“In the day of my trouble I will call upon
You. For You will answer me.” Psalm 86:7 NKJV
Dear Friends of Come Rest,
One night earlier this summer I had a
dream. In the dream I was one of five people asked to oversee a massive prayer
rally in our city. Things had fallen apart calamitously in our society and
world-- much worse than now. Finally, large numbers of believers were desperate
enough to truly commit themselves to earnest, fervent, regular, Spirit-led
prayer for our nation and the world. Thousands of folding chairs were set up in
an open deserted parking lot. People were arriving in carloads and taking their
seats, not to be spectators, but true prayer warriors for Christ. We five
leaders were gathered at the end of the parking lot under the cover of a
parking garage.
The
seats were filling when a horrible storm arrived. Torrential rains pelted the
crowd out in the open, yet they held their positions. However, just before we
began, the torrents were too much and people gave up and headed away in their
cars. As the seats began to empty a woman on our team said to me, “Do you see, He
is making you a man of prayer?” My flesh winced at the statement because I knew
in my flesh my ambition was to be a man of preaching. But I knew deep down she
was right and I nodded assent to her. Then I looked up to the sky and lifted my
right hand and began to pray, “Father, lift up Your hand and take this away!” I
kept repeating those words to Him. The sky was filled with tornadoes, thunder,
and lightning. As I kept declaring “Father, lift up Your hand and take this
away!” I saw no change in the violent sky. But then it was as if I was taken up
over the city and interstate highway and able to look inside each of the cars
of the people fleeing the rally.
And suddenly it happened. Individual
believers in each car felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit and all began
turning their cars around and coming back to the rally. At the same time I
could see all this, I was still standing under the cover of the garage with my
right hand lifted to the sky praying earnestly, fervently for Father to lift
His hand and take the storm away. Nothing about the dark stormy sky had changed
and the torrential rain was still pelting the people, but it did not matter.
They streamed back into their seats and began to pray themselves.
And suddenly it happened. As I continued
praying I saw the sky way up beyond my right hand begin to be torn apart as if
like paper being torn into pieces by Invisible Hands. Bright, radiant, almost
blinding light exploded through the clouds. It was not like the typical passing
of a storm with clouds slowly giving way to the sun—it was violent.
And suddenly it happened. The sound of
deep brass music seemed to rise from the ground and envelope us, shaking the
earth, with simple strains of piano interlaced with the brass. Then I saw everyone
standing in authoritative prayer, bathed in light, enveloped in music as the
dream ended.
I awoke from the dream in awe, fear, and love of the Lord. I
opened my devotional bible and the Psalm of the day was Psalm 86. Read it. You will
see why I thank the Lord now even as I recall such a summoning, encouraging
moment. The Lord may already be speaking many important things uniquely to you
as you read this. But over the course of this summer here is what I have come
to draw from this dream for myself and the Lord’s people.
This
world is passing away, but His Kingdom is ever increasing(Isaiah 9:6-7). In
this world(including America) trouble is coming, but we can be of good cheer
because Jesus has overcome the world(John 16:33). All true Christianity begins,
proceeds from, and ends under the covering of the secret place of intimacy with
Christ (Psalm 91). We must become people of earnest, fervent, prayer with
childlike faith who deeply love one another(1Peter 4:7-8). We must not give up,
but look up(Luke 21:28) and lift up our right hand(symbol of biblical
authority)(Psalm 16:8) in the authority of Jesus(Matthew10:1) and know that earnest,
fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much(James5:16).
Real
love, real fruit, real preaching, real mission, real ministry, real defeat of
real evil—comes only from Jesus as we rest under His arm—His protective
covering in the secret place. We must come to the secret place of His heart
face to face, through prayer and praise, and let Him keep us face to face
through our meditation upon His Word. Then suddenly He is our First Love who
can help us deeply love one another. Then suddenly people around us will see
Jesus in us and want Jesus in them--before Jesus suddenly returns and it is too
late.
I see Come Rest Ministries helping people learn to stand
watch in prayer with faith, hope, and love in these end times. The Lord is
calling us to join the early ranks of thousands around the world in a variety
of churches and ministries to make a true priority of earnest fervent prayer in
His secret place according to His Word. When things get much worse, the Lord
will help millions of others come join us in earnest, fervent prayer. But let’s
not wait. Let’s join the forerunners He is calling. Storms of evil are coming.
The Lord is not worried. Take shelter. His joy will be your strength. Abide in
the secret place of the Most High, the shadow of the Almighty.
Standing up for Jesus means standing up under the His arm.
Life will not be easy, but His Yoke will be!
Kim and I are committed to learning from Him to stay in the secret place
at all times, stormy or not. We are committed to helping you do the same. Will
you commit? Will you help others around you learn as well? Let us help you. Come
rest. Stand watch. Battle stations.
“Father, lift up You hand. Help us dwell
in your secret place meditating upon Your word. Help us stand watch, continually
lifting our right hand in prayer in the name, faith, and authority of Jesus. Amen.”
****Therefore, I encourage all of our Come Rest friends near
and far to consider the following:
·
Read and practice Chapter 25 in my book Real Fruit. It lays out in
practical detail a clear plan for how you can come to the secret place of
intimate prayer and meditation upon the Word for one hour per day. Experiment. Make whatever changes are
necessary for you to become a man or woman of prayer for the sake of your
family, friends, and this world. Contact Kim and me for personal, or email,
consultation on ways you can become His man or woman of prayer in His secret
place for the lost and for His church.
