As the bell rang to signify the year of 2020, many felt the Lord would use the year to bring greater clarity and focus – 20/20 vision.  And then calamity hit – all while the Lord stood boldly at His helm, not for a moment surprised by any of it!  Racial unrest, protests and rioting, COVID-19, and most currently vaccines, distance learning, lockdowns, and election pandemonium…

Much of this past year has been about division, a separating, a sifting, an “us” versus “them” mindset.  And yet, I am drawn back to the words Jesus prayed over His Church:

 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”  (Jn 17:20-23 NIV)

Where are we now?  What is the Lord speaking to you?  Does 2021 hold hope and promise for you?  For the Church?  As an intercessor, where are the meditations of your heart?

God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart.
Examine me through and through;
find out everything that may be hidden within me.
Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares.
See if there is any path of pain I’m walking on,
and lead me back to your glorious, everlasting ways—
the path that brings me back to you.  (Ps 139:23-24 TPT)

Once again we stand at the precipice of something more, something new.  We need to reorient our focus.  More than anything, we were created for His glory, honor, and praise!  How do we set our gaze aright this year to be living “sold-out” for Him and not for some agenda or political platform?  How do we let our light shine for ALL to see?  When do we use words?  When do we pray?  When do we carefully craft our words so they can be heard with fresh ears and make open space for conversation?

Narrow Focus

As believers in Christ, our focus should be narrow – love God, love others.  Much of this involves our words and actions, but I argue it must also include our ability to listen and engage in conversation—hard conversations.  We need to be a people who aren’t simply known by our sentiments, but also by our ability to dig deep and get dirty, to love expansively and not exclusively.  How can we agree to disagree?  There is so little space to do this in our political climate, but I believe we must try.  And where words won’t do (and even before we even engage), we must be willing to be on our knees—on behalf of this nation AND the Church.

To be quite honest with you, I don’t know how to do this, but I feel the Lord pricking me to make this a “goal” for this new year.  We, here at IFA, have been very specific in our prayers regarding the election.  We have asked for truth, justice, and integrity.  We have asked you to be steadfast, unwavering, and believe in the God of miracles.  And here we stand on this precipice, awaiting the verdict.

We are ever in a spiritual battle.  The Lord wants us to seek peace, unity, and reconciliation.  The enemy wants to solidify the divide, the chasm, and the layers of offense.

We need only go back to the Garden to be reminded of this:

Now the serpent was more crafty (subtle, skilled in deceit) than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made. And the serpent (Satan) said to the woman, “Can it really be that God has said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God said, ‘You shall not eat from it nor touch it, otherwise you will die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened [that is, you will have greater awareness], and you will be like God, knowing [the difference between] good and evil.” And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise and insightful, she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate.  Then the eyes of the two of them were opened [that is, their awareness increased], and they knew that they were naked; and they fastened fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool [afternoon breeze] of the day, so the man and his wife hid and kept themselves hidden from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  (Gn 3:1-8 AMP)

We are reminded of our tendency to stray and to look beyond the boundaries set for us.   We are reminded of the enticing, twisted, carefully crafted words of the enemy – words that are darkness veiled in light.  We are reminded that our words carry weight and influence, turning people towards God or away from God.  We are reminded that we can be deceived.  We are reminded that PEACE comes from being in His presence.

We need to protect our hearts and our minds.  We need stay grounded in the Word.  We need to cultivate relationships that keep us accountable to living for Him.  We need to worship and pray.  We need to find a place to live quite simply, for an audience of One.

Where Do We God From Here?

The Church is in major need of surgery, but not at the hands of a “surgeon.”  We need our Creator to step in, the one who spoke the world into being, the one who knew each one of us before we were ever conceived in our mother’s wombs.  HE knows how this new year will play out.  He knows the purposes and plans He has for the Church and for this nation.  He knows how we will get there.  Will we humbly come before His throne and say, “Now what?  Lord, what do you want me to do now?  Where do I begin?”

Humility, on both sides, is where the seeds of revival will begin to root.  The undercurrents of this have been going on for some time, but it will only begin to break the surface when WE, the people called by HIS name, will humble ourselves and pray, seek HIS face and turn from our wicked ways.  THEN, the heavens will move and His Glory will cover this, our UNITED States of America.

• Pray for humility, pray for softness and teachability, pray for reconciliation. As these next days and weeks unfold, instead of taking offense and making judgments, let’s ask the Lord how, where, and with whom to build bridges.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would breathe into each of those conversations and that Truth would reign.
• Pray for repentance and a deep conviction of sin. As this new year begins to unfold, there are many IN the body of Christ who will find that they were deceived, aligning with false doctrine and/or allowing something other than God to determine their identity and direction.  Pray for ears to hear and hearts that are willing to submit and obey.  Praise God there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus.  Pray against the enemy’s tactics to pull shame over those who truly do love the Lord.  Pray that the body of Christ would be kind, gentle and forgiving towards those who turn and repent.  Pray that the Church would SHINE during this hour!
• Pray that we would be a people singularly focused on HIM! Pray that we would seek Him in EVERYTHING we do – every space we have an opportunity to speak, every place we enter into, every business and person we connect with and interact with…  Pray that we would be a people so intimately connected to the ONE that it colors everything we say and do, everything we invest in and give our time to…
• Pray for holiness over the Bride. We have allowed the waters to become quite murky.  Many have determined their own truth, based upon their own experiences.  They have allowed the things they don’t understand to pull them away from the One who spoke the world into being, who speaks truth and creates boundaries for our good, not for our harm.  They have allowed culture to speak false “truth” into those places they can’t and don’t want to decipher.  They have determined the Bible to inaccurate, simply a book of stories and dead.  They have not allowed the Word to be what it is – living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword, able to demolish strongholds, set captives free and bring LIFE to those that find it!  Pray for the Church to return to its first love and once again allow the Word to determine Truth, rather than the world.  Pray for teachability and a holy fear of the Lord.  Pray for a hunger and thirst for righteousness.
• Pray for revival. Pray for a move of God such as this nation has never seen before!  Pray for a unity, hunger, passion, and fire to fall upon the Church.  Pray for signs, wonders, and miracles.  Pray for the message of the Gospel to become a pleasing aroma to those who are perishing.  Pray for laborers for the harvest.  Pray for the Lord to speak in dreams and visions.  Pray for words of Truth and hope to flourish and bring the multitudes to salvation in the only one who is able to save – Jesus!

Come back, come back, O God to restore us!
You are the Commander of Angel Armies.
Look down from heaven and see our crisis.
Come down and care for your lovely vineyard once again.
Nurture our root and our fruit with your loving care.
Raise up the Branch-Man, the Son whom you’ve made strong.
Enemies chopped down our vine and set it on fire;
now show them your anger and let them perish by your frown.
Strengthen this Branch-Man, the Son of your love,
the Son of Man who dwells at your right hand.
Then we will never turn back from you.
Revive us again, that we may trust in you.
O God, the mighty Commander of Angel Armies,
come back and rescue us!
Let your beaming face shine upon us
with the sunrise rays of glory.
Then nothing will ever stop us again!  (Ps 30:14-19 TPT)))