5/25/2011 Revival Prayer Meeting

Prophecy

Exodus 3:3-4  So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight- why the bush does not burn up.” When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”  And Moses said, “Here I am.”

I saw a vision that a new wave in our church, the wave of “Revival.” We need to pray for more people to have a spiritual curiosity so that those who are called by God can see His glory and enter His predestination. May people from all over the world will be drawn to our church’s vision- Wind of Revival.

Message

Genesis 28:20-22 (from Pastor Belinda)

We have been talking about “Family Prayer Altar.”  When we see the family prayer altar been built, we will see the spiritual heaven will be opened. We are very excited to see our prayers been answered. “Bethel” represents “the house of God”, and Jacob clearly knew this place is where God’s blessings and His presence reveal. God also spoke to Jacob in Bethel. Tonight, we will see how Jacob responded to God.

When Jacob left his father’s place, he was trying to escape and did not want to seek God. On this journey, he was tired and did not know what would happen in the future. But because Abraham’s prayer and built a prayer altar, we see that God appeared Himself to Jacob. All of sudden, Jacob realized that God is with him. So he made a vow, which is a very common prayer as yours and mine. We can see Jacob did not have a full faith in God, he said “If” God will be with me.... In Jacob’s mind, he cannot trust God.

As parents, I realize when we pray for our children, we probably cannot see the changes right away. However, we need to know our children should encounter God. They really need to have assurance that God is with them on daily basis. We see when Jacob left home and turned in twenty years. He had been lied to, labored hard and experienced difficulties. This time when Jacob returning back home, Jacob realized God had dealt with him and worked a lot in his life.

Actually God did allow Jacob to experience many trials and tests in his life. So when Jacob returned to his home, he can have the desire to build the altar and know God is so real and true. So let us not give up on praying for your children. Even though there are times we face tests, feel discouraged. We still need to keep our hope in God and know God will lead them back in His own timing.   

Pastor Belinda’s testimony:

As a mom of two pretty daughters, Pastor Belinda often prayed for them when they were kids. She tried so hard to pray for their characters. Years later, the children were grown up. After they sent one of their daughters to LA for college, she gave Pastor Tong Liu and Belinda a letter. The letter was about that she wanted to walk her way and explored the world. She only asked Pastor Belinda to continue praying for her. She said “I believe one day I will return back to God and trust Him, but not now.” 

On that day, Pastor Belinda was so disappointed that she thought all of her prayers for the children were in vain. She cried out to God and the only thing she could hold onto was the paragraph in the letter: please continue to pray for me and I will return back to God one day. So she prayed for her daughter every day and proclaimed that one day her daughter would turn back to Him. The only thing she could do was to establish the prayer of altar. In these five years, God had strengthened Pastor Belinda’s prayer muscle; she began to write down her own journey, also known as the book- How to pray for your children’s spiritual character. Pastor Belinda was a bit hesitant to publish this book because her daughter had not turned back to God yet.  God challenged her faith and asked her to trust Him more, so by faith, Pastor Belinda submitted the scripts to the publishers.

One night, the daughter gave Pastor Belinda a call and told her she wanted God to build up the Godly character. Just as Pastor Belinda’s daughter said, “even though I came back to God, I am not perfect yet, please continuing praying for me.” Our God is so amazing that He does listen to prayers and answer them. Do not give up or disappointed, just lift up your children before God.

Reflection

Are you worried about your children? Can you lift them up before God and continue praying for them? Let’s build up the family prayer altar and pray God can bring them back.

5/25/2011 復興禱告會

先知團隊分享

出埃及記 3：3-4 耶和華的使者從荊棘裡火焰中向摩西顯現。摩西觀看說"我要過去看這大異象，這荊棘為何沒有燒壞呢？" 耶和華神見他過去要看，就從荊棘裡呼叫說："摩西！摩西！" 他說："我在這裡。"

今早異夢中見上一波復興的西人弟兄姊妹在歡慶中等待華人肢體的上台，復興時刻如此之近，不要膽怯！異象中見到生命河建築如復興靈火中之荊棘，我們要禱告更 多的人有摩西的屬靈好奇心，”我要過去看這大異象“（出3：3），以致蒙神按名呼喚，得見神榮耀，進入命定。願世界各地的人都被生命河異象吸引，一同復興。

