Preparation for the an Outpouring

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Preparing ourselves for a pouring out.

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2 Kings 3:15–18 NKJV
15 But now bring me a musician.” Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him. 16 And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’ 17 For thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.’ 18 And this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.
2 Kings 3:16 NKJV
16 And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’
Minstrel: A devout musician, one accustomed to play upon his harp and sing psalms.
The prophets often used them. To hear God’s praises sweetly sung, would cheer their spirits, settle their minds, an help to put them into a right frame of mind both to speak to Him and to hear from Him.
Samuel told Saul:
1 Samuel 10:5 NKJV
5 After that you shall come to the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is. And it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with a stringed instrument, a tambourine, a flute, and a harp before them; and they will be prophesying.
Our Worship should be about what pleases the Lord!
Revelation 4:11 KJV
11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
We should be more concerned with what the King desires and enjoys than with what we desire and enjoy.
Worship is not about us. It is about Him.
When we make worship an earthbound, horizontal experience only, we remove power from worship.
Worship should be primarily vertical in its expression.
The purpose of worship is the connecting of earth with the heavens—deep calling unto deep.
As was the cross, true worship is like a crucible, a place or situation in which different elements interact to produce something new.
Jesus said when He was asked about the most important commandment in the Scripture:
Mark 12:29–31 NKJV
29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is:Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
In other words, our vertical position of worship, which expresses our love for God, directly affects our horizontal position in life, which is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
Most of the psalms in the book of Psalms were birthed in David’s test.
In the headers of the psalms, the names of three individuals appear consistently:
Heman, Asaph, Jeduthun.
First Chronicles chapters 15 and 16 identify these three men as the main directors of the Levitical ensembles.
Heman was the lead singer.
Asaph was the choir director.
Jeduthun, also referred to as Ethan, was the musical director, the man who was in charge of the musical instruments.
Each of them had his place in the tabernacle based on his specific anointing.
According to First Chronicles 16, Heman and Jeduthun were the leaders who were responsible for the sounding of the trumpets and cymbals and for the playing of the other instruments for sacred songs:
Every morning and evening they offered burnt offerings on the altar of burnt offerings, following the rules written in the Teachings of the Lord, which he had given Israel. With them were Heman and Jeduthun and other Levites. They were chosen by name to sing praises to the Lord because his love continues forever. Heman and Jeduthun also had the job of playing the trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments when songs were sung to God… (1 Chronicles 16:40-42 NCV).
The notation under the title of Psalm 88 attributes its authorship not to David, but rather to Heman the Ezrahite, calling it “a psalm of the sons of Korah.” The name Heman means “faithful” in Hebrew.
Appropriate for someone who gathered the people to worship, the name Asaph means “God has gathered” in Hebrew. Twelve psalms (Psalm 50 and Psalms 73-83) carry the name Asaph at the beginning, and this can mean either that Asaph wrote them (or transcribed them for King David) or that they belong to a collection under his name and would have been performed in a certain style.
Skilled musicians and some lovers of music have noticed that certain songs seem to have more power in specific keys.
Likewise, certain songs have different degrees of anointing based on the instruments or the vocalists involved.
David understood this instinctively.
He had a sense of sound, and he knew how to create it for particular situations or needs.
He demonstrated this knowledge when his skillful harp-playing calmed the evil spirits that tormented King Saul:
“And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him” (1 Samuel 16:23 KJV).
The sound of the harp music soothed Saul’s spirit and repelled the demonic spirit that had assaulted him.
So we see that David had a unique understanding about the power of music, worship, and sound, and we can learn much from him.
God has told His children,
Matthew 6:33 NKJV
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Prayer and worship make the transaction possible; they bring Heaven down to earth.

We should be more concerned with what the King desires and enjoys than with what we desire and enjoy. Worship is not about us. It is about Him.

When we make worship an earthbound, horizontal experience only, we remove power from worship. Worship should be primarily vertical in its expression. The purpose of worship is the connecting of earth with the heavens—deep calling unto deep. As was the cross, true worship is like a crucible, a place or situation in which different elements interact to produce something new.

Jesus said when He was asked about the most important commandment in the Scripture:

The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these (Mark 12:29-31 NRSV).

In other words, our vertical position of worship, which expresses our love for God, directly affects our horizontal position in life, which is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. God has told His children, “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33 NRSV). Prayer and worship make the transaction possible; they bring Heaven down to earth.

I. SOUL PREPARATION

Regeneration
Titus 3:5 NKJV
5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
Washing of Regeneration
Renewing of Holy Ghost

II. MIND PREPARATION

Mind is the channel through which God works.
Philippians 2:5 NKJV
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
What kind of mind did Jesus have?
Submissive, humble, loving pure.
Hebrews 1:9 NKJV
9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”
Keep your mind on spiritual things.

III. HEART PREPARATION

Fullness of the Spirit comes through purity and praise.
Heart purity
Acts 15:8–9 NKJV
8 So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, 9 and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Complete confession of sin.

IV. WILL PREPARATION

Will is the only thing about a man that is sovereign, and it must be wholly surrendered to God.
Acts 9:6 NKJV
6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
Matthew 4:19 NKJV
19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Genesis 24:58 NKJV
58 Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.”
God’s will is GOOD, ACCEPTABLE, PERFECT.

V. BODY PREPARATION

Romans 12:1–2 NKJV
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Have:
Presentation
Transformation
Ministration

VI. MOTIVE PREPARATION

Acts 8:18–19 NKJV
18 And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
Why didn’t Simon the Sorcerer receive the Holy Ghost?
His Proposition was Wrong
His Motive was Wrong.
Should be to Glory of God and
To the service of humanity.
Heart was wrong:
Acts 8:21 NKJV
21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.

Closing:

2 Kings 3:16 NKJV
16 And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’
Some ditches need to be made.
Some ditches need to be cleaned out.
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