The call for the day of prayer & fasting is still up for discussion and debate. Most still do not understand the dire times we are in as a nation. For over 50 years we have spat at God and His Word and His ways. Legalizing just about everything that God said, 'Thou shalt not', we said, 'well I guess we will if we want'. this attitude of not adhereing, not listening, not obeying the Word of the Lord is due to many reasons. This day of fasting and prayer is set to bring those things before us and deal with them. For those that are in ignorance, and just do not know, may light be shown in their darkness. For those that do know, but have not followed through and been obedient, you know the verse, James 4:17, 'To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.'
The church leadership and pastors and prayer leaders have not been faithful to rally and stir the church to a proper response. We have continued to cut corner, compromise, and carelessly teach the people. I believe that this all boils down to a few simple understandings:
1. We do not know Who God is; His activity, His Names, His attributes; His Word, that He has pronounced about HImself.
2. Because we do not know the Word, we do not understand how grave this time is and what is needed to do to correct these days of remedial judgements.
Therefore, I am setting this forth in writing to post for those that may give time, attention and heart to, to respond rightly before the Lord while we have time. Our delays have increased the judgements against us. and as the judgements increase, due to our sinfulness, wickedness and evil ways, the response of the church should match and meet that need of reconciling with God, cleansing His church and renewing our vows to Him.
(This would be an exhaustive work of a lifetime to cover fully. Therefore, I am simply putting forth suggested themes, Scriptures and prayer emphasis to offer that may help and guide those that desire to seek the Lord more fully. And that there are numerous other websites, materials available by prayer leaders covering the issues brought forth here to prayer before the Lord. I will attempt to locate and post these for your help.)
Examples that when God's people respond rightly, He will show mercy:
1. Jonah & Nineveh
God sent His prophet to the city of Nineveh for their wickedness was great. there is not great description of what evils was going on there. They were not the chosen of Israel, but a heathen city; yet God was prepared to destroy them. the message was simply, 'You have 40 days to repent, or God will overthrow this city." Jonah 3:5 - 10"So the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed fast, and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them even to the least of them.. .And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way and God repented of the evil that He had said that He would do unto them, and He did it not."
2. King Jehoshaphat against the great army of Moab & Ammonites
In II Chronicles 20 we have the account of a great army coming against Judah. v. 3 'and Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. v. 4 And Judah gathered themseves together to ask help of the Lord , they came to seek the Lord. and what did God do? in v. 15 'thus saith the Lord, be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude for the battle is not your's, but God's. v. 21 the Lord set amubshments against them. . .v. 29 they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of ISrael."
3. I Chronicles 21
God was angry with Israel, for a sin that is not specified. David is led to sin and number the people. God responds with 3 choices for David in punishment. Three days of pestilence is unleashed, an angel with a sword is drawn and slays 70,000. But God in mercy for David and His people speaks, 'Stay thy hand' and gave David time to build an altar and stop the death. God heard, received and repented.
4. Hezekiah and the Assyrians Isaiah 37
5. Asa and Judah - II Chronicles 15:1 - 16;
Examples when God's people didn't respond and God judged them in wrath
1. I Chronicles 21
This same moment is mentioned in the above section of David finding mercy and restraint by God. However, it is also a clear picture of God moving agains them in their sin. 'and God was angry with Israel'. God is angry when His people disobey and go away from Him. And God met them in judgement by allowing for David to number the people and judgement to fall on them and 70,000 people died. but as we showed above God repented in the midst of that devasting time to allow David to respond with altar and atonement.
2. II Chronicles 36
"Til there was no rememdy" God worked for 400 years to call His people into a right relationship and be the witness to the world of His Divine grace and mercy. They failed. They forsook Him, forgot Him, worshipped idols and would not listen to Him. and He for 400 years, sent His prophets rising up early and sending them, but you would not listen nor repent". and God judged them with famine, sword and pestilence and sent them away into captivity for 70 years.
3. Struck down in a moment
Cain slew Abel and was cursed and all his family line died in the flood. Removed from the earth;
Jeroboam caused ISrael to sin and all his family line was removed from the earth.
Aaron's two sons, Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire and was struck dead in the moment.
Uzza put forth his hand and touched the ark and was struck dead.
Children of Israel look into the ark when the Philistines sent it back and God judged them.
Ananias and Sapphira lied and God struck them both dead for their sin.
