IHOP Atlanta

“Forsaking All – For the Sake of Your Name”
Cultivation of a Generation to the Nations

“God, raise up a generation who forsakes privilege, to go to the nations, to declare to them the greater worth of your name.” That’s how it began…

It was midnight on the porch of H-town cabin in Van, Texas. I was working as a camp counselor for the summer. I had been up late praying with a friend about the young men in our little cabin of sixteen, middle school boys. We had been “going down the list” asking God to grant salvation and change in their lives, to give grace for stronger walks, to make them disciples. It was late and we were tired from the day of camp shenanigans, horseback, jet skis, waterslides, and corndogs. He went to bed, and the Lord and I carried on a bit longer. As I lay there on the porch under the stars praying, I went from being on daddy’s lap, to before his throne on my face. My prayers turned from simple petitions, to declarations, as he came to visit me with a little intercession under the East Texas stars.

As I prayed, the Spirit shifted me from petitions for my little 13 year old guys to a strong declaration over their generation. “God you will raise up a generation who forsakes the privileges of their culture and goes to the nations, for the sake of your name.” This was the essence of my and the Holy Spirits agreement that night. We were asking the Father, on behalf of Jesus, to give Him a generation for the nations. One that would abandon the American cultural norms of pursuing power, pleasure, and comfort, because they find service to Him a sweeter satisfaction. I could feel the Holy Spirit’s yearning within me for that generation. The one which will give up what is “rightfully” theirs, so that Jesus might have what is righteously His inheritance among the nations.

We see God stirring a modern mission’s movement across the church in America, with more and more youth teams sent out each summer. They are sent as zealous lovers of God, going and working for the Lord in orphanages and hospitals in the nations around the globe. It is truly amazing to see the number of young adults committed to short term missions and the spreading of the gospel! From the House of Prayer we are preparing to send a team to Brazil, and our own Kelly M. is preparing to go to Sudan and Thailand, I myself went with a team to Kenya as summer began. Yet we must be sober, and realize this is just the beginning, and is not the full blessedness of abandonment that God wants to bring to his Bride in America. Short term missions alone, cannot bring the “widows mite” blessedness to the church, but that is where I believe Lord Jesus wants to take us as His Body, into wholehearted abandonment. But how do we get there personally, as a community, and as the church?

I have had wiser men than I share the conviction that, “We must begin to exert ourselves as a generation to live the fasted lifestyle out of Love for Jesus.” That this is the only way we can be in a position to receive all Jesus longs to do in and through us, by giving up many of our own vain pursuits in order to lean into Him. As I consider this, reflecting back on my evening sniffing the pine boards of the H-town cabin deck, I would have to say I agree. God is inviting the praying church into this reality, and I am confident most of us have felt its pull on our own hearts. What was your response? Mine was avoidance. “Well not going to pray that prayer again, what if Jesus actually tries to get me to do it!” I like to ask God to give our generation a heart of abandonment, my flesh DOES NOT like having to try to enter into it.

Therefore, due to my petitions for “more” but my resistance to receiving it, Jesus has begun to discipline and prune me, so I can enter into the heart reality of the fasted lifestyle. In this I have realized, that Jesus is always ready to receive from me as much of my personal strength as I am willing to give up, and always ready to supply his own strength once mine has been voluntarily surrendered. The Holy Spirit is not forceful, but He can be persuasive, and he wants to subdue my flesh and position me with grace to receive from Him. A wise gentleman shared with me yesterday, “In receiving according to God by grace, we have to realize we can’t earn anything, but that doesn’t mean don’t have to exert effort to receive.” This is the same essential principle, shared by Mike Bickle, to the cultivation of a fiery Spirit. A passionate commitment to Gods purposes is dependent on a zealous abandonment of our own. I have to give to him of my time (prayer and serving), power (giving), and strength (fasting). When I become delightfully weak through love, it makes room for him to be exceedingly strong towards me.

How can this same shift take place in our generation, well how many do you think it would take, willing to embrace true abandonment in love before our church culture would be impacted? I imagine not as many as our natural mind might presume. In Jerusalem the most religiously controlled city in the world, it only took 120 under His power, and for those operating in a Spirit of Elijah, just them and God. The same as been true throughout church history, whether it was the Moravians or Martin Luther, God has used relatively small groups to galvanize radical transformation in the Bride. Consider how much power the eyes have over the direction of the body, despite their small size. So it is with a prophetic church within a community. However, their obedience must be wholehearted 100% to see clearly, and that means it will be UNCOMFORTABLE – often.

I want to go there myself, I want to be alive in love, I am pleading for us to get there, “Jesus, help!” We are so weak spirited, I want to hold on to what I have, even at the expense of what I could possess of you. Just give us grace Lord, open our eyes. Allow me to see what I need to let go of so I can receive more of you from your Spirit! Let my hands be emptied, Abba, even from good things, so they can be available for your purposes. Prune us, so we can be cultivated into a fruitful generation to the nations, with a sincere witness, forsaking all – for the sake of your name!

Today as I completed my morning devotional time, I began to read aloud the introduction to the crucifixion in the Gospel of Matthew. (try reading it aloud yourself)
Mat 26:62 - And the high priest arose and said to Him, “Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?”
Mat 26:63 - But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”
Mat 26:64 - Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Mat 26:65 - Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!
Mat 26:66 - What do you think?” They answered and said, “He is deserving of death.”
Mat 26:67 - Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands,
Mat 26:68 - saying, “Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?”
As I read this portion of scripture, I had a startling revelation of God’s mercy and Christ’s wisdom, in particular with respect to the nation of Israel. Recently, I have been studying the end times, and therefore able for the first time to contextualize the prophecy Jesus makes about His second coming. He is referring to Daniel 7:13-14 about the judgment of Anti-Christ’s Kingdom and the establishment of His own Eternal Kingdom from Zion.

Dan 7:13 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. Dan 7:14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.
Similarly, In Zecariah 14:2-5, a key prophetic scripture on the end times, Zecariah is prophesying the Salvation of the Jerusalem from the hands of the Anti-Christ’s rampaging Armies.

Zec 14:2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Zec 14:3 Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle.

Jesus’ response to the murderous High Priest, who is salivating rage against Him, is set in the context of these two events - the salvation of Jerusalem and the restoration of Israel. Jesus is declaring to the High Priest, and all others gathered to beat him into a bloody mess and kill him, that He will one day return to physically defend their ancestors and save them from utter destruction!

Mat 26:64 Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

At first hearing, Jesus’ prophecy of His eventual coming could be seen as a self assertion. However, when you consider the context of that glorious appearing, the true beauty of Jesus’s heart is made evident. In the face of his wrathful accusers, He is declaring the promise that he will come to save the very nation whose leaders are preparing crucify Him.

In the meekness of his response to the High Priest, Jesus reveals to us the depth of the Fathers Mercy, and a Wisdom that the world would consider foolishness. Why would God send one with such power, to behave so meekly? How could one be so merciful, as to affirm an eternal commitment of love to those preparing to utterly reject Him. He is so faithful!

Beloved’s, we need to ask the Father for more revelation on the conduct of Christ, with respect to the absolute power at His disposal. Those striking Jesus mocked him, “Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?” The answer, the very one who will come to save their beloved nation. On that day, many will mourn for having mocked the son of God in the midst of His meekness.

Rev 1:7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.