With each passing year, the instability in the world seems more and more apparent. Natural and man-made catastrophes claim lives; political balance shifts; wealth and status come and go. Currently we are in the midst of crisis caused by a virus. It all causes us to ask, Is anything unshakeable?

From the very beginning of creation, God’s nature is very clear: He always starts with the end in mind. He always has a plan. He always has the answer. And He always sees infinitely more than we might ask or think. God is preparing us to experience infinitely more! God’s plan in the midst of this pandemic is that we might know Him more deeply, follow Him more closely, obey Him more consistently, and make Him known to those around us.

Some friends of ours told us the story of their family’s Easter worship service in their home. Her husband was describing how Jesus, after rising from the dead showed himself to over five hundred people before he ascended back to heaven (1 Corinthians 15:6). And now over two thousand years later, His gospel message is still spreading all over the world to the point that we are talking about it today. One of his young sons, was musing on this thought and said, “it’s like a pandemic of faith.” His mom said, “that’s exactly what it is, but this pandemic brings life and not death.”

This week is known as the Passion week of Christ – His sufferings. Within this week we will find various groups of people with different expectations of Him. This Holy Week was all about expectations. But we all have expectations of Jesus, right?

Last month, we began a prayer series based on what Jesus wants for His Church as found in His prayer in John 17:9-24, the night before He gave His life for us on the cross. Jesus’ prayer for the church is an excellent model for us to follow when we pray for the church. Jesus spoke with confidence, knowing His time had come, but secure in the knowledge that what He began on earth would be continued through His body of believers—the church. What Jesus desired for the church can be summarized as five prayer requests.

That’s the question on everyone’s mind in the midst of this current coronavirus crisis. The other one is how long is this going to last? Together may we lay hold of God’s promise, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.” (Isaiah 43:2 NKJV) God is with us in this moment, so what in the world is God doing right now?

We are living in unique times and facing some critical challenges due to the Coronavirus. It’s also interesting how we are currently studying about winning the battle for our minds. In the midst of a crisis that is evoking such fear and uncertainty we understand that all starts in our minds.

For the past several weeks, we have been reading the book, The Battlefield of the Mind and learning how to win the battle in our minds. Here is a powerful Scripture related to this … For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16 NKJV)

The Apostle Paul said God’s intention is to use the church to show His wisdom to everyone in heaven and on earth according to His purpose (Ephesians 3:9-11). There is nothing in this world that has as much potential to be an instrument of change as the church.

Sometimes we have a lot of WHY questions when we pray, but we need to lay that aside and focus rather on WHO God is—His sovereign power, the power of His names—and pray for His kingdom to come and His will to do be done because He rules and reigns!

As we come to this final day of our 21-days of fasting and prayer, we want to encourage you to seek to be continually filled with the Lord’s presence and power that you might experience the overflow of His blessing in your life.

The Hebrew word translated “glory” is “kabod” which means “weight” or “heavy weight”. It means the heaviest, biggest and grandest things about God. It carries the connotation of solemnity and power. It’s the kind of power that saves, delivers, resurrects, overcomes, and transforms.

Our God is a God that always flows, moves, and advances. In today’s Scriptures, we see examples of this movement in Abram’s life as God calls him out of the Ur of Chaldeans and from Haran to Canaan land. (Genesis 11:31-32; 12:1-2)