Pray Network Forum

Continue to look with me at this powerful passage from Habakkuk 2. Verse 2 reads,

“Then the LORD replied: Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.”

Let's focus on two applications of this verse;

The Foundation of Writing

                    and

The Purpose of Writing

It stretches metaphor to say the foundation of our writing is from above. But I think you get the point here. When you are in fellowship with God you will see the same things you saw before, but you will see them from the rock of God's perspective. You may write about a dysfunctional home, but you will see it through the weeping eyes of God who loves them. And behind your words will be the knowledge of how it should be. You may write about a good elderly woman but you will not be blind to flaws in even the best person's character.

And notice that God tells us to write to affect the lives of people. We are to make what we write plain. You are writing for people to understand, not to impress them. I have read books that the authors admitted  were written to help them work through a trauma. But those books were only good, or readable for that matter, if truth could be applied to the reader. The purpose of our writing is to make truth known to as many people as possible.

God' truth is the foundation of our writing. And people are the target of our words.

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Happy Fourth of July!

This week as we celebrate our independence, God is also calling us to re-examine our foundations. It's easy to see that our nation's foundations are crumbling, in light of the recent Supreme Court decision and the slippery political and economic slopes we are traveling. Is there hope for America as we know it? 

I had a dream several nights ago about the Fourth of July. On this day, as a parade marched by waving our flag, I saw military and police officers assembling on the tops of several tall buildings in Boston. One military man in dress uniform was shooting down into the streets, attempting to rout out a terrorist who planned an attack on our city. I saw all this from a vantage point inside my church, where I was sitting. Suddenly, from the basement below me (the foundation of the building), a bomb went off. The explosion threw me into the air and across the room, and our church began evacuation with the help of both natural and angelic authorities.

Two days after having this dream, I learned that the military had indeed thwarted an attack on police in the city of Boston - just days earlier. Scary? Yes. Wake-up call? Definitely.

What does it all mean?

It is no accident that the foundation of the church was shaken. (Note that it was not destroyed!) Aside from its immediate relevance, I believe the dream holds a prophetic picture of what the enemy is trying to do in this hour. We know the devil is busy trying to overthrow the foundations of our nation. Yet the enemy desires to overthrow our spiritual foundations as well.

It's true that the gates of hell CANNOT prevail against the Kingdom of God. However, that does not mean the church can sit back and relax while the world crumbles. While we are here on earth, there are still human lives at stake, both inside and outside the church, and we have a job to do. 

I believe there is hope for America, but only if the church rises up in prayer and proclamation. What should we proclaim? That homosexuality is sin? That our leaders have led us astray? These things may be true, but they are not the declarations God has asked His disciples to focus on. 

Instead, we are to both pray for and proclaim the key attributes of our lasting, spiritual foundations: repentance, faith, and the words of the gospel. (Hebrews 6:1). The prophets of old did this, John the Baptist did this, and Jesus did this.

2 Timothy 2:19 tells us that God's foundation stands firm, sealed with a two-dimensional inscription:  "The Lord knows those who are His," and "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness." As one commentary notes, the foundation of our faith includes not only God's election, but also man's holiness. The definitive test of our foundation's integrity is whether we are IN HIM and departing from evil ourselves.    

A Word for our Times: Psalm 11

The Lord brought me to Psalm 11, which asks, "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3). Far from being a cry of resignation, the psalm goes on to focus on the Lord, who is still in His holy temple in heaven, still on the throne. He sees the wicked and tests the righteous. He is righteous, He loves righteousness, and he beholds those who are righteous (11:7). When our nation's foundations are destroyed, we need to do the same. 

This week, it is clear to me that what we MUST do now is repent of any unrighteousness within ourselves, and make sure that our lives are tightly intertwined with Jesus, our righteousness. Apart from Him, our lives are full of dead works.

Please join me this holiday in praying more fervently for the protection of our police and our military, who devote their lives to defending us, even from secret threats we never see. Pray for repentance and faith to re-emerge in a crumbling society and a sleepy church. Cherish and pray for your loved ones as you get together, asking God to give you His love for them. I will be praying, too. 

Gratefully, 

Deborah Perkins

His Inscriptions








Key Thought: 

The definitive test of the integrity of your foundation is whether or not you are abiding IN HIM.

DAYS 1-17 ARE HERE

DAY EIGHTEEN:
VERSES:
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge...(Psalm 18:2)
PRAYER:

Most Heavenly and Holy Father, on Christ the Solid Rock I stand, ALL other ground is sinking sand. You are the Almighty, the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the Creator of All Things, the Upholder of the Universe, the Sustainer of All, the Provider, Protector and Standard of Your people! Through You, all was created by and for You and You rule over all. You uphold the righteous, You hug the loveless, You reach out to the hopeless, You guide the careless, You discipline the reckless and You grant favor to the penniless.

You reward those who bless You and pray for Your people. But You turn Your Holy Face against the hard of heart and those who reject You. You sent down fire and brimstone to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. You destroyed Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea.  You wiped out the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom and gave them to the Assyrians. Today, perversion and corruption reigns as the followers of evolution have denied the Creator and worship the creation (Romans 1:22-25). You have given then the ultimate pre-Judgment - You gave them over to themselves. The righteous see them rampaging through and destroying our family structure, the unborn and the great institutions You ordained with no brakes and no check in sight. But this is just for a time. They have a future eternity to think of and regret all of this.

But You oh God, are my deliverer. You sent Your Son the Savior to set the captives free, to deliver us from all evil. While we are set upon, beat up, pressed down, oppressed and spat upon by the lost, from the outhouse to the fanciest house, You stand there for us. You stand in the Gap as our Shield and Buckler. Your guardian angels protect us daily, even in our temporary folly.  Because You are unshakeable...because You always existed and there is none like You...because You are God before the foundation of the earth....because You are sinless, pure, holy, and good and because You see the beginning from the end, You are more than a fortress. You are a bulwark. You are to Whom we run when we seek refuge and comfort. You are to Whom we raise up our hopes and hands because You are the Fountain of Righteousness and Source of All Power! Words cannot describe You. You scoff at the scoffing pagans and heathens of this world as they shake their puny fists like Nimrod did and You can remove them by a single word. Yet You stay Your hand not wanting that any should perish. You are a merciful as well as powerful God and we love You. We worship and adore You. We magnify Your Powerful Name, Oh Lord of Heaven's Armies Who shall one day return to rule the earth, and it is in Jesus' Strong Name I pray, amen.