ESTHER’S WARRIORS MINISTRY

Praying you have a blessed Memorial Day with family and friends.  This is a day to commemorate those who gave up their lives so we could live and enjoy ours.  Former U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell stated, “Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders.  The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those who did not return.”  Take a moment to prayerfully remember all whose families and friends never saw their loved ones again so we could live free in these United States of America.  If you know a veteran, thank them for serving.  They put their life on the line.  They lost comrades who will live in their hearts and memories.

Pentecost Power Comes Amidst Unity

Today is Pentecost Sunday which is considered to be the birth of the church.  Pentecost is when the Holy Spirit descended from heaven and empowered the disciples.  Jesus told His followers, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.”  (John 14:16) “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;  and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”  (Acts 1:8)  As they awaited the presence of the Holy Spirit, Acts 1:14 tells us, “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”

They waited with anticipation.  We are each called to wait during certain seasons, so we wait just as the disciples waited.  Jesus had told them to wait and they waited.  When God tells you not now then wait.  We will be empowered when we wait in thankful prayer and supplication.  Murmuring, complaining, and ruminating over ‘what if’s’ is not a good wait stance.

They were of one accord.  There was no division.  Their unity empowered their prayer and supplication.   The body of Christ today is fractured exponentially which drains our corporate power in prayer.  We must pray diligently to be made whole corporately ‘for such a time as this.’ Only unity brings power for “…every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”  (Matthew 12:26) We are each responsible for our part in the whole regardless of where we sit on Sunday.  The body of Christ is much bigger than the confines of four walls.

Unity Is Required

To walk in the fullness of the Holy Spirit power and authority today we must come to a place of unity.  Unity begins in our heart (for it is always a heart issue), extends to our family, friends, neighbors, churches, cities, states and finally to our Nation.  Unity at the root is a heart issue.  Check your heart today, check it every day.  Walk with a clean heart toward everyone if you want true spiritual freedom and empowerment.  You cannot afford to do otherwise.

To be offended by, bitter about, resentful of or at war with another is to squelch the Spiritual power and authority available to you.  It is not worth whatever he/she said or did to give up the fullness of what God has for you.   The Holy Spirit is here to comfort, guide and empower us.  We cannot hear Him if we have jammed our airways with bitterness and resentment.  If that is the case, we are listening to a different spirit altogether.

Empowerment Came!

 “Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place…And they were filled with the Holy Spirit…” (Acts 2:1,4a)  Again we see that they were in unity, in one place spiritually. The Spirit filled the room and each was empowered just as Jesus had foretold.  From here they go forward to walk out each of their destinies with authority empowered by the Spirit operating through them.  They operated fully as witnesses for Christ.

We are each responsible for our part of the whole. We do not stand alone.  If we follow Jesus we are part of the body of Christ whether or not our feet ever step inside a church.  What each of us thinks in our heart and acts out in our life affects the fabric of the whole.  Really think about that.  We cannot afford the luxury of schisms on any level in the season we are in now. We must be whole to be Holy Spirit empowered to bring God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven!

‘Pray the States’

Join us this week as we ‘pray the states’ toward the 2012 Presidential election.  We are praying for each state in the order of admission to the Union.  Please cover Mississippi admitted to the Union December 10, 1817, in prayer.  Pray for wisdom and discernment for the political leaders, pastors and church leaders, the people residing in Mississippi and for all in our Nation.  Each state is important in forming our United States of America.  We commit to pray for a different state each week so we not only provide prayer cover but also to make us aware that our country is bigger than the space we personally occupy in it. These are our United States. Let us pray that we will arise united ‘for such a time as this!’ Please repost and share.

A Prayer Request and Personal Blessing

Thank you for your continued faithfulness to pray. Especially this Memorial Day keep our servicemen and women and their families in prayer for salvation and safety. They are our frontline on the battlefield, let us be their frontline in the spirit.

May God richly bless you this week and heal your heart to a place of unity that you may walk in the fullness of Holy Spirit power and authority.  Amen and amen!