By Francis Frangipane
During seasons of prayer, when congregations unite for intercession or groups meet in homes to appeal to God, it is important we stay united in Spirit, supportive and passionate with the goal of touching the heart of God. Even though we pray differently or come together with different styles or burdens, our unity plays an important dynamic in obtaining spiritual success.
For instance, when my wife and I pray together, I like to pack all the meaning I can into a couple sentences. I might pray a simple prayer, "Lord bless and fill my kids," What I mean, is Lord touch them, forgive them, provide for them, guide them, use them and protect them. My prayer is like a "zip file." It's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. It appears small, but when God opens it up, there's a lot of meaning in my prayer.
A Symphony to God's Heart
Are You Hungering and Thirsting?
By Francis Frangipane
Being the habitation of God is a spiritual reality for every follower of Christ. It is your destination. There must be a constant hunger and thirst within, not just on a Sunday morning or in scattered moments throughout your day. You have been called to be a disciple—in your workplace, school, environment, neighborhood, and home.
To be a disciple, you must allow your hunger and thirst for righteousness to keep you moving forward in God until you get to the throne of God. That's the goal for your hunger and thirst. A young man came to a sage, a wise old man, and said, "I want to know God. Tell me how to truly know God."
Possessing the Treasure
By Francis Frangipane
In Matthew 13:44, the treasure was hidden under dirt. To get to the treasure, you must get the dirt off. Our lives inside are full of dirt and things that need to be cleansed, but underneath that dirt is the hidden treasure. That treasure is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
When we can see the treasure, our hunger and thirst for the righteousness of Christ compel us to sell everything and cast out anything that could hide that treasure. You might not be able to see the treasure yet. It's not open, not visible, but remember, the promise of God to you is: "The one who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne" (Rev. 3:21).
The Cup, Part 2
By Francis Frangipane
Leadership is a Call to Die to Self
In Matthew 20:17-19, Jesus sought to prepare His disciples for the hardships that awaited them. He warned that a time was coming when He would be mocked, scourged and crucified for the sake of redemption. In the midst of this utterly sober warning, incredibly, the mother of James and John requested of Jesus fulfillment of her family's ambitions! She said, "Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left" (v. 21).
She's thinking advancement, position and place; Jesus is thinking scourging, mocking and death. She's looking for the crown; Christ spoke of the cross. Jesus' answer speaks not only to silence her ambitions, He speaks to ours as well: "You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" (v. 22).
The Cup
By Francis Frangipane
Death of Ambition
When I first came to Christ, the Lord gave me a dream about my future. I thought that everything the Lord said was supposed to occur immediately; I didn't know of the work of preparation and dying to self, of learning patience and maintaining vision through testing, that would occur before God's promise would find fulfillment. Consequently, I was filled with ambition. Ambition is the first motive that arises in the spiritually immature. I was like the disciples who, a few days after Jesus' resurrection, were already asking, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom?" (Acts 1:6).
Ambition is very deceptive. It can seem just like obedience, yet because we don't truly know the Lord, the voice we find ourselves obeying is not God's, but our own. Our vision can actually be from God, but our motive is self. Consequently, where there is ambition, James tells us there will soon emerge "disorder and every evil thing" (James 3:16). Why? Because we begin thinking we can accomplish the will of God through the strength of man. We are seeking a breakthrough; God wants to give us brokenness.