Why Revival Tarries...?

 Is anything greater than praying? Is prayer not the master key that opens all doors? the omnipotence that moves all mountains? Why do we not have revivals in our churches? Is it not because we do not pray? Why is our land oppressed? Why do the wicked rule us? Is it not because we do not pray?

      The answer would seem to be evident, that prayer is the only missing ingredient from our individual and collective lives,
 one factor responsible for our many woes. But a reading of 2 Chronicles 7:14 seems to reveal otherwise; it seems to indicate that sometimes we have put too much emphasis on prayer to the neglect of other factors on which successful prayer itself depends.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).

     

Before prayers, a man has to ensure that he is a person of God; that he belongs to God; that he knows, and God knows, that he is God’s. Next, he has to be one called by the name of God. A name is what people call you. This then refers to two aspects of a person’s character: (1) Does God claim him as His? (2) Do people also know him as God’s? Do they know him enough as God’s to so address him? The two parts, then, refer essentially to the character of the one who can pray to bring results down not only for himself but also for his community.

      As creatures of God, everyone, just and unjust, is entittled some general blessings such as rainfall and sunshine from the Father in heaven (Matthew 5:45). But when it comes to praying for the land, not everyone is qualified.

      Anybody may ask some blessing for himself as an individual, and receive it from God. But when it comes to standing in the gap for a land, one needs more than the general rights which entitle everyone to God’s general blessings. One needs both to be God’s person, as well as be called by God’s name.

      In Matthew 16:13-17, Jesus did something that seemed to stress the importance of the kind of name one earns in society. During His baptism in River Jordan, Jesus heard the voice of God saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). In other words, God was testifying to everyone that Jesus was His. That is, that Jesus qualified as one of those He would imply by the term "my people." So, He belonged to God, and God belonged to Him. Yet that witness alone was not sufficient for Him. Jesus also wanted to confirm the second aspect of 2 Chronicles 7:14 - the name by which men called Him. In Matthew 16:13-17, therefore, Jesus asked His disciples two questions.

 

 Firstly, He asked, "Who do men say that I am ?" In other words, "By what name do they call me in this community?" They replied, "Some say You are Elias, others say You are Jeremiah. Some see You as John the Baptist." In other words, "Some call You Elijah, some call You Jeremiah, others see You as one of the prophets. They all see You in a proper light and they class You only among the best." Then He went further to ask the disciples what they thought He was. Peter called Him by His true name: the Christ, the Son of the living God.

      God had initially said in Jordan: "You are mine." But that was not enough for Jesus. He also wanted to ensure the `Part B’ of the pre-conditions stated in 2 Chronicles 7:14. He asked if He was called by God’s name, or if He was known by a bad name whereas He thought He was a good man.

      We can go further to infer from 2 Chronicles 7:14 that the people who are called by God’s name still have to do something more before they can start to pray revival down upon their land. They will have to humble themselves to pray. They cannot pray in pride. A proud people do not qualify to pray the kind of prayer that can bring healing down upon their land. That further stresses the fact of character for the one who may pray the kind of prayer that can bring down results to his land.

The kind of life you live is very important to the kind of prayers you can pray...

      Why does the Bible say in James 5:16 that the "prayer of a righteous man" - righteous man specified - "availeth much"? It is not just prayer that avails much. The quality of life of the one who prays is also a factor in how potent or otherwise the prayer can be. David states in Psalm 66:18: "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the LORD will not hear me." What was he saying? He meant clearly that if he should go to pray, with sin in his heart, no matter how fervent his prayer would be, the Lord would not hear him. In other words, it is possible to pray, while having sin in the heart. He states that the prayer of such a person will not be answered. The person may have a consistent and rigorous prayer life of about three hours every day, yet he would not have results commensurate with his input. He might say the right words, yet not be answered. Another who has no sin in his heart might say the same words, and get results. It means, then, that it is not just the words God answers in prayer. It means that the life of the one who speaks the words is also very important.

      In Matthew 6:7, Jesus further reveals that it is not our words that attract God’s attention. We are not heard for our "much speaking." "Much speaking" is the pattern of prayer for the heathens; but the fact that they speak more words (which also implies that they spend a longer time in prayer) does not mean that their prayers are effective. Why? They are heathens. They have iniquity in them. They pray more, but they lack the other very important factor of "righteousness" which makes prayer to avail much.

   Prays so much but is not righteous. Luke 18:9-14 indicates that also. Two men went into the temple each to hold a prayer meeting. The first was not a righteous man, but he had been doing many righteous works, such as giving alms, fasting, paying tithes, and generally living a moral life that was better than many other men lived. He presented those works of his as his certificate, as the reason why God had to answer him. The other man had no such credentials as fasting or good works to cite. He acknowledged his sins before God. We are informed in the end that the proud man, who did not humble himself to pray, went home with his problems, whereas the shorter prayer of the other man, even without the decorations of regular fasting, giving of alms, a moral life, etc, had a greater result.

