Day 1 of 40 Prayer For Family – Father, I am standing in the gap for my family. I’m praying for them by name. It is not just a “happy“ life that I pray for them. I pray for their protection from the evil one, from all oppressive spirits that wish to dominate their lives. I pray that their obedience to God‘s word be pleasing unto him.
I pray that God‘s mercy and grace and compassion rain down on each one. I pray that they live in such a way as to bring God’s wholehearted approval. I pray the peace of God that surpasses all comprehension might follow after them. Lord, may this prayer reflect your desire for each one in my family.
I commit further, this prayer, to dear friends and beloved country.
Paul is about to leave the leaders of the church at Ephesus. He will entrust them with the great message of grace. He tells them, “GUARD yourselves…feed and care for the flock – the church. “WATCH OUT!“ Be alert to false teachers and prideful men who seek only a following for themselves. Such people will divide and create disunity in the church.
To “GUARD” and to “WATCH OUT” are a call to arms for the faithful leader in the church and in the family. Standing vigilantly requires him/her to, 1) teach God’s word well, 2) minister in truth and all sincerity, 3) counsel by prayerful insight, sought through tears and deep spiritual connections and 4) sound the alarm when danger approaches. Father, may this sentry effectively share the gospel and express the truth of Scripture by my words and by my example.
You whose heart and life is right with God will have nothing to fear (Isa 33:13–16). #DoTheRightThing
MORNING WATCH NOTES:
“OMG!“ Fearful of judgement, the people bellow, “Who can survive the Holy?“ Isaiah gives the short answer. “Easy. Those who walk with the Holy and speak what is right and true. Those who do not extort by bribery or plot to do evil and violence. Those whose hands, ears and eyes are closed moral pollution. Those who do right in his sight.” These are those who have no need to fear the Holy One.
The Apostle Paul makes the same point. “Rulers hold no terror for those who do right.” (Rom 13:3). This is the man or woman who need not be alarmed, though the judgments of the Holy be all around them. Lord, you are ever before me. My refuge is in you.
The faithful prayer sentry declares with the Psalmist, “You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress; my God in whom I trust’ “ (Psm 91:1-2)
The nation of Judah was facing a crisis (Assyrian conquest). For her sin of rejecting God she stood at the threshold of destruction. The prophet Isaiah clearly identifies the character of men and women who disdain and reject God (vv5-7). America needs to wake up, for her bulwark reveals similar vulnerabilities.
This is America’s National Disgrace. It is clear to the discerning eye. From Isaiah 32:5-7: Those who are ungodly and foolish are seen as heroes. Dishonorable men are exalted and respected. Fierce zealots make plans to further their own ends. They practice ungodliness; ridicule and marginalize those who trust in God. They make plans for their own self interests but they deprive the disenfranchised of basic needs in life. Smooth talkers appear honest/earnest, but mix sense with non-sense, scheming to mislead. They lie to convict the powerless, even when their is just cause. Can we see any of this in America today?
BUT…
THERE IS HOPE AHEAD!
Isaiah speaks of a Redeemer who will come. Judah had suffered under unjust rulers and leaders, but “A righteous king is on the way. Honest princes will prevail under him.” Although Judah would be destroyed and taken into captivity, still there were many who act according to “generosity” (v8). They were hungry for a righteous ruler. That ruler, that “righteous king” would be Jesus Christ, who has already come and he will come again to rule.
WHAT WILL THE HOPE OF THIS RIGHTEOUS KING LOOK LIKE?
The coming Christ will provide, “Shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm.” His rule will be “like streams of water in the desert or the shadow of a great rock in a parched land.” In Christ’s rule “everyone who has eyes will be able to see the truth and everyone who has ears will be able to hear it. Even the hotheads will be full of sense and understanding. Those who stammer will speak out plainly” (vv1-4).
Lord, it excites the heart of this aged sentry to know the assurance of my once come, and coming again, righteous king. Even so, come Lord Jesus!
Today would be as good a day as any to pray for a national repentance in America. That she would once again celebrate the Christ-child; the Savior of the world.
Lord, would you give the leaders of America a humble heart of repentance. I pray that they would no longer compare themselves to each other but see themselves in the light of a holy God.
Lord, would you begin the work of repentance and healing within the one square foot in which I stand this morning. Do a work of repentance and healing in my household. Do a work of repentance and healing in and among my neighbors, whom I know very well.
