Early morning attacks in Tafawa Balewa, Bauchi state on Sunday (Jan. 22) left at least seven Christians dead and a church building destroyed.

The attack on the Evangelical Church Winning All Church 2, residents of Tafawa Balewa said, was carried out by area Islamic extremists alongside members of the Boko Haram sect, with the church building and surrounding houses bombed.

Yunnana Yusufu, a pastor with the Church of Christ in Nigeria in Tafawa Balewa, told Compass that the assailants arrived in the early morning hours and began shooting at Christians in the town, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Bauchi City.

“I saw seven dead bodies of some of the Christians killed,” Yusufu told Compass by phone. “The situation is terrible, and I am about to go out to other parts of the town, to see the extent of the damage caused by the attackers.” Yusufu said that many other Christians were injured.

“Some of them have been taken to the General Hospital here, while others are being treated at home by medical personnel who are Christians,” he said. All churches have cancelled services.

“The situation we are in calls for attention to the injured and taking appropriate steps to calm frayed nerves over the attack,” he said.

Bauchi Police Commissioner Ikechukwu Aduba reportedly confirmed the attack on Tafawa Balewa, saying two soldiers and a policeman, as well as eight civilians were later killed in a gunfight. He added that six suspects had been arrested.

Police also reported that bombs were thrown at a Catholic church building and an evangelical church building in Bauchi City, causing little damage and no deaths or injuries.

Bukata Zhadi, secretary of the Christian Elders Council in Tafawa Balewa, said attacks on Christian communities in the area have been incessant, with Sunday’s attack bringing to 10 the number of Christians killed in the past two weeks in Tafawa Balewa.

A fortnight ago, gunmen believed to be Muslim Fulani herdsmen attacked three Christian farmers on their farms in Pyakman village, near Tafawa Balewa, killing the three of them. Corpses recovered from the farms had bullet wounds and machete cuts, Zhadi said.

Boko Haram, the name given to the Islamic extremist group officially called Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad – “The People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad” – seeks to impose a strict version of sharia (Islamic law) on Nigeria. The name Boko Haram translates loosely as “Western education is forbidden.”

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God’s controversy with men finds its resolution in the sending of the Son, who “took upon him the form of a servant”, submitted to the cross, died for our iniquity – all done in humility. This is the foundation for the soft war – humility. The soft war of the Lord: restoring righteousness, establishing godliness, calling forth togetherness. At its root, an ability made available – an ability to walk in humility, to confront evil with kindness, to undo the works of any enemy with the mind of Christ secretly at work in the inward parts of a Saint.

Our bringing to maturity is a bringing to the humility Christ – for the sake of being able to partake in the soft war. Testimony equals the display of reconciliation. Testimony equals humility and truth intertwined – words are superfluous in such an atmosphere.

Blessed are those who mourn. . . Blessed are the meek. . . Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness. . . Weeping, mourning and hunger are indeed weapons in the soft war. The man or woman who bears this kind of longing becomes a target for contempt and scorn – the combat grows fierce at times. But, it is the tears, the meekness, the beauty of holiness which is under attack, it is “Christ in you” which is under attack. Carnal weapons in the hands of a Saint are in itself a defeat. Ours are weapons of a different nature – belonging to Heaven itself, therefore fitted for a soft war.

He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Ps 126:6. There is no harvest in the spiritual realm, there is no growth unto maturity in the spiritual realm without tears. There is no reward for the man who abandons his ability to cry out to the Lord. Men who set out for relief from a burden from the Lord will stand without harvest. Men who strive for compensation in difficult times cut themselves off from God’s tempering towards maturity. The man who prays to go free from an inner “Oh”, loses his place in the history of God. A drastic example is given in the Old Testament: A man asked for relief and enlargement. He did not want his “Oh”, his restricted circumstances, to bring him to the position intended for him – God heard him, took away the inner cry and the repressing factors, and the man was never to be heard of again. . .

The soft war consists of a longing for godliness, for holiness, for righteousness, for redemptive ministry, for fellowship – and God creates history by using men’s and women’s tears. God creates history with men and women who dares to take up their cross, dares to allow tension and restrictions to bring forth mature ministry. There is a harvest time coming for every person and fellowship who engages in the soft war.