牧師分享（劉梅蕾師母分享）

創世記28章20-22節

這幾個星期我們圍繞在「家庭祭壇」這個主題，我們看到家庭祭壇一旦被建立起來，我們的下一代都要蒙福，屬靈天空要被打開。在座當中我們看到很多人的禱告，得蒙應允，是因為家庭祭壇被建立起來，「伯利恆」豫表「神的殿」，雅各很清楚知道這是神祝福且顯明祂同在的地方，神在伯利恆對雅各說話，今天讓我們看看雅各如何回應神。

當雅各離開父親家時，他是為躲避哥哥以掃而逃出家，當時他並沒有尋求神，然而在整個過程當中他試著靠自己的力量，不知道將來會如何，但因著他祖父亞伯拉罕在此地築壇禱告，使得雅各能在伯利恆遇見神；忽然間，雅各驚覺到神一直與他同在，所以雅各才會有這樣的回應，且這個回應禱告如此平實，就如同你我都會做的禱告；而我們也看到當時的雅各對神還不太認識，他說：「神若與我同在…」，似乎在他的心中，他還不太能相信神。

每位父母親知道為孩子們禱告，雖然不見得立刻看到果效，然而我們一定要知道，要讓孩子們與神有親身的經歷，必須讓他們自己確信神是天天與他們同在的神；雅各在外顛沛流離二十多年，當他再度回到父家時，他才明瞭神在他生命中被對付的地方與所做的工作。

事實上，神的確容許試煉與考驗在雅各生命中，所以雅各自己回到父家才懂得要築一座「家庭祭壇」，表明他已經知道這位神是又真又活的神，與神有真實的關係；所以千萬別放棄，持續為你的下一代禱告，將我們的盼望放在神身上，相信神會帶領他們再度回到神面前，且是在神的時間表裏。

劉梅蕾師母的見證

劉師母有兩個女兒，小時候常為他們的屬靈品格禱告，也為自己教導有方，感到些許驕傲，多年後小孩成長到上大學的日子，將大女兒送到南加州上大學，女兒給了她一封信，信上大致上是這樣寫著：很感謝你們長期為我禱告，但從今天開始我想要走我自己的道路，請持續為我禱告，相信有一天我會再度重拾對神的信心，但不是現在。

在那一天，劉師母傷心大哭，突然感覺多年來所有為孩子所做的禱告都付之一炬，但她決定就緊緊抓住那句話—「相信有一天，我會再度重拾對神的信心」，即使女兒在這五年期間，做了許多瘋狂頭痛的事情，她仍選擇每天為此在神面前宣告與禱告，盼望神能親自帶領她的女兒，在這當中她也著手寫日誌，也就是後來出版且為眾所熟知的—「為孩子的屬靈品格禱告」這本書，一年多來，她女兒仍是沒改變，多少次想問女兒是否參加教會，但答案都是「沒有」，在即將出版前夕她很掙扎，萬一出了書，女兒仍沒改變怎麼辦？但仍憑信心，將書稿交給出版社。

有天晚上，劉師母突然接到女兒從南加州打來的電話，分享她覺得一個人的屬靈品格很重要且願意買聖經、去教會，甚至明白雖然自己回到神裏，但有很多仍不完全，請師母持續為她幫忙禱告。劉師母又再次大哭，但這次是心中充滿感謝，不得不驚歎神的奇妙作為！

看到自己孩子的轉變，劉師母再次鼓勵大家，要緊緊抓住神，持續為下一代禱告，不要放棄相信神會親自帶領你的孩子，回到祂的家中。

心靈迴響

你常為孩子的問題頭痛嗎？還是他常闖大禍讓你束手無策？趕緊起來建立「家庭祭壇」，以禱告將他們交到神面前吧！相信神必在祂的時候，帶領他們回來。

5/18/2011 Revival Prayer Meeting

Prophecy

Isaiah 7:15 “He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right.”

When God is expanding our church ministries, He also reminds you and me to choose to do the right things. God will reveal His new ways so we should purify and prepare ourselves to be a channel of His blessings.

Message

Genesis 31:13

We are still talking about Jacob. “Bethel” is a special place, because God very seldom connects himself with a location. He said I am a God of Bethel. He linked himself with a location. Bethel is a place where the prayer altar is built on. Abraham built an altar here and prayed before God, so did Jacob. Actually, “Bethel” originally represents “House of God”. In other words, “Bethel” symbolized “Church”. That means whatever God was calling people to do in Bethel, He is calling us to do at church in this moment as well. A while ago, we talked about Genesis 35 that God had asked Jacob to build a prayer altar. That is why Jesus says, “My temple will be called the temple of prayer.” Bethel is the place that God invited people to pray.  In our heart, we need to pray. In our cell groups, prayer meetings, we should start to pray. This is God calling us to do whenever we are. We see “Bethel” overshadowing Church, so what God has done in Bethel at that time, God is going to do here, at church, today! In June and July, there are Ling Leung Conference and 21 Day Healing Crusade, let us not to focus on so many tedious works to do, we should know God is doing miraculous things now in our church.