I pray for the leaders, the pastors and ministers in my city. I pray for those officials who carry out the will of the state in my county. I pray for the leaders of my state and the leaders of my nation.
From my house to the White House, Lord, may we have a humble heart of repentance. May you once again receive the honor and majesty due you in America.
Lord, this is a prayer from the heart of the sentry standing watch today. I join the sentinel call to prayer.
When once the wayward, rebellious, child of God surrenders, his/her whimpers of repentance are heard from on high (v4). Then, like the father greeting the prodigal home from the far country of sin, God is first on the scene to help. This is the message of the prophets.
The enemies, the attackers, God had used to discipline his child will be crushed. Their course of pain and suffering will come to a sudden end. They will be driven away by heaven’s armies. They will “vanish like a vision in the night.“ It is God‘s greatest delight to vanquish the enemy of the child of God. Thank you Lord, for hearing in the night this sentry’s prayer of surrender so many years ago.
FOR AMERICA: Lord, I pray that my beloved nation may surrender her heart fully to you. May she know the fires of revival & spiritual awakening from sea to shining sea. May the power of heaven’s armies be used to deliver her from the enemies that would seek to destroy her.
At the center of the Jewish faith is the temple in Jerusalem and the worship of Jehovah God. At the center of the Christian faith is the temple of the Holy Spirit (my body – 1Co 6:19) and the collective worship of God by believers in union together with Christ (Jhn 4:23,24).
The call has always been to worship God in spirit and in truth. But we see here that rote ritual, rules and observances had supplanted sincere worship of, and devotion to, God. It was indifferent and deceitful. It happens today as well. This brings the holy ire of God on dead lifeless religion. Father, may this sentry worship & serve you with a whole heart, given in spirit and in truth.
Lord, would you bring America to a place of sincere worship and devotion to you. Would you intervene and give her a whole heart for you. Would you sweep our land in renewal, revival and spiritual awakening.
The lives of men will not be changed by providing a good environment. Although, that may help enormously. But even the most gracious of divine kindnesses, which God may display, are ignored by many. They take no notice of God’s daily mercies. They are taken for granted.
Men seem far more likely to respond better to judgment then to blessing. Judgment brings me face-to-face with my own inadequacies; my need to surrender to God. To this aging sentry this becomes far more evident. So, for me Lord, it is in the morning watches, before the dawn breaks, that I will earnestly seek you. In you I will find peace and accomplishment.
“So I sought for a man among them who would [rebuild the] wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.”– Ezk 22:30 (NKJV)
“No one?” Can I be “one?” Who can be “one?”
I have many times wondered at Ezk 22:30. This morning my pastor preached on this passage. He basically raised a similar question. Ezekiel was among those who had been deported from Judah. He was the prophet of the hour as judgment fell on Judah. Was he not in the gap? What about Daniel and his three friends? They were all in that first deportation. They to were all prayer warriors. Jeremiah was also in that deportation. Was he not adequate to stand in the gap? If those guys aren’t qualified, who is qualified, who is adequate to fill the breach?
From his own personal quiet time, my pastor announced, “God is always looking for people to pray. He is always looking for that “one” intercessor who can be used to save many.” Then my pastor said, “Jesus became the man in the gap.”
MY TAKE AWAY NOTES:
There is only one who is 100% adequate to stand in the gap. That one is Jesus! Jesus is the great intercessor (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25). Jesus is the “gap man,” reaching up to God with one hand and reaching down to man with the other. What does that mean to me as a prayer sentry? It means that IF I AM IN CHRIST, THEN I TOO AM IN THE GAP. I pray in the name of Jesus, the “gap man.”
Jesus, Sentinel On Duty
Whenever I am standing in prayer, I am in the gap (so it is for any prayer sentry). This sentry stands in the adequacy of Jesus. This sentry never was qualified, never was adequate. But Jesus is always qualified, always adequate. What pure joy to my soul. What a grand assurance of prayer. I am fortified to stand my post.
Praying through the ancient prophecies of Isaiah regarding all the godless nations surrounding Israel and Judah. Not an easy read. I was considering the fact that EVERY PROPHECY over every nation has been FULFILLED (Isa 14-23).
God is a sovereign, who providentially works his will through all the affairs of men. I have every reason to believe that the prophecies of the future (Isa 24-27, New Testament, et al.) will be fulfilled, just as they were in those ancient of days. My sentinel faith rests in an eternal Commander who seeks the ultimate good and will destroy all evil.