The man, who has been brought to a seeing of Heaven, will rejoice in awe for ever. The man, who has been made aware of the absence of heavenly conditions in areas and regions nearby, will be made able to bear the burden of the Lord for the deficiency – he will be made able to pray forth a remedy, he will be made able to engage in priestly ministry unto redemptive consequences.

The burden of the Lord, correctly handled, will write heavenly history. Never say no to the burden of the Lord – tears are a precious gift, they alone opens for a harvest time. Never say no the burden of the Lord – it will bring you to a point where the humility of the Lord come into focus and operation, also as a weapon in the hands of the Lord wielded effectively in the soft war.

Lars Widerberg

Any person, any Church brought to prayer ground will be made able to do great exploits for God. Any person, any Church brought to prayer ground will become initiating factors in spiritual realms for a testimony of Christ. Prayer ground, the set protocol for any person who dares to enter the realm and take on the work which – under the hand of the Holy Spirit – will serve God in the process of bringing redemptive purposes to its fulfillment.

“I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that are the Lord’s remembrancers, take ye no rest, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” Isa 62:6-7.

These words of Isaiah hold and reveal the secret of priestly interaction between the people of God, perhaps at times a small part of the people of God, and the Lord himself in the ultimate purposes and the redeeming operation of Jesus Christ to bring the Law of the Spirit of Life to bear on peoples and nations.

The Church stands far off, in these days, from its role in this spiritual drama. Any visit to a local Ground Zero, a place where the testimony of Jesus Christ has been reduced to rubble, would bring conviction and a challenge to any man – but the many in our churches has lost their ability to react with decency, lost their ability to blush. Prayer is to the many just one instrument among several to serve personal needs and ambitions. Prayer has been brought to a point of utter disgrace by self-focus and carnality.

Our first consideration in our prayer chambers and in our houses of prayer ought to focus our standing on prayer ground. Are we of any use in the interaction between the prayer chamber and the Lord in his redemptive work, in his setting the stage for the End Time drama? Are we able to understand the redemptive purposes of the Lord, its application in settings where truth is set aside, its application in settings where righteousness is regarded obsolete? Are we able to stand as remembrancers in the courts of the Lord, as helps and handmaidens in the divers aspects of his redeeming efforts?

“The past has not exhausted the possibilities nor the demands for doing great things for God. The greatest benefactor this age could have is the man who will bring the teachers and the Church back to prayer.”

Lars Widerberg

Any man – even a company of committed – who seeks prayer ground will be brought beyond the demarcation lines of that which is ordinary. He will, as of strictest necessity, be lead to a thorough standing if the good of what the cross of Christ is intended to accomplish. A life in prayer is marked by the Cross, a life in effectual fervent prayer is a life lived at the altar – Ps 84:2-5.

The man, on prayer terms with God, is thoroughly reduced by the purposes of God. He is a man restricted. He is a man standing in awe, in utter respect as he is allowed to take part in a revealing of the will of the Father. The prayer chamber holds a protocol of obedience which aims at a thorough display of the Kingdom of Heaven. God is after men, and women, whose hearts are Davidic – hearts given to a formation after God’s own heart. God is after hearts thoroughly reduced to singleness, to guilelessness – to likeness, to holiness.

The man, on prayer terms with God, is enlarged beyond any restriction. Petty views of carnal desires are dealt with for the sake of a dignified living in Christ. Petty views of this world are thoroughly dealt with for the sake of priestly service before God in union and harmony with Jesus Christ – the praying High Priest at throne level. The man, on prayer terms with God, is enlarged beyond any restriction. The prayer chamber, the Solemn Assembly – a place where God dwells with his people. The prayer chamber, the Solemn Assembly – a place where God rules together with his praying friends.

A man standing in the good of the work of the cross – what does such a person pray for? A man standing in the good of the work of the cross – what views and horizon guides such a person in the prayer chamber? Being brought on prayer terms with God – what do you do there, what words, what prayers do you bring? What do you do, how do you behave before the Majesty of the Holy One? What kind of words do you bring before Him who rules the universe? What does the Holy Spirit give to us to pray for? For what purpose are we brought on prayer terms with God?

“His house are we” – but the Church has many faces. “His house are we” – but the Church and its members are busy and occupied with many things. “His house are we” – The people of God are brought together for Heavenly purposes.

