD for the miraculous. And several months later, my own baby son would need prayers for radical healing, and I was ready to pray those prayers. The eyes of my faith had been opened to the possibility that God just might come and do the impossible—and well, he did.

One of the clear distinctions of Christianity is a God who does not distance himself from we who follow him. He wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives, and really, I am not sure there is any better way of involving him than through quieting ourselves in prayer. Did you notice the word ‘quiet’? Quiet, and the state of being quiet, must be on the endangered species list . . . at least for us Americans I know it is! And yet, unbeknownst to most of us, we crave it. Quiet makes room for intimacy with God, and sometimes intimacy with others as well.

In the recent “There is No One Like our God”, I referenced a recent blackout that blanketed Southern California in darkness, (save for the almost-full Moon which shown brightly in the night sky). Darkness felt thick in my home and made me a little uneasy, despite all of the candles I lit; my sons, however, seemed quite charmed by it. ‘Hey, Mom,’ they called, ‘wanna play Uno with us?’ And so we played Uno by candlelight, on the floor of the family room with dogs curled up nearby . . . and it was really quiet. No television and no separation from one another because of technology. I am certain that the tech advances of the recent years have done much to steal from relationships, especially families. But on this night, no Facebook, no dumb sitcoms, no professional soccer games, not even any Angels’ baseball….just darkness and quiet.

Over the next couple days, people asked one another, ‘what did your family do during the blackout?’ And similar stories of the forced unplugged time were shared; ‘I liked it’, people said, ‘we were more together because of the quiet.

What does this have to do with prayer? Our Father told us to “Be still and know that I am God.”2 We were meant to quiet ourselves and be with our God. Not just in prayer—but also on the Sabbath. “Sabbath?” you ask. Where did keeping the Sabbath go? One of the 10 Commandments requires God-followers to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”3 Our Heavenly Father mandated keeping the Sabbath for quiet, rest, and restoration of our bodies and souls. be still and know that i am god.

Do you have to have a power blackout to enter into quiet? You might wait a long time for that to happen. Friends, let’s be obedient to God, let’s quiet ourselves before him in prayer; it is then you will be able to hear his voice. He does not shout over our music, he does not beep into our phonecalls, or ‘instant message’ us when we are on our computers—God speaks to his children in the quiet. He spoke to Elijah in the stillness, and he comes to us in the same way . . . in the still, small voice.

I challenge you to quiet yourself before God—quiet yourself and be with God. After you have uttered your prayers, ask him to speak to you, and then be quiet, and listen. You will experience breakthrough.

Grace and peace,

Christine

1 Psalm 1.2-3

2 Psalm 46.10

3 Exodus 20.11