Time for Revival?

 

A friend says she strongly desires a sense of God’s presence. Others are deeply concerned, even fearful, of the spiritual vacuum in the world. More positive news is that many churches are overflowing with people seeking answers as our world gets messy with much sin and selfish attitudes and actions.

Today’s devotional reading is about one revival at the turn of the last century. It reminded me again that praying for revival is vital and needed, not only beginning with the people of God as some of them seem oblivious to that need, but for the millions who have ignored God and are suffering the consequences.

The Bible offers ways to pray for revival using God’s words to do it. One list (LINK) helps me and shows that revival begins in my own heart. These verses list how I can pray: 

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23-24)
As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation… (Psalm 42:1–5)

Some verses need to be personalized by changing the pronouns as I pray, such as Psalm 51:1-10 for myself and Daniel 9 on behalf of all God’s people. Another passage is a lament for the state of my heart and for those who are experiencing sorrow and grief over the situations in their own lives and in their part of the world. It too can be paraphrased…

Father, I feel no peace and I’ve forgotten what it is to be joyful and prosperous. I feel as if all the goodness is gone from my life, everything I’d hoped to receive from You. I’ve been wandering and afflicted. I have experienced bitterness and pain. My soul is heavy and sad because of my sin and the sinful state of those around me. And yet, I know there is still hope. I know that Your love is so great, I won’t be overtaken by this fallen world. Your love never fails. Your compassion is new every day. Great is Your faithfulness! You are my portion in this life. I will wait humbly for Your deliverance, in the name of Jesus. Amen. (Lamentations 3:17-24)

Others are praying too, from well-known Christian leaders to unknown prayer warriors.Billy Graham prayed this way in 1997, a model for my prayers:

“Lord… remind us today that You have shown us what is good in what You require of us; to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. We ask that as a people, we may humble ourselves before You and seek Your will for our lives and for this great nation. Help us in our nation to work as never before to strengthen our families and to give our children hope and a moral foundation for the future. So may our desire be to serve You, and in so doing, serve one another. This we pray in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

I can pray simple yet bold prayers because of NT verses like this: “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) I can also pray not just for my own heart but the revival need in my church and in all of God's people. I can also use song lyrics as prayer, hymns like “Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart” and “Revive Us, Again” and “Shine, Jesus, Shine.”

PRAY: Jesus, it is easier to talk/write about prayer than praying. That is only one revival need in my own heart. I’m leaving my desk to cry out to You about these things… 

Thankful. . . .

A quote this week has had a remarkable effect, not just on me but on those who hear it. The quote: “Every thing that is wrong in the world would be settled if everyone was thankful.” I shared this with friends whose stunned reaction was silence, some with mouths open at the implication of what thankfulness does to all our vices. Another said, “Yes, instead of greedy.”

For me, I’m thankful for salvation and all that God has done in my life. I realize that if the bad stuff didn’t happen I would never know how He could use it for good. I’m thankful for my mother’s mantra: “We must need it or we would not be getting it” — her expression of trusting God for even the trials of life. I’m thankful for the Word of God and that He reveals Himself. This covers much, as the Bible says:

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. (Acts 17:24–25)

Sometimes I’m impatient with those who moan because they do not have what they ask God for, as if they know what is best and the best timing for it. As Piper writes, God’s timing is “well-timed” and we can depend on Him for all things.

This includes the weather, the government, and even the wisdom and understanding I need while living in this very messy world. His truth keeps my heart stable when I think how. . . .  
He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; (Daniel 2:21)

This faith in Him is the product of my doing? Not at all. I can moan too. It is His grace and goodness, a wonder that is amazing yet so humbling. I do not deserve even the least of His blessings, yet He keeps blessing and gives the invitation to come close to Him in confidence to receive more — including His perfect timing.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

This does not negated problems, trials, emergencies, difficulties, and sorrows. Heaven will, but here these happen. How else would I know that God can use even the worst of experiences for good? His sinless Son was murdered. He could have stopped it. Instead He used it for the best thing that ever happened. How can I know that His power is like that? For that incredible event, but also for the evil things since then, and for the unpleasant and unwanted things that happen to me? He is not helpless nor standing idle. He is God.