When king Sennacherib of Assyria showed up to conquer Jerusalem he employed the very same tactic Satan uses to defeat us – DOUBT! In Genesis 3:1-4, Satan casts doubt on God‘s word. “Surely God hath not said…” Here, the Assyrian enemy casts DOUBT on the word of a godly king. “Surely the king has misled you…” EXPOSED!
From DOUBT comes all manner of defiance, discouragement and defeat. How do we win the great battles against Satan? James 4:7,8 tells us to 1) Rely humbly on God, 2) Resist Satan (he will flee) and 3) Rest, draw near to God, who will come quickly to your aid. Lord, may this sentry recognize when he’s under attack by the enemy. Then rely, resist and rest in God.
There is a saying in Texas – “One Riot, One Ranger.” Heaven also has a saying, “One Assault, One Angel.”
The fierce fighting monarch, King Sennacherib of Assyria, showed up in full battle array to assault Jerusalem’s gates. He sent messages taunting King Hezekiah and the citizens of the city (vv10–19). He mocked and derided Jehovah God.
Although smaller in numbers the people of Jerusalem were prayed up, prepared and putting faith in God (vv1-8). Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah cried out to the God of heaven. God sent ONE ANGEL and destroyed the whole Assyrian army. Sennacherib went home in disgrace, never to be heard from again – he was killed in the temple of his god, by his own sons. Lord, this one lone sentry has reason to prayerfully expect you to do great things in any given day.
When a godly leader (King Hezekiah) followed God‘s leadership, went against conventional wisdom, good things happened. He called the people to return to God (v6). After a week long celebration of God‘s redemption (revival) the people decided to EXTEND THE CELEBRATION another week.
There was great purification from sin, people and priests were getting right with God. The revival exceeded anything ever seen before. In the end, God made good on the promise of 2Ch 7:14. Healing was on the way. God heard their prayer from heaven (v 27). Lord, turning my sentinel’s heart to you, I am prepared for you to exceed all my expectations (Eph 3:20).
When God turns on the light of revival, when he pours out his Spirit on his people, that light within becomes brighter, warmer. There is a supernatural inclination to want to share that light. Just so, we see that good King Hezekiah was compelled to send runners throughout all of Judah, even to the brothers in the northern tribes of Israel. “Come, let’s us once again worship, celebrate renewal and give thanks to the Lord.”
Renewed joy and expectations were at an all-time high. God was speaking into the life of Judah. O, that God would speak new life into our lives today. Lord increase the light, increase the warmth, that America would know revival and awakening. Jesus said, “And I, when I am lifted up, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32 – NIV)
Lord, may the light within the sentry burn brightly and warmly, drawing others to you.
The closest thing that I’ve ever seen to spiritual awakening in my lifetime was the “Jesus Movement” in the 1970s. My heart longs, times without end, to see a movement like that (and better) once again in America. That awakening/revival came out of the tumultuous decade of the 1960s. Who’da thought?
Revival in the era of King Hezekiah of Judah came out of turbulent times under his father, King Ahaz. Under Hezekiah’s leadership the nation of Judah turned back to God. Repentance and renewal led to “times of refreshing from the very presence of the Lord” as described in Acts 3:20. The 20teens have been turbulent times. Could revival/awakening be just around the corner? My prayer in the morning watches is, “Lord, do it again.”
Seek for genuine repentance, consecration and worship toward God (2Ch 29:35,36). #Repentance #consecration #revival #awakening https://www.bible.com/116/2ch.29.35-36.nlt
MORNING WATCH NOTES:
Sacrifice, to be meaningful to God, must be preceded by sincere repentance and consecration (Psm 51:17; Pro 21:3; 1Sa 15:22). King Hezekiah led the priests, Levites (temple servants) city leaders and people to turn from their sin (repentance). Then he led them to set themselves apart for God‘s purposes (consecration).
Finally, came the offering (sacrifice) to God, to present a token of thanksgiving to God for atonement of sin (today, reconciliation through Christ to God). For Hezekiah (for all of us today) this results in an abundance of sacrifice; much joy, praise and worship. There is no greater sacrifice than that of a humble broken heart toward God and subsequently toward others. Lord, the prayer of this sentry is that men would find themselves right with you and with each other.
Sixteen days after the Lord’s Temple was re-opened it had been cleansed of every defiled object (inside and out). The very next morning King Hezekiah had priests and Levites in their positions. Every city official was summonsed to be in the Temple. King Hezekiah himself led the procession.