·
If you are local friend of Come Rest, consider joining a new
prayer initiative by Serve the City in Linn County. Serve the City is a
coalition of over 50 evangelical churches and ministries in the greater Cedar
Rapids area. Come Rest Ministries is one of those partners. We, in the Serve
the City coalition, to have all 232,000 people in Linn County prayed for by
name by at least 187 prayer warriors
just like you! I believe the Lord has shown me that at least one-fifth of these
prayer warriors(37) will come from Come Rest Ministries. We believe many will
be saved by the Lord through these prayers and many of the saved will be
awakened with His fiery love like never before! If you
believe the Lord may be calling you to pray for 5 minutes for 5 different names
of citizens of Linn County(one minute per name) for 5 days a week for one year---let
me know as soon as possible and we will communicate your name to Serve the City
that you are interested and plan to attend the Kick-off for informational
purposes. This will help them in planning for numbers. All who are interested
are asked to attend the Kick-off and then make their actual commitment after
that night. If you have a schedule conflict and can’t attend the Kick-off you
can still commit to the initiative by attending one of the training session
options which will be announced the night of the Kick-off. For more information
about this intiative go to http://servethecity.org/prayer.htm.
If you want to commit to this then please access the invitation letter/commitment form go to http://servethecity.org/pdf/MyT2SaveInvite09-03-13.pdf
, make a copy of the form, fill it out, and notify me of your commitment. You
can bring your form to the Kick-off or email it to Serve the City.
Requirements are as follows:
1.
You are a believer/participant
in our ministry or another Serve the City partner church or ministry.
2.
You will hopefully attend the Kick-off Sept. 9th at
River of Life 7-830pm.
3.
You will definitely attend
one of several training sessions in the next few weeks which will be
announced that night.
4.
Once the program starts, you will pray for 5 different names
of citizens of Linn County(one minute per name) for 5 days a week for one year.
Serve the City will provide you with 25 fresh names each week—by email. Those
without email will receive postal mail.
5.
You will contribute $5 to Serve the City to help defray costs
for the training sessions.
·
If you are a non-local
friend of Come Rest, please pray for more people to learn from Come Rest
Ministries to pray in His secret place with the spread of our books and
consultation. Also, you can pray for the Serve the City initiative here and ask
the Lord if He is calling your churches and city to do the same. Have your
church leaders contact us or Serve the City and we can share ideas!
Blessings,
Richard Speight
**************
Come Rest Ministries’
Awakening of Love!
Friday, Sept. 6th
6:30-930pm
Beautiful worship,
teaching, prayer, testimonies
At River of Life
3810 Blairs Ferry Rd.
Cedar Rapids, Ia
Come rest in Jesus as
we invite the Holy Spirit to come rest upon us!
Register at the
Door--Free will offering—Refreshments to follow
***********************************
Come Rest Ministries
Personal Retreat
“The Secret Place:
Staying face to face with Him”
Wednesday Sept. 18th
9am-4pm
Rehoboth House 2125
Bever Ave SE, Cedar Rapids, IA
Requirements: Pen, bible, notebook, your
copy of our book
REAL FRUIT, and your wholehearted desire
to come rest in Jesus!
Cost: Freewill Offering plus $18
for book which may
be purchased at retreat
Space Limited-- Lunch provided
*********************
Come Rest Ministries’
Awakening of Love
Friday, Sept. 20th
6:30-930pm
Calvin-Sinclair
Presbyterian Church 715 S. 38th St. SE Cedar Rapids, Ia.
**********************
Weekend
Schedule
Fri. Sept. 6 630-930pm Come Rest Awakening of Love at River
of Life
Sun.
Sept. 8
845am
Dick Speight teaching Real Fruit Class at River of Life
6pm
Wellsprings Covenant Groups at Rehoboth(new groups forming in October)
7-830pm I58
Outreach House Fellowship
Mon.
Sept. 9 7-830pm Join the Speights at Serve the
City Prayer Initiative Kick-off at River of Life
********************************************************
Come Rest Ministries September 2013 Response
Form
___My prayer request
is____________________________________________________________________
___Yes, Lord! I will pray for CRM.
___Yes, Lord! I will financially support CRM.
Today’s gift $________ My monthly pledge for $_______
___Yes, I want to help you order a new printing
run of the book Come Rest! My gift is $___________________
___Please ship ___copie(s) “Real
Fruit” ( $18+$4ship; each additional copy add$1 ship.)
Please have Richard Speight autograph a copy
for the following person(s)
___________________________________________________________________________________
___Please ship ___ copie(s) “Come
Rest” ($16+$4 ship; each additional copy add $1 ship.)
Please have Richard Speight autograph a copy
for the following person(s)
___________________________________________________________________________________
___Please ship __copies of CD “Meditations”
& __copies of the CD “Reflections” ($8each or $12 for set+$4ship)
Name____________________________________________________________________________________
Address___________________________________________________________________________________
Email_______________________________________________Phone________________________________
****************************************************************************************************
We
deeply appreciate your prayers and financial offerings to Come Rest Ministries.
As
Come Rest missionaries, Kim and I totally depend upon the Lord for our
livelihood
through
your offerings. Please ask the Lord if
he is calling you to generous regular
giving
to Come Rest. Thank you so much.
Blessings,
Dick
Speight