The Solemn Assembly is brought together for His purposes, it stands as a redemptive community. The Solemn Assembly gathers as God’s emergency instrument in crisis hours. In its fellowship a testimony rests which leads to the Cross of Christ. It is community brought to a point where the burden of the Lord, the controversy of the Lord, is given attention and is handled appropriately. The Solemn Assembly is Church, is Ecclesia, in its proper role.

The House, the house of God, is never brought forth for formation except for heavenly purposes – and the builder is Christ, Jesus Christ alone. The House stands according to purpose, and is in itself a blueprint unto heavenliness. The House of the Lord is built according to protocol and is protocol, it carries the Law of Life to be seen among the nations. Its testimony is formulated as a redemptive imperative. “Show the House to the House” – words to a prophet, but also words to the solemn community gathered as an emergency instrument in crisis hours.

The Solemn Assembly – a gathering of maturing saints, among whom solemnity equals authenticity. Its focus is absolute spiritual reality for the sake of serving with prophetic efficiency. Its reason for existence is revealed in most simplified terms: “I have chosen”. The Apostle adds a similarly simplified statement: “Proving what is acceptable to the Lord”. The Solemn Assembly is conducted and directed by explicit, corporate wisdom unto the purposes of God. The Assembly – a setting in which apostolic patterns for Church and life in the Spirit is revealed and expressed according to purpose. Show the House to the House.

The Solemn Assembly – Church realizing its position as having come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, to the general assembly. . . and to a blood of sprinkling that speaks better things. . . This Assembly is to be regarded as a priestly gathering, a redemptive fellowship under the blood of Christ, therefore able to operate as peacemakers. Its presence in any society, larger or smaller, speaks spiritually in the same measure as the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ speaks. Its role must be taken on in solemnity to have redeeming influence and peacemaking function. A Solemn Assembly speaks spiritual reality, its role is other than rosy religiosity.

The Solemn Assembly is a warring unit – it stands as a city on a hill, as light in darkness. Its influence is a salty one. Its combat method may be reflected in opposites: the world is haughty – to be overcome by meekness, the world is deceptive – to be overcome by veracity, the world adulterous – to be overcome by faithfulness, the world trusts in strength – to be overcome by weakness. The overcomers are gathered as a combat unit, solemnly serious in its intentions to allow God’s wisdom to be solidified as testimony against the world, decidedly determined to allow the Cross of Christ to find its fullest expression in the face of the powers of the air in a peaceful declaration of their powerlessness and annihilation.

Ours is the role to show the House to the House. Ours is the opportunity to become a redemptive community under the hand of God. Ours is the possibility to become peace makers. Ours is a mandate to gather as a community of overcomers in the face of the powers of this world. Ours is the joy of the hope of the coming King and of his rule in righteousness. Ours is the role of demonstrating the kingdom while yet distant. Ours is the role of testifying to spiritual realities soon to be seen in fullness. The Solemn Assembly awaits the fullness of our hope in the return of Jesus Christ.

Lars Widerberg

Reading: Hebr 3:6, Isa 2:3, Rom 8:1, Ez 43:10, Isa 58:6, Eph5:10, Hebr 12:22-24.

An excerpt from the notes to a Church in the City, the Big Apple – to Bronx, one of the five Burroughs of New York City.

The Church, in its role as a servant unto the Lord, is light in the World. “Ye are come to Zion”, you have been brought forth unto an assignment, to stand together as a sign, as a city, as light, the very light of God. The Church is everywhere, to testify to redemptive reality by its very existence before the Lord. Its light, its righteousness is from above, its service unto men is from above, or – if you like – from within, from Christ within.

The true identity of the Church is revealed in its hunger, in its thirst after righteousness. Its prophetic assignment is redemptive in nature and it is expressed in a seeking after righteousness. It becomes prophetic in its approach when it takes to the streets in an effort to look for this rare item, to restore situations where none is to be found. To Jeremiah, this directive was given: “Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.” A Church under the hand of God will serve according to this very measure, in Christ.

The Church, the Ecclesia – men and women, called and set apart to represent, is indeed a collective entity. The Church, a body – spiritual as well as functional relatedness. Even more, the Church – each man and woman, called out from the world, are brought to righteousness and unity as a corrective body, as light unto the World. At times, under certain conditions, this entity has been called the Arrogant Kingdom. In its proper role as a servant community, in its corporate meekness, this little flock shall inherit the Earth. In its proper role as a servant community, it will produce judgment in the world by the measure of Christ within.

