I recently had a vision.  I have only had a few of these in my Christian life and this one was both simple and dramatic. It was early in the morning and as I gazed out the window at the grey overcast sky, suddenly my vision was filled with an explosion of butterflies flowing out in every direction.  The most stunning aspect of this vision was the colors.  These butterflies were every vivid color of the rainbow and my whole perspective was filled with them. Thousands upon thousands streaming out in every color and every direction.  Then it was gone.  I felt like the Lord spoke to me immediately that these “butterflies” represented the release of the saints in all the gifts of the Spirit, in all the unique ways each individual can carry and release the beauty of God’s grace.  I immediately knew that God was calling me to pray for, and work to see this great release of grace to begin afresh in His body.

Ephesians 4:11-13 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

As a pastor and a man of prayer, I know that a primary goal of my life’s work is to bring glory to God by working with Him to mend, equip and prepare the Saints for works of service so that God’s body may be brought ever more to reflect and reveal His Son to this world.  I want to confess to you that I have not been praying this as directly as I could be.  God is calling me, us, to wake up and partner with Him in the great transformation of His people into those fully equipped, fully adorned for the work He wants to do.

I am sharing this with you because I am asking you to partner with me in this most essential and foundational aspect of Christian life.  If you are a pastor, or leader, renew your prayers for God to fill you with wisdom and grace to equip the saints in every way that He intends.  Be definite and deliberate.  Ask, seek and knock that your work as a Christian leader would bear the fruitful design He has called you, us to produce. Join me in fasting and crying out to God to release this grace for His great renewal and awakening in America.

If you are not in the leadership category, pray for your leaders and pray for yourself.  Ask God to release His grace in every way.  Lord, release new gifted leaders with the anointing and wisdom to bless, build up and set these butterflies free to fly as God created them.  Dear Father, release in, on and through me this great grace that you long to see flow over all the earth now.  May every gift of your Holy Spirit be renewed and released in the earth today.  God wants to fill you with His grace and gifting to release the beauty of His power and presence in the world.  You are, we are, God’s beautiful butterflies.