Anointing 2

Prayers That Have Real Meaning

Yesterday I spoke of the corporate prayer offered up in church last weekend. They came towards the end of the sermon from our Pastor, Chris Bowater. The impact these prayers have had may be immeasurable – many folk were in tears as they prayed these words. I offer them here with very little explanation or interpretation. They stand as prayers in their own right.

On the day, we heard about “the anointing”; its origins and meaning both then and now. We heard about the value and meaning of anointing the lobe of the ear, the thumb, and the big toe. Then Pastor challenged us to speak out together and pray two simple but wonderful prayers.

First we were reminded of the words of Isaiah in chapter 61:1 – any emphasis is mine alone. These are words of confirmation of our responsibilities – should we choose to accept them. It is spoken as a prayer from us, confirming to the Lord that we understand His calling upon our lives – again – should we choose to accept the calling.

          “God’s Spirit is on Me; He’s chosen Me to preach the Message of Good News to the poor; Sent Me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the  blind; to set the burdened and battered free. Amen”

The second prayer is far more a personal commitment to the work of the Lord in all our lives. Pastor emphasised very clearly the seriousness of a prayer such as this, prayed with all our hearts.

“Lord, I pray for a personal encounter with you and your anointing. I embrace the precious blood of Jesus. I want to draw close to you and receive your empowering anointing to effectively serve your purposes.  Amen.”

This was the moment when our leadership team anointed our ear, our thumb, and our big toe (not literally the toe, but the foot/shoe) This was the moment when so many people felt, some for the first time, the call of God upon their lives.

I have a feeling that life in our church is about to get a whole heap more exciting.

If  you would like to hear the whole sermon, click on this link http://www.nlcm.org.uk/index.php?option=com_sermonspeaker&task=singlesermon&id=10210