Long, long ago, in a creation far, far away, God made man. He made him in His own image and likeness, and placed him in an environment suitable to his design and destiny. Through rebellion and separation, man lost his habitation, but not his inner draw toward Life. Since we were wonderfully made to reflect our Creator’s image, we were preset for communication and communion. There is an internal drive to know and be known by others; to integrate emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually with one another.
When God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit decided to “make man in Our image, according to Our likeness”, they not only brought to Life a spiritual, human being—they also called forth a being designed to live in ‘oneness’ within a spiritual community.
Somehow, in our modern version of Christianity, we have replicated the stories and the statutes, but have failed to see the importance of the environment that we were designed to thrive in. For a generation, we have watched western culture reflecting a highly individualistic version of the gospel. Conversion has become a product rather than a process shared. Church has oriented itself around the needs and desires of man, rather than ministering to the Lord.
In the last decade, with the rise of a generation highly aware of the brokenness around them (betrayal, rejection, and abandonment), there has been a call once more to ‘community’. It becomes a part of our church mission to get people involved in all manner of small group experiences—-from life groups to hobby affiliations, there has been an emphasis to return to a church that reflects community values and impact. With all the attention given to restore this aspect to our faith, I believe we still miss the point. You see—we were designed to abide in Divine Community…. community that includes and is oriented around the Godhead.
In facilitating prayer summits for the past 23 years, I have become aware of what kind of environment is necessary to host the Living God. It is an environment that allows Him to lead and remain the focus of the gathering. It is not prescripted, but allowed to unfold over the course of our time together. In facilitating, it is my task, not to control, but to track the movement of the Holy Spirit and keep the gathering on track. When my husband and I began to meet as a Church in our home, this was the pattern we desired to replicate. As I teach Sonship studies, we try to practice being taught by the Holy Spirit and learning the ways of the Lord from Him.
I have a number of friends who do healing prayer. People, who are not familiar with listening for the voice of the Lord, learn to commune with Him in this kind of environment. Even after the Lord has met them in their need, they continue to desire to meet for prayer because this is the environment where they can experience Divine Community.
Picture a triangle. Divine community is one that includes community with one another as well as the Godhead at the same time. To the degree that we can ‘do Church’, or prayer meetings, or any other religious gathering apart from His immediate input, we will leave with a deep hunger for the kind of Garden we were created for.