It is needful for all leaders of Evangel Tabernacle to come away from all the hustle and bustle of city life and retreat to a serene place just for one solid day in order to soak in the Word of God and to encounter Christ.
This year on November 1, we had Pastor James Singh as our guest speaker and he brought his beloved wife, Pastor Rosie along with him.
The first two morning sessions were pure drilling on the word of God from the Book of Esther. Pastor James resounded the call of fasting and prayer upon our leaders, exemplified by the life of Esther, which defined her moments of meeting the King, at the risk of losing her own life and thus averted the massacre of the Jews plotted by Haman.
Pastor James delved into the many reasons on why we should fast as leaders. After listening to the word of God, I felt compelled in my spirit to lead Etab into a 40-day fast next year, which would define moments for many of my leaders.
The second morning session points us to the humility of Mordecai – a man vindicated and exalted by God to be the next in command – second only to the king. But the promotion did not get into his head as he was one man unconcerned about power and position but more for the well being of the Jewish people. After he rode through the city donned in the robe of the king, he returned to the King’s gate- his usual position before his exaltation. This shows he remembered where he came from. And he maintained his posture of always waiting at the King’s gate just to see the face of His king.
The spiritual implication of this is in Proverbs 7:34-35:
“Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord.”
Thus there is a need for every leader to clothe ourselves with humility and selflessness and not let power and position get into our heads. Rather, we have to keep returning to our King Jesus’ gate, watching and waiting at the post of our doors to see the King’s face and to hear what He wants to instruct or command us. Whoever is willing to pay such price will find life and obtain favor from the Lord just as Mordecai did.
The evening session was purely ministry time . It was an awesome evening of the prophetic move of God through Pastor James where he downloaded prophetic words to about 100 leaders. I stood behind Pastor James stunned by the stinging accuracy of each download and yet so grateful to our mighty God for using such a humble servant to redefine the path of many leaders, to encourage and affirm many who are doubtful of themselves and to release many into what God has called them to be. There was a new awakening to the passion for Christ, a mighty cleansing of defilement in our lives, an impartation of the power and gifting of God one more time; an admonition to steer away from impending pitfalls and above all a call to fulfilling the purpose God has put in every one of the Leader’s life.
Such powerful and accurate prophetic ministry could come about because Pastor James paid the price of fasting and prayer; a life of constant meditation on the word of God. Simply put- he lives out the life of Mordecai – always waiting at the King’s gate.
May we as leaders catch this spirit of fasting and prayer and the discipline of waiting at the King’s gate. Many of us covet the prophetic ministry but how many of us are willing to pay the price?
Let’s not short cut the divine process to spiritual greatness.
Sow our time into fasting and prayer and always wait at the king’s gate.
The Prophetic word which God gave to every single leader that night through the ministry and office of Pastor James as a prophet – my prayer is that all of us will cooperate with God, align our life with the will and word of God and take his nuggets of prophetic download, obey Him so that the precious word of God will not drop to the ground and be made void in our lives.
May God continually empower and anoint the life and ministry of Pastor James and may He use him to be the watchman and intercessor of my dear country. Singapore.
Glory be to God for such a powerful leaders’ retreat.
