Silas
Beloved of All
Your prayer reaches into the very heart of what it means to belong to the flock of the Great Shepherd. You are resting on the truth that His sheep hear His voice, and that He not only calls them out but goes before them, guards them, and leads them to springs of living water. That confidence, that He who began a good work will perform it until the day of Christ, is a solid rock under your feet. The Shepherd’s care is not distant or theoretical; it is the daily, near protection of the One who laid down His life for the sheep and now lives to intercede for them. You can entrust yourself and every brother and sister in chains to that care, knowing that no prison cell, no earthly power, and no spiritual attack falls outside the reach of His rod and His staff.
When you ask for relief for the persecuted church and for testimonies like the angelic release of Peter or the earthquake in Philippi, you are touching on a deep mystery of the gospel. The chains that bound Paul in Rome were not a setback; they became the very instrument for the furtherance of the good news, until Christ was being magnified in the palace guard and among all the rest. The enemy meant it for evil, but the witness of Jesus Christ shines with a peculiar brightness in the darkness of a dungeon. Remember that the word for witness is the same root from which we get martyr. The ultimate testimony is not only in deliverance from the trial, but often in faithfulness through it, so that whether by life or by death, Christ is magnified. Pray with boldness for open doors and for angelic intervention, but pray also for the grace to joyfully accept hardship if it comes, knowing you possess a better and an enduring substance.
The cry to be strengthened through the Spirit to grasp the dimensions of Christ’s love is exactly what the body needs. The church grows and testifies powerfully, not by first learning to walk in its own effort, but by sitting firmly in the truth of what it already is in Christ. Before we were ever commanded to walk worthy, we were blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in union with Him. From that seated place of rest in the finished work, the obedience flows, the guarding of the flock from wolves, the patient teaching of all that Jesus commanded, and the readiness to give an answer with gentleness and respect. Your union with the Vine guarantees that your labor is not empty. Apart from Him you can do nothing, but in Him the fruit of righteousness is certain and it brings glory to God.
Never lose the urgency in your intercession. The time is always short, and the Lord walks right now among the lampstands, inspecting and tending His churches with eyes like a flame of fire. Let your prayers be filled with that living hope begotten by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The world’s systems, the allure of adding anything to the simple gospel of grace, and the schemes of those who would divide the body for their own preeminence are all passing away. Your call is to test every spirit, to hold fast to the faithful witness of Jesus Christ, the testimony God the Father bore of Him, the witness of His works, and the inward witness of the Spirit, and to love the brothers and sisters without reservation. When love abounds in real knowledge and all discernment, the body builds itself up in love, and the world sees a unified witness that cannot be explained by human strategy. May the great Shepherd of the sheep, brought again from the dead through the blood of the everlasting covenant, equip you and all the saints to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, until you see Him face to face.
When you ask for relief for the persecuted church and for testimonies like the angelic release of Peter or the earthquake in Philippi, you are touching on a deep mystery of the gospel. The chains that bound Paul in Rome were not a setback; they became the very instrument for the furtherance of the good news, until Christ was being magnified in the palace guard and among all the rest. The enemy meant it for evil, but the witness of Jesus Christ shines with a peculiar brightness in the darkness of a dungeon. Remember that the word for witness is the same root from which we get martyr. The ultimate testimony is not only in deliverance from the trial, but often in faithfulness through it, so that whether by life or by death, Christ is magnified. Pray with boldness for open doors and for angelic intervention, but pray also for the grace to joyfully accept hardship if it comes, knowing you possess a better and an enduring substance.
The cry to be strengthened through the Spirit to grasp the dimensions of Christ’s love is exactly what the body needs. The church grows and testifies powerfully, not by first learning to walk in its own effort, but by sitting firmly in the truth of what it already is in Christ. Before we were ever commanded to walk worthy, we were blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in union with Him. From that seated place of rest in the finished work, the obedience flows, the guarding of the flock from wolves, the patient teaching of all that Jesus commanded, and the readiness to give an answer with gentleness and respect. Your union with the Vine guarantees that your labor is not empty. Apart from Him you can do nothing, but in Him the fruit of righteousness is certain and it brings glory to God.
Never lose the urgency in your intercession. The time is always short, and the Lord walks right now among the lampstands, inspecting and tending His churches with eyes like a flame of fire. Let your prayers be filled with that living hope begotten by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The world’s systems, the allure of adding anything to the simple gospel of grace, and the schemes of those who would divide the body for their own preeminence are all passing away. Your call is to test every spirit, to hold fast to the faithful witness of Jesus Christ, the testimony God the Father bore of Him, the witness of His works, and the inward witness of the Spirit, and to love the brothers and sisters without reservation. When love abounds in real knowledge and all discernment, the body builds itself up in love, and the world sees a unified witness that cannot be explained by human strategy. May the great Shepherd of the sheep, brought again from the dead through the blood of the everlasting covenant, equip you and all the saints to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, until you see Him face to face.
