They all gathered together for the appointed time of Worship. They had done this before. It was a part of their culture and way of life. It was expected of them by their God. What made this time any different than the others? What caused God to manifest this way? What is the key to having God "show up and show out?" The answer is UNITY!
As I began to Read the book of Luke and study out the Christmas story, I began to see somethings from a different perspective. The priest in the Jewish culture had jobs to do. Every morning and every evening they would go to the temple to offer sacrifices to the Lord . One of the functions was to burn incense before the Lord (Exodus 30:7). Burning the incense was probably the closest you could come to God with out being the High Priest. The Altar of incense was sitting directly in front of the veil that separated the Holy of Holies (Exodus 30:6). It was Zachariah's turn to serve in the temple and he was chosen to burn the incense. While serving his function something miraculous happened. We know the story. He was visited by Gabriel, told he and his wife would finally have a child, and he was made dumb until after the child's birth.
Why did this happen? What triggered God to show up. The obvious answer was that God had a plan and this was His appointed time, but there is more. God is governed by His word. God gave dominion and power over the earth to us. We have to invite God in and release His power on the earth. He can influence our thoughts and our actions, but ultimately we have the control and with out inviting God in He cannot and will not move on our behalf.
So what happened to invite God to show up and manifest His will? UNITY, UNITY, UNITY!!! The scripture just before Zachariah sees Gabriel says that ALL THE THRONG were praying in the court at the hour that the incense was being burned (Luke 1:10). A throng is defined as a great multitude. This was not "the intercessors" having prayer meeting. This was not the "prayer chain" calling up the people on the list. This was not the "prayer warrior" down the road covering someone in prayer. This was everyone who came to worship at this time all praying. Talk about unity. The women were not thinking about the chores that they had to do when they got home. The men were not thinking about the work they would being doing later on that day. They children were not playing with their buddies. Everyone was praying!
Because these people decided to come to the house of God, forget about the cares of life, and focus on God, He manifest His awesome power. I can think of another time this happened. One hundred twenty people gathered together determined to wait on God to manifest Himself in some way. They didn't know what would happen, but they would stay until something did happen (Acts 2:1-4).
What has happened to unity in the body of Christ? Church services have become a part of our culture. They are ritualistic. We go not expecting anything from the Lord, but rather we come because that is what we are supposed to do. What would happen if we would drop the cares of life for a few moments and enter into His courts like this throng did? What would happen if we would pray, not screaming out a wish list, but begging for His presence? We would see the manifestation of His presence. We would see things that we haven't even asked God for, come to pass. Healing, Deliverance, and Miracles would manifest.
The next time you come together as the body of Christ think about what unity will bring and put your focus on God. Watch and see what He will do!
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