Burnt offerings and sin offerings were made, consecrating the whole throng of leaders to God. Then there was a “joyous“ sound of praise and worship. The entire assembly sang, played instruments and read Psalms. They worshipped. How could the scene of repentance of leadership possibly be described? Only experienced. Lord, may our leaders (I myself) know such a repentance.
** I am encouraged to write the following Post Script: Eight hours after this post was published I heard Vice President Mike Pence speak to The Family Leader Foundation in Des Moines, Iowa. He spoke of a night in the 1970s when he, as a nineteen year old young man, gave his life to Christ. He told the audience that there are times when we feel God has abandoned us and is no longer working. But, he said, God is always working. We ought never give up, continue in faith and in prayers. He called the nation to, “humble themselves, and pray and seek God’s face, and turn from their wicked ways, then God will hear [as he always does] from heaven, and will forgive [our] sin and heal [our] land.” This is what it looks like when godly leaders call for and lead a nation to repent.
Be prepared for God to release you in his service (2Ch 29:3–5,10-12). #Revival #SpiritualAwakening https:www.bible.com116/2ch.29.3-5,10-12.nlt
MORNING WATCH NOTES:
I may not know all the ways of God in the onset of revival or spiritual awakening, but I can see clues from God’s word. God used King Hezekiah in Judah to implement a fresh wind of revival. Through Hezekiah God released the Levites (his godly servants) to purify themselves and the temple. Then to perform the ministry they had previously been denied.
Today there seems to be a growing alertness in the people of God. There is a man in leadership who, though not perfect, is a friend toward God. Hostility towards him, the increase of darkness and violence in our society, may be a clue that God is moving in our midst.
Lord, intensify this sentry’s alertness and prayer for those who minister before you daily, who lead in the cleansing of our national sins.
A 2020 Call for men and women with the “Obed Factor”
Today angry mobs are in the streets, rioting over certain injustices committed. But they go to far. Destruction of their very own countrymen robs the moment and the movement of its important significance. We cannot be a nation of lawlessness. We also cannot be a nation without humane recourse. But mob rule, mob justice, will not govern by either.
We read in 2 Chronicles 28 that the Lord was not pleased with Ahaz, king of the southern Israelite nation of Judah (vv1-4). Because of the heinous sins of Ahaz God used an alliance between Syria (Aram) and Israel to bring remedial judgment on Ahaz and Judah. Israel of course was the rival northern Israelite nation bordering Judah. The nation of Israel was more than happy to join in the fight against Judah. [The prophet Isaiah offered a way out for Ahaz, if he would but call upon God for deliverance. But Ahaz rejected Isaiah’s words of counsel – Isa 7:1-12]
The result was that Israel slaughtered 120,000 warriors of Judah, took 200,000 women and children captive, intending to make slaves of them and seized enormous amounts of plunder. But this victory went too far as they were indulging their own lust for superiority. So when they returned to the capital city of Samaria the prophet Obed met them. This is the only place we read of this particular prophet. Few would recognize his name.
Listen to these words of Obed (vv9-11):
“The Lord, the God of your ancestors, was angry with Judah and let you defeat them. But you have gone too far, killing them without mercy, and all heaven is disturbed. And now you are planning to make slaves of these people from Judah and Jerusalem. What about your own sins against the Lord your God? Listen to me and return these prisoners you have taken, for they are your own relatives. Watch out, because now the Lord’s fierce anger has been turned against you!” (NLT)
We have seen angry and arrogant mobs are in the streets of our cities rioting over certain injustices committed. They are right to protest injustice. In America we have the right to peacefully protest. But, like Israel, these mobs go too far. They kill, hurt and maim their own countrymen. They destroy, lute and burn the businesses of their own countrymen. They ignore the rule of law and put the lives of all their own countrymen in danger. We cannot be a nation of lawlessness. We also cannot be a nation without humane recourse. But mob rule, mob justice, will not govern by either.
What is the “Obed Factor”?
#AgentOfCompassion
Who is this Obed? The name Obed means, “servant; worshipper.” Obed was a man of God, a servant and worshipper of God. “His prophecy [is merely] an argument [for] brotherly kindness and affection, and yet few men have ever rendered a nobler service to their fellow men than that recorded of him.”– The Biblical Illustrator. Obed goes alone with no one to stand with him. He faces the prospect of ridicule and mocking. There is no hint of fame for him but only to forgo the further harm and desecration of Judah, their Israelite brothers.
