As I was praying-over and trying to prepare some hand-outs for distribution at a recent conference, I was trying to keep them concise and non-to-wordy… and as I was pondering what to put in them, I was asking the Lord, “Father, convince ME again of why we are doing what we’re doing!”  If I am called to gather believers in the place of corporate prayer, then is some of the responsibility of CONVINCING them to come on my shoulders?

So, here I was, pouring over Scriptures and revelations that the Lord has burned in me, trying to decide what would be the most convincing.  Then I remembered something I had written in my prayer journal a little over two years ago, when I was pondering a similar question, “Lord, why do you want me to help establish a house of prayer & worship in the river valley?”  After a time of similar Scripture searching and pondering, I shifted gears into worship and then into trying to just be quiet and listen to the Lord.

Crystal clear, the voice of the Lord pushed through my attempts to calm and quiet my soul:  ”Because I deserve it.”  Wow.  Why would I try to encourage believers to gather together to pray and to worship the Lord on a consistent, maybe even eventually 24-hour a day basis?  Because He Deserves It!

So as I sat here a few days ago, planning those printed materials, the Lord reminded me of that, and broke through my striving and just said, “Aaron, you don’t always have to have some powerfully worded, verse-packed, no-room-for-reproach reason for calling people to pray and to worship me… I DESERVE IT!”

During the Eyes Open Conference at Crossroads this weekend, I was there with my three beautiful children early to help the IHOP worship team do their soundcheck, and we got their early enough that the Prophecy Rooms were still going on, and a friend asked me if we wanted to go receive ministry.  I was hesitant, because it was just me and an 8, 7, and 5 year old - and I thought, wow, this is going to be a fun ride for the ministry team.

Anyway, all of the words the three prophetic team members were right on, specific, and confirmed things the Lord had already spoken to Robin and I about ourselves and our children.  One of those words over me (which is why I mentioned it here) was basically this:

Aaron, the Lord is so delighted in the gift that you are giving Him.  It’s like when one of your children is at school and has a craft time, and decides to make something for you, and when they bring it home and give it to you, and you ask them why they made it, they just say, I was thinking of you, Daddy, and I wanted to make something just for you.

I want us, His children, to make this thing for Him.  Like David, I am consumed with establishing a house for the Lord on the earth where He can come and where His children will be in constant, day-and-night worship and prayer before Him.  Why?  Because He deserves it.

This weekend, a team from the International House of Prayer - Kansas City ministered to the region… with permission, I intend to post a few short audio clips that encapsulate some of the key messages that the Lord was speaking to the river valley.  The resounding word the Lord was bringing to me the entire weekend, starting during the set-up time through personal conversations with some fellow believers who were there serving from the the host church, was the necessity for what we are doing with the Rend Your Heart ministry and the regional intercessory worship gatherings we have been facilitating the last 19 months.

Most of you know of the incredible unity that exists between the various prayer & worship ministries in the region, namely The Burn - Fort Smith, Crossroads Church, New Wineskins Ministries, and Rend Your Heart (yes, I’m still vacilating between that name and “Pray River Valley”).  Because one of my personal, primary motivating revelations is that of Jesus’ intense desire for unity among believers (John 17:20-26), I always process my own motives and vision through that filter: is what I feel impressed to do already being done by another believer or ministry, and should I just serve with them?  Should we all just head over to Crossroads where the Lord has amassed so many phenomenal, devoted, and faithful intercessors?  Should we put all of our proverbial eggs into the same basket?

The resounding answer is… Maybe!  Okay, not really.  The real answer is, what is the Lord asking YOU to do?There is a need for equipping of intercessors and worshippers in the river valley, and Pastor Damon and the believers at Crossroads are doing that, and doing it well.  Thank you, believers at Crossroads, for your faithfulness and vision that goes back even before God’s orchestration of bringing Damon & Lisa to our region.  Thank you, Damon & Lisa, for your obedience and yourselves!

There is also a need for intercessors and worshippers in every single congregation throughout the river valley - believers that have already been planted, some from birth, into varying church-families.  Some will get uprooted for a season to go and soak and get equipped to return to the congregations to which the Lord has destined them.  Some must stay planted where they are at, and let their roots go deep - even when it’s dry - their roots will have to search out the streams.

That is one of the primary things the Lord has asked us (Rend Your Heart) to do in the valley:  we are to be a stream of living water, an oasis in a dry and thirsty land.  We are a place where believers who are faithfully plowing and sowing in other ministries can come to be refreshed through fiery worship and fervent prayer. Who are we?  We are believers from many churches in the region:  Heritage Church VB, Crossroads Church Alma, The Current VB, Butterfield AoG VB, First Baptist VB, Grand Ave Baptist FSM, City Christian Fellowship FSM, Victory Temple FSM, First Methodist FSM, Mt Olive Church VB, and I know I’m forgetting some.  These are just the congregations represented on the stage almost every week.

Could we be this same stream and serve this same purpose from inside a specific congregation’s facility? Theoretically, yes - and, eventually, Yes! There will be many streams and deep wells all over this region in homes, in church-buildings, and in buildings devoted to prayer, worship, and outreach.  This is what the Lord has asked us to do - and we’re running… we’re digging… we’re soaking… we’re burning.

