A call to pray, a call to usher

So, today is my birthday. I am a whopping 26, BUT, I will not enter my late 20's until next year. Just so you know.

The Lord told me a few weeks ago that I would be in Kansas City, at Ihop, for my birthday, for a reason. And today just happened to be my first service day. My service assignment? Ushering at FCF (Forerunner Christian Fellowship). I didn't want to, I'm not going to lie. Some fear of man issues screaming at me, but I decided I just had to get over it, so I did all I could to embrace it. I ended up being partnered with a guy who used to be a bodyguard, a policeman, and even before that...a professional usher...no joke. I was also reminded of a word I got from a leader here three years ago. A man prophesied over me that I would usher people in the presence of the Lord, through my own intimacy with Him. Usher. Good ole Mr. Webster defines an usher as An officer or servant who has the care of the door of a court, hall, chamber, or the like; hence, an officer whose business it is to introduce strangers, or to walk before a person of rank. That's cool, to walk before a person of rank.

Anyway. The main point is the topic of the service: The Day Of Prayer For The Peace Of Jerusalem. It is held the first Sunday of every October, and just happened to be on my birthday. I received prayer for an impartation of God's heart for Jerusalem...which brought back to my memory some promises God showed me regarding Jerusalem. So that was a real treat for me. I thoroughly enjoyed that.

We had a 'briefing' today for the whole class, we had Matt Candler come and speak to us about our Sacred Trust Hours. These are the hours that we have committed to being in the prayer room, and a general guideline of how we use our time in the prayer room. It was really neat to hear his heart and things the Lord has taught Him.

Our Sacred Trust is a call and a challenge as intercessory missionaries to keep charge of the sanctuary, and to keep the fire burning on the altar. Restoring the Tabernacle of David. Night and day worship. Calling Jesus back to earth. Our hearts crying out to Him. "On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; All day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the LORD, take no rest for yourselves." (Is. 62:6-7)

We were talking about how music and singing is such a major part of prayer. Matt gave this analogy about music. If there is a theater full of people from different nations, cultures, and languages, and you put them in a theater to watch the same movie, but in only one language, the music of the movie will be able to make them all feel the same thing at the same time. Nothing else in the world can do that. So, through music, we can all encounter what the Lord is doing corporately.

The watchmen are singers...gulp...including me. "Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion." (Isaiah 52:8) The watchmen pray/sing in the coming of the Lord. Prayer and singing are almost interchangeable. What you sing engages your spirit. Our incense, our prayers and intercessions, are mixed with Jesus incense, together, as one. Wow. Then he went on a little tangent talking about how not even angels get that privilege. Angels are never seen in scripture approaching the Throne, but oh how we get to. Angels probably gasp when we are bored praying, because we don't have any idea how lucky we are that we get to approach the Throne of Grace. Angels are constantly learning about the Kindness of God when He allows us, the people who fall asleep in church, to approach Him. The angels are just in awe, that God will still welcome us. Ha. That's very humbling.

I was informed that I was going to have to usher in the prayer room after briefing, so I had to sit through another lesson on the importance of people keeping their shoes on (hence the picture above), or not eating in the prayer room, or how to gently lead someone into a side room if they are crying or groaning in the spirit. Ha. Only in a place like this can you ask someone to try to lower their voice, or go into a travail room, when they are being hit by the Spirit. It's the norm.

I personally had a lot more healing in the prayer room today, all for a story at another time. He did remind me of another word I had gotten here three years ago, that I was a cavern, a deep cavern, full of gems. As I was aware of the emptiness inside of me, He showed me that He created the depth so deep so that ONLY He could fill it. He wants to fill me to overflowing. That, is a good God.