LLI Fellowship

In any excruciatingly difficult waiting process, we know in our heart of hearts, as His redeemed children, that the intense circumstances we face are designed to engender soul pain. This pain has been, and always been, a carefully calculated stroke of genius by Our Loving Master to arrange in our lives the perfect collision of His grace with our desperately needy and broken situation.  

The truth of God's sovereign control of all things pertains to all men.  But God wants us, His chosen ones, to cry out and ask Him to move in our lives no matter who we are and no matter what we have done.

His perfect timing and grace rendezvous with our desperate situation and brings us to a point where our heart gushes out a real “cry” for help that touches His eternally capable Love and care and His Hand saves us from our very difficult circumstances.  So we must realize that the prompting of a cry for healing and salvation brings us to the best place and only place where we find amazing love and salvation.

It is at the cross of Jesus; the very real place where He cried out "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" that find and discover truth. Mankind has a horrible problem and only One man can solve it. The death of Jesus shows us that even He couldn't turn Our Father from the necessity of His agonizing death. He perfections were well established. Yet His cries were not answered.

But the account goes on. Three days and three nights later, our Lord emerged a new man, alive and perfected. He could walk through walls he could move around like a man or he could disappear like a mist. He overcame death for us by the work of His Father. He willing laid His sacred life down at the feet of His father, a willing sacrifice, and  for what and for whom you may ask?

For you... and for me.

Jesus cried out and heaven answered. His empty tomb reveals the best answer. 

Sometimes we want relief... just from the pain. 

But we must remind ourselves in these times that our soul pain has a purpose. Pain emits a unbiased cry where expose our vulnerable heart anguish, and that pain drives us to release that pain to Our Father.

What would we do with this pain if we didn't know that Jesus came here to deliver us? Where would we be without the human birth and life of Jesus? 

We say he came to die. We could also say He came to CRY. 

King David was a beautiful song writer and poet. But what I most admire about David is his crying heart. 

His raw emotion.

David says in Ps 18: 36, In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, [even] to His ears. 


Through the hardness of my confused life, I have been learning my heart “cries” release the simplest of prayers, and I have found that those prayers deal with my sad heart and I have seen that they influence the Father's heart. 

Simple prayers like:  “Lord, show me Your way!” or, “where are you God!” or, “I need you, now!” or another good one, “Save me!” 

In the book and account of the sufferings of the Prophet Job we can see quite clearly the difference real cries of real men produce verses those who never empty themselves of pride and self reliance. 

In Job our troubled hero compares the heart of real men to that of a hypocrite

So that they caused the cry of the poor to come to Him; For He hears the cry of the afflicted.

The prayers of honest men "crying out" are the most powerful and life-changing prayers that can be uttered by anyone. When our forsaken Lord cried out and breathed his last, His fateful cry produced His and Our salvation. 

Ponder that reality for moment.

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Rom.8:26 says, “the Spirit helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

Don't you think our Father in heaven desires for all of His children to finally release their hearts to Him? 

To get you and me to the point of uttering a very simple “cry”?  

It is at this crossroad, our moment of decision, here and only here is the real place where we utter the truest of words. We finally ask the right questions of Our Father, and we ask them from the right perspective... the very dust from which we were formed! 

To rightly answer His questions in the most honest way.  It is here that our man-centered worldview is challenged and eventually it is changed.  Where we gain a better view of who we really are before His very holy throne.  It is here we find honesty and vulnerability.

The brand new nation of Israel came to the banks of the Red Sea in desperation. Pharaoh's army was rushing upon them and a wide expanse of water made for their way of escape. Here they cried to Moses and Moses stepped into His destiny, in a foreshadowing of a future work of Messiah, raised his staff to heaven and the Sea parted... Amazing!

Our stress creates a weight on our heart that produces fear and reveals to us our weaknesses. Stress prompts us to desire eternal things. Be anxious for nothing but by prayer and intercession make your requests known to God.

Our stress and life roadblocks press us to feel and think more correctly -- we see our end -- and it is eternity.  

When temporal conundrums block our plans, we are left many times with a blank and very confused heart and mind.  It is here, the point of painful confusion, that the Father works new grace into our needy hearts to teach us “His way” in the world.

Over time we become saints. Humility and grace become our best friends. Time reveals our Lord's faithfulness. Wisdom becomes our greatest ally and support. 
 
Year of walking before the face of the Father reveals that our pincer-like situations brought forth years and years of crying and in turn a changed heart.

Abraham took his beloved son Isaac to the top of mount Moriah to put him to death because He was told to do so by His Father. Time had revealed to Abram that the Lord was faithful. I believe many times he was left in the bowels of travail seemingly all alone, but time revealed the faithfulness of His Father.