Genesis 28:16-17 describes how Jacob met God here. It says when Jacob awoke from his sleep, he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” Here we see three things God wants us to do:

1.    “Bethel” is the gate of heaven- a place where the heaven will be opened. These days we have been talking we need to open our spiritual heavens. So we need to pray for church, cell group, otherwise our hearts are being oppressed. Even though we want to be joyful, however, we lost the power of being happy. Why? It is because the gate of heaven has not been opened. That is why we cannot see the works of God, we cannot hear from God. We can see “church” is actually the place, exit or door to open the spiritual heaven.

2.    “Bethel” is location where God manifests His presence- here we see Jacob said, “Surely the Lord is in this place…” Church is not a place filled with programs, ministries; it is mainly a place that God’s presence is manifested. Let’s God turn around our heart towards Him, seek His presence more than anything else on this earth.  

3.    “Bethel” is a place where people meet God- even though some of us come to this place, the house of God, their hearts will be drawn to God. Once the altar of prayer has been established, the Holy Spirit can start working in people’s hearts. The church is such a miraculous place where God shows Himself among us.

Reflection

No matter what you do and serve, let’s cry out to God in these three things: Open the gate of heaven, show us your presence and so people drawn near to you.

5/18/2011 復興禱告會

先知團隊分享

以賽亞書7：15  當他曉得棄惡擇善的時候，他必喫奶油與蜂蜜。

異夢中見到現階段復興場地已成形，唯有廚房的下水道堵塞滿溢。 今早異夢中見到現階段復興場地已成形，唯有廚房的下水道堵塞滿溢。異象中見到賽7：15，“當他曉得棄惡擇善的時候，他必喫奶油與蜂蜜”。神提醒在事工和服事迅速擴展的同時，我們不可忽略心思意念每天的更新變化，當刻意警省，“棄惡擇善”，成為暢通的復興管道，必蒙神在荒年中奶油與蜂蜜的祝福。神啟示祂的 新作為即將降臨，故此我們應當自潔、預備。“當他曉得棄惡擇善的時候，他必喫奶油與蜂蜜”。神提醒在事工和 服事迅速擴展的同時，我們不可忽略心思意念每天的更新變化，當刻意警省，“棄惡擇善”，成為暢通的復興管道，必蒙神在荒年中奶油與蜂蜜的祝福。神啟示祂的新作為即將降臨，故此我們應當自潔、預備。

牧師分享

創世記31章13節

還是在講雅各的事情，「伯特利」是個很特別的地方，因為神很少把自己跟一個地名連在一起，這幾個星期我們常講到 「伯特利」，除了這是一個禱告祭壇被建立的地方，另外其實這個字代表「神的殿」，也就是「神的教會」； 既然伯特利是豫表「教會」，因此神當時呼召人在伯特利所要做的事情，今天教會也要做，這也是耶穌基督說「我的殿要成為禱告的殿」，因為伯特利是神邀請人來禱告的地方，讓我們心中隨時不住地禱告吧！讓我們在小組生活中禱告，在教會禱告會裏禱告吧！或不管你人在哪裡，也都隨時禱告吧！

再者，神在伯特利顯現的事情，神今天也要在教會裏做出來，隨著六、七月的靈糧特會、21天醫治佈道會到來，我們要抓住神的應許來禱告，相信神在伯特利所做的奇事在我們當中也要做，創世紀28章16-17節講到，雅各醒來就懼怕，說這是神的殿，也是天的門，這裡看見三方面是神要作的：

(1)伯特利是天的門—是打開屬靈天空的地方，所以要來為教會禱告，為小組禱告然後屬靈的天空才會被打開。如此人的心才能被打開，很多時候想喜樂都喜樂不起來，小組或教會被黑暗勢力受到轄制，就是因為屬靈天空沒被打開，這裡說教會是天的門，換句話說，從教會開始。

