My New Prayer, "God be a show off!"

My prayer at this point of the end of February is this: God, please show off Your power, Your Presence, Your Glory, Your Purpose, Your Desire.

There is such a great need for the world to see God show off. There is so much sickness. There are alot of discouraged people. There are alot people who question if God even exists. This is a great opportunity for people to see the majesty of God. These circumstances and events are a great place for people to be at.

To question is a great thing, To doubt, is okay, especially for people who don't confess or believe in God. Why do I say that? God comes inspite of the doubt. God isn't put out because people doubt. God just shows up and shows off. God isn't put off by negative realities. He comes in the midst of negative realities so that He can prove Himself. He steps into negative realities SO THAT He can shed light and illuminate and bring revelation. He will step into that negative reality and be who He always desires to be!

So that's why I pray this prayer: God, please be a show off!

Looking For Yourself

This lyric is a different kind of song in some senses. The more I lose the more I seem to gain in essence of what life is really meant to be. My promise land looks a whole lot different than what I've been taught in the church. This song may not be that well received in church circles...I hope they can find my heart in the lyric. :)

Looking for Yourself

I’m losing more all the time
What I thought should have been in my possession
My promiseland looks different than I ever imagined
Somehow it feels right and I know I’ll be alright

Chorus;
Strip me bare
Till all that is left is what You started out with
Cause I have to believe that all that I’ve added
Just can’t be the real part of who You’ve made me to begin with

I say all I want is You
But when it comes to the breaking I begin to question
Oh I’m slowly learning that this is as much love
As the blessing that I’ve heard about all my life

Bridge
All that’s gonna matter in the end
Is not what I’ve done, what I’ve said
It’s who I’ve been all along
You’re looking for Yourself in me

Chorus

No I don’t believe I’ve been cursed
Simply cause I don’t have material things
Somehow I’m more blessed
Than I’ve ever been in my life
Material things will fade and whither
But You will remain when those things fall to the wayside

Clayton A Stairs, February 23, 2010

I Know What I Want...

I love how the Spirit world works. I love how a group of people who are united in heart and mind with a common goal can come together and share their hearts with one another and by the end of the gathering, you leave knowing that God said something so profound to cause us to think in a refreshed way. I love how each piece is important in creating the dynamic picture of what God wants to get across.

I truly believe that in these times, we need to celebrate each piece. We need to focus on that. Worship from that. Be led in that. Love in that. Revel in that. His presence is what we're after. We want to know His heart and in knowing His heart we will live our lives out of His Heart. That's all I want.

I don't want things to be the way they've always been. I want God. I desire His movement. I crave His Presence. I crave His love for this generation. This generation needs to experience His Heart, His Love, His Mercy, His Grace, His Power. I want God outside of the box....that's not a cliche....it has to become reality. I know what I want... I want Him.

Faith that is Real

Two posts in one day.... hope this doesn't become a habit. :D

I have this thought I want to convey. It goes along with some of the earlier posts in this past couple of weeks. We've talked about our Story. A very huge part of my story is my faith. My spirituality is a large part of what makes up who I am. I grew up in the church since I was 6 years old. In alot of cases, I am very thankful for that. In other ways, I tend to think about the disadvantage that can be. By that, I mean that there are alot of hangups that I have to get passed. There are alot of religious ways and religious thinking that can keep alot of people at bay.

My thought that I have tonight is that I want my faith to be real. I want my faith to be genuine. I want my faith to be something that doesn't intimidate people. I want my faith to be accessible if people want to take the time to explore. I want people to find my faith a little bit mysterious. I want people to look at me and wonder about what I believe.

Reality is this: I struggle. Christians aren't supposed to struggle...or so we're taught. If we don't admit the struggle then how on earth are we going to be able to reach out to the world who does struggle?

Reality is this: I have an emotional roller coaster. Christians aren't supposed to admit that they struggle with their emtions. Most people do struggle with emotions. If I let people know that, mayybe it will help them better understand the war that goes on in their emotions.

