Devotions

As we already know, the Christian church was born when the Holy Spirit was poured out. Amazingly, in the hours afterward, thousands of people converted to the faith, and the new believers fell into an inspired new rhythm of congregational life. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42).

In the beginning, Christian doctrine was transmitted orally since there wasn’t a written New Testament. The apostles spoke the gospel and the associated teachings they heard from Jesus.  This was the Word of God that the early believers “devoted themselves to.”

That kind of dedication to the Word is always a vital sign that the Holy Spirit is moving in the life of a person or a church. Believers have a hunger to hear, read, study, and in particular, understand more about the Word of God.

That makes sense, of course, since the Holy Spirit was the one who inspired the Bible. He was the author who inspired the writers. The Bible is His book. Spirit-controlled Christians don’t usually have to force themselves to read the Bible; the Spirit gives them a holy appetite for it.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, so He will always direct us toward God’s truth. When a person has little interest in the Word, or when Scripture seems dull and tedious to a church body, that is a sign that something is seriously out of sync. When we don’t have respect for the Word and reverence for its authority, and when we don’t humble ourselves to hear what God has said, we’re on the wrong path.

I know it is possible today to gather large numbers of people together on a Sunday without a strong emphasis on the Word. In fact, many of the people sitting in the pew might be totally content without hearing careful Bible preaching and exposition. But when we wander away from the Word, thinking we can live without it day after day, week after week, we cease to grow spiritually and open ourselves to spiritual deception.  The apostle Peter wrote, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation” (1 Peter 2:2, emphasis added). The Word of God contains the vital spiritual nutrients we need—every day—to grow in Christ.

Jim Cymbala began the Brooklyn Tabernacle with less than twenty members in a small, rundown building in a difficult part of the city. A native of Brooklyn, he is a longtime friend of both David and Gary Wilkerson. 

Jesus prayed a “breakthrough prayer” at Gethsemane.

I think of Christ’s breakthrough prayer as the “ultimate prayer.” By ultimate I mean the end of a series. By this point, everything had been tried and this was the ultimate, or final, prayer, the one that would move mountains and shake hell. It was simply this: “Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39, my italics).

Jesus gets up from pleading and says, in essence, “I have prayed, wept, fasted, done everything. Now, Father, I unload My soul to You, in total trust. Your will be done.”

Have you ever presented this “ultimate prayer” to the Lord over a situation?

• I have prayed, fasted and interceded over this matter.
• I have asked, knocked, sought and believed.
• Yet what is happening now is not what I want.
• I don’t think I can handle it.

THE PLACE OF REST

Then you add, “But You are the Almighty God, and I cast everything into Your hands. Now, Father, do what You want to do, when You choose to do it. I rest in Your promises to me.”

This is the rest that remains for God’s people today, the rest referred to in Hebrews 4. It is to come into the blessed promise of the New Covenant, in which God declares to us, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My child.”

Beloved, until you pray this ultimate prayer, you cannot move your mountain. But when you do, God will open your eyes to something amazing and you will no longer miss the answer to your prayer when it comes. 

When Christ prayed at Gethsemane, He was demonstrating to His people how to obtain power and authority over all satanic forces. When the disciples tried to cast out demons, those hellish spirits laughed at them. Only when Jesus came on the scene did the demons flee. The only authority they recognize is that of a contrite heart and broken spirit.

Now consider Jesus’ prayers at Gethsemane:

• “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death” (Matthew 26:38). Here was a declaration saying, in essence, “This is beyond My understanding, and if it goes on, it will kill Me.”
• “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (26:39). Have you ever prayed in extreme agony, with hot tears streaking your face?

At Gethsemane, we find Jesus in a series of spiritual agonies:

• Tears
• Pleadings
• Intercessions
• Prostrations

Yet each is a spiritual episode that ultimately leads to a place of incredible revelation.

We know that as followers of Jesus we are going to experience the same things He did. He is our example in times of crisis and at such times, we are to pray as He did: with faith, knowing God bottles all our tears. Like Him, we are to pray for release and ask God for a way out.

Of course, this is not a daily experience in our walk with the Lord. Rather, it is an encounter with Him, a confrontation where we come to the end of something. In that moment, we stop looking at our circumstances and begin to pour out our soul before the Lord. And in the midst of it all, we believe, as Jesus did, that God loves us and is going to reveal something marvelous through our trial.

Peter’s bold faith enabled him to walk on water to get to Jesus on the sea. But when Peter saw the waves rising around him, he began to sink, and suddenly this fearless disciple panicked and cried out, “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:30).

Jesus reached out and caught Peter, saying to him, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” (14:31). Make no mistake; Christ was not wearing a smile when He spoke these words to Peter. He was deeply grieved over His close friend’s unbelief and was demanding, “Why did you doubt Me, Peter? Am I not the Almighty Lord?”

DON’T WAIT FOR A CRISIS

Like Peter, we may move boldly in faith for years before a crisis comes that causes us to fix our eyes on our condition. Worsening circumstances can cause a sense of panic to overtake us, and we think we are going to sink. Yet, all the time God is within our reach.

I asked the Holy Spirit to show me how to move unbelief out of my life, praying, “Lord, how do I cast this mountain out of my heart? How do I rid my soul of everything that hinders Your miracle-working power?” He whispered to me: “If you want authority over every doubt and fear, there is a place you must go.”

THE PLACE FOR ANSWERS

The answer is found in only one place: Gethsemane.

Gethsemane was the garden where Jesus went to pray when His trial became crushing and His cup overwhelmed Him (see Matthew 26:36-46).

• He wept out His deepest sorrows before the Father
• He won the battle over every evil principality and power
• It is where all obstacles must obey His Word

You may have to meet Him at a place of tears but you will come into victory. 

“Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:23).

Jesus said it is possible for us to move the mountain before us, but it is accomplished only by faith! He gives the glorious promise that whatever we desire, when we pray and believe, we will receive. Can you believe it?

DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE?

In my years in ministry, I have observed that very few Christians believe that such a supernatural work can occur. In fact, you may say, “I have tried this and it didn’t work for me. I prayed in faith and I believed but my prayer wasn’t answered.”

I remember a new pastor coming to me confessing his addiction to pornography. This young man loved God and loved his wife, and they enjoyed a good marriage. But he got hooked on pornography and was unable to shake himself loose from it. It began to rob him of all his spiritual strength, and even though he prayed earnestly, he had not been delivered.

FULLNESS IN CHRIST

This young man’s problem was not just an addiction but unbelief. He did not accept that God answers prayer, and his unbelief stood before him like a looming mountain, impassable and immovable. And it was severely hindering the fullness that was his in Christ.

The good news is that this pastor came into a better understanding of how to exercise his faith, he weathered his storm, and he came into a wonderful place of victory in the Lord.