He goes alone but in the background there are four other men of conscience. Perhaps there are many others, but they are afraid to speak (much like our day today). Yet, four men are named in Scripture who cut across the grain of the moment. They come forward to stand with Obed. I will name them here because Scripture does so (v12). Their fathers are also named. All this reminds me of the sacred trust I have for my sons and daughters and that speaking up for what is right, just and good is worthy of recognition. They are, “Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berekiah son of Meshillemoth, Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai.”
The end result was that the prisoners were released. The four men mentioned were the ones who came forward to lead out in the distribution of clothes from the plunder to the naked prisoners. They gave the prisoners sandals to wear, food to eat and dressed their wounds. The prisoners were taken and returned to their own people in Judah. Lives and honor were saved that day.
The“Obed Factor” is the comportment of an individual or group of individuals who have a vital relationship with God and the presence of mind to speak clearly and take action for God when called upon by his Spirit. The Obed voice is that voice in our country and in our communities that speaks out in humanitarian mercy for God and the good of all. #AgentOfCompassion
Where are the Obeds Among Us?
As I look over the landscape of 2020 I ask the question, “Where are the Obeds among us?”
Who among us in 2020 has the Obed courage of his/her convictions? Who among us in 2020 can and will take some Obed action to curb the base instincts of man? Who among us in 2020 has the presence of mind to speak, not in hot-blooded condescension, but in a calm, clear Obed voice, speak nobly?
OBED: Kentucky Attorney General, Daniel Cameron, is an Obed in our midst. He shows courage in the hour of difficulty. He said this on September 23, 2020,
“..If we simply act on emotion or outrage there is no justice. Mob justice is not justice. Justice sought by violence is not justice. It just becomes revenge. In our system, criminal justice isn’t a quest for revenge. It is a quest for truth, evidence and facts and the use of that truth as we fairly apply laws. Our reaction to the truth is what kind of society we want to be. Do we really want the truth or a truth it fits our narrative? Do we want the facts or accept our own version of events? We, as a community, must make this decision.”
OBED: Minister, Rev. Franklin Graham, is an Obed in our midst. He shows courage in the hard times. He will lead a prayer vigil through the Washington D.C. National Mall, Saturday, September 26, 2020. The vigil and walk will start at 12:00 noon (EST). You can watch the prayer vigil on live stream, hosted by Mike Huckabee & Cissis Graham Lynch.
I cannot attend prayer vigil in person but I intend to watch the live feed and spend time on Saturday, Sep 26, in fasting and prayer for our country, its leaders and its cities. Lord, may this sentry be an Obed voice, an Obed spirit, and have the heart of an Obed on behalf of my beloved country and the community in which I live.
Some of Paul’s closing words to the Christians in Rome are, “I am eager to visit you, to enjoy your fellowship“ (v23,24). But first he must go to Jerusalem. Paul’s final prayer request is that he be “rescued from unbelieving Jews” there. Then, “BY THE WILL OF GOD,” he would go to Rome with a “JOYFUL” heart to rest and enjoy time with them.
Paul expects one thing. But God works according to his own will and purposes. In Jerusalem, resentful Pharisees incite a riot against Paul (Acts 21:27,30). This leads to his arrest and appeal to Cesar. Ultimately Paul’s trip to Rome became reality, but as a prisoner in chains. Paul’s response? “I am [JOYFULLY] willing even to die for the sake of Christ” (Acts 21:13). Lord, keep me joyfully flexible along the path of the journey.
This sentry’s prayer may be limited by perspective, but it’s unlimited by God’s eternal scope.
With the trip to Jerusalem foremost in his mind, Paul requests earnest prayer. He is headed back into the teeth of Pharisee country, his former Jewish party. To unbelieving Jewish countrymen He was not Paul the apostle, but Paul the apostate. He was also concerned that some Jewish believers might be offended by prejudices at the offering sent by Gentile believers to them.
Believers today may feel cornered by spiritual forces of darkness. These can only be defeated in prayer. So Paul asks friends, Believers, to “join in the struggle by praying.“ Praying for others is to take part in their battles of life and also ministry. “Prayer is not preparation for the battle, it is the battle” – (Ravenhill/Chambers).
Lord, may my sentry prayer be fervent and earnest taking every opportunity to consistently and eagerly contend for the welfare of others; that they might stand mature and complete in the will of God (Col 4:12).
