Prayer & Error

Growing up in a Pentecostal background, one gets exposed to quite a lot of stuff; Some of it not good. I am a Pentecostal by experience, but not a Pentecostalist. Jesus said that a "wicked generation seeks signs and wonders". We're supposed to be about seeking God's heart, so our hearts can be more like His and so that He gain the deserved benefit of our company because He most certainly deserves it after what He did for us. Was invited to a prayer meeting by some friends, whom I believe to be Christians, but their prayer meeting was so joyless and militant, more about power than the Person. It was very uncomfortable. The sad thing was that they believe that their theatrical, hyped, melodramatic performance in which intense prayers were parroted was a reflection of the Spirit of God. I seriously doubted it. Why? Because I have experienced the real thing myself; And seen the results. The power of God is rooted in His love. Even though Ephesians 6 uses military images to describe warfare, these images are of a moral quality: Peace, Truth (Which God wields) and righteousness. It is not militant or zealous in nature. They quoted the verse "the violent taketh it by force" but forgot that the violence speaks of God's love. I'd just assume go to a Muslim prayer meeting because it had the same feel. That militant mindset does not see that the man who negligently touched the Ark and who was subsequently zapped like a bug on a light was killed because he touched Pure Love. Pure love has a sound when it hits our souls. And this love is supposed to be in there somewhere - hopefully flowing out. A love for people has a tone which can be heard - even by a lost person. All the talk about the acquisition of power in the Christian community is actually having an opposite effect. The pursuit of power opens the door to the jealous lord of this world. We are to seek God's face and heart, not His hand. Until you stare into the heart of the Humble King, you cannot know what it means to pray with real power. Forget what many of these pretentious religious profiteers on TV say; Just because somebody shares Biblical principles of prayer, even with a persuasive personality, doesn't mean you can scientifically administer them or conjure up an experience in your own strength. This starts with repeated glimpses of the Heart on the Cross; And those glimpses should keep coming and coming over the course of our lives. I would really encourage you to read the link below and what we have learned; Especially on the danger of anger and the misunderstanding on the use of the the phrase "Binding and loosing" in the Church today. Please see page below. Yes, the gifts are for today and the Spirit of Love touches the heart deeply enough to cause a great outpouring of emotion, but that is not the same as self-willed experiences or manufactured melodrama. If a lost person comes into a prayer meeting, he or she should sense love and be convicted. They should not think we are nuts, as Paul warned against when writing the Church of Corinth. Years ago, it used to be that American Christian's prayed through. They would take the time to navigate through their haughty hearts to see the Lord's heart in order to get the breakthrough. It is time to go back to that mindset.