As a musician of 12 years, I know all of the temptations and pitfalls that one may go through as they serve on a worship team. Especially if you’re on a solid team that exhibits a lot of skill and sounds really good. Humility, meekness, and godly obedience have to be intentionally sought after in these scenarios or you might find yourself struggling with a big head, even if it’s under-the-radar thoughts about how good it sounds rather than how good God is. 

So why is it more important to seek godly character than to seek skill or building your sound? And what can you do to develop your character as you grow in skill?

I grew up going to church. Every Sunday I would walk into church with my family, climb the stairs to the balcony, and sing a combination of worship songs with the congregation. Some of the congregation could sing, some couldn’t. But still, we sang our songs—waving our flags, clapping our hands (on and off-beat) and tapping our well-meaning, clumsy feet to the strums of the guitar and the beat of the drums. I loved it.

But did you ever wonder why we sing in church? Why do we attempt to reach those unattainable notes with our morning voices? Why do we repeat the words to well-known songs over and over again, week after week?

For the past 9 years, I’ve been blessed to be a part of missional communities of prayer, seeking to establish a culture of unceasing prayer and worship that extols the greatness and worth of the Godhead 24/7. Like David, we believe that “God is great and greatly to be praised” (Ps. 145:3) and that His promises are still alive and powerful and waiting to be fulfilled at the end of the age. These promises warrant the Church’s response of contending intercession, “reminding” God of His promises until He sends them like fire upon the earth (Is. 62:6-7).

Just as it was in the early church, many young adults today are committing themselves to serve God in prayer rooms across the earth. Primarily, they are committing to standing before the Lord in worship, to gazing upon His beauty and contending in intercession for the burdens of God’s heart, and to laying down their lives in simple obedience that Jesus would receive the reward of His suffering in all nations.

Throughout history, both in America and abroad, movements of prayer have released explosive spiritual awakening. From the early Church in the book of Acts to the Great Awakenings to the Jesus Movement in the 1970’s, God’s chief aim has been made known again and again: to reveal and glorify His Son Jesus.

These “Jesus movements” revolutionized millions of lives. Joy and deliverance flooded many hearts as they encountered this Man Jesus. Oppression and addiction fled, as multitudes became apprehended by an authentic relationship with Jesus and discovered the power of a higher affection. As loving Jesus (Mt. 22:37) became the anthem of these generations, sharing a Gospel-witness of His worth became the overflow of their lives.

Time and time again, the revelation of Jesus has sent spiritual shockwaves across America and throughout the earth. Millions of dollars have been spent trying to impact this emerging generation. But if a generation is perishing, surely it is not perishing for lack of novel methods and relevant presentation. We need something from heaven. We need a deep encounter with the Man Jesus.

The Highest Calling of the Church

Encountering Jesus is the highest calling of the Church. He is the Desire of All Nations (Hag. 2:7). He is only solution for the raging nations (Ps. 2:1-2). He is the only Hope for crisis in America.

Undoubtedly, there is no one like Jesus.

He turned the world upside down in three short years of ministry. His presence sparked the atmosphere of Heaven wherever He went. Revival or revolution followed immediately after. The religious hated Him. Sinners loved Him. His healing power, miracles, signs and wonders caught the attention of religious and political leaders. Whatever He did demanded a response. He amazed crowds (Mt. 9:33); stunned scholars (Lk. 2:46); brought dead men to life (Jn. 11:33-34).

The fame of Jesus’ name spread like wildfire across many regions and ever since then He has been divinely initiating movements of spiritual awakening throughout Church history, wherever He finds hearts that are hungry for more of Him. He forever will be our Savior, Great High Priest, Bridegroom, King and Judge.

This is a short story to encourage you that the impact of your live is bigger than you think. God can (and I believe does) use you to literally save lives through your simple acts of obedience in regards to opposing abortion.

In the weeks leading up the election, our house of prayer partnered with other Christian organizations to help distribute non-partisan, pro-family, pro-life voters guides to approximately 75,000 people in Tallahassee. A small work force was hired from a temp agency to help go door-to-door and pass out these guides. Given that they were hired from a third-party agency, it’s safe to say that most didn’t agree with the godly message they were passing out.

Over the week of interacting with one of our directors, Pam Olsen; reading the Voter’s guides on abortion and biblical issues over and over again –– as well as through seeing sincere prayers being prayed in the prayer room –– some of these workers’ hearts began to change. One young man said he understands now that the life of the unborn is important to protect. He asked for a LIFE band and the LIFE prayer and covenant was explained to him. Taking the life band covenant, he vowed before God to pray daily for the ending of abortion, to only vote for pro-life candidates, and to do acts of justice & compassion.

A little over a week ago, Sunshine State News reported that the abortion rate in Florida has dropped a staggering 19% from 2008 to 2011, and that downward trend is continuing this year. Though there are many dynamics attributed to this outcome, we believe this is an answer to an orchestrated effort of focused, unyielding intercession from thousands of believers in this state.

While this massive answer to prayer is God’s response to many believers who have not relented in their appeals to the courts of heaven, this post is a brief prophetic history of our efforts in praying and laboring for the ending of abortion in Florida capital city, Tallahassee.

In 2007, we started a Bound4LIFE chapter and began praying at the Florida Supreme Court. Around 7 months later in 2008, we participated in Bound4LIFE’s nation-wide prayer meeting called The Mercy Seat, where 6,200 gathered to pray at every Supreme Court in the nation simultaneously. Nearly 600 residents joined us throughout the 7 hour solemn assembly outside of the Florida Supreme Court, pleading Jesus’ blood and praying for God’s mercy to turn to our state.

We often don’t understand that the timeline of intercession is commonly answered in years. At the end of 2009, Gallup Poll released this shocking data: a majority of Americans identified themselves as pro-life for the first time in over a decade. This unprecedented shift in opinion began sometime after (or during) The Mercy Seat.

This isn’t coincidence. This is power through prayer.