Prayer at Thirty Thousand Feet

7/25/08 - Taken from my journal on the way out to a three day Veil Arms event with The Glorious Unseen and The Ember Days - "30,000 ft. above sea level en-route to Amarillo, TX via Dallas via Nashville". This prayer really hits home as so much has changed in my life in less than a year's time. Much of the change was prayed about in this prayer, of which I had no idea at the time, that God would so willingly and quickly respond to.

Come Lord Jesus! Meet me here as I'm closer to heaven now than I've ever been. The skies reflect the beauty of your hands. The clouds are perfectly set to the rhythm of your voice. Peace abounds in this space between the dimension of earth below and vast blue sky above. I feel as though I'm nothing more than an ant or a speck of dirt in the grand scheme. You extend power and opportunity, in one single breath, to transform even dirt into refreshingly vibrant life.

Teach me to pray, teach me to serve, teach me to speak, to write, to trust, to believe in the impossible, to see potential in every person, place and time. Teach me to prophecy Your kingdom come and will be done on earth as it is in heaven. You have my heart, please perform the surgical work of minimizing what is mine and maximizing what is Yours. Give me eyes to see that in You, all things are converted from the formula of impossible to the all-caps, POSSIBLE! Forgive me for years spent doubting your plan and ability to put me to work. Praise you for using me even when I've brought nothing to offer. Would you pour open the blinds of heaven to shine forth glory to a people so quick to hide themselves from you? Do a work that could only be attributed to the inspiring creativity of your plans. Move anything/anyone out of the way and please shine forth.

Give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Teach us to live so differently that we can't help but run to you under any situation or circumstance. Set the devil and his friends under the watchful weight of your feet. Give them not an ounce of leash with which to disrupt your plans. Teach us to be on guard, quick to drop to our knees - ready at any time to rush into battle. Not quick to judge or deflate but nimble to move according to the Spirit's voice. Speak. Speak. Speak.

Holy Spirit, you are recognized here as my much-needed helper. You are invited to be my guide. Counsel me in all God's truth. Fill this mind and heart with a burning passion to see the Father glorified in the Son. Teach me diligence, teach me devotion, teach me total reliance on you. The burden is not mine to carry but you offer to carry both the man and the burden. Thank You. What can my words express without the firm action required of true faith? Keep me close to the humble and far from the proud. Pour out salvation that the lost would once again be found, that sight would be returned to the blind.

Have mercy God, in Your Son's name. Have mercy on the hungry and bring hunger to those who believe the lie that they are full. Teach me true hunger. Remove distractions from holding me back. Empower me with a Spirit of boldness. Lovingly bold, truthfully blunt. I have no options outside of faith in Your Son's death, resurrection and glorification. Here I am. Not as anyone other than servant to all and undeserving friend of the only Almighty Power that is able to keep me flying forward. I am forever grateful. Thank you God.

May God direct each of your path's this week and would you once again lay all of your cares on Him.

Endurance Expedition

The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-17), also known as the Endurance Expedition, was the last major expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition sought to achieve the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent. After the conquest of the South Pole by Roald Amundsen in 1911, the crossing remained, in Shackleton's words, the "one great main object of Antarctic journeyings". The expedition failed entirely to accomplish this aim, but it remains memorable as an epic of heroism and survival.

Endurance became beset in the ice of the Weddell Sea before reaching Vahsel Bay, and despite efforts to free the ship, she drifted northward with the pack throughout the Antarctic winter of 1915. Eventually, the ice crushed and sank the ship, stranding her 28-man complement on the ice and subjecting them to a series of harrowing episodes--months spent in makeshift camps on the ice, a journey in lifeboats to Elephant Island, an 800-mile open-boat journey in the James Caird, and the first crossing of South Georgia--that led eventually to their rescue without a single fatality.

Like the Endurance Expedition, we will likely face many obstacles, challenges and seemingly impossible odds to overcome, especially when we step out to follow God and trust Him with all our hearts. We are not promised success in the world's eyes, but there is no greater challenge than to go the farthest distance with God Himself as our guide.

There are a few words that I think most accurately describe the current state of where God has me and what He is doing in my life. A couple of those are prophetic in nature and all are an amazing reminder of how much we are being taught to depend completely on Christ. Those words are: Consecration, Endurance, and Refinement/Sifting. By my definition these words mean something along the lines of:

Consecration = being set apart for the purposes of God.

And the LORD said to him: "I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 1 Kings 9:3

Endurance = weathering the storm.

You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 2:3

Refinement/Sifting = producing Gold from what would otherwise appear to just be sand, rocks and dirt.

I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. Revelation 3:18

I just began reading this incredible book by the pastor Yong-Gi Cho, pastor of the largest church in the world (1 Million members) titled Prayer That Brings Revival - you can pick up at Amazon for 2 bucks. It's a MUST read for anyone serious about following God. In just the first chapter I feel like my world has been rocked and my hunger/desire to seek God diligently through prayer has increased ten-fold.

Know that each one of you who claim Christ as Lord are set apart as children following the heart of the Father, and therefore, are a total and complete threat to Satan and his empire. We will not see the increase, the fruit of our labors, or any good thing coming from our efforts if we are not spending time in the presence of almighty God. He has called us all to be missionaries, regardless of how different that might look from one person to the next, therefore we have no option but to rely fully on God for His total provision in every area of our lives.

I, along with the team God has placed around me, are here to intercede (stand in the gap) for each of you. If you are feeling discouraged or experiencing doubt, unbelief, laziness, or anything else that is not pleasing to the Lord, then we ask right now that God would unleash His spirit afresh on you.

Feel free to email me (chad@comeandlive.com) with any prayer requests/needs/praises/etc, I would love to lift you and your needs up in prayer. I believe 100% that prayer is what will bring about the revival that we seek and pray for. Be reminded that God's plan for your lives is so much bigger than you could ever even dream, even though it may right now seem to be nothing more than a fleeting thought. With man, all of this is impossible (and most men will look upon faith in Christ with skepticism or doubt), but with God - all things are POSSIBLE!

Endure! Endure! Endure!
Love you all very much.

Chad

P.S. I will be posting a Vlog here on this page very shortly that I can't wait to share with you. It's the story of some huge things God did in my life last week and believe it will really encourage your faith.