Where The Spirit of the Lord Is

Wow, I just got home from InterVarsity Fall Conference, and I had an amazing time. It was a totally different experience from last year. I was in the interecessors track, which meant that I prayed...a lot. There are 100 little moments that I could share about, and probably another 200 that I don't know about (yet).

Beyond all else, though, I learned two big things. I learned the power of presence. Just being can be a prayer; words aren't always necessary. In some ways, this enables us to better hear the Lord. I had an experience during large group worship (think 1,000 people) where it was as though everything fell silent around me - all the music, all the worship-ers - and I heard the cries of individual broken hearts, with their struggles, fears, desires and hopes. Though it was loud all around me, I was brought into a silent state to actually hear and know the heart of Jesus.

The second thing came from a word that I got very early on Saturday morning, about freedom in the Spirit of the Lord brought to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Freedom and the joy we experience therein quickly became a focus of our prayers; it came up over and over throughout the day as we prayed for people, for the different tracks, for the worship team and speakers, through the large group room, the conference as a whole, and each other. This came through when different people sat with us or came in and listened to the worship music I played on my guitar - people I didn't know, but still felt connected to because we all wanted to sit at the cross.



Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 1 Corinthians 3:17

For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light. Psalm 36:9

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you[a] all. Ephesians 4:4-6