Will you come and join us this Saturday from 6pm to 9pm at the prayer room located on the corner of Alma Blvd and North 20th St in Van Buren?

I’ve been asked several times since April about our new schedule now that we have our own central meeting location - so, here it is - along with some vision for future plans:

EVERY Saturday
6pm to 9pm

That’s it - simple, and a great place to come and begin to cultivate a lifestyle of gathered prayer and worship. In partnership with other prayer & worship gatherings in our area, we will always ask people to please prioritize attendance of other prayer gatherings over ours - but, we will remain consistent, so as to try to keep anyone from ever showing up at an empty building when they’re expecting a prayer meeting.

On the Second Saturday of every month, our meeting format is a little different than on the other Saturdays. On the Second Saturday, our meeting is modeled after one of our mottos: fiery worship; bold teaching; fervent prayer - because, that’s exactly what happens on that night, and in that order.  Unlike all of the other Saturday meetings that are 3 hours of constant intercessory worship, with a “drop-in” schedule (come and stay for as little or as much as you want) - the Second Saturday will start with about an hour of uninterrupted worship, after which a short & concise teaching will be given that is aimed at fueling a life of prayer and worship, which will flow into a time of response and intercessory worship for the remainder of the evening.

The Prayer Room is located on the corner of Alma Blvd and North 20th St in Van Buren, AR.

We will have an internship beginning August 1st, and will aim to have morning and lunch-time prayer & worship sets up-and-going as many days as possible, as soon as possible.  These meetings will probably be from 6am to 8am, and from 11am to 1pm, and, will be of the “drop-in” variety.  Because it will also (most likely) be difficult to put full worship teams together (at first) for these meetings, they will probably be one or two singers & musicians, along with one or two dedicated prayer leaders facilitating corporate prayer & worship.

The Prayer Room is not directly financially supported by any specific congregations, nor do we intentionally seek-out this time of “budget item” support.  Our rent and utilities are paid by individual believers (and their families) who have a heart-for and understand-of the need for saints to gather themselves together and pray for our region.  Right now, a small handful of us are covering these costs with great sacrifice.  We eagerly invite you to join us in helping to provide this cross-denominational, multi-congregational place of prayer and worship.

Your gifts can be sent via traditional mail to:

Like David Did
1000 Flat Rock Dr
Van Buren, AR 72956

Or, one-time, or recurring monthly giving can be securely established on-line via PayPal at our directors’ website: http://www.likedaviddid.com/partnering.  All gifts are tax deductible.  A PayPal account is NOT needed, and gifts may be given using most bank cards.

We hope to pray and worship alongside you very soon.

Aaron & Robin Jackson

Here’s a little “take away” from this past Saturday night (May 30th, 2009): Jesus is inviting us to come out of our self-created refuge and run with Him on the mountains of our guilt, shame, addictions, personality flaws, and entangling sins.  Those things that are hindering our love for Jesus aren’t what is actually hindering our love. Huh? Yeah.  Our fear of being with Jesus in spite of those things is more of an obstacle than those things themselves.

That fear, which is really shame and guilt, brings to light the real issue: a lack of knowledge.  But, I’ll address that in another article, soon.

Our dear friend and prayer pioneer, Katie Howell, was leading us in prayer through Isaiah 64.  I was about to paste some of it in here, but wow, the whole thing is so powerful and relevant to this topic.  So I encourage you to open your Bible and dig into it (or check it out here: http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Isa&c=64&v=1&t=NKJV#top).  Anyway, as she was praying through it, and we began to sing these very Scriptures, the Lord tied “the mountains” mentioned in verses 1 & 3 to the mountains of the Song of Songs chapters 2, 4 & 5.  Jesus, our Bridgegroom, leaps and skips upon the very things that hinder and scare us. He even invites us to come and dance on them with Him.  But, just like the shulamite, our fear (chapter 2) and our immaturity (chapter 5) keep us from running with Him in victory over the obstacles that are hindering our love.

Just like in Isaiah 64, however, the Lord is wanting to shake those mountains.  He desires to burn-up and consume every thing that hinders our love.  Yes, just like in verses 4-9, the Lord does expect us to do our part, to try and desire, to live righteous - pleasing before Him, but He understands (v.6) that our own contrived righteousness is still just “filthy rags”, and ultimately, it is our dependence on Him and what He did on the cross, and our attempts at “running after and with Him” that will allow us to be purified by Him, and bring us into that right place of relationship with Him - in victory over the mountains (the obstacles) that kept us “in our room”, shut-off from the type of relationship with Him that He desires.

Don’t hesitate when He comes to draw you into a place of deeper love with Him - despite your flaws. Sometimes, when we do finally decide to respond, He’s right there waiting for us (Song, chapter 2&3), but sometimes, it’s going to make things a lot more painful (Song, chapter 5).