This is not a topic about which I was ready to speak. I have thought about it for several months now. It likely won’t be received with much enthusiasm. I take no pleasure in bringing the topic up. But Speaker of the House of Representatives, Congress Woman from San Francisco, Nancy Pelosi, has put the topic on the table.
Here is what Nancy Pelosi said about the recent hurricanes and out of control fire disasters in California, Washington and Oregon. “Mother earth is angry. She’s telling us the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast, the fires in the west (whatever it is) that climate crisis is real and has an impact.”
But could it be that it is the Sovereign God of the Bible that is the one who is angry? And it would not be about a “climate crisis.” Consider also the worldwide COVID pandemic, economic upheaval, rioting, violence and unchecked crime in the streets of our major cities? All these kinds of disasters have intensified dramatically. Might God be trying to tell to us something?
HOW GOD MIGHT VIEW OUR WORLD
America has long since left her spiritual roots. She has drifted far from her godly heritage. BUT REALLY, has she drifted that far? Well, let me ask, how should God view abortion on demand in America, or rampant and open homosexuality? How should God view no mention of Him in the classrooms of America, or prayer? How should God understand the political correctness that no longer tolerates a Christian witness in the market place? What might God be thinking of corrupt leadership in government and corporate America? What might God’s heart be regarding the failed family unit in our world? Is God trying to tell us something?
We are living in perilous times and subject to perilous men. Hear the words of the apostle Paul in Second Timothy 3:3-9:
1) You should know this, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2) For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3) They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4) They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5) They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!
6) They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires. 7) They are forever following new teachings, but they are never able to understand the truth. 8) These teachers oppose the truth just as [those who] opposed Moses. They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith. 9) But they won’t get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they have been. (NLT)
What must the sentry on the watch do? It is not my role to condemn or judge. It is my task to just simply sound an alarm; ask the question. What the apostle Paul says in Second Timothy sounds perilously like our world today.
QUESTIONS TO CONTEMPLATE
Here is a question for us to contemplate: If God was angry at America, what might it look like? If God were to remove his hand of blessing from America, what might that look like? Might it look a lot like the disasters we are witnessing today? I’m just asking.
We may also ask, where is the voice of the church in the midst of these disasters? Where are the calls for prayer to an almighty God to intervene? Where are the ministers and Christians in the cities, calling for peace and putting their lives in God’s service to work for peace and bring people together around the Gospel of Christ?
I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE INTERCESSORS WORLDWIDE working overtime in prayer. They are offering up mighty intercessions for America and other nations around the world. I have myself participated in many of these calls to prayer. What I am saying is this. Where are the days when pastors, prominent leaders, government officials and even news castors were standing up and calling for prayers that God might intervene? Their voices are nowhere to be heard. What does that mean for America?
WHAT IS GOD TELLING ME?
The single greatest need of America is revival and spiritual awakening. America and many of America’s churches have drifted far away from God. Many Americans openly oppose the name of Jesus. While there is still time, the church and America must repent and return to a humble and godly reverence [respect] for a sovereign and compassionate God.
What is God saying to me? 2 Timothy 4:1-5 tells me more. It’s not to late to turn back to the God of the Bible.
1) I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes to set up his Kingdom: 2) Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.
3) For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4) They will reject the truth and chase after myths.
5) But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.
My eternal charge, next to the spread of the gospel and to watch and pray is to build up, edify, all those in my path. I cannot effectively spread the Good News or, with good conscience, watch and pray, if I am at the same time tearing others down or causing them to stumble.
As I grow in Christ I am responsible to encourage others by my witness, prayers and Christlike example. This is my charge to keep – influence men for Christ. Lord, may this, my charge, be so for you.
Man was created for greater things than he has achieved. So bring your angry divided heart to a banquet of joy in Christ.
“O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you. When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place— what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority… O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!” (Psalms 8:1-6, 9 NLT)
AMERICA, yea even the world has been experiencing an upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, major social unrest and devastating economic fallout. The entire world has been in lockdown, sheltering in place, to slow the spread of a deadly virus. In midst of this life altering lockdown has come the cries of “police brutality” after the death of an African-American man in Minneapolis. The streets of cities large and small in America and around the world have been filled with protests and violence.
I found myself expressing the notion to some that during this time in
history, the church seems noticeably absent.
With “shelter in place,” cover your face and social distancing orders, people are not only cut off from each other, but Christians have had no voice. In fact they have been told not to gather for worship and if they did gather they were told, “Do not sing.” Couple this with the social unrest and clashes within our culture, there is a perfect storm.
