Is the fire flickering? Perseverance, prayer and the promises of God
Brazil and the lights go on….
Please note that at the end of this article you can listen to and watch the video version of this piece. If you would prefer that just skip to the end.
Several years ago all of the elders at LOG made a trip down to Brazil to observe and participate in the work started by Tom & Kathy Padley. Others had visited Brazil in prior years, but something very special happened to all of us on those visits (which occurred over a period of two successive summers).
I was personally profoundly touched by the 3 weeks I spent in Nova Lima, and the surrounding communities. I observed a level of passion, intensity and devotion to Jesus that I had not ever seen in my 40 years of being a Christian. I saw poor believers gathering in small clusters, in homes, on front porches as well as believers in large gatherings. What touched me was the emotion and brokeness I witnessed every where I went. People were being changed, won to Christ, healed, and delivered from all manner of struggle. I was awestruck at the power of God, humbled by His presence and suddenly lights began to go on inside me mind.
What if we had church and God didn’t show up?
I had lived nearly my entire life in a spiritual climate where very little of this passion had been my experience. There were glorious exceptions: the tail-end of the Jesus movement, elements of the Catholic-charismatic awakening, renewal movements like our own (ARC), the Vineyard, and the wonderful teaching ministry of Jack Miller (Sonship). But still, steadily it seemed that Christianity in the U.S. was declining in influence and impact. I had for several years before going to Brazil been studying this decline. The numbers are dreary. 70+% of churches in the U.S. in decline or in stagnation. A huge percentage of our young people go off to college and depart from the faith. Significant numbers of pastors addicted to pornography, not to mention high numbers of men in congregations across the U.S. Our single young people engaging in pre-marital sexual relations at a rate very similar to their un-churched counterparts. Christians caught up in materialism with only 1-2 out of 10 giving anything close to a tithe. I was aware of all this when I went to Brazil for the first time. However, it was in Brazil that I began to understand what it was the God wanted to do and I also began to understand what it was God wanted me to do.
The only thing that can save us – God!
I came back with the realization that the church in the U.S. was deeply in need of revival. It wasn’t just weak preaching, or weak churches, or compromised conduct running rampant among American Christians – it was something deeper. We had become dry and empty of the only thing that makes us as a people unique – the manifest presence of God. Let me clarify – God is present among his people, because He has promised to be with us. But our experience of that presence is related to our engagement of God in prayer, worship, study, fellowship, and service. Principal among those things, in my view, is prayer and devotion to the Word of God. It seemed to me that God had ‘drawn’ back, like He had hidden himself from us because we had so compromised, and allowed ourselves to be co-opted by the popular culture. It was my experience in Brazil which awakened me to my own dryness and thirst for God. I saw that what I had settled for was ‘dry-bones’ Christianity. I also knew I was not alone in this ‘dry-bones’ state.
It was out of this awareness that I began to seek the Lord. The elders shared this desire to ‘go after the Lord.’ Todd in particular has been very helpful in calling LOG to prayer. Out of this stirring came an awareness in my heart that it wasn’t just LOG, but many other churches in this area that needed awakening. I began to study revival movements of the past and it became clear to me – we must begin to seek the Lord and we must pursue Him with passion. It was a matter of history that consistently movements of prayer preceded awakenings. When God gets ready to move in revival, He stirs His people to pray.
Solomon, a dream and the promise of revival….
The context for what is arguably the most famous passage on revival in the bible, 2 Chronicles 7:14 is very illuminating. Solomon had just finished presiding over an extraordinary manifestation of God’s presence at the dedication of the completed temple. The presence of the Lord is so overwhelming that the priests are unable to enter. Just a short time after this Solomon has a dream – in that dream the Lord appears to him and tells him that if hard times comes, if the economic systems fails (they are an agricultural society), if things fall apart then here is what you do – Seek me, humble yourselves, turn from your sins and I will come and heal your land.
God spoke to Solomon in the context of a time of spiritual vitality, and great prosperity and success in the nation of Israel. But 200 years later Hezikiah did something very like the words in 2 Chronicles 7:14 and helped to restore Israel, and the worship of the temple. Only 46 years later a boy king only 8 years old, Josiah led a renewal that saw a purging of idolatry and the restoration of temple worship once again. This pattern has been repeated again and again over thousands of years. There is a sense in which the history of the church is in part about revivals which keep the kingdom moving toward that great day when history will culminate with everything being summed up into Jesus Christ.
Dr. A.T. Pierson once said, ‘There has never been a spiritual awakening in any country or locality that did not begin in united prayer.’ I am fully convinced that this is the truth. I have extensively studied revival history and again and again this pattern is plain. I believe that what God said to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:14 can be applied (and it certainly has been) to other times and other circumstances. In many ways it has been that promised that has continuously refreshed my motivation and commitment to keep pursuing the Lord.