PRAY: Oh Lord, so often Your people forget or doubt Your amazing power and wisdom. You can take bad and use it for good. This includes everything. I cannot see what Your plans are, nor know how You do it, but because of what You reveal about Yourself, I can trust You. In doing so, my heart is filled with the joy of being contented and thankful. Such grace, such wonderful grace.

Impatient with God?

Being impatient with God's timing is a common response when prayer isn’t answered as quickly as it is prayed. This week, one of our friends expressed frustration because he had prayed for what seemed an easy thing to happen and it didn’t. When someone said that the Lord’s timing is always perfect, he said, “Yes, but…” and I said, “Don’t say but…” because the word ‘yes’ and that word do not go together. Sadly he ignored me.

Today’s reading points to this verse, then Piper adds a more literal translation:

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

Piper says: “Let us approach with boldness the throne of grace that we might receive mercy and find grace for a well-timed help.” He explains this is literal and accurate. The traditional translation focuses on our need, but the literal one focuses on God’s timing.

I cannot criticize our impatient friend. How many times has God tried to teach me that I’m actually in His classroom when prayers are not answered! He wants me to trust Him, not my own idea of when something should happen. The need might be great but His timing is based on His far greater understanding and plan, not on my impatient fears or demands.

Jesus demonstrated this when His friend Lazarus became ill. When his sisters sent word to Him, He said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. (John 11:4–6)

The disciples were perplexed and the sisters upset when Lazarus died, but Jesus was glorified by a greater miracle than healing. He called the dead man out of his tomb and restored him alive to the great consternation of His opposers and the great delight of all who followed Him. Yet they too struggled with His timing.

In His classroom, I’m being taught that He knows what I need when I need it. Sometimes it is a surprise, a blessing I didn’t expect or even ask for, but when He gives it, I realize that I needed it. It might be a small thing in the eyes of the world. Not long ago we drove into a very full parking lot and I said, “Lord, it would be nice to find a parking spot, but we can walk so whatever You think…” and at that, a space opened up right in front of the door where we wanted to go. Surprise!

I don’t always think about getting encouragement but He sends it when He knows I need it. I pray for safety when out driving. He hears and gives it. I pray for the salvation of many and He surprises me by drawing someone into His family that I’d not prayed for, to show me that He is still busy with those that I do pray for. . . . and teaching me to trust Him and demonstrate my trust with patience, no buts, just content that He will do what He knows is needed at the time that is best, not at the time of my desires.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

This verse is a surprise: God is patient toward me! He puts up with ‘but’ statements but does not give into them. He knows the best timing and will not give in to my nagging. I say nagging instead of prayer, because so many requests are just that, harassing God instead of trusting Him, and insisting it must be now rather than waiting because I believe that He knows best.

PRAY: Oh God, forgive my impatience when I ask for things that will make me more comfortable rather than trusting You to do what I ask when it will bring You the most glory. How delightful that You know best and that answers will come in ways and times that will bring great joy. Sometimes I’ve acted like a demanding and spoiled child, but You are at work using ‘wait’ to help me grow up and to be content in the process. Your help comes and I am learning to pray with the attitude of “surprise me” instead of the demand to “do it now” which is actually a statement of trusting my judgment instead of Yours. Such God-playing is a serious sin.

No Greater Privilege

 

Going to bed with a need on my heart can make sleep elusive. I prayed, but the need nagged. Yet in the morning, the prayer was answered. God keeps surprising me with such things. Prayer is a tremendous privilege.