4. Jeremiah & Zedekiah Jeremiah 38:14 - 39:10;
5. Jeremiah & Jehoiakim - Jeremiah 36:1 - 7; 20 - 31;
I. WORSHIP
With all my heart, mind and soul I believe the purest beginning of prayer is adoring worship of the Lord God. Many have been taught to start there prayer like a letter, 'Dear God. . . ' and then unload all their needs and requests as a grocery lists. And certainly, the Scripture does tell us, 'make your requests known unto Him'. But long before we start asking for things, prayer should acknowledge to Whom we are praying. 'Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. . .' compels us to stare with the heavenly, spiritual eye upon the throne of God. That we may come before Him with lover, reverence, fear and desire for His will to be done and not just our will. (And may these two wills' be one and the same.)
so as we approach Him, it is good to know more and more about our God that we prayer unto. To know each of the Trinity, more fully to be able in faith to believe that not only do we make our requests known, but that He will hear us and answer. Most may ask for things from the Lord in prayer, but they have no confidence that they have been heard, or that they will receive what they have asked for, simply because, they know not the Lord to Whom they pray.
Names of God:
There are numerous lists that you can go down through that give you the Names of God. Robert Murray McCheyne states that there are 105 Names of Christ in the Scripture. How many of those do you know? and understand that it is not about just 'reading off' a lists the Names, but praying the Names is about knowing the relationship between that Name and us in our relationship to Him.
For example:
'You are Holy' - God declares in Isaiah 57:15, '. . .Whose Name is Holy. . .' So you pray, 'Lord, You are Holy. Not only in Name but in description as well. And as You are Holy, void of all sin, You desire for us to be holy in You and by You. Praise You for Your holiness.'
'Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth. . .' - Ecclesiastes 12:1 Here 'Creator' is in capital letter, meaning it is a proper name. We know through Genesis 1:1,2 that 'in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. . .' but this is an attribute, a description of His work and activity. And in worship these Names and attributes may interchange. For all worship of the Lord is all about Him and Who He is and what He has done. so you pray, "Lord, You are the Creator of all, including me. You have created all things for Your glory and honor. thank you for creating me and sustaining me in all Your perfect ways."
Jesus said in John 14:6 & 7, 'I am the way, the truth and the life' so we pray, "Blessed One, You are the way, truth and life; Your ways are perfect and right; and my ways are not mine, but Yours. I love Your truth, and there is no error, or lies found within it. You are absolute truth. And You gave Your life so that I might have life. My life I forfeit to live full life, eternal life in You, Who is the way, truth and life for ever and ever. Praise Your Name!"
Three example of identifying the Scripture that gives us the Name/attribute/activity of God and honoring Him for what it means to us and to His church. so here are a few lists of those Names/attributes/activity of God found in the Scripture
II. CONFESSION & RECOGNITION OF OUR GREAT FOLLY BEFORE THE LORD
The cause of remedial judgements is the sin, practice, choices, laws and neglect of a nation and God's Own people from that which is right and holy in His sight. Long has our nation been spiraling down, away from God's Word and ways. The church has not been any help in this, as they too have 'left their first love'. The recognition that these behaviors by our nation, by the church have angered and provoked the Lord to wrath. And even though, as in the Scripture, God has been long-suffering, patient, kind, gracious and merciful, we have pushed Him further and further away by our judicial edicts and laws. God will not allow such evil to continue. It is completely against Him, antagonizing, and set at enmity against Him. and the only way to correct this, is to deal with the sin. This day of prayer and fasting is set aside to address these sins specifically. naming them, confessing them and repenting of them. Failure to do this allows for the sin to remain, and the wrath of God to increase against us. This is a fragile thing, for who knows how much time we have? so while we have time let us understand, according to the Word of God, wherein our sins are, speak them, recognize them and repent of them. As we did in the mentioning by Names and attritbutes of God, and then associating that out of prayer time to pray those things in relationship to us, so will we do with the sin.
Names of sins:
Examples:
Adultery - illicit sexual intercourse between or by a married man/woman/couple; In this day of our nation, lusts has gripped us like few other demons have. It holds the minds and lives of so many in and out of the church. Pornography has only thrown gas on this fire of lust and sin in the hearts of men and women. Divorces have happened by the 1000's because of such gross sin. Many have fallen in their Christina walk and testimony because of this sin.
So we pray: "O Father, as a nation, in your church, in our own hearts, we have broken the covenant of marriage in thought, intent and deed. For You said Lord, even if one does not commit the act, simply by looking and lusting they have already by intent done the deed of sin. Forgive us O Lord for eyes that filled with lusts, for homes that are broken over this sin, for Your churchs witness is not better than the lost sinners in the nation. Great is our sin against You in this one sin of adultery."
Humanism - the act of self; Ingrained in our way of life as Americans is this self-reliance, self-promotion, self-do it. All of these things keep us away from trusting, abiding and following after the Lord. Yea, in our salvation vow, did we not promise? have we not been instructed to 'die to self'? and yet far too many in the church are guilty of humanisitc efforts and ways. It is an underlying sin greatly afflicting our nation and the church.
so we pray: "O Lord, forgive us for looking at self; for trusting in my own right hand/arm; for planning and organizing ways rather than calling and waiting upon You. Forgive us for not dying self but living for self and aiding hell in its advancement over the souls of men."
