When the Church begins to take her rightful throne of authority in Christ, centering her activity around worship, prayer, and intercession, the demonic realm that has set itself up against the realm of heaven invading earth, begins to be plundered. Consequently, the people of the earth will begin to experience the outpouring of heaven on earth.
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are neded - or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." -Luke 10:41-42
All of us who desire to have a deep impact in ministry know the tension that exists within us, always questioning, “Am I doing enough?” or “What should I do next?” These two questions are often prompts from the enemy. They empower our doing and create in the bride of Christ a slave-like mentality that has a form of godliness in all we do, but lacks the fruit of truly listening and obeying the voice of God.
“The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are full of life and the Spirit.” - John 6:63
Until we realize and begin to participate in the truth - that any ministry that occurs apart from intimacy is dead - we will do a lot of deeds that we have determined are good, but that Jesus has evaluated as rubbish. Though that is a hard word that we would like to avoid believing Jesus would ever speak, it is true. It was one of the primary missions of Jesus to express in his ministry on earth. He did this as he explained his own ministry and then as he confronted the ministry of those he interacted with, particularly the Pharisees and Sadducees. He constantly was articulating that what he did wasn’t of his own authority or strategy, but rather was the blueprint given him from his Father’s voice, and simply done as a means of obedience to what God said. As it was with Jesus, so it is meant to be with us.
The ministry that we are primarily called to by the Spirit is one that is expressed in our identity as a priest. The word “ministry” in Greek simply means “to execute the commands of God.” If we are going to discover what it means to live a lifestyle of executing God’s commands, we have to begin a pursuit to discover what is in the heart of God the Father. While his heart desires many things, at the core of all things is his love for his Son, Jesus Christ. God the Father’s primary desire is for humanity to love his Son with the same intensity and intentionality that he does. Jesus articulated this in John 17:26 when he said, “I have made known to them your commands and will continue to make them known, that the love which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” Jesus’ prayer was a reflection of the heart of his Father and the ultimate ministry that humanity is called to.
God’s desire is fulfilled when we begin to appropriately align our hearts with the reality that we are priests. We are created to live a life that ministers to the heart of Jesus while making intercession for the heart of man. These two ministries are often neglected in our mission preparations and strategic planning meetings. Satan knows that they are the most impactful and powerful places of humanity's interaction with the Godhead, so he will attempt to convince us that performance tasks are more important. If we are going to start living in a ministry of intimacy, we will have to start valuing that which God does, partnering with our identity as a priest that we have been given in Christ.
This begins by valuing worship and prayer above planning and programming. If we want to practically evaluate what we value, simply look at how we orchestrate our meetings. How much time is given to worship and prayer, and how much time is given to preaching, planning, and programming? I am not inferring that preaching, planning, and programming are inherently wrong. I am simply saying when 90% of our time is focused on the latter, we have to start questioning whether our preaching, planning, and programming are being birthed from spiritual intimacy or human intellectualism. Often, all of us value the latter, spending the majority of our efforts planning while very minimally spending time waiting on the Lord in worship and prayer. When this occurs, we begin to have knowledge about God and wisdom of God but lack intimacy with God. We end up with a ministry like Martha, which is accepted and normalized among men but is void of the ministry of Mary, which often is ridiculed and questioned by others (Luke 10:38-42).
Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” - Matthew 26:13
If we are going to begin to have a ministry like Mary and leave a legacy that reverberates throughout eternity, we have to stop the “necessary preparations” and doing what we have always done, and begin valuing the “one thing that is better” (Lk. 10:42). The thing that is better is sitting at the Lord’s feet, soaking in his presence, basking in his beauty, while pouring the affections of our heart on his feet. To those who love to accomplish, value religious rigor and discipline, and promote planning and programming, the ministry of Mary seems irrational and foolish. Honestly, her ministry to the Lord was in direct conflict with every form of wisdom that those around her had, including Jesus’ disciples. Her sacrifice poured on Jesus’ feet was only precious to him; everyone else in the room considered her obedience a waste, not a sweet sacrifice. Likewise, if not rooted in a ministry of intimacy, we too will think that which Jesus desires the most is foolish, consequently forgoing abiding in a lifestyle he most desires.
God is raising up a Church that knows her identity as a bride and thus her ministry as a priest. It is in this revelation that what we “do” will radically shift. We will begin to become a house of prayer for all nations whose primary focus is on ministering to the heart of Jesus before ministering to the heart of man. It is in the posture of pouring on Jesus’ feet the affections of our lives, that our hearts begin to truly be transformed to carry his. What gets birthed out of this place of intimacy with the Lord is a revelatory understanding of how we engage mission on earth to advance his reign across the world. Rather than strategizing out of human wisdom and creating new denominations because of disagreements amongst each other, we will begin to sit on our royal throne of authority, praying the heart of God and interceding for the heart of humanity. When the Church begins to take her rightful throne of authority in Christ, centering her activity around worship, prayer, and intercession, the demonic realm that has set itself up against the realm of heaven invading earth, begins to be plundered. Consequently, the people of the earth will begin to experience the outpouring of heaven on earth.
Moses is a great example of living a life of intimacy that births authority. One way to talk about his ministry methodology is in the following statement: Moses went to the mountain to meet with the Lord as a priest and came down as a prophet. Meaning he approached the presence of God with the posture of worship and was empowered to leave that posture with the empowerment of God. We climb the mountain to minister to the heart of Jesus. It is in this place of pure worship that we can begin to perceive and receive the heart of God, coming down the mountain of worship with the word of the Lord as a prophet. I am not referring to the prediction of the future or the title of a man, though both can be a portion of what Jesus shares with us in chambers of intimacy. Rather, I am talking about the access each of us has to hear a fresh word from the Lord that comes with authority, purposed to bring specific strengthening, encouragement, and comfort to those we interact with in day-to-day life.
We have been invited individually and corporately to access the inner chambers of the heart of Jesus. Likewise, we have an inheritance in Christ to hear the voice of the Father that carries authority, knowledge, and wisdom for everyone we interact with (Jn. 16:23). It is time for us to enter into the realm of heaven in which Jesus was crucified to give us access into and begin participating with all that is accessible within that realm (Eph. 1:3). It is time for the Church to reorientate her activity around the throne room of God, prioritizing their meetings around his presence rather than our personal preferences. It is time for the Church to receive the word of the Lord spoken in Revelation 2, “I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” We must go back to our first love, letting go of the plethora of things we have deemed important to take hold of the one thing that matters most. Today, let go of the ministry of activity and take hold of the ministry of intimacy; it truly is our destiny.