Reality is this: I struggle to trust. Christians are supposed to simply trust. However, trust isn't easy or come natural for most of us.

I want people to be able to say: this guy is spiritual yet non-threatening. This guy is spiritual without being religious. This guy is spiritual without the baggage of always having the trite answer.

I hope people will ultimately say: This guy is spiritual and his faith is real.

If I gain the whole world and lose...

Okay... here's an interesting thought...I'll have to add this to my notes for my course:

What good does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul....

Hmmm... We've taught this as the importance of keeping the world at bay. I'm not sure that this is what Jesus was trying to say.

Soul - mind, will and emotion...

Soul - love....

My thought at this point seems to be this: Let's look at that statement again:

What good does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his love for people.

My my... I know what is like. I've been there. I thought my world was crashing down around me 14 years ago. The world as I thought God had intended for me crashed. The economic of how I viewed ministry was totally different back then. My dream was to be in ministry at my local assembly however God had other plans. I thought I had the world by the tail then the "cat" got away from my grip. When my world crashed, I lost love for people. I lost my desire for what ministry is all about: people. I struggled for years with that. I wanted to be in ministry but I so easily forgot that ministry is about people...love for people. I loved God...but I didn't love people because of hurt.

I sense in my heart a restoration of love for people. I pray that I don't lose sight of that. The econmics is love. When I have love for people then I have the whole world. But if I seek only the whole world and not the people who live in that world, then I'm missing out.

A different thought... I'm not sure I totally have it altogether..maybe I should have let it simmer on the stove for a little longer...It just caused me to think...hope it causes you to think too.

Prayer of Identification -- Breaking up the Fallow Ground

I find it so interesting how God moves and works in and through our lives. I had an experience this past Thursday night at work that was overwhelming and difficult to process in a sense. At about 6:30 pm, I had this strong sense within me of feeling really down, discouraged, very very sad. By 7:00 pm, I was on the verge of tears. I knew that I was fine....that I wasn't discouraged, depressed or sad. I knew then that it must be what I was picking up in the atmosphere around me. This is what I call the prayer of Identification. It is something that one must be very careful in operating because there is such a fine line that can be crossed. It would have been easy for me to interpret these feelings and emotions as my own. If I would have done that, I would have claimed something that wasn't mine and then I would have been discouraged, depressed and sad.

In these times, you MUST be covered in prayer as you pray through this kind of prayer. I emailed a couple of friends of mine and asked them to pray with me that this would lift. I knew who I was interceding for. After four hours, I started to feel this thing lift off of me.

This kind of prayer is exhausting. It takes every ounce of strength to walk through this. Deep within me, I knew that this was a form of intercession however my internal conversation was so heavy and mean that I told God that I wasn't sure that I was capable to handle this. Yet I knew within my heart that God was saying, "Yes, you can."

Now, this isn't something that I operate in a lot, thankfully. I can't remember the last time I may have operated under this unction.

Friday came and I was feeling quite a bit better however there was still a bit of residue of the effects from the night before. Traveling home alone on Friday night, I prayed and had an interesting talk with God concerning this. In the end, I came to a place where I trust Him in this.

Saturday night, I got together with a few friends and we had a time of fellowship, worship and ministry time. We blessed one another through speaking what God was saying to us. The words I received were such life and confirmation of the season I have found myself in. I feel tanked up and ready for what may come this week. God is good. I look forward to today's service.

So, I've come to this final conclusion....as I told a friend this week, I won't give up praying for them. I won't give up praying...no matter how uncomfortable it may place me. I believe that in this season of prayer that we are breaking up the fallow ground in order for the seed to be planted. Every prayer removes a rock. Every prayer breaks up and softens the ground of people's hearts. That is, every prayer that is prayed of the Spirit of God...that is led by the Spirit.

Let's us pray with the understanding and pray without the understanding. There is a breakthrough that is coming. We must not try an interpret what that breakthrough is going to look like. Let God determine that. I just want to be a part of that.