jacob

we had another 48hour prayer gathering this week, thursday 8pm to saturday 8pm. as always, it was awesome. we had a midnight to 2am session friday night that was drumming. there were about 20 drums, three or four singers, a bass and a flute (of all things). it was a wild one.

yesterday (saturday) afternoon a few of us were praying and we ended up praying out of isaiah 53, and when i popped open the bible next to me a few phrases from that passage pestered me a bit. in verse one is says, "who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?". in verse 8 there was a sentence that said, "who will declare His generation?". i don't know that i was seeing them in context, but they put me in mind of jacob. this may turn into a sermon, but i'll explain.

jacob was a consecrated individual. i think he gets a bad rap. i don't think he was deceptive, but his mom sure was. if you read his story he didn't steal esau's birthright, he purchased it because he truly saw the value that it represented, and his brother didn't. he was a bit sneaky getting the blessing from his father, but that wasn't his plan it was his mother's. if you read the passage you can see he wasn't really eager to go along with it.

the thing that jumped out at me as we were praying yesterday was that jacob, by the very way he lived his life, demonstrated desperation for God and for the things God had for him. the prosperity he received wasn't for himself, but it was for his family, his community (servants and household) and his descendants. as we prayed yesterday God spoke so clearly that we are a jacob generation, desperate for Him. we see the value in what has previously been devalued, and contend for it. this made so much sense when you know a bit about portland's spiritual history.

there have been some incredible moves of God in portland over the last 150 years. there was a time in the early 1900s when the downtown businesses closed for two hours every afternoon so people could attend prayer meetings. in the 1930s and the 1950s there were some amazing moves of God. john g. lake had an incredible healing ministry, and there were times when there were so many healings that the crutches and wheelchairs were literally piled up after meetings. but since the 1950s there has been no major move of God in portland. that's a whole generation that grew up unaware of the compassionate power of God. now here we are re-establishing 24-7 prayer in the city and contending for the inheritance that seems to have been put aside in favor of comfort and worldy success. here we are, transparent before God, asking Him to come and restore, to give us what was discarded. here we are wrestling for the blessing, even if we bear the mark of it for the rest of our lives, so that we can say as jacob did, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared." jacob knew what mattered, and he trusted in the mercy of God.

when isaiah 53:8 said, "who will declare His generation" it brought to mind that Jesus is the Firstborn of many sons and daughters. it struck me as a call to contend for the spirit of adoption to touch my city, that the lies that bind the minds of this generation would be broken and they would be freed to run to their Father. these are to whom the arm of the Lord is to be revealed.

this is the amplified translation of Psalm 24:3-6. i think it pretty much sums it up...

Who shall go up into the mountain of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His Holy Place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted himself up to falsehood or to what is false, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation [description] of those who seek Him [who inquire of and for Him and of necessity require Him], who seek Your face, [O God of] Jacob. Selah [pause, and think of that]!