Tailwinds: Join Together

The following is a clip from a book I’m working on, Not as Man Sees. I write about pursuing God a lot and will continue until I am out of breath. The pursuit of God’s heart is our highest calling, and leading others to do the same is our mission. I believe we are in a time when grabbing hold of God’s heart and not letting go is vital to the life of the American church. I’m not the only one saying this, so you can probably find a better version out there. But, here’s my voice joining the call.

I believe the American church will go through persecution we have yet to see. The shaking has already begun and will continue to grow. It’s exposing faulty foundations. We are learning how to be the church. How do we live out Christianity when there is no governmental support? How do we live kingdom-minded when everything we hold so dear is shaken?
One of the foundations of our nation—religious freedom—has served the American church for hundreds of years, but I believe we are seeing that this will not always be true. The very thing that has given us freedom in the past will be an obstacle for us in the future.
But. Freedom isn’t in the laws of a nation. It’s in the tailwind of the Spirit.
The church will be victorious as it is built in the Cornerstone. Everything else will not last in the shaking. This is a time to check our foundation as we unify with the Spirit and with each other.
I’ll resound the cry—pursue the heart of God as you’ve never done before. In his heart, we will find the longing for unity and the wisdom to endure and be victorious in this hour.

That clip serves a purpose in the book, but as I was writing, I felt it was also timely for right now in a different way, specifically this line.

Freedom isn’t in the laws of a nation. It’s in the tailwind of the Spirit.

For the next few weeks, I will be posting prayers taken from scriptures about the Spirit and the church—tailwinds.

One of the impressions I had at the beginning of the year was to befriend the Holy Spirit like never before. He is sent to us from the Father and the Son—for our benefit. If he’s leading, I want to be in the Spirit’s tailwind. Amen? He is the Spirit of truth.

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Tailwind No.1, Join Together

Ephesians 2:18-22
Through [Jesus], we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the Cornerstone, in who the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Spirit of wisdom and revelation, open our eyes to see

• We have access to the Father through Jesus in one Spirit. Give us a heart to be near the Father!

• We are fellow citizens in the house of God. We are not each other’s obstacles. Guard our hearts (words and actions) against division

• Jesus is the Cornerstone, nothing else. We smash ideologies and idols that want to be the foundation of our beliefs and the church

• We are meant to join together as a dwelling place for God. We surrender to your ministry, Holy Spirit. It’s in Jesus and by you that we are joined together

Ephesians 4:1-6
I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

• Give us an eagerness to maintain unity — To abide as one body in you through you, Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 12, the whole chapter in context
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greek, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

• Holy Spirit, help us realize our need of you, and our need for each other. We are needy!

Check back next week for more Tailwinds. And Click HERE for other prayers for the church.

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Brave Sparrow exists to create resources that encourage and equip hungry disciples, surrendered leaders, and lovesick worshipers so that Jesus will be known and the kingdom of heaven will be evident on the earth until he returns.

For more information about the Adrienne and the Brace Sparrow mission, click HERE.