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When someone tells me, God is on His throne, I have to agree, but that wasn't the question?  No, the question rather ought to be this, “why doesn't He move when I pray?”  I mean, why is He taking so long?  

Knowing that our Dad is our dad is not enough, I have to feel and know His love. His very much needed comfort.  This isn't abstract truth we are seeking.  No way, and thousand times No!  We are seeking the Our Maker and we need His immediate attention, and I mean, NOW!  

Let's be honest with ourselves for a just a moment.  

What kind of prayers does God answer the most often?  

Does it matter how you pray?  

Do fancy words move His heart?  

Certain inflections in our vocal tones?  

No No, I don't think so. 

Well wouldn't you come and take a turn with me as we try to answer this very important question from the life of Jesus.  This following Jesus thing is a very crazy way.  

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We are shown in Heb. 5:7-9 how He prayed while He was on the earth:

“who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.  And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” 

We suppose so many times that following Jesus means doing the “christian” thing.  Being nice to people.  Paying our taxes, at least most of them.  Going to all the stated “church” meetings.  

Hanging with the right people who think like us and play “happy” like us and to stay away from the bad people. But in reality, following Jesus means to “be” like Jesus. To walk and “do” the stuff of Jesus!  After all, He is our Messiah and Immanuel.  “He is” our ever present help in time of need.

Yet in all our efforts to please ourselves when we pray, are we really touching the heart of our Father in heaven?  

His Son knew that are very real death met His real walk to Jerusalem, this was no imaginary death.  

Think of Jesus being a human for a moment, imagine that He didn't know the outcome of His fate.  Fear of His accusers was real... shrinking back from cruel lashings that awaited Him as He was crying vehemently in the Garden of Gethsemane revealed the depths of woe in the heat of our Our loving Savior. 

Every emotion was very real to Him, just like it should be to us!  We are humans not robots or computers who do what is expected of us or will not shake the feathers of others.  Jesus was naked and vulnerable before His Father in His holy prayers.  

We too should be honest and very sincere in our praying, even uncomfortable.

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Before you move on from this point, hold on for just one minute.  

Does trusting in Jesus mean just letting Him do all the work in our deliverance from so great a death?   We call that club church, and that “club” doesn't foster revival.  It doesn't foster change.  No, it makes for some good christian fun and culture building, but it does nothing to build the eternal church of Jesus Christ.  It does nothing to usher in the end of the age.  No, all it does it make for some extra shame at His appearing. 

Has not Jesus said, “if you inclined to come after me, then prepare yourself to leave behind your self-love and come along then and learn of Me and do what I do!”  

In the common language of the day, His point was understood by his followers and those who heard the sound of His voice.  We think in our times that following Jesus is following the culture of Christianity, if you don't mind a bold word of truth --- that is a bunch of BS.  If it was biblically true, then why prat-el, is this easy Christianity not working to influence the rising generation of those that are truly hungry and thirsty for God?  If you think they are buying this BS, there not!!

We have had our fill preachers and ministries selling “easy” -- setting up a way not as hard as those old-time hell and brimstone “John the Baptist” guys establish.  No we have found the better way to do our “American” Brand of Christianity.  If this new way is so effective, why then, does our culture and churches continue this steady slide onward toward Gomorrah?  

Don't you believe it's time to deal a knockout punch to this mindset and the endless cascade of ministries that want to sell a man-centered brand of Christianity. 

Where are the cries and the broken grunts and moans of a surrendered life?

How about we rip the pews out of our stadium arranged performance based buildings and set in its place empty floors where we can collectively lay before the Lord's throne and repent?

In order to “pray right” we have to be in the right place - right!  We need to turn back to the ancient wells from which our sacred “long lost” faith has been so powerful dug.  We have an incredible pedigree.  Not only in biblical times but even in our America.  Until we put this man-centered garbage we are offering out to the curb, we will not make any progress toward pleasing our Father in heaven corporately. 

By praying “prayers” that are sincere and will really move His heart to save us!  In the end of all things, we will all need to be saved from a very real Christ occupied Throne of Judgment. No change of heart reveals our practical atheism and our judgment in already at work!

None of Jesus twelve disciples were confused by the seriousness of His claim over them and their lives. Let's remember that they were in contact with No person less than Jesus of Nazareth, the long anticipated Messiah.  

When He, Messiah that was to come, He would make bold claims.  For these regular Jewish guys, this claim would be clear and obvious. And that listening to Messiah and following Him would frame a natural next step.  He was and is their long-awaited King.  They had prayed, even cried out, for many generations that He would come and deliver them from very real bondage to Rome.  A real and certain urgency marked their attitude about Jesus the Messiah.  

