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#812. THE ARMY OF GOD (11/5/23)

Writer's picture: Matt BeaneyMatt Beaney


“The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me to and fro among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘Sovereign Lord, you alone know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones and say to them, “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”  (Ezekiel 37:1-6)

Summary: When the Spirit of God comes, we stand on our feet as a prayer army.


You can watch this devotional at:

God gives Ezekiel this powerful vision of a valley full of dry bones. This is about Israel being restored after exile, but it can relate to our context. We can see these bones as the church. Many of us are in exile - our lives are in compromise and we need the Spirit of God to restore us. Let’s look at what happens when the Spirit moves in a church:

“So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.” ’ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army.” (Ezekiel 37:7-10)

When the Spirit moves on a person or a church they are raised up to become an army. We become a prayer army. We fight with the weapon of prayer. When the Spirit moves, there is a new humility that is expressed in prayer. Charles Spurgeon wrote:

‘The condition of the church may be very accurately gauged by its prayer meetings. So is the prayer meeting a grace-ometer, and from it we may judge of the amount of divine working among a people. If God be near a church, it must pray. And if he be not there, one of the first tokens of his absence will be a slothfulness in prayer.’

An army is united in purpose and action. When the Spirit of God comes on us, we will become united in pursuit of God’s glory. We become united in fighting together in prayer.


RESPONSE

Pray for the Holy Spirit to move in yourself your local church and the church more broadly. There is much pride and compromise. The church can look like bones in a dry valley. If we will pray, God can raise us up to be a prayer army who will see great victory for the name of Jesus.

 

COMMUNITY GROUP NOTES AND STUDY


1. NOTICES

It might be good to begin with notices. Please share from this week’s Church News.


2. ICEBREAKER

What has God been speaking to you about from His Word this week and how has this helped you / affected your life?

3. STUDY AND PRAY TOGETHER

  • Please read Mark 11:15-17

  • What have you been most inspired or challenged about during this Praying Together series?

  • What would it look like for a local church to be a house of prayer for all nations?

  • How can we each play our part in building a church community that has prayer at the heart of all that we do?

  • SIV - Pray together as we seek to be witnesses in the communities that God has put us into.

  • Pray together - Spend some time in prayer together. Ask the Spirit to guide you and pray and you feel led.





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