Today at the International House of Prayer East Bay, we were doing a set (2 hour worship time with a specific prayer focus), praying for the Church of the Region from 12-2pm. We prayed for a lot of things involving the the Bride of Christ in California in specific areas of life. One of the specific things we were praying for was for God's bride would take her place before God in her gifts. I was sitting up there singing, and I really was feeling God touching my heart on this subject. I felt like He was saying that His bride doesn't know how to be confident in her giftings. I feel like we, as Christians, get SO caught up in being afraid (there's that stinking fear problem again) of sounding too arrogant or snub-nosed, but here's the thing, guys: we belong to a powerful God that wants to do powerful things through us, but we have to let Him. We have to call out the giftings that God has given us and others. God has called some of us to be prophets, to be worshipers, to be intercessors, to be missionaries, to be teachers, to be comforters, to be mothers, to be fathers; I don't think that saying your any of these things is wrong. At all. I think saying that you're one of these things is better than saying that you're none of these things. We are so afraid to take our place as His strong, confident bride. We are not strong and confident on our own, but in Him. Why should we not boast in that? We can boast in the Lord because He is the one who is worthy of it. Of course, if we are going to declare that we are one or more of these things in front of people, it must be out of a place of humility and reverence to Jesus, but in your heart saying that you are one of those things, and being confident and strong in your place before God, knowing what your place in the body of Christ is not wrong, arrogant, or snub-nosed; it's right. God wants us to be confident in who we are in Him. So let's not be afraid to say who we are in Him because out of the heart the mouth speaks. If we believe who we are, others will believe who we are and therefore believe in who God is, because we are who we are because of Him. We are not meant to keep our gifts that God has given us as a secret, but to share them and use them for His glory. We are all vital parts of the Body, no matter how insignificant we may feel, Jesus makes this very clear. God is not one who is prone to hiddeness, and neither should we be...
1 Corinthians 12
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but they are all from the same Spirit.5 There are different ways to serve but the same Lord to serve.6 And there are different ways that God works through people but the same God. God works in all of us in everything we do.7 Something from the Spirit can be seen in each person, for the common good.8 The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak with wisdom, and the same Spirit gives another the ability to speak with knowledge.9 The same Spirit gives faith to one person. And, to another, that one Spirit gives gifts of healing.10 The Spirit gives to another person the power to do miracles, to another the ability to prophesy. And he gives to another the ability to know the difference between good and evil spirits. The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak in different kinds of languages[a] and to another the ability to interpret those languages.11 One Spirit, the same Spirit, does all these things, and the Spirit decides what to give each person.12 A person's body is one thing, but it has many parts. Though there are many parts to a body, all those parts make only one body. Christ is like that also. 13 Some of us are Jews, and some are Greeks. Some of us are slaves, and some are free. But we were all baptized into one body through one Spirit. And we were all made to share in the one Spirit. 27 Together you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of that body.28 In the church God has given a place first to apostles, second to prophets, and third to teachers. Then God has given a place to those who do miracles, those who have gifts of healing, those who can help others, those who are able to govern, and those who can speak in different languages.[b]29 Not all are apostles. Not all are prophets. Not all are teachers. Not all do miracles.30 Not all have gifts of healing. Not all speak in different languages. Not all interpret those languages.31 But you should truly want to have the greater gifts.
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