(2) 伯特利是神顯明祂同在的地方—所以雅各說神真的在這裡啊！雖然教會有很多事情事工在進行，但教會主要是神顯明祂同在的地方，渴望神的同在勝過一切的東西，當靈糧特會，21天醫治佈道會，我們擔心事情很多、預算夠不夠，但最重要的是看重神的同在，勝過這一切事情，因為只有在神同在中，人的生命才能得以翻轉。

(3) 伯特利是人與神相遇的地方—即使人不預期的來到這地，就感到莫名奇妙的感到被神的愛觸摸、聖靈就能在他的心中工作，教會就是這麼神奇的地方。

心靈迴響

不管你手中所做的事奉是什麼或從事什麼樣的工作，讓本週就來禱告呼求神吧！求神顯明祂的同在，讓人可以遇見神！

5/04/2011 Revival Prayer Meeting

Prophecy

Amos 3:7 “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.”

God is looking for vessels, workers. He is moving among us and doing more wonders and miracles to heal this land. If God reveals you to do something, just obey and do it. He is waiting for you to say, “Yes, here I am, please send me.”

Message

Genesis 35:9-13  “Altar” is the place God made covenant with us. God’s convent is not just salvation; it is also a convent of “life”. So many times you may say, “I don’t know what God is doing, what His will is…” that is because we did not build up the altar of prayer, so we could not really understand God’s heart and plan for us. From this passage, God made convent with Jacob in three areas of his life:

First, a covenant of life changing: he changed Jacob’s name to Israel. “Jacob” means, “grasps”. He used his own strength working hard for his own need. God taught Jacob not to depend on himself, but lean on God. Do you know depending on God takes practice as well? When you built up your altar, you start to rely on God.

Secondly, a covenant of enlarging territory. Our God is almighty God, He does not want you to stay in the valley. He will walk you through the valley and enter the Promised Land. The theme of 2011 is “New Frontier, New Opportunity.” Let’s have great expectation of God and step out from our current place.

Lastly, it is a covenant of inheritance. We know God revealed Abraham the promised land, but only Jacob (Israel) inherited the land, and it happened in his lifetime. Why is that? The reason is he built the altar of prayer. Let’s not neglect the importance of prayer altar.

Reflection

Is there something in your life, family, career that you want to fix with your own way and strength? Let’s trust in God and believe His way is higher than yours, His will is better than yours.

5/04/2011 復興禱告會

先知團隊分享

阿摩司書3：7

「主耶和華若不將奧祕指示他的僕人眾先知，就ㄧ無所行。」

神正在尋找與祂同工的人，祂正在我們當中施行更多的神蹟奇事，醫治這塊土地，在我們當中若神曾經跟你說要作什麼？祂在找一個有願意的心的人，在此時就來順服神，跟祂說：「主我在這裡，請差遣我。」

牧師分享

創世記35章9-13節

講到“祭壇”是神與我們立約的地方，此約不僅是救恩的約，還是一個生命之約；有人常說我不知道神的心意是什麼，不知道祂在我生命裏的計畫是什麼，祂的手正在作什麼呢？正因為我們什麼都不知道，我們才更需要建立禱告的祭壇，在這裡我們看見這個約包含三方面：

1.              生命改變之約—

神將雅各改名為「以色列」，「雅各」這個名字是「抓取」的意思，以前的雅各常常靠自己的力量，非常努力想要做自己要作的事情，但當他與神的侍者（天使）摔跤被摸了大腿內側的筋，從此他就懂得倚靠祂，你可知道「倚靠」是透過學習的嗎？學習怎麼用拐杖，倚靠神也必須透過學習的。相信神的意念高過於你的，祂的道路高過於你自己的，就放手交給神吧！神總是用祂的笑臉來幫助我們，不是嗎？

2.              擴張生命之約—

神是全能的神，當我們在死蔭幽谷中，祂總是與我們同在，不但如此祂還要帶領我們走過死蔭的幽谷，進入應許之地；今年我們教會的主題是：新的領域、新的機會，要對神有偉大的期待，相信祂必為你擴張你生命中的領域與疆界，帶你進入應許之地。

3.              得地為業之約—

最後，我們看到神確實有應許亞伯拉罕及其子孫會得地為業，然而為什麼只有雅各真的得到那地使他的夢想實現？因為雅各懂得要設立禱告的祭壇，此應許即應驗！讓我們再次來看重禱告祭壇的重要性。

 

心靈迴響

思想一下：是否你生命當中正經歷一些事情或一個難題，是你想要靠自己的方式去解決的？學習來倚靠神，建立禱告祭壇將此難處交給祂吧！