A prayer for revival

“Oh Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments. We are unworthy to approach Thy Throne of Grace by our own righteousness, except by the Blood of Thy Son Jesus Christ, our Lord. We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away.

 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled against Thee, by departing from Thy commandments. O Lord, our sins and iniquities testify against us. Our iniquities have separated us from Thee, and our sins have hidden Thy face from us.

Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in His ways and to follow His commandment of loving and serving God with our whole heart and with all our soul. Nor have we loved our neighbors as ourselves as we have failed to minister to the strangers, the poor, the orphans and widows. Nor have we loved our brethren in Christ thereby abiding in darkness in that we have failed to minister to the poor saints and to the missionaries in various mission fields. We have gloried in the spiritual gifts given to us by Thee, and have not gloried in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have become arrogant with our eyes being blinded by our self-righteousness.

 Because of our backslidings, all the evil has come upon us; Thou hast sent a drought in the place of rain. Our churches have become desolate, and our adversary has trodden down many vineyards. The children of God have gone into captivity before the enemy. O God, we weep, our eyes runneth down with water; we spread forth our hands and there is none to comfort us. We are in distress. The joy of our heart has ceased; our dance is turned into mourning. The crown is fallen from our head; woe unto us, that we have sinned! Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us, consider and behold our reproach. Thou hast afflicted us for the multitude of our transgressions, and Thy judgments are righteous.

O Lord, we have a name that we live but are dead. We have become wretched, and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

Wilt Thou not revive us again that Thy people may rejoice in Thee? O Lord, revive the dry bones and breathe Thy life into us so that we may live again for Thy glory!  Restore Thy Church to its original glory and power. Unless Thou sendest us the latter rain, we will perish in the wilderness; our churches will become extinct; our nation will be lost.

O Lord, we beseech Thee to make bright clouds and send us showers of rain so that our wilderness will turn into a pool of water.

O Lord, we are desperately in need of showers of rain upon our land. Thousands of souls whom we have failed to reach with Thy glorious gospel are descending into the bottomless pit. Unless Thou sendest a revival to our nation, it will go the way of prediction by violence and civil wars as many nations have already plunged into this snare.

O Lord, there are many mountains in our land which we could not reach out with Thy glorious gospel. O Lord, send a revival to the valleys of dry bones in these mountains. Oh that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldest come down, that these mountains might flow down at the Thy presence!

O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years; restore us the years that we lost due to laziness or slumber in evangelism, by way of a Heaven-sent revival. Let our hearts be turned to our fathers on whose blood or sacrifices the Church was founded so that we may follow their footsteps. Let our hearts be turned to our spiritual children in captivity so that we may take care of and deliver them from captivity.

In Jesus’ Holy Name, we pray. Amen. 

A Sword

"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."  - Matthew 10:34

Isaiah declared that the Messiah would be the "Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). And when the angels announced Jesus' birth, they proclaimed "peace among men with whom He is pleased" (Luke 2:14). Indeed, peace was central to His ministry. Yet Jesus said He "did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Why?       He spoke these words after calling the 12 to be His disciples. He gave them authority and then sent them to "heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons," saying, "Freely you received, freely give" (v. 8). He warned that they would face attacks and fierce opposition. They would be "sheep in the midst of wolves" (v. 16). They needed to be ready to stand firm and be bold about confessing their relationship with Him "before men" (v. 32).       The disciples could not be under any illusions. Being a follower of Jesus meant stepping into battle. This was a battle in which they could not be guaranteed the support or loyalty even of their friends or family, for Jesus warned that "a man's enemies will be the members of his household" (v. 36). There certainly was no guarantee of popularity.       They had to be sure of their personal commitment and ready to fight. They had to love God and His Kingdom more than anything else, and they had to be willing to risk everything to follow Jesus. There could be no compromise.       This same message remains true today. Yes, Jesus came to bring peace. As we follow Him, trust Him, obey Him, and are filled with the Spirit, we can have peace in our hearts in any situation. But we also can expect to face opposition, rejection, and persecution at times. We must make a firm, unshakable, uncompromising commitment to follow Jesus-no matter what comes our way.       Make sure that you are prepared...committed...sold out.

