"When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches." Psalm 63:6 (emphasis mine)
"'But now bring me a minstrel.' And it came about, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him. And he said, 'Thus says the Lord...'." I Kings 3:15-16 (emphasis mine)
"And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." Revelation 5:8 (emphasis mine)
If we look closely at the prophetic events that have taken place throughout human history, we can see two specific spiritual activities that seem to go hand-in-hand with or act as spiritual catalysts for the prophetic activity of the Kingdom of God. These two spiritual activities or catalysts are music and prayer. We know that after the fall of the human race in the garden, the hearts of men and women drifted away from God, and as a result, we no longer knew how to seek after or approach God, nor did we know how to place ourselves in a position to hear from God and to effectively communicate with Him. Therefore, God established models or examples that we can observe and learn from in order to place ourselves in a position to connect with, receive from, and engage with the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit and the prophetic activities of the Kingdom of God in our lives.
One of these models or examples that God established for us is the spiritual life of Moses. Moses is the man God used to establish the model or example for the prophetic catalyst we call prayer. There are examples of many types of prayer in the life of Moses. The type of prayer that God specifically introduced to His people through Moses is what we now call contemplative prayer or prayer that contemplates or ponders the person and presence of God. If we recognize this aspect of his life and embrace, learn from and consistently engage in this contemplative prayer, we too can begin to grow in our experience of the presence and spiritual communication with God and the prophetic activities of the Kingdom of God.
As we follow the life of Moses, we see that this contemplative prayer often leads to Moses engaging in intercessory prayer because the prophetic nature of contemplative prayer prepared Moses to receive direction and insight from God for engaging in prayer for the children of Israel. Intercessory prayer (placing oneself between another and God in order to request, on their behalf, the benevolence or provision of God) can take place for situations, individuals, groups of people, and nations. The prophetic nature of contemplative prayer is an opportunity for direction and insight to be communicated by God for the purpose of intercessory prayer. There isn't enough room in this book to dwell on the prophetic catalyst of prayer to any great extent but I believe we can gain a tremendous amount of insight in regard to this activity by looking at two key events in the life of Moses.
The Prophetic Catalyst Of Prayer
The first key event takes place in Exodus 33:7-11.
"Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And it came about, that everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp. And it came about, whenever Moses went out to the tent that all the people would arise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he entered the tent. And it came about, whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the Lord would speak with Moses. When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent."
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Studies In The Kingdom Of God
EspiritualThis is actually 2 books in 1. The first book is "Our Father...Yours Is The Kingdom". The second book is "Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done". It is a book I have written that talks about the kingdom of God - what it is, why it is here on this...
