His Hand is on the Door

I am an intercessor, now and forever…

January 3rd, 2008

I’ll share a big bummer that will expose the real reason why this site was tragically sparse during the month of December: I wasn’t in the prayer room much!  That’s the dirty little secret behind the volume of verbiage on this little online journal - if I’m taking time to pray, things within me stir and need expression, thus this site becomes the outlet for the ideas that strike my heart.  Between vacation, Christmas, and the Onething conference, life was moving a bit fast in the Sliker household (hence the “pace of the treadmill” post a few weeks back).  If I’m not writing, it’s probably because I’m not connecting or praying as I should.  Sometimes, though, I’m not writing because I really want to only pray - so don’t hold me to this later…

I am thankful to the Lord, however, because I feel like He gave me some magnificently tender gifts to set my heart for 2008.  I led a few prayer meetings on Christmas just after my vacation, and then, during the conference, Matt Candler and I helped lead the prayer room there (…and yes, there are stories.  Many, many stories.).  While I spoke on holiness and purity to the teenagers at our High School track, the topic I had to speak on for the general conference was “the Anna Calling.”  Then, my week was topped off by the Call - 12 mostly uninterrupted hours of sitting by myself and praying in the spirit.  Oh glory!  Then, the next day, I led two more prayer meetings.

So why are these five things such fantastic gifts from the Lord to me?  Well, for me they constitute a convergence of opportunities that all bring me gently but forcefully back into the only stream that matters for my life - connecting with streams of living water that stir and awaken quiet whispers up to a God that hears and answers prayer.  The two prayer meetings on Christmas set me back into place after being on vacation for a while - they reoriented me and reawakened me from the slight dullness that can accompany time away.  Leading the prayer room at the conference kept me in the place of prayer with a figurative “firewall” around portions of my schedule during the busiest most time-consuming time of the year.  I am convinced that the hardest time to pray is at a prayer conference.

Most importantly, however, I had the privilege of talking about Anna, one of my heroes from Luke 2:36-38.  In that passage, Luke makes the hallmark statement of her life: she did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayer night and day.  Her service to God mattered.  Nothing needed to be added to her name, her title, or her job description.  If she did nothing else, there would be no apology necessary.  In our day, an unnoticed widow that became a fixture in the house of prayer for 60 years would be at best a curiosity, and at worst an object of pity or even scorn.  Yet to Luke, she is a hero.  Her voice, her words, her prayers, her fastings, they mattered to God.  He made sure the Holy Spirit reminded Luke about her.  Yes, she prophesied, and yes, she evangelized…how could she not? She touched God!  And yet, neither of those things qualifies, justifies, or excuses her lifetime offering before the Lord.

Again, today, we say those things to help people understand that prayer is a valuable ministry that leads to expressions of service that we value and honor.  The Lord has no concern or need of those kinds of justifications.  For Him, it was enough that she prayed and fasted.  Thus He positioned her to enter in to the fruit of her labors; that in the key moment of history, at the arrival of the Messiah, she was commissioned to go a proclaim His coming to all who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.  Of course, what is implied is this: the only possible way that there were any with a hunger and a thirst for redemption in that time in Jerusalem’s history (when few sought Him out in Bethlehem, despite the unusual number of compelling signs and prophecies) was due in large part to the prayers of an unnoticed, hidden little saint who would not leave the house of the Lord.  How much of a role did her prayers play in preparing hearts to hear a message of redemption?

I have crossed a line, and the honor of preaching about Anna reminded me again of this fact.  Regardless of my roles or function or gifting, my greatest impact comes daily in the house of God, whispering weak words to a tender God.  How can preaching to thousands compare to prayers that could impact billions?  How can a few books and a few teaching tapes even be mentioned in the same context as my time before the King of the universe?  My prayers, my heart, my requests - they matter to Him.  He hears my voice, and it serves Him.  It doesn’t just touch His heart, and it is more than “enjoyable” to Him - though He does enjoy our weak prayers.  Luke says it clearly.  It serves the Lord to do this.  How glorious!

From there, I found myself in a little corner chair on the side of the stage at the Call, my eyes closed, with real grace to pray.  I felt the activity of the Holy Spirit on my heart.  I felt like I could pray all day and beyond, if I wanted to.  It was easy to pray.  So I kept my eyes closed, got really quiet, and gently prayed in the spirit.  For hours.  I didn’t even want to go on the platform to pray.  I didn’t want to lead anything.  I didn’t want to be helpful to the event - smarter people than I had it all figured out.  What blessed the Lord…but more than that, what served the Lord, was that I stayed in that little chair and really prayed.  How glorious!

So, by the time I walked into the prayer room at IHOP-KC the next day to lead a few little prayer meetings, I was refreshed.  Alive.  Physically strengthened and emotionally encouraged.  More than that, I was set again.  This is who I am - and who I am proud to be.  What else could be added to my title?  What else could I be “promoted” to?  Why would I care if more people heard the sound of my voice when He hears it - God and all the angels?  Oh, how I love my job.  I serve Him with prayers and fastings.  It’s my primary calling.

And I could do it all day.  In fact, I think I will.  Maybe I’ll do it forever.

It’s good to be back.

David

Entry Filed under: beauty of god, life at ihop-kc, life in the spirit, prayer, prayer movement