Unholy - God commanded His church, His people, 'Be ye holy, as I am holy' and yet when we look at the church today, its people, its pulpits, its pews, its actions/reactions we are so unholy in His sight. thus, we know that we have failed in our attempts, lives, choices and witness to be holy, as He is holy.
So we pray: O Father, You are Holy; Your ways are Holy, Your Word is Holy; Your church is supposed to be holy. But Lord we are not! We have defiled our garments with the world; we carry the stinch of sodom on our aroma, rather than being a sweet smelling aroma; we have word, lives, and homes that are unholy in Your sight and Presence. O God, forgive us for our sin of being unholy as You are Holy. Forgive us for the acts, decisions and ways that unholy according to what You have spoken and required. Turn us back to Thee and make us holy like Thee in all our ways.'
Let us lists these sins of our nation, of the church and of our own hearts before the Lord from the Word of God as well as that which we know to be deeds of sin.
Herein is several passages identifying the sins that anger God:
Galatians 5:19 - 21 (fruits of the flesh, sin) Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
Matthew 15:18 - 20, "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man."
National Sins:
--having forsaken You and Your ways;
--pride and arrogance;
--adultery fills our nation, homes, marriages; often leading to the sin of divorce;
--drugs; illicit addiction to prescription, medicinal, recreational drugs is costing lives lost, ruined, destroyed, money spent for treatment, care and purchasing leads to exceptional waste;
--'Thou shalt have no other God, but Me" and our nation has replaced You, O Lord with so many other gods of money, sports, entertainment, family, self, etc.
--nation blessed with great advancement, technology, and potential, wasted and used for things of this world rather than working toward the Lord's Kingdom;
--legalizing of homosexuality; acceptance of our society for 30 years to bring it to pass, where it once was an illegal act; an abomination according to Scripture in the sight of God;
--gambling; billions of dollars, and time wasted on this excess of sin;
--from the days of prohibition being overturned to these days of acceptance for drinking alcohol; we have seen the death, health destroyed, lives abused by alcoholics and the money and waste of time invested in it;
--lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life which is enemity against God;
--increase of unbelief, atheism, agonosticism and other false religions;
--streets are filled with homicides; police being shot and killed and police killing and shooting;
--absence of God in the homes, in the minds and in society; replaced with evil in the thoughts, actions and ways of life;
--abortion legalized; 60 million babies have been murdered, and there blood cries out for justice and vengeance;
Church sins
--we have left our first love of Christ & to Christ;
--neglect and forsaken of His Word in study, memorizing, reading, meditation and sharing;
--prayerless churches, pastors and people;
--failure to share the Gospel and speak eternity with lost souls;
--money invested and used for vanity, entertainment rather than kingdom business;
--compromise with the ways of the world, sin and evil; departure from God's ways;
--set our affections on carnal, worldly and self rather than spiritual, heavenly and Christ;
--erosion of time in church services and growth of fellowship;
--unbelief; unholy; unfaithful; unrighteous;
--Sales in the church: yard sales; bake sales; soup sales;
--music over worship; emotions over knowledge;
--neglect of the Word of God in reading, knowing, memroizing and sharing;
III. A PLEADING FERVENT DESIRE FOR GOD TO MANIFEST HIS PRESENCE TO HIS PEOPLE FOR REVIVAL
After worshipping the Lord God, knowing His power, might and ability to help us , to deliver us, to restore us. and after our recognition that 'His ear is not heavy, His hand is not shortened, but our iniquities have separated us from Him' We have wept and cried to make the wrongs' right in His sight. And further know we can do nothing without Him. The greatest need of the church is to be revived again. His Presence in fullness can undo decades of powerlessness and prayerlessness. He can send Holy Ghost fire on His church and revive us again. Causing the church to be a power house to evangelism and salvation to bring floods of His light into this world of darkness. Such great movements of God in days gone by on His church have created and accomplished much for His kingdom. And our greatest need now is to finish the task of reaching the world. We cannot do this apart from Him.
Let us see that the process is the following
1. Meet God in this time of prayer and assembling;
2. Recognize Who He is and what He has said about Himself;
3. Recognize that we are not the people He wants us to be as His church;
4. Calling upon Him in confession and brokenness before Him; He is faithful to forgive and renew us;
5. when the church is clean and restored, the great need is to be filled with His power through the Holy Ghost;
6. When the church is filled, power in Him is restored to win the world; conquer the enemy; and finish the taks
Let us not revert to old ways of 'trying to do missions, evangelism, church or life' without Him or apart form Him.
Started: September 12, 2017
Continued:
Finished:
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