At the end of last years fast I wrote the following, summing up God’s invitation to us:
As we Acknowledge who he is and worship him, as we Repent of where we’ve got stuck, sidetracked, distracted, lost hope, where we Consecrate ourselves to him again and where we Contend in prayer for his promises again.
In many ways this is God’s ongoing invitation to us. The word he has spoken so clearly over KingsGate at the leadership handover was Flourish from the following scriptures:
Psalm 1:3
3 That kind of person is like a tree that is planted near a stream of water.
It always bears its fruit at the right time.
Its leaves don’t dry up.
Everything godly people do turns out well.
Psalm 52:8
8 But I am like a healthy olive tree.
My roots are deep in the house of God.
I trust in your faithful love
for ever and ever.
Isaiah 41:18-20
18 I will make streams flow on the bare hilltops.
I will make springs come up in the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water.
I will turn the dry and cracked ground into flowing springs.
19 I will make trees grow in the desert.
I will plant cedar and acacia trees there.
I will plant myrtle and olive trees there.
I will make juniper trees grow in the dry and empty desert.
I will plant fir and cypress trees there.
20 Then people will see and know
that my powerful hand has done it.
They will consider and understand
that I have created it.
I am the Holy One of Israel.”
As I’ve prayed into this I felt God challenging me about what I choose to see. Do I see the streams or the bare hilltops, the desert or the pools of water, what God has already done or what has not yet happened? Try asking Holy Spirit to show you where your attention is focussed?
When we get stuck in survivor mentality, all we can see are the problems, the challenges and the obstacles and praising God becomes difficult, gratitude becomes a chore. When I take every thought captive and bring it under the authority of Christ, suddenly my perspective changes and I can lift my praises to him again, giving him thanks for what he has done. Usually in the Kingdom of God, he asks us to change our perspective as a statement of faith in who he is, BEFORE the circumstances change. Again I encourage you to allow Holy Spirit to highlight areas where you need to change your perspective to align with his.
To help me change my perspective and root out survivor mentality I have been praying Psalm 25 since the start of the year.
In you, Lord my God,I put my trust.
2 I trust in you;
do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3 No one who hopes in you
will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
who are treacherous without cause.
4 Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Saviour,
and my hope is in you all day long.
6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
As we start this week of fasting together, I invite you to join me as we Acknowledge who he is and worship him, as we Repent of where we’ve got stuck, sidetracked, distracted, lost hope, where we Consecrate ourselves to him again and where we Contend in prayer for his promises again.
