Dear Intercessor,

 “You shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and consecrate him, that he may minister as a priest to Me. “You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them; and you shall anoint them even as you have anointed their father, that they may minister as priests to Me; and their anointing will qualify them for a perpetual priesthood throughout their generations.”  Exodus 40:13-15(NASB)

“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.  John 14:10(NASB)

Over the last several years as we in Northeast Ohio have been seeking God to hear from Him we have become acutely aware of His requirements for those who serve Him.  We have come to learn that the works that we, as His church, have been called to are actually His works that He desires to do through us. The scriptures clearly illustrate that all of God’s activities bear the unique characteristics of His divine and supernatural nature.  Quite simply put He does what no one else can do, and He often will do what He does through His servants who are quite human.  The Lord Jesus spoke of doing the “works which no one else did…” John 15:24 (NASB).Those works through His servants and His Son proved to be a powerful testimony that He is indeed God.

God’s working through His servants always brings with it requirements upon them, as those who are called to represent Him.  His servants must have His heart toward their particular assignments. To have His heart requires regular and intimate communion with Him as well as an abandoning of one’s own agendas.  Five times Jesus, who understood that He had been sent by the Father, states that He did nothing of His own initiative.  His desire was to please the Father and His communion with the Father characterized His life. A life of consecration, a life set apart to His Father. Even His title, the Messiah or Christ (Gr) which speaks of Him being the anointed one, fulfills the requirements set by God for those who serve Him. God requires communion, consecration and anointing of the life of His servants.  Without meeting those requirements our works are often presumptuous and do not reach the threshold of “works which no one else did…”  The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us to repent of such works, calling them “dead works.”

Often in going about fulfilling our respective ministries little thought is given to God’s concerns over His relationships with His servants.  Our attentions and priorities are given to outworking strategies and fulfilling duties, giving only minimal time to pray and then only concerning some specific tasks.  Rhonda Hughey recently spoke of losing Christ in the midst of revival ministry.  We who are involved in ministries are essentially practicing a Christless Christianity.

Those who serve must follow the example of our Lord where the reality is that the Father abiding in us, as a result of our communion with Him, does His works. Then and only then will we see, in the ministries for which we are praying this month, manifestations of  His divine and supernatural nature and their works become powerful testimonies that He is indeed God

As you pray for the various ministries this month, pray especially, for those serving, for an increase in their level of communion, that they would connect with and carry God’s heart for their assignments. Just as importantly, pray for an increase in the level of consecration and a resultant increase in their anointing.

Praying with you for those who serve in our city and region!