True unity does not make you a carbon copy of someone, but it is when we can celebrate and utilize each other’s diverse gifts.
By Wayland Henderson
As April 9, 2018 marks the anniversary of the Azusa Street Revival of 1906, I cherish the opportunity that we had to have all night prayer last year at Bonnie Rae House where it all started. Some of the things that marked this great revival are the same things that fuel my hunger for revival, reformation and unity in the body of Messiah. “”In 1906 when there was more lynching of black men then in any other year of America’s history, Seymour led an interracial worship service. At Azusa Street there were no preferences for age, gender, or race. One worshipper [Frank Bartleman] said, “The blood of Jesus washed the color line away.” (312 Azusa Street Revival).
April 9 also marks the anniversary of the beginning of the end of the civil war when General Lee surrendered to General Grant. My continued prayer has been that the “civil war” within the church would end between races, gender, and age and that Sunday would stop being the most segregated day of the week. I pray the Spirit of the Lord would shake us to the core and break this image of division and restore a body that does not ignore diversity, but celebrates it.
WISDOM AND REVELATION
In Ephesians 3:10 Paul declares that the church would make known to principalities and powers the manifold or multicolored wisdom of God! Let the beautiful colors of diversity expressed through unity in body break the power of principal mindsets of division and conformity over regions by the release of wisdom. Proverbs declares that wisdom is the “principal” thing and with all thy getting get understanding (Proverbs 4:7). May the Lord pour out the spirit of wisdom and revelation of the unity of the body of Christ so our eyes can be open to the beauty of true unity as the church becomes an instrument of change in the earth (Ephesians 1:17-23).
UNITY OF THE FAITH
My heart aches and weeps for ungodly division to be driven out of the body of Christ. My heart is that we would have a revelation of unity that smashes the idol of uniformity disguised as unity. True unity does not make you a carbon copy of someone but, it is when we can celebrate and utilize each other’s diverse gifts. If we are to restore the foundation of the fivefold ministry for the purpose of becoming a habitation of His glory, we cannot ignore that in Ephesians 4, the verses that lead up to the ascension gifts of Messiah, speak of the importance of unity of the body to the Head which is Christ. The apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher are meant to separate us from worldly systems and unite us with Christ and each other.
A KINGDOM AND ROYAL PRIESTHOOD
I pray that unity would also come in the different streams and expressions of the glory and character of God released through His people. There were 12 tribes of Israel with 12 different banners of expression yet together they made one unified nation of Israel, a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:5-6). Israel was one kingdom yet there were different expressions with in them. There is hidden treasure that is revealed in celebrating a diverse body of Messiah.
I believe two things mark today and are prayer points for me:
*Azusa was the restoration of the language of heaven that released the glory of God and brought unity.
*It was “surrender” that brought an end to the Civil War.
May the Lord release such an outpouring of His Spirit that we would surrender our will, to see true unity come and the glory of God be poured out amongst us as the blood of Jesus washes away the color line, age line, gender line and different tribes line!
The Book of Acts declares that with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of Jesus and great grace was upon them (Acts 4:33-34). When reading further, it reads that no one lacked as they shared possessions. I submit to you that the great grace came from those who were willing to give away free what they paid a price for! If we are all willing to share the areas of grace we carry freely with each other than no one lacks and great grace can be released with great power. I believe this is also part of what it means to be a witness of the resurrection of Jesus…unity.
Wayland Henderson is a prophet who carries a heart for revival and moves in a strong revelatory gift with a unique anointing to impart prophetic understanding of Jewish roots across cultural and generational lines. He is co-founder of Greater Works Generation Ministries with his wife Jeanette, and their heart is to awaken a generation to their destiny to become mature sons and daughters of God. Jeanette is a prophetic psalmist, gifted teacher and is a worshipper at heart with the ability to usher in His Presence. Wayland is also co-founder of A.G.E.S. (which stands for Awaken, Gather, Equip and Send). A.G.E.S. is an apostolic and prophetic monthly gathering where several ministries have joined to gather regionally to see revival glory come forth in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. They currently reside in Arlington, Texas with their three beautiful children.
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