It's been two and half weeks since I've returned to Brisbane after studying in the School of Worship with YWAM Perth. The day I returned I was met with the warmth of my friends who have become my family and also another new arrival on our staff team-- my friend Bonner Wolf (cool name, yeah?).
Bonner and I met last year as he was doing a Beach to Bush Discipleship Training School (DTS) led by one of my dear friends, Adam Marshall. We immediately connected. We both are passionate about worship and living out the principles of the kingdom of God. We both desire to be transformed into the likeness of Christ and see the nations come to the revelation of the salvation and complete Lordship of Jesus. Plus, he plays lots of music and sings a fair bit too. Good match. 
I jumped right into the flow of the YWAM Brisbane life. I began with doing some training on how to assess and faciliate different activities for the up-coming MAD DTS. It was kinda boring, but necessary for government reasons so I'm in! Bonner and I were asked to lead worship on the 'Open Meeting' we hold every first Wednesday of the month. We were stoked!
We spent some time in prayer and picked out some different songs, as per usual. During worship I saw there was a lot of 'heaviness' in the group. Although, the Lord was moving in my heart strongly, there wasn't breakthrough to the presence of God corporately. We finished worship, one of our guest speakers gave a message and when the ministry time began we jumped back to our instruments. We knew the evening wasn't over.
Most people left the meeting with the exception of 13-15 people. Bonner, Noah and I began to worship as the few before us began to receive ministry and come before God asking for His Father heart revelation. This is where the breakthrough was. Before we knew it, the Holy Spirit swept us away into His sweet presence. God began to speak through us and we spontaneously sang the Father's heart over His children. Some wept, some simply embraced God's presence by giving their whole heart to Him or lifting their voice in prayer.
Fast forward to the next Monday. I was leading worship for the community, this time with a new crew. I asked my friend Adam (see a few paragraphs above) to lead out in prayer and facilitate any sort of words, pictures or scriptures the community might receive from the Lord. Worship began much the same as the Open Meeting. Heavy. This time I was prepared for it. I kept singing. Louder. Harder. Putting my whole being into the song. Letting my heart overflow into the songs we sang. A few words were shared by the response of the community was small, at best. At one point one of our students confessed to struggling with addiction and the absolute hopelessness he felt in battling it. We surrounded him in prayer and then joined in a Hillsong chorus, "Chains be broken, lives be healed, eyes be opened-- Christ is revealed." This went on for some time, and there was a distinct corporate presence of God at work in the community. We all joined in a few more songs and then ended and moved on with the morning.
Later that day, Bonner, Adam and I were worshiping-- seeking the Lord in prayer and song. Earlier that morning God has spoken to Adam to take up intercession for the base. We were going to meet every morning. So we did. And sometimes in the afternoon too. Over the two weeks Bonner and I frequently encountered the Lord sharing glimpses of His incredible heart for YWAM Brisbane, for us, for the nations, for the city around us.. and it was absolutely breathtaking to see even the small things that the Lord was doing.
In the mornings as we sought the Lord in prayer, we found God was rising up in us a warring spirit. We prayed hard, we worshiped hard, holding nothing back-- exactly as He deserved.
Fast forward to Thursday night. We decided to make Thursday nights an 'Encounter God' night. No agenda, no program-- just coming before the Lord and offering our hearts in prayer and worship. Once again, Noah, Bonner and I were leading the worship. This time Bonner and I had spent the afternoon seeking the Lord and we received a lot of scriptures. We declared them over each other and the community and as we focused on God and we received a few glimpses of His heart for the evening. It can be summed up in this: Surrender.
Not going to be easy.
And it wasn't. As soon as people started filing into the room we felt the heaviness creep back in. We felt squashed with the darkness. But of course, we began the worship knowing that all it takes is for the Lord's light to come in and all darkness flees.
I worshiped. I prayed. And the Lord showed Adam and I a bit of what was going on. Really, we were just waiting for the Holy Spirit to do something, because we don't really have it in our flesh to conjure up anything powerful. We prayed and prayed and slowly we saw people start to enter in. Then it happened-- what we had been waiting for, praying for-- the Presence of God fell. The Lord spoke to a few in the room about fear, some about the Spirit of God wanting to erupt and Adam brought focus to the Lordship of Christ. God spoke and said He wanted to release His spirit. I followed Him and repeated what He had given me. Maybe 7 people step forward. Andy, Adam, Bonner and I begin to pray all it once inviting the Holy Spirit in. And then something miraculous happens: chains break, lives are healed, promises are spoken, love is bestowed on the frail and week. God is on the move.
Bonner and I shared a few words and even as we all began to pray and lift up the Lord, His spirit moved within us in marvelous ways.
Then we went deeper. Bonner and I shared about a song we wrote: "Receive your reward, Lamb of God! You deserve it all, Lamb of God!" And everyone took the knee. We bowed before the Lord, surrendering our hearts, some for for surrendering once again and some for the first time. This is where the greatest love of God was poured out to us and also His heart for the nations.
He spoke, we obeyed and He moved.
After only two days of prayer, we saw an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to His people who were bound by fear, chained by circumstance and hopeless without vision. He broke through in a moment and was able to capture the hearts of all His children with just one glimpse of His glory.
How great is our God?
At the moment, we are still praying every morning, seeking in the afternoon in spontaneous worship and in the evening finding God in our secret place with the Father because we know the Lord is wanting to go deeper, show more of Himself and equip us to take His gospel to a lost and broken world. God is on the move.