I believe Lamb of God has a mandate….
This is where you have to trust me. Not unquestioning trust, but at least a modicum of trust that I have heard from the Lord on the issue of prayer, and particularly on the issue of the Cry for Awakening. I believe God has given us, Lamb of God a mandate to be a leading church in the movement of prayer in this region. Again and again I have seen how the other churches, and their leaders have looked to Lamb as a catalyst church in the prayer movement. It was our friendship with David Bryant that brought him here to call us on, and to challenge us with the issue of the supremacy of Christ. We have consistently encouraged our fellow churches to persevere in prayer.
I am sad to say, ‘I think we are failing…’
However, I am sad to say I believe we are failing in that leadership. We have seen a steady decline in participation in the Cry for Awakening, and that is in all the churches, but especially in Lamb of God. This grieves me greatly. I feel ashamed and that somehow I have failed to make clear and plain the huge responsibility that God has entrusted to us regarding prayer, and the broader movement of prayer in this county. I sincerely believe that a very important part of why we exist as a church is to be a people whom God uses to call other local churches to believing, persevering prayer.
Let me say something about prayer. Guilt only brings you out to about 2 prayer meetings, and then it wears off and the status quo creeps back in. I repudiate manipulation, arm twisting, or any other kind of coercion particularly in regards to prayer. Prayer is like romance. You can’t really fake it. You either want to pray or you think something else is more important. Maybe its that you think that God doesn’t need your prayers to accomplish His purposes. But delay is connected to God purifying the intentions of those who are asking him (sometime its also no to the request). But in the case of revival I believe the answer is always yes, but it might be yes, but I will delay until I find a people who will really ready their hearts to receive the outpouring of My Spirit that I want to send. I want more than anything to be part of those people who want to be the ones God uses to bring revival.
Lamb of God, why are we here as a church? What is our purpose? What is our unique calling and destiny as a church? I am your pastor. I am also the person God used to plant Lamb of God. I feel with all my heart that a very large and important part of that destiny is to be a house of prayer for Essex County, a people of prayer who call their brothers and sisters from all over this county to pray and believe the promises of God for revival. I believe that a better day for the church lies ahead of us. I believe that salvation, healing, the return of prodigals and blessing for our community beyond anything we can imagine lie ahead. I intend to see them while I am still in the land of the living. Listen to my heart on these matters, trust my exhortation and find a way to be a part of this glorious opportunity that God has placed in our laps.
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January 8th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Scott, you are awesome, and I completely believe that God is stirring us up in the Church to recapture the #1 importance of prayer. What do we all learn as soon as we come to the Lord (well, I hope we do!)? That prayer is simply talking to God. What a thought–that we have neglected the importance of…talking to God??? When I think of it that way, I understand why we see very little power.
I’m committing myself and my worship team to placing a primary emphasis on increasing prayer and Scripture as we go after the First Commandment–to love God with our whole hearts, minds souls and strength–because how else do you show someone you love them? By talking and listening. Right?
January 12th, 2009 at 9:35 am
Scoot,
Do not worry. I feel LOG is an awesome group of disciples. I have said this before. LOG as a group as offered me salvation that I never thot I could experience with my savior and Lord.
It is my learning curve that holds me back from full onset discipleship to others. I try and when I fail I want to stop talking about Jesus and the salvation he offers everyone.
In 2009 I have decided to get off the couch and try again. I have a renewed since of purpose thru Jesus Christ to go out and save others. I have been renewed by the fellowship offered to me thru my illness from the LOG fellowship. Please have faith in your leaders and other disciples. They are doing good works and from a new participant, I see it daily.
The love at LOG is overwhelming whether it be from long time friends or new friends such as myself.
I love LOG and I love Jesus my Lord.
Peace out,
Vicki
February 11th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Thanks for the convicting message Scott.
As I prepare for the first community worship night this area has had in a long time, I realize the need for constant prayer and asking of the Lord to annoint and bless the people involved in this difficult project. The accuser has been working full-time to stop this from happening. The warfare is reaching astounding levels. Still, In prayer, we know God is in control. In prayer we are given the Faith to “have mountains jump into the sea”, In Prayer we are given the Peace that passes all understanding that the world cannot give, and that Christ promised to those who seek Him. In prayer we have the wisdom of the Father to see things as they REALLY are, (including our own broken hearts and lives). In prayer, we show Faith, Trust, and Hope in the only One there is any to found in…
Jesus Christ…
Grace, Peace,
praying in the U.P.