Febuary 2005

This month began in prayer as we concluded our 21 days of prayer and fasting together. It has been a time of pressing in to see the Lord break out at our head. Already there have been manifestations of the Lords freedom and power in our worship, and I expect to see much more as we gather together for our weekend away as a fellowship.
The image of a runner on the starting blocks has been with me for some while, and we have themed our weekend together around this picture that the New Testament gives of the race we are called to run.
We have been on a journey in 2004 that demanded greater faith from some of us than we have ever needed before –and that was the whole point. God was in it to build us up. Its been said that the enemy builds people up to tear them down – but the Lord does just the opposite. He often tears people down in order to build them up. If you read The Well report that was written you will realise that people took more responsibility for the work of the kingdom in 2004 than for a number of years previously. – Responsibility is just that – the ability to respond. When we start to respond to the Lord I believe a number of things begin to happen. We gain fresh revelation about who we are, what we are called to do and the authority we have been given to do it.

As we have prayed these past three weeks someone shared these scriptures and word; “For this purpose, Christ was revealed, to destroy the work of the evil one” and “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power and he went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil”. ‘I believe that the members of Camberwell are called to see the power of the Lord released in miraculous ways. That a new wave of power is coming to break open the gates of the enemy and to set the captives free.’

In praying about this w/e the Lord showed me a picture of a runner on the starting blocks. As I have been asking the Lord He has been speaking to me about that image. What the Lord is saying to us is this; “Many of you have been in training for years and I have prepared you for such a time as this. I am about to bring you into a race that is worthy of a great prize. The Prize is the high calling of God in Jesus Christ. And if you will stand before me now and present yourselves as workers who are not ashamed, then you will have a part to play in the Day of My power. This race is not to the swift or to the strong, but to those who will remain on their knees. You will require the disciplines of an athlete who runs and seeks nothing but the prize. Your reward will be souls saved, and the crown of life that will be given on that day”.