   





The kind of life you live is very important to the kind of prayers you can pray, whether effective or not. It is not so much your words God answers in prayer, but your life also. Prayer is important. Let us emphasize it as much as we can. But the reason why we do not yet have a revival in our nation, in our churches, in our individual lives, might not be so much the absence of prayer as it is the absence of holy living. For prayers, we pray a lot. Prayer vigils, prayer conferences, fasting retreats, etc. Hardly any day passes without a person praying at least one minute for the land or his church. Multiply over 2 million Christians in the nation by that amount of prayer... or let us even take a very conservative figure of 1,000. Multiply 1,000 Christians praying at least 1 minute a day for the land, that makes over 16 hours of prayer. That is longer than the prayer meetings that we usually hold. I wonder how many single prayer meetings, prayer vigils, or prayer conferences have had a prayer meeting so long. Now let us do the same computation for any church. Multiply at least 50 Christians in the church by 2 minutes of prayer daily, that comes to 100 minutes, which is 1 hour, 40 minutes of prayer for the church daily, which is a lot of prayer time. So, it is obvious that a lot of prayer is being prayed. Why then is there no result? The answer is what we are here discussing - a discrepancy between the volume of words we speak in prayer, and the quality of the lives of the people who pray the prayers.

      We need to pray, but saying prayers is not all upon which the welfare of our nation or church depends. It also depends on the intensities of our holy lives. Amen.

God bless you.

Are you missing the Power of the Holy Spirit?

   I knew a pastor who instructed his worship leader to remove songs that mentioned the Holy Spirit, and another who removed songs about the blood of Christ.

How sad—in their zeal to avoid charismatic excesses and offensive truths, these pastors actually quenched and grieved the Spirit.

The greatest need in the church today is to confess our sins, obey the Word and to be filled with the Spirit. The power of the Holy Spirit is like dynamite that ignites a hunger for God so intense that every aspect of life is changed—we become bold, not passive; stable, not fanatical; and committed, not wavering.

We need sound doctrine and the power of the Holy Spirit. It's possible to be "Bible taught," but not "Spirit led"—straight as a gun barrel theologically, but just as empty. Theological teachings are essential to Christian living, but how often are theology students encouraged to fast and pray as well as study?

We can sometimes be more concerned about a Master's Degree than a degree from the Master. The Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures and empowered Jesus and the apostles. We are desperately remiss if we fail to recognize His vital role in the pulpit as well as the pew.

Its time to arise from dead works. Lunch into prayer now and ask God to fill you anew with the Holy Ghost and with power, but remember if you're yet to be born-again; do that now, because there is no repentance in the grave.

Stray Blessed.

Are You Ready for the Storm?

A storm is coming. The torrential rains shall fall. The waters shall rise. The floods shall sweep away all wood, hay and stubble. The violent winds will blow away all that was built irresponsibly.

Are you building your house on the rock or on the sand?

"Whoever hears these sayings of Mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. And it did not fall, for it was founded a rock. And every one who hears these sayings of Mine and does not do them will be likened to a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. And it fell. And its fall was great " (Matt. 7:24-27).

"What sayings of Mine" is Jesus specifically referring to in these passages? Reading in context, Jesus began a lengthy teaching from Matthew 5-7 and the central theme of it seems to be the character of the heart of man—from the Beatitudes, to loving our enemies, to having the right motives in giving, praying and fasting. Then He goes on to teach them about the Father's care for them and not worrying but seeking first the kingdom of God. Finally, Jesus comes to the end of that teaching and speaks about hypocrisy and righteous judgment and reverting back to heart matters followed by a warning of false prophets and those who call Him Lord but don't do His will. This entire teaching is traditionally known as the Sermon on the Mount, and it ends with the parable of the wise and foolish builders.

This was one of Jesus' first and most foundational teachings. It set the tone for His public ministry. As ministers that is important for us to know. We must emphasize what Jesus emphasized. These sayings prepared the people and His disciples for what was to come. Herein we find the standard of Jesus' life and ministry for all He did and taught. The heart must be right or nothing else will be right. If the heart is not right people won't do what He says. We must build our lives on Jesus' words, especially these first words of the first lengthy sermon He preached.

Storms Test the Strength of the Foundation

Jesus was the Master Builder. When it comes to building people, He is our primary example and pattern. The apostle Paul refers to God's people as God's field and God's building (1 Cor. 3:9), and he calls all ministers his fellow laborers who plant and water the field, and who are to build on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

The image of the people as a building under construction is very interesting because it highlights the responsibility of ministers to be faithful in how they build. Ministers are like building contractors who are only permitted to build on the prescribed foundation (see 1 Cor. 3:12-15). There are both wise builders and foolish builders (Matt. 7:24-27). To build on the foundation a building of durable material (gold, silver and precious stones) means not only to teach sound doctrine but even more importantly, to be a godly example and live a sanctified life of fidelity to the truth, thus helping to mature the saints. Ministers and especially pastors/shepherds, because they live with the people, teach more by their life example perhaps than anything else.