“Draw me after you, and let us run together.  Though I am dark, you say I am lovely.  I will rejoice in You, and be glad!  More than anything else that competes for my affections and brings me comfort and joy, I will remember You and the true love that only You can give!”  (Song 1 & Hosea 2)

Although I serve with the board of the Crawford County National Day of Prayer - it kind of snuck up on me.  You probably saw a tee-shirt at one of the NDoP events and now you’re visiting this site.  Well, there’s a lot of great articles on here, but, most of them were actually intended for the personal blog of our directors, Aaron and Robin Jackson.  (They just exported them over so we could get some content in here to see what the site would look like.)

However, we will be putting up articles about The Faith of Our Fathers, and items about what all the Lord is doing in our region to establish us, His Bride, as a praise upon the earth.

So - check back soon!

The river valley now has its very own prayer room.  We are located on the corner of Alma Blvd and North 20th St in Van Buren.

We are currently meeting every Saturday from 6pm to 9pm.  Everyone is welcome to attend and participate. Come for the entire meeting, or just for a few minutes.  Spend time in Bible reading, prayer, personal devotional, or engaging with the ministry team in praying & singing Scripture over our region.

We look forward to praying and worshiping with you soon!

On Friday, January 3rd and Saturday, January 4th a combined ministry team from the Fort Smith, Arkansas river valley and the International House of Prayer in Kansas City will be ministering in Bowling Green, Missouri.  Morning Star Fellowship will be our host.  We would like to thank Pastor Gary Green for his obvious heart to believers in the entire Bowling Green region continually equipped for more effective ministry.  The gatherings are open for anyone who would like to attend.

Friday night we will start with fiery worship as we, like King David, long to encounter the affections of the Lord, and ask Him to come and establish a dwelling place for His presence in the midst of His people.  As the Lord allows, our team will minister through the bold teaching of Holy Scripture, and using whatever giftings the Lord graces us to use that will strengthen and equip the believers present.  

After a time of ministry, we will then engage in fervent prayer using an intercessory worship structure that the Lord has given us.  During this time of prayer and worship, key intercessors will help lead the entire room in Biblically-based prayers, and invite anyone else who wants to participate to come and join in (either on the microphone, or just from their seats).  We encourage the use of “the Apostolic Prayers”, since they are Holy Spirit inspired prayers for all believers, found directly in scripture.  Who better to be in agreement with as we pray?

As each person prays through their verses, the psalmist singers will sing, echo, and develop the Scriptures being prayed.  This helps engage hearts, minds, and souls, like you may have never experienced before.

That service begins at 6pm.

On Saturday morning at 9am, we will open with a simplified worship time, and then minister in whatever way the Lord has asked us, or the local leadership has requested from us.  When believers come together, it should always be about one (or both) of two things:  equipping people, or ministering to the Lord.  We plan on doing both.

So join us as we start off the New Year.  There’s no better way to get 2009 going… I assure you.

Manifest Blessings!

Aaron & Robin Jackson
http://www.likedaviddid.com

Tuesday, December 16th, anyone wishing to be involved in the leadership team for the Second Saturday gatherings is welcome to come to Heritage Church at 6pm for a leadership meeting.

We will be in the Welcome Center.

This is the third Saturday, so our meeting with be at Heritage Church in Van Buren, Arkansas.

6pm to 9pm

What is the significance of “the spirit and power of Elijah”, and why do many present-day believers feel like it will be released again?  Wasn’t John the Baptist the fulfillment of this prophecy found in Malachi 4?  The angel that visited Zacharias (John’s dad) even quote that exact passage.

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord - and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” Malachi 4:5-6

“Your prayers have been heard… you will have a son… he will be great in the sight of the Lord… filled with the Holy Spirit… he will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children’… to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Luke 1:13-17

First, it is important to note the Holy Spirit inspired words of Malachi, “before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.”  The phrase, “the day of the Lord,” and especially when it is combined with words like great, terrible, dreadful, and awesome, usually point clearly to the second coming of the Messiah (books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Zephaniah, Acts, 2 Peter, etc). This brings up an important revelation that Lord gave me (that should have been really obvious, but it just recently hit me with its weight): the Jews expectation of a warrior-messiah, coming to overthrow tyranical secular rule and establish His righteous government on the earth was not mistaken.  The Old Testament prophecies clearly describe this coming of the Lord, and so does the book of Revelations.  However, there are a lot of prophecies describing the coming of the Lord that the world has already experienced, when He came as the sacrificial lamb (e.g. Isaiah 53).  They just had “the comings” out of order.

His next coming will be great… and awesome… and terrible… and dreadful.

The Malachi prophecy points to BOTH comings of Jesus.  The methods have not changed.  Their is nothing new under the sun, and there is little need for cultural relevance.  The problems of fatherlessness are the same from generation to generation, and compound over time.

We need Abba Father to send this spirit and this power to the fathers and mothers on the earth today.  We need a generation of John the Baptists… of burning and shining lamps who will remove themselves from secular pursuits and call a region, a nation, a world back to their heavenly Father.

A post entitled “Spirit of Elijah - What?” will be coming soon, to describe what a generation of “Johns” should look like.