Encountering God
The goal for this month is to build momentum after “Training of Prayer, Intercession, and Spiritual Warfare.” It is not enough for us to have training and then another training on any subject we focus on. It is imperative that we keep on building the momentum until we see our church become a Praying Church through our encounters with God.
Week 1: Never the Same Again
Since the very beginning, God is the One who longs to have fellowship, spend time, and have communion with you
He is always wooing His people to come and draw near to Him because of His love
When you encounter God, your life will never be the same: Joseph, Moses, Paul, and many other men and women in the Bible. (Genesis 39:2, Exodus 3:2-4, Acts 9:3-22)
Hagar encountered an Angel of the Lord and her life was changed. (Genesis 16:7)
PRAYER POINTS:
James 4:8 TPT: “Move your heart closer and closer to God, and He will come even closer to you”. Pray for all of us to have a renewed hunger for God’s presence, to know Him intimately (not just know about Him), to commune with Him, and to go after His heart. Hunger opens up for God’s presence.
Pray to break traditions, any stronghold of religious spirits, negativism, unbelief, past baggage/ hurts, or any roots that will hinder us from encountering God. Pray for our hearts, inner being be renewed, and be cleansed by His blood.
Pray for renewal of mind and that you would allow the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your heart.
Pray for a new fresh encounter with God. When you encounter God, your life will never be the same. Pray to be empowered through your encounters with God so that your life changes.
Pray for our next generation; many may never know or experience a personal encounter with God. Pray for impartation from the older to the younger generations and that the younger generation can experience an encounter with God that will change their lives forever and bring revival.
Week 2: Passion
1 Thessalonians 5:9, “Do not quench the Spirit,” is a short verse that should remind us to continuously have passion.
On the contrary, the enemy will dull your interest in spiritual things so that you become callous. (Hebrews 5:11)
Song of Solomon, 1:4 KJV, “Draw me and then I'll run after you.”
Have passion to tell people about Jesus
Share your personal encounter with Jesus
PRAYER POINTS:
Pray for us to go back to our first love and repent if we have replaced Him with other things in our lives. Pray for passion and desire to pursue God again and that God will restore and bring back to life the hunger and desire for more.
Pray for the Lord for His newness to come into our hearts continually and for our old wineskins to be replaced with new wineskins so that we can contain His presence and all of the promises He has for us.
Pray against a spirit of dullness, lukewarmness, complacency, and familiarity that make us to become spiritually numb or callous. Pray to no longer be numb or become desensitized.
Pray that we as His church have passion for God, passion to share about Jesus, and compassionate hearts for the lost. Pray that Passion and Compassion become a lifestyle of the church.
Let us pray that our hearts will continually be filled with the desire for more of Him. Let our heart be moved by the things that move the heart of God and be broken by the things that break the heart of God.
Week 3: Keep the “FIRE” Burning
Humans are not meant to depend upon human strength. When God created us, He created us in a way that we would be “POWER”- assisted.
“… JESUS commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, … But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:4,8)
“Many people stopped short of a divine encounter because they're satisfied with good theology. The Lord wants to give us a revelation in the scripture, and revelation was always meant to be the invitation for encounter.” (Bill Johnson)
PRAYER POINTS:
Pray for passion and fire for the things of God to be ignited again in our lives. Declare that dryness, emptiness, and things that are dying inside us to be restored and be full of life again (Isaiah 35). Let the Fire on your altar burn bright again!
Pray against the spirit of heaviness, any form of deception, distraction from the enemy to make us weary, become overwhelmed, or quench the Spirit in us. Pray that we will choose to come to Him, rebuild the altar, and to be reconnected to Him; the true source of all power.
Pray that we will be more sensitive to hear the voice of Holy Spirit and move in His power as we partner with Him.
When was the last time you had an encounter with God? Pray that you would not stop short of a divine encounter you had in the past, but to have a burning desire again to pursue Him.
Pray that we have ears to hear and eyes to be enlightened so that we can hear and see what God wants to reveal to us and to have an encounter with Him again.
Pray to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit, be connected to Him, that we can experience more of His power and not just ourselves but also for those God has placed in our lives that are in need of His touch.
Week 4: Build an Altar
An altar is a place of covenant, God’s table, the cross.
The Bible tells us that there was an encounter with God, men of God always built an altar. (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob)
They set memorials up every time they make a leap or a step into another dimension, something happens it becomes a reintroduction season.(Genesis 8:20, 12:7, Exodus 17:5)
Renew your covenant with God. He will re-introduce Himself to you and He will re-introduce you to yourself.
PRAYER POINTS:
Pray for us to be able to practice how to build an altar, how to make ourselves His living sacrifice that will bring the fire of God burn bright in our lives.
Pray for cleansing and repentance from any sins, compromises; tear down any “idols” or “other gods” we have in our lives, and rebuild the altar of the Lord. Pray that the fire of God will burn away anything that hinders God’s presence in our lives.
Pray to renew your covenant with God. He will re-introduce Himself to you and He will re-introduce you to yourself.
Pray that despite all challenges we are facing in life, things do not go the way we planned, we will still make a choice to build an altar that we can stand strong in the days of battle.
Our God is the God of Generations: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. His covenant is not only for old generations, but to continue towards the next generations. Pray, declare, and decree that everyone in our household, all older and young generations will serve and seek the Lord fervently and that the altar will keep burning from generation to generation.
Let us all encounter God!