Where is the church? Why, she is locked away at home. Muzzled by a mask and not allowed to get close enough to anyone to have a conversation. Having a conversation is what the church does best. Let alone taking to streets and being at risk of not only a pandemic but also violence. Christians have been neatly stashed away while Satan, the evil one, the enemy of the hearts of men, runs loose in the streets and operates unhindered by the likes of any Holy effort inspired of God.
The church has been reeling. BUT, she is getting her legs back under her. Christians have stepped up with online posts, blogs and webpages. They are online and they are not silent. Pastors are preaching to more folks than ever, online. New avenues of ministry are being sought after.
In addition, the numbers of online prayer calls have increased. Thousands of intercessors around the world are breaking the barriers in the atmosphere of cyber space. Their voices of praise, adoration, confession, repentance and surrender to a holy God are being lifted to the throne room of heaven daily. The church is showing up online with force and the power of the Holy Spirit to win the hearts of men.
We are seeing answers to our prayers.
We are seeing clarification for parents and teachers about starting school up again in the fall. We’re not there yet, but we’re getting there. The spike in COVID-19 cases in Fla and Tex has begun to plateau.
CBN News, July 21, 2020:
Mike Ansari, who runs Mohabat TV, one of the most popular Christian satellite channels in Iran told CBN News that Mohabat TV is recording 10 times more online [conversions to Christ] than this time last year.[1]Ansari says, “We are registering around 3,000 personal decisions by Iranian Muslims to leave Islam for Christianity during this ‘COVIDF revival’” That’s three thousand people each month who have decided to follow Jesus Christ since the pandemic began in March, [2020].
The large number of people leaving Islam is causing a backlash against the church. Dozens of Christians have been arrested and imprisoned for responding to the gospel message since March, [2020].
Kingsley Clement Reports on July 19, 2020, hundreds marching for Jesus over the Brooklyn Bridge.[2] This is the church taking Jesus to the streets
A friend working in Church Relations at the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention reported to me on July 13, 2020, that SBTC pastors and SBTC staffers are proposing, “RETHINK.” Rethink ministry. Re think Evangelism. Rethink opportunity. Rethink church. Rethink, Rethink, Rethink.
So … Where Is The Church In 2020?
“She IS here. She IS present and she IS accounted for.
Jesus Has NOT Forsaken His Beautiful Radiant Bride!”
In1904 a little known man by the name of John Hyde left America to serve as a missionary to India. He was in a place the where the Spirit of God had been prohibited. A call was sent out for prayer. That call resulted in what would be called the Punjab Prayer Union. This union of intercessors, Prayer Sentrieslike us, was the forerunner to the 1905 “Sialkot (sā-âl-coat) Conventions,” where great seasons of prayer and Spirit-filled preaching ignited a revival. John Hyde, “Praying Hyde,”as he was called, and his spirit of prayer, was an inspiration to this movement of God’s Spirit.
From the book, Praying Hyde: A Man of Prayer, by Basil Miller we learn that the members of the Punjab Prayer Unionsought to answer and succeed at five questions or principles. We too, as intercessors, as Prayer Sentries, ought to seek to succeed at these principles:
“1. Are we praying for quickening in our own lives, in the lives of our fellow workers, and in the Church?
“2. Are we longing for greater power of the Holy Spirit in our own lives and work, and are we convinced that we cannot go on without this power?
“3. Will we pray that we may not be ashamed of Jesus?
“4. Do we believe that prayer is the great means for securing [revival in our churches and] spiritual awakening [in the land]?
“5. Will we set [time aside] each day to pray for awakening; willing to pray till the awakening comes?”
Basil Miller goes on to say this: “Revivals have never been the product of [a] spontaneous combustion of spiritual forces; rather [revival] is paid for by prayer…So now in Hyde’s life, as the revival of 1905 was about to dawn, men and women were paying the purchase price.” Just as we are today.
Praying Hyde and two other men joined in prayer for thirty-one days and nights leading up to the Sialkot (sā-âl-coat) Convention of prayer. Miller says, “…that for those days and nights the Throne of God was bombarded in prayer by these three men. Men who had long ago consecrated themselves to the task of bringing spiritual life to sin-deadened souls.” Awakening comes when an investment of time is spent in cleansingand prayer.
Miller concludes, “The record of those thirty-one days and nights of prayer is closed in the Book of Heaven, for no word of them has ever seeped through to the outside. Those [intercessors] were not on dress parade. They went forth to battle with their only weapon [PRAYER], with as much earnestness as soldiers in any king’s army.”
