A Backdrop of Worship
One of the most important elements in a believers’ meeting is the element of worship. Worship is the backdrop for all that the Holy Spirit desires to do in the midst of His people. Worship ushers in the anointing (the very presence of the Holy Spirit) and sensitizes the believers to His gifts and enablements such that they begin to operate. This then allows the Holy Spirit full expression through which he can speak and move in the midst of his people as He sets forth revelation, correction, direction, healing, miracles, etc. I am including a symbolic diagram of what a typical church meeting might be like (see figure 1).
A Pattern for a Typical Believer's Meeting
Allow me to explain the diagram: As the praise begins, it’s like a powered airplane beginning to climb skyward. Behind the plane is attached a glider which represents the believers which are present. The worship team (the powered plane) lifts the believers to new heights as the anointing begins to build. When this powered plane has reached a suitable height the glider is released to soar into realms of worship upon the wind currents (the Holy Spirit). The glider begins spiraling its way slowly back to earth; occasionally catching an updraft (air current). As the glider of worship is freely soaring, the spiritual gifts (i.e., the gifts of prophecy or a combination of tongues and interpretation) begin to manifest themselves.
When these gifts of the Spirit are through being manifested, those gifted in preaching or teaching (depending on the nature of the information manifested) begin to tie together all that the Spirit has just revealed into a cohesive revelation of the purpose and plan of God for that specific meeting. The teaching, at this point, could be fortified by testimonies, revelations, scripture readings, or by other gifts of the Spirit (i.e., word of knowledge, word of wisdom, etc). All this would lead to new levels of commitment by those in attendance. In conjunction with this move of the Holy Spirit there is a spiritual checks and balances system in operation, using the gift of discerning of spirits in order to distinguish the move of the Holy Spirit from the move and deceptions of the enemy. Remember, spiritual warfare is always raging. The prophets also have a checks and balances system. All prophecy is judged and evaluated by those other prophets in attendance.
When all is said and done, the plane lands and this is the end of that portion of the meeting. At this point some of the other gifts of the Spirit (i.e., the gift of faith, the gifts of healing, or the gift of working of miracles) could begin to function. Communion (the Lord’s supper) might be in order, or a continuation of worship might bring the meeting to a close.
This pattern for a spiritual meeting (which all meetings should be) is very general because the Holy Spirit desires to be creative; however, the pattern elements that make it up are basically the same. Pretty exciting, huh? This is what Christianity is supposed to be--alive, life changing, and exciting.
The Key Ingredient -- the Holy Spirit
You may be asking yourself just how all this can come to be; how can we have meetings like these? First of all, we must remember that the church is primarily spiritual and that without the help of the Holy Spirit the best we can hope for is a form of religion with little or no real anointing or power. The genuine gifts come from God through the ministry and application of the Holy Spirit. To their own chagrin many churches try to mimic these gifts.
There’s only one way to have a truly spiritual meeting. We must humble ourselves and call on the name of the Lord with all our hearts until these types of meetings are restored from heaven. A group of believers desiring this type of an outpouring might have to come together for an extended time in praise, worship, prayer, and possibly even fasting; doing those things that invite the move of God but not doing those things that substitute it. The following scriptures seem applicable:
Jer. 29:11-14 (KJV); Matt. 5:6 (KJV)
It’s interesting to note that the first scripture, in its context, is referring to Israel’s captivity and because of this one might not think this scripture fits our application very well. But I ask you, are we not a spiritual Israel (grafted into Israel’s branch [Rom. 11:17-18])? Have we not been in captivity from the deep things of God? Is it not God who has (because of our stiff necks of unsound biblical logic, reason and tradition) driven us away from the true life of the church?
God desperately desires to restore His body of believers to New Testament Church life if we will just return to and follow the instructions (patterns) He has given.
The beauty of this type of a meeting is that it maximizes our spiritual potential (as we are led by the Holy Spirit) and minimizes the control elements that men are so accustomed to initiating. Why would we want anything less than a spiritual meeting--a divine encounter with God in the midst of His people?
Yes, beloved, if we want what God has prepared for us, we have to purpose a new vision, and then we must walk in it by faith waiting on God to supply. God must do the rest…