This morning, I did some reading on this topic and am so blessed with what God showed me. One commentator pointed out how the history of Israel was one of failure to trust and obey God as His ‘sons’ ought. Then when Jesus was baptized, God says: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22) and this author adds that heaven must have sighed with relief for finally here is a true Son who can (and will) perfectly trust, obey, and please His Father. He adds that to Jesus alone belonged the full privilege of prayer and access for only He could say with confidence to God, “I know that you always hear me” (John 11:41–42).

Then this: when we believe in Jesus Christ we are united to him and what is true of Jesus is true of us. We also have His perfect and secure access to the Father and when we pray in Jesus’ name, we do so with supreme confidence and yet humble dependence on His unmerited grace.

Now prayer means I can go into the presence of God without any mere hopes, fears, aspirations or my own thoughts. I am going to have communion with the living God! In Him, I can abandon being self-centered, always wanting something, but realize the greatness, glory and privilege of prayer — the everlasting God is listening to me! I am praying in the name of Jesus and letting my requests be made known to God, and doing this with confidence and assurance because all that is Christ’s is also mine…

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (1 John 5:14–15)

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

A great need today is Christian intercession for a lost world and a church that needs revival. This was always a need. In the OT, God “saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede” (Isaiah 59:16). With great needs and the privilege of prayer so wonderful, why so little attention to the throne of grace? One writer suggests it is how we view God. Isaiah 51:13 says, He is the One who "stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth" and Isaiah 64:3-5 adds, “When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways….”

How can I more often take advantage of this awesome privilege of prayer. I set times to pray. I mean well. I forget. Or my mind wanders. Or I read off a list of I-wants. I know He cares about everything yet I can be self-centered, or worse as I sometimes tell Him what to do — as if I know the better than He does. Such impertinence!

For many, prayer is an escape from obedience. I’m thankful that weakness and need motivate me, and a desire to be so reliant on Him that I must obey, and that He will fill me with the Holy Spirit and give me all that is needed. I want Him to work in me, “both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13) and not quench or grieve Him by being lazy and disobedient. I want Him to “work in me that which pleases Him, through Jesus Christ.”

PRAY: My heart knows that prayer is not a means to tap into Your generous grace for what I want, but to know You better, to share my heart and hear Your heart, and to be filled with awe as well as getting answers for the perplexities that are all around me. I want others to be reconciled to You, healing for the broken, and so much more to happen that brings our needy world to their knees before Your throne of grace. Prayer is a huge topic, but even more, a huge privilege. Forgive me for neglecting it far too often and enrich my desire and obedience to draw near to You.

God’s gift of mercy

 

Today’s message from God is a reminder that is both humbling and uplifting. He says, “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:10)

Both grace and mercy are gifts from God. Grace is getting His favor I do not deserve — forgiveness and eternal life; and mercy is not getting the punishment I do deserve — because Jesus Christ took it for me.

Mercy is God’s compassion and forgiveness shown toward sinners when it is within His power and right to punish and reject us. His love for His unfaithful OT people is illustrated in the life of Hosea. This prophet had an unfaithful wife who bore two children. God told him to name the daughter Lo-ruhamah, meaning “No mercy,” and his son Lo-ammi, which means “Not mine.” Yet He offered this hope,

The number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” (Hosea 1:10)

This hope was reiterated in the NT by the above verse written by Peter, and by Paul who wrote:

As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ” “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ” (Romans 9:25–26)

This is a promise and the hope of those the Lord calls to trust the Lord Jesus Christ, even the Gentiles are included. It is for all who by faith are God’s beloved children.

God’s mercy shows in salvation and in daily blessings. When I sin, He could swat me like an annoying fly but instead asks me to only to confess my sin and He adds another blessed promise:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

What amazing compassion and kindness! This is not what I deserve, and often what I do not expect. Sin bothers me so much that sometimes I want to punish myself, but Almighty God is instead merciful and I “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1)

PRAY: Jesus, these verses express how Your mercy and grace touches me:

But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love. (Psalm 59:16–17)

PONDER: Psalm 103:11; 2 Corinthians 1:3; and Titus 3:5 and continue to praise God for His great mercy and steadfast love.