What is on our Lord’s heart in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, economic upheaval, and global fears? The Lord Jesus reveals the passion of His heart early in His Passion week.

And they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to cast out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple. And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations?’ But you have made it a robbers’ den.”

Mark 11:15-17

This IS His passionate heart today. Our Lord’s heart has always been for His people to be His royal priests in His Presence interceding for His glory in all the nations.

Our Lord is presently cleaning out all the personal kingdom building, self-promotion, factions, divisions, rock-throwing, Gospel-less, powerless, flesh-driven, man-centered idolatry in His Bride and restoring the royal priesthood to seek His face for His glory and Presence. He is doing that in my life, and in His Bride in our neighborhood, state, nation, and world. That has always been the passion of His heart.

In our LORD’s Eagles’ Wings speech in Exodus 19:5-6 He says to His people, “Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” He makes ALL of His people royal and holy priests fit to intercede for His glory wherever they are.

In 2 Chronicles 7:14 our LORD promises, “[If] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” God’s will is to do a mighty work in His people as they stand as His priests seeking His face and crying out to Him in humble, fervent prayer.

In Ezekiel 22:30, the LORD passionately searched for just one person who would intercede for His people. The calling of all priests is always to intercede: “And I searched for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found no one.” Our Father’s heart is always to spare His people, but He found NOT ONE royal priest who would be a wall-builder and gap-filler.

What an amazing promise and reality about the Holy Spirit making us praying priests is given in Zechariah 12:10, And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and supplication. The Holy Spirit is poured into His people to experience the extravagant grace of God for the purpose of prayer to advance the Kingdom.

The Lord Jesus promises in His Upper Room teaching in John 14:13-15, “…whatever you ask in My name that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Jesus promises His Presence in the Holy Spirit of grace and supplication for anyone who asks for Him.

The Spirit reminds us who we are in Christ in 1 Peter 2:9: “…but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Royal priests intercede for and proclaim the glories of our Lord Jesus, everywhere for everybody.

Our Lord Jesus is revealed in Revelation 1:5-6 as “the faithful Witness, the First-born of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth.” Then He tells us who we are in Christ, “to Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood, and He has made us to be a kingdom of priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Answer His cry for us to be His Royal Priesthood for such a time as this! In these critical times He is calling you and me to repent of our prayerless, passionless, painless lives and run back to His Cross for cleansing and forgiveness. How?

• First, get on your face before Him and cry out to Him to forgive you for missing your calling as His Royal Priest(ess).
• Second, run to His bloodied Cross, and confess and repent of your passionless, painless life of prayer, and ask Him to pour out His Spirit of grace and prayer upon you. That is the Gospel. Thank Him and praise Him for His cleansing and pouring into you His Spirit of grace and prayer.
• Third, find a group of people to corporately pray with and for during these troubled times. Ask the Holy Spirit when He is calling you and the group to fast and pray for spiritual breakthroughs, revival, and spiritual awakening among the lost.
• Finally, pray with them.

If you are looking for such a group, RIGHT NOW, this week (March 15-21, 2020), at 7 am and/or 7 pm, call 605-475-4000. access code 624991#. (Sponsored by The Columbia Call To Prayer)

Restore your own call to our Lord’s Royal Priesthood so His house may be a house of prayer for all the nations. You will be amazed at what the Lord does in and through you to revive His people and bring spiritual awakening to our land.