I think it appropriate that another question be added to the five questions of the Punjab Prayer Unionlisted above?
Here is the question:
6. Are we willing that no man know the record of our prayers offered on behalf of our nation and for the churches? Will we be satisfied in all humility that our prayers are offered in our closet, in seclusion, and for the eye of God alone?
Take this list of six questions/principles (above) into your prayer closet with the Lord. Over the next few days converse with God about them. Answer them carefully and honestly. Then watch and pray for an awakening of faith the likes of which man has not seen in this country and the church in over 100 years.
about them. Answer them carefully and honestly. Then watch and pray for an awakening of faith the likes of which man has not seen in this country and the church in over 100 years.
The cry in the midst of an American cultural war, when tearing down historical monuments is vogue, has been to preserve our history?
Herein lies OUR HISTORY. In 1937, JP McBeth wrote these words in his commentary on Romans (8:22):
“Creation is faulty from the ruins of man. Man has defiled whatever he has touched. Man’s sin put thorns on the roses.
HISTORY is but the sin of the nations and the record of the ruins of man. HISTORY is little more than a war record.
CRUMBLING CITIES ARE THE MONUMENTS OF MAN’S HANDS. Wherever man has labored there are seen the heaps of ruins in his memory. There is nothing so pure on earth but that it has been polluted by man’s corruption.
Soon after [man] saw the morning light of creation, midnight darkness terrified the fallen souls. And those who [should have] graced the beautiful garden [of Eden] became homeless, murdered and murderer, and vagabond in the earth; and sorrow and sin began to multiply exceedingly.” This is our HISTORY AS MAN
McBeth explains our hope for the future (8:24):
“BUT LET NONE DESPAIR, for hope is in the very nature of our salvation – we were saved in hope. We were not saved upon the grounds of what we could see but in faith [in Christ] as we trusted the word of God. We are saved in hope, the saved are sustained by hope and they are living for hope.”
Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. – Jesus
We don’t know how really desperate is our need to see Jesus. Anne Graham Lotz makes the point that even Isaiah, the prophet of God; the intercessor (God’s sentry on the wall) did not fully understand the depths of sin and its toll even on his own life. He had a head knowledge of sin and its solution. But this knowledge needed to make the journey 18 inches from his head to his heart.[1]
Isaiah had just pronounced five chapters of “Woe” on Judah and Israel. BUT when Isaiah himself had a VISION of God he cried out, “WOE UNTO ME!”
Isaiah 6:1-4 says, “It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2) Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having two wings to cover their faces, two wings to covered their feet, and with two wings they flew.
3) They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!” AND 4) Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.” (NLT)
When Isaiah saw God he said, “It’s all over for me! I am doomed. I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips and I live with a filthy lipped people (6:5).” (NLT)
Isaiah thought his heart was right. But when God showed up, Isaiah realized how dirty even he was before a holy God and even he had to repent. When he did, God cleansed Isaiah’s filth and called him to service (6:7-12).
Like Isaiah, we don’t know how desperate is the condition of even our own heart. But when we get a vision of God, everything changes. Before God, none of us is as good as we think.
We seek revival, but often it is just a plea for God to help us to get back to where we once were…you know, when things were better (before 9/11; no terrorism. No horrible hurricanes or treacherous wild fires. No deadly COVID-19. No economic turmoil. No social and cultural upheaval – darkness, fear and despair). Can’t we just go back to when life was good?
But with God it is never about the way back; the way we were. It’s always about the way forward, what we need to become – humble, repentant and surrendered. Then the burning coal from the altar can touch and cleanse us. The Seraphim says, “See, this coal has touched your lips Roger. Your guilt is removed. Your sins are forgiven.” Oh, what cleansing I need.
As intercessors we are all in the same need. As we pray for God’s intervention, for revival and awakening, consider these questions about the people of God…about ourselves, before a holy, yet merciful God.
Do we have a truly deep and abiding hunger for God’s word?
Do we neglect private prayer or the corporate gathering to pray?
Are we satisfied with our level of spiritual health and vitality?
Are we 100% available to the Holy Spirit for mission?
Are we witnessing for Christ or do we fear what men think?
Oh Lord, how we need an expanded vision of who you are and a cleansing from within.
[1]Lotz, Anne Graham, Expecting To See Jesus (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2011) 68-84.
The Prayer Sentry 