We mark a typical Jewish person's cry before the Messiah came to dwell on earth, “Oh Messiah, please come and lift the shackles of bondage from me, my family, and our needy nation!”  Fill your temple with your presence, just like you did back in Solomon's day.  Don't delay, hurry, for we are desperately in need of You and only You!  If you're gonna delay then please supply grace for me and my family to wait on You and Your time.  Please come quickly though.  Fulfill your promise to the seed of David!  

Think of it, many millions of Jews around the world are still praying this prayer today in anticipation of their real Messiah. In this season of the Feast of Tabernacles we all should be praying with them.


How hard is it to pray heart based and honest prayers?  

The words just kinda flow, don't they?  

Why is it that we have made prayer so perfunctory?  

What kind of prayers then really move the Father's heart and change our circumstances?

What kind of “heart cries” will move our Lord to petition the Father on our behalf?  

Jesus died to become our Melchizedek, the Great High Priest, even now He intercedes for His People before the face of Our Father!

Do you remember that old blind man on the road to Jericho who simply cried, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” When the blind man was told to be quiet, he cried all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Why did he utter the words, “Son of David”?  Messiah was and is the Son of David!

The scripture says at this point (Lk.18:40) says that, “Jesus stood still, and commanded Him to be brought to Him.”  Imagine that?  The Maker of the Universe, stood still?  What made Him stop and listen to the cry of a poor beggar?  Was it not the anguish and neediness of His heart?  Was it not is petition directed specifically to Messiah?  This man knew that Jesus was the Messiah, that was a big deal to Jesus. 

Jesus then, as Messiah, goes on to ask a very direct question of the blind man named Bartimaeus.  Jesus asked this very probing question, “What do you want Me to do for you?”  The blind man smartly gets right to the point and says, “Lord, that I might receive my sight!”  

The scripture goes on to reveal that the man immediately received His sight!  

What did that blind beggar need?  

Sight.

What do we need?

Life. Revival. Repentance.

With sight-filled eyes, he and we, can plainly see the Savior of the world, Jesus of Nazareth.  

Could it be that this was all he really wanted in the first place?

After receiving his sight, the scripture plainly says, “and he followed Him”  Could it be that this blind, now-seeing, beggar followed Jesus all the way to Golgotha and then met him after the resurrection?  Was he there as a Jesus worshiper during the days of Pentecost?  We don't know for sure but we can imagine that he was there, and it reveals to us today what we really need --- just to see ------ Jesus! This thought makes me happy!  

Are we not all in the same place today?  Are we not all “blind” to what is really going on in the world around us?  Some of us are so blind to what is really going on around us that we are mistakenly planning on staying for an extended period of time just to grab a little more gusto and zest from this very fleeting and temporarily-blessed life in America.  

Yet over and over we have seen from our history and ancient history, that life is but a mere vapor.  Good kings rise to power and then bad ones come after them.  There is no utopian existence outside of knowing and living in God's presence.  

We have been shown so clearly from the sacred writings of scripture that a blessed life consists of three score and ten years.  Yet so many of us want to suck a little bit more out more of the deal, just to live on our extra years for more temporary pleasure.

I frankly can't wait for Messiah to come.  

Only then, will this crazy world make any sense to me.  Men today are doing what pleases them.  Their plans are what matter.  Many will pay lip service to the idea of doing God's will, but it's really not the “ache” of their desperate hearts.  

A true follower of Christ, and a man of real prayer, he sees the state of things and he prays according to what they really see.  Our spiritual state in America is not good, we are under a black cloud.  The only prayer that will change our calamitous situation is a heart-felt cry directly to the Throne of Our Messiah. 

A real cry for “help” will do!  Only He can heal our diseases, both physical and spiritual! 

Our Maker and Sustainer holds the cards on our particular way and path.  He chooses the type of life we have here and that is conditioned by our behavior toward His Law and righteous ways.  The pure in heart will see God.  Those who follow Him with all their heart, seem to have a different attitude.  They will pray incessantly, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”   

Either God comes down to dwell with His people or we go up, either one is fine for a true christian man, women, or child.  We want to leave and be with the One that enraptures us.  Far better to be with the Lord then here on a planet filled with selfish ambition, confusion, and determinism.  

We will stay here on planet Earth only to serve Him and do what His will. To build His kingdom on the earth.  

I believe a heart cry laced with a very simple faith-filled utterance moves the heart of God.  

These are the kind of prayers that flow out of a very sober heart commitment to do the work and will of heaven. 

When we pray this way, I believe we access to the heart of God... what an amazing reality!

Many blessings,

Jonathan