The Church stands, in its spiritual as well as functional relatedness, on the foundation of the altar. In the day of Power, when the Lord engages his people in the conflict for righteousness and restoration, they will draw near on the foundation of the Cross. No other formation, no other formula will be sufficient – no other measure will suffice but the measure of Christ, and him crucified. The Church – the embodiment of the meaning and purpose of the Cross. The Cross alone, that which the Cross represents in its heavenly fullness provides ability for the saints, for hungry saints, to represent that which is righteous.

The cross of Jesus Christ, in all its fullness of meaning, the Church in all its divine significance, have one object in view ultimately, and that object is the absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ. The more there is of the living apprehension of the Cross and the more there is a living expression of God’s thought about the church, the more light unto the World – and the greater the spiritual impact. A body of saints, abandoned to the Cross of Christ, testifies in righteousness and is made able to live righteously before the Lord, together in fellowship and as light in a dark world. The Cross provides sufficient foundation for a corporate testimony in fullness – and its main feature is light, as the main attribute of God is light.

The Church embodying the meaning of Calvary is the occasion of confrontation, and where there is a real apprehension of the meaning of the cross of Christ and a practical expression of it in a gathering of saints, there you have conflict in its most intense and persistent form. The measure of the living corporate embodiment and expression of the meaning of Calvary is the measure of spiritual war. A living apprehension of the Cross of Christ divides, it confronts unrighteousness and it judges the powers – rendering them powerless and meaningless.

On the foundation of the Cross, the Spirit of the Lord calls and stirs the people of the Lord to gather for testimony, to stand for righteousness, to walk the streets of the cities in search for that which is righteous. On the foundation of the Cross, the Spirit of the Lord calls and stirs the people of the Lord to arise and to shine. Light has come, light has come in Christ. Light will shine, shine when the saints gather on prayer ground. Life and righteousness will be brought forth on prayer ground, through the outworking of the Cross.

The Cross of Christ is the foundational expression of the Sovereign Lordship of Jesus Christ – therefore gather unto him. The Cross of Christ is the foundational expression of the Sovereign Lordship of Jesus Christ – therefore, walk the streets together searching for righteousness. The Cross of Christ is the foundational expression of the Sovereign Lordship of Jesus Christ – therefore arise and walk the streets as Light in darkness. The Cross of Christ is the foundational expression of the Sovereign Lordship of Jesus Christ – as a corporate testimony of things beyond, of things eternal.

Lars Widerberg

Reading: Isa 60:1, Heb 12:22, Matt 5:6, Jer 5:1, Matt 5:5, Ps 110:3.

An excerpt from the notes to a Church in the City, the Big Apple – to Bronx, one of the five Burroughs of New York City.

Oh, how we long for the days when every vision of the prophets of old will be fulfilled. Oh, how we long for the days when every promise of God is to be fulfilled.
Oh, how eager we are to run after every prophet, who promises new things. Oh, how often we are fooled by our inner cravings for something which brings satisfaction and a quick fix. Oh, how often we walk away disappointed from gatherings where “God’s man of the hour” has tried to rend Heaven and to have God to come down. Oh, how foolish our efforts. . .

Ground Zero – any place, any situation, where the testimony of the Lord has been reduced to rubble. Grounds Zero – our plans and efforts brought to a devastating halt for the sake of learning the necessity of being brought out to prayer ground, where man’s strength and resources are left behind. Ground Zero – where the testimony of Jesus Christ begins being formed in individuals as well as in the corporate body, the Church. The ground work of the Christian testimony begins amidst the rubble at Ground Zero, amidst the pain and the loss at Ground Zero. Ground work recovers testimony, ground work recovers hearing.

“Your prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. You have not gone up into the breaks, nor built the wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.” Ez 13:3-4.
A radical component causing our Ground Zero, our testimony being reduced to rubble, is the many men and women who dare to compromise the Word of the Lord. Liberty is presented to every businessman and housewife to dream up their future and prophecy their own prosperity. They are all being brought in under the heavy judgment of the Lord, which aims at securing proper appropriation of the heavenly reality of the Word of God. They are all being brought in under the judgment of the falsehood among the vanity prophets. His Word, his promises have come under heavy reproach because carnality dares to mishandle them, trying to apply them to fleshly desires and to ambitions which stands without any relating to heavenly purpose.