On the other hand, to build with perishable material (wood, hay, and stubble) is to provide inadequate or unsound teaching or to compromise the truth by living a lifestyle that contradicts or falls short of modeling it. It is the quality of every builder's work and not the quantity, as seems to be much of the focus today, that shall be tested by fire, for which every builder shall give account to the Lord.

In Jesus' parable (Matt. 7:24-27) He uses a storm, signifying the pressures, hardships and trials of life, as well as the persecutions we will suffer for the gospel, as a measuring gauge for how solid our foundation is. And what is our foundation based upon? Jesus taught us that it is based upon doing His sayings. Obedience is the issue. ""Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 7:21). Obedience, not lip service, is what God requires.

Have you ever thought about what gives us the strength and fuel to obey God? Why are some people obedient and some are not? Why are some doers of the Word and some are not? Why do some people stay faithful to God and remain true while others do not? Why do some start this Christian race but never finish? What is it that causes us to endure to the end (Matt. 24:13)?

It is the fear of the Lord. Obedience to the Lord is not only proof of your love for Him (John 14:21), but also of your fear of Him. There's been an emphasis on love, although we've fallen short of the full counsel of God in that area, too, but there has not been nearly as much of an emphasis on the fear of the Lord. It takes both of them to produce a strong constitution in your Christian life. Notice in the following two different translations how the love of obedience in Jesus was rooted in the fear of the Lord. They are identical. Or a better way to say it would be that the manifestation of the fear of the Lord is obedience to His Word and His sayings/commandments.

"His delight is in the fear of the Lord" (Isa. 11:3a, NKJV).

"He will delight in obeying the Lord" (Isa. 11:3a, NLT).

I love this verse of Scripture. It feeds and fuels the fear of the Lord in me and the delight to obey Him. This is our sure foundation. Since our obedience is the manifestation of the fear of the Lord in our lives, and since that is the difference between building your house on the rock or on the sand, we then could say that the fear of the Lord is what builds a strong foundation for our houses, which represent our lives. The fear of the Lord produces durable materials in our lives that will strengthen us to stand even in the midst of the storms. Can you see that?

A house is built by wisdom, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning or the foundation of wisdom/knowledge. Once again, a house represents our lives, homes, families.

"Through [skillful and godly] wisdom a house [a life, a home, a family] is built, and by understanding it is established [on a sound and good foundation]" (Prov. 24:3, AMP).

"Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord" (Prov. 1:7a, CEB).

"Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge" (Prov. 1:7a, NLT).

If we build our lives and homes on the true wisdom and knowledge of God that comes from the foundation of the fear of the Lord, we need not fear the storm, because we will stand.

Paul's Great Desire

One of the apostle Paul's greatest burdens was this very thing: that the people He ministered to would stand firm in their faith and remain obedient to God even in the midst of the troubles and persecutions of his day. Other New Testament writers shared the same burden.

Paul's great desire was that the people he taught would not falter under pressure, lest his work be useless or his labor be in vain. Notice his great concern for the Thessalonian saints (1 Thess. 3:1-9). He had warned them of the troubles that would soon come. In his farewell speech to the Ephesian elders, he warned them of the same troubles (Acts 20:25-31). To the Galatians and the Hebrews he did the same, warning them not to turn back to the Law. He was preparing them for the storm and the persecution they would receive from preaching the cross and paying the price to follow Jesus. Warnings are such a large part of the Scriptural admonition that Paul and the other New Testament writers gave to the churches. Today there is a glaring absence of these warnings in our preaching.

Here are just some I found in the New Testament: Matthew 7:15, 10:17, 24:4-5, 24:11-13, 24:24; Mark 12:38-40; Luke 12:1, 15; Acts 20:29-31; 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10:12, 11:3; Galatians 6:7; Ephesians 5:6, Philippians 3:2, 18; Colossians 1:28, 2:8; 1 Timothy 4:16; Hebrews 2:1-3, 4:1; 2 Peter 1:10, 3:17.

Fellow minister and preacher, how well are you preparing yourself and your people for the storm? Are you teaching them the whole counsel of God or catering to itching ears? Are you including the warnings in your preaching? Are you preaching on only the goodness and mercy of God, or do you also preach on His severity, wrath and judgments? Are you only preaching on the love of God, or do you place emphasis on His holiness too? Do you ever preach on sin and repentance? Are your concepts of the love of God and the grace of God accurate and in accordance with Scripture?

If not, then you may be guilty of the blood of men: "Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not keep from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. .... Therefore watch, remembering that for three years night and day I did not cease to warn everyone with tears" (Acts 20:26-27, 31).

Make sure you are preparing yourselves and those whom God has entrusted to you for the storm. Oh, how much stronger our churches would be if we included these things in our preaching and teaching and living them out before the people!

God bless you.