A TURNAROUND FOR NINEVAH

"When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it." Jonah 3:10 

Ninevah was a wicked place. The people in this ancient Assyrian city lived such immoral lives that judgment seemed the only option. Jonah was the chosen vessel to deliver God's message.
      After initially resisting this assignment, Jonah eventually arrived in Ninevah. He warned: "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown." Then something miraculous happened: "The people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them" (v. 5).
      Even the king humbled himself, and he covered "himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes" (v. 6). He ordered everyone to unite in confessing their sins, humbling themselves before God, and praying for mercy: "Call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands" (v. 8). 
     

 God was so moved that He had "compassion on Nineveh" (4:11). Instead of receiving judgment, everything turned around for the Ninevites. Why? Because they listened to God's Word and took His warnings seriously. They recognized their sins and repented.
    

  Today, as you consider the reaction of Ninevah, think about conditions in your own country. Are we, the people of God, willing to humble ourselves? Instead of complaining or giving up hope when we see sin in our nation, are we willing to pray and seek God's face? As we see wickedness around us, are we willing to turn from our wicked ways...to repent of our sins?
    

  As He proved with Ninevah, God is willing to hear from Heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14). But will we repent? Humble ourselves? Pray? Seek His face? Turn from our wicked ways? That is God's prescribed path for a turnaround

So Hilkiah and the other men went to the New Quarter of Jerusalem to consult with the prophet Huldah. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, the keeper of the Temple wardrobe.

2 Chronicles 34:22 Young King Josiah undertook a huge task. He realized as a teenager that he could not be the king of the chosen people of God if he allowed those people to choose any and every god that come along. Josiah had acknowledged the one true God in a land crowded with gods. So, he set out to clean up the kingdom of Israel. Eventually, he got around to restoring God's Temple in Jerusalem. Josiah was stunned when his renovation crew in the Temple discovered a scroll containing the Law of God. He decided to consult with a prophet because there were dreaded consequences described in the Law for those who failed to obey. Although Jeremiah's and Zephaniah's ministry years overlapped with Josiah's reign, the king turned to the prophet Huldah. Jeremiah was starting out, and Zephaniah was wrapping up his ministry. But there was no gap between them because their work was bridged by the prophetic gift which rested on Huldah. God made sure he had a spokesperson in place, even when his written Word had been misplaced. Huldah was wife of the king's valet, or "keeper of the wardrobe." She confirmed the truth of the scroll. The idolatry of the people would inevitably lead to painful consequences. But she added a note of grace for Josiah. His personal repentance and humble work of reformation was giving the people extra time. There would be continued peace in his own lifetime. The biblical record only includes this single event from Huldah's life. She had one opportunity to make a large impact, and she didn't miss it. If your life were remembered only for what happens today, what small or large action would you want remembered? Today is not only the first day of the rest of your life; it is a day for which all your life so far has been a preparation. Don't miss the opportunities he gives you today.

What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?" says the Lord. Isaiah 1:11

You know the scene. A small child pulls a variety of ingredients from the pantry and refrigerator--cereal, orange juice, potato chips, bread, ketchup, and other interesting choices--and blends them together in a bowl in hopes of surprising Mom with "dinner." When Mom receives the "gift," how do you think she'll react? Despite the mess, both inside and outside the bowl, I'm sure she will express gratitude and joy, grateful for the sincere expression of love.

But what if the child missed the point and thought the gift was more important than the motive and attitude behind the giving? And what if the child continued to make similar presentations, year after year to Mom in hopes of appeasing her and earning her love? "It wouldn't happen," you answer. "Because the mother wouldn't put up with it!"

Right.

Now check out the passage from Isaiah (1:11-13). God doesn't sound very happy with the "gifts" of his people. And that's because they had it all wrong! They had confused the animal sacrifices with the reason for making those sacrifices in the first place. So they worked hard at their religious works, and they missed the point. Did they really believe that God needed dead animals and blood? Didn't they know that, instead, he wanted their hearts?

That's the difference between "legalism" and "grace." And Christianity is all about grace. That's why Jesus came to earth, to satisfy the demands of the law, to give himself as the ultimate sacrifice, to open the way for us to come directly to our Father (see John 3:16–18).

Yet, sadly, we often continue to mix our potions and religious concoctions and miss the Savior. And all the while, like that loving mother, he is standing at the edge of the kitchen with arms wide open and the invitation: "Come to me, child. I want your love. I want your trust. I want you."