“The days are at hand.” Days are at hand, when vanity will be confronted and the Word as well as the testimony of the Lord shall be restored. The ground work to be done at Ground Zero is one which contradicts the spirit if the age – the unwillingness for bridle, the unwillingness for discipline, the unwillingness for adherence. Our need, as Church, is to learn how to hear and how to interpret heavenly protocol. Ezekiel was introduced to the basics of the protocol of Heaven by these words: “Son of man, hear what I am saying to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house.” Ez 2:8. The Hebrew word for hearing – shamah – implies diligence and discernment, comprehending and obedience, a hearing for the sake of becoming testimony.

This prophet was directed by the Lord to use a sentence, occurring some seventy times throughout the text – “Know that I am the Lord”. A small word, by no means insignificant, by no measure irrelevant – “yada”. “They shall know.” They shall come to a thorough and substantial realization. And how? By God being at work among his people, according to his Word, according to his promises of old, according to the purposes of Heaven. Even his servants shall “know” – not because of any new revelations, not because of any great ministry in exclusive operation, certainly not because of any generalized “prophetic” prognosis for the next ten years.

God is concerned with the accomplishing of something which is worthy of himself. He the Rock of salvation – reliability is one of his attributes. He does not change, the foundational values of Heaven are always the same. His Word cannot be used for carnal purposes. His redemptive operation is one of restoring trust – therefore he brings an end to the misuse of the Scripture, on a so called prophetic ground, in the modern Church. His redemptive operation is one of restoring adherence to his word, an adherence which includes obedience. His redemptive purpose in these final days is to bring the Church to maturity – therefore a through cleansing is under way to bring forth the gold, that which is prepared for Heaven.

Ground work at Ground zero builds for Heaven – never for carnal purposes. Ground work at Ground Zero calls for a hearing of the Word of God. Ground work at Ground Zero calls for corporate obedience. Ground work at Ground Zero recovers the ability to discern and to apply redemptive purposes. Ground work at Ground Zero returns to listening and waiting for the Lord.

Lars Widerberg

An excerpt from the notes to a Church in the City, the Big Apple – to Bronx, one of the five Burroughs of New York City.

Church, the genuine Church, that Church which cannot be shaken, reflects her moments of arrival, beginning and fullness at every possible moment: “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem”. She has become the City which God builds. She has become that which pilgrims and prophets has been seeking after since Abraham decided to leave the cities of Babel, leave for a journey into that which always lies beyond.

The prophets of old were sent, carrying words regarding impending judgment and approaching shakings, to most of these cities – hardly any of the population centers reacted and repented. These were power centers which, each according to its own definition, aspired for recognition – to be recognized as the first and foremost. They all gathered identity and motivation from master minds of disorder and pretention. The powers ruling each and every mind were slave-masters, excelling in the art inducing fear and torment. All of them disregarded, even mocked and despised, that which was weak and defenceless. These powers provided cultural patterns and identity by means of cultic ecstasy and sacrifice, oftentimes in its cruellest form.

Our cities are strongholds of arrogance, of intimidation and of self-aggrandizement. Our cities have embarked on a highway heading towards a complete freedom of expression. The comprehensive city has embraced the right to count absolutes as obsolete. Self-proclaimed spokesmen, modern principalities, issue mandate and authority to do away with beauty and dignity. All we find in its place is beastliness and cruelty. The best show, that which brings home the finest awards on Broadway and elsewhere – that which is regarded as the first and foremost – often holds the most brutal assault on godliness. But, the words from the Lord regarding shakings and heavy dealings still stand.

Babylon, the spiritual matrix of inadequate living, is everywhere. Babylon, the comprehensive city, is everywhere. Babylon, the spiritual matrix of opposition against eternal values and the beauty of holiness is everywhere. Her flattery, her conceited views, her projections and hype attract nothing but shakings form the realm where true authority rests. Her despising that which belongs to godliness, even weakness, is her undoing. The Cross of Christ is indeed an apocalyptic turning point. The preaching of the Cross will cause her to tremble and, then, in the end, to disappear forever.

