I can tell you in three words why the manifest presence of God is so crucial to us right now. It changes us. And for us to become the glorious Church the New Testament tells about, fully transformed “unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13), we must be changed!
Sometimes when we look at where we are now, it’s hard to imagine such a change is even possible. But we know it is because the Bible says that God….
…is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
(Eph. 3:20-21 KJV)
The Bible promises us we are going to be “conformed to the image of Christ” (Rom. 8:29). We are going to be more and more like Jesus.
As we grow to be like Him, there will be such glory in the Church that the nations of the world will distinguish us from all the other peoples of the earth (Deut. 28:1; Jer. 33:9).
God will glorify us in the midst of the nations. In fact, Isaiah 60:2,3 says that so much glory will come forth from the Church, kings will come to our rising and our shining!
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
(Isa. 60:2-3 KJV)
This is our destiny as part of the body of Christ. God isn’t looking at where we are right now. He’s looking at where we are going to be. But for us to fulfill our glorious destiny, God has to change us by His presence.
Second Corinthians 3 explains the process this way:
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
(2 Cor. 3:17-18)
As we enter into God’s glorious presence to behold Him, more glory comes, causing us to be transformed from one degree of glory to the next in an ever-increasing process of spiritual growth.
You see, in the kingdom of God, salvation and the baptism of the Holy Ghost are only introductory offers. The Lord is always offering us a higher degree of glory. But that greater glory can only be realized by allowing God’s presence and His Word to change us.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
On the chilly March night in 1972 when Lynne Hammond took her first step into a life of Spirit-led prayer, she had no idea what was about to happen. All she knew was the hunger in her heart for God wouldn’t let her sleep. In the few short months she’d been born again, her desire to fellowship with Him had grown so strong she could hardly contain it. “Help me, God!” she cried. “I want to know you. I want to be able to talk to you. Please, teach me to pray!”
Suddenly, a heavenly presence flooded the room. Lynne sensed waves of spiritual fire sweeping over her and a beautiful language began to flow like a river from within her. Although she’d never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, she knew instantly, without a doubt—this was God!
What began that night soon blossomed into a life of prayer that ultimately became a ministry of prayer when, in 1980, Lynne and her husband, Mac, founded Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Lynne’s leadership, the prayer ministry at Living Word has become an internationally recognized model for developing effective pray-ers in the local church.
A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”