The comprehensive city, the sum of all cities, will be brought forth for judgment. Her darkness will be confronted by a city on a hill, full of light. Her depravity will be counter-measured by a people who still know saltiness. Her position as the first in rank, as the truly emancipated city, will be taken from her by a company of committed who never aspired for position, never had anything to offer, never was counted among the learned – a people who was regarded as nothing in the eyes of the privileged.

The company of committed, the genuine Church, does not engage in battle according to carnal measures. Weapons to be directed against the comprehensive city are weapons brought from an arsenal, which is not to be found in this world. That which is despised is genuinely operative against the one who despises. That which is nothing works well indeed against that which regards itself among the first and foremost. That which is truly spiritual is effectual indeed against that which gathers force in the earthly realm.

The Lord gathers his people in these final days, preparing them for final shakings. That which cannot be shaken holds proper testimony. The Church which cannot be shaken, will secure a rescue platform in the final hours for cities which dare to act, as Nineveh once, in corporate repentance. In this we will fulfill our role as Zion, the city which God has prepared.

Lars Widerberg

Reading: Hebr 12:22, 11:10, 16, 1 Cor 1:27-29.

An excerpt from the notes to a Church in the City, the Big Apple – to Bronx, one of the five Burroughs of New York City.

The household of the Lord is meant to stand as a redemptive context. The company of committed stands horizoned by the Fathers will and intentions. This little company, wherever it gathers, rests under his Word, to be taught unto disciplined functionality. Wherever the tabernacle is erected and established, a tempering will occur for the sake of corporate priestliness. “There I will meet with you.” There he will reveal his will.

Without the Master’s words, the house remains empty. A household unwilling to hear, disintegrates. The Church, meant to stand ablaze, ought to stand ashamed because of its misuse or the Word of God and its unwillingness bend its corporate ears. But, she has lost her ability to blush. The Solemn Assembly recovers hearing. The calling together, the gathering of the company of committed aims at a breaking of hearts unto priestly ministry in repentance and reconciliation according to the Father’s will. The calling together of men in every place is a call to brokenness and trembling – a trembling at his Word.

Joel, the prophet of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, is also the one who brings superbly distinct instructions regarding the procedures to precede the outpouring. A Solemn Assembly: A recognition of the absolute necessity of a returning to the Word of God, an absolute necessity of a returning to a corporate understanding of the will of God and obedience in full measure. King Hezekiah, the king of thorough restoration, earns his place in the annals of the kingdom of Judah as a leader who understood the will of the Lord and who courageously engaged the priests and the people in an undertaking which pleased God and secured his sanctifying endorsement. The Church must return to sanctifying patterns, to apostolic patterns. Modern spirituality allows for a bypassing of these sanctifying patterns and releases spiritual experiences, charismatic pretense, which should be avoided at all cost. There is no restoring unto charismatic measure without Solemn Assemblies and its trembling at the Word of God.

It is as if God stands without voice in his own house, without vote in his own assembly in these years. When the apostle Paul defines the house, the fellowship and the ministry, there is no, absolutely no, hesitation or absence of clarity. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Rom 12:1-2. He defines ministry as sacrifice, sacrifice acceptable unto God, priestly ministry based on the perfect understanding of the will of God.

When the Apostle allows us to look into his prayer life, we are made perfectly aware of things pertinent and prioritized. He prays for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, for the sake of a thorough knowing of the Father and of the love of Christ Jesus – this regarding the Church in Ephesus. The Philippians are covered with prayers “that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ”. Thus far: Insight into Christ’s love for the sake of judging unto excellence. And then, Colossians: “We do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” The house of the Lord; the place where the knowledge of the will of God is prioritized as an absolute.

The Holy convocation, the Solemn Assembly stands as a challenge. Who is ready to engage in a restoring of the Word of God in our midst? Who is ready to enroll in a company of committed? The Lord seeks truth in the inward parts. Head knowledge is secondary – knowledge without the presence of the Spirit of truth is as false as a lie. His house must be turned into a Solemn Assembly. Our common prayer must be one which reaches out for an understanding of his Word, for a thorough abiding by the Word, for a restoring of the understanding of the will of the Lord.

Lars Widerberg

Reading: Heb 3:6, Ex 29:42-43, Isa 66:5, 2 Chron 29:20, 30:10, 31:20-21, Rom 12:1-2, Eph 1:15-18, Eph 3:14-19, Phil 1:9-11, Col 1:9-10, Ps 51:6.