February 5, 2010

  • Lord, teach us to pray once again: the burden of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 1:1-4)

    God of heaven,

    Your servant Nehemiah was burdened over the state of Your people:


    Nehemiah 1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

    Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the capital, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem.

    3 And they said to me, The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.

    4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

    Lord God, You have already taught us to pray...
    Yet we are so slow to learn...
    Father, have mercy on us.
    Forgive us, for Jesus' sake.
    Though we are slow to learn we come to You and ask us to teach us again...


    God of heaven,
    We see how Your servant Nehemiah was genuinely concerned and burdened about the fate of his brothers and sisters, Your people.
    We confess we are often not genuinely concerned and burdened about our brothers and sisters, Your Church.
    We confess we are often only genuinely concerned and burdened about ourselves.
    We confess we are not heavenly minded.

    Our Father in heaven, forgive us for Jesus' sake.
    Restore to us a jealous and zealous love for You, Your Name and Your glory.
    Restore to us a jealous and zealous love for Your Church.
    Give us eyes to see the broken down walls and the burned gates in Your Church today.
    Break our hearts at what is happening in Your Church today.
    Break our hearts at what is happening in our own lives today.

    Lord God, You have already taught us to pray...
    Yet we are so slow to learn...
    Father, have mercy on us.
    Forgive us, for Jesus' sake.
    Though we are slow to learn we come to You and ask us to teach us again...

    God of heaven,
    We see how Nehemiah was genuinely concerned and burdened about Your Name and Your glory.
    We confess we are not genuinely concerned and burdened about Your Name and Your glory.
    We confess we are often concerned and burdened about our names and our own glory.
    We confess we are not heavenly minded.

    Our Father in heaven, forgive us for Jesus' sake.
    Restore to us a jealous and zealous love for You, Your Name and Your glory.
    Restore to us a jealous and zealous love for Your Church.
    Give us eyes to see the broken down walls and the burned gates in Your Church today.
    Break our hearts at what is happening in Your Church today.
    Break our hearts at what is happening in our own lives today.

    Lord God, You have already taught us to pray...
    Yet we are so slow to learn...
    Father, have mercy on us.
    Forgive us, for Jesus' sake.
    Though we are slow to learn we come to You and ask us to teach us again...

    God of heaven,
    We see how Nehemiah reacted when he heard of his brothers' and sisters' trouble and shame.
    We confess we often turn a deaf ear to the trouble and shame of Your Church.
    We confess we are often more excited about worldly matters, sports and entertainment than the state of Your Church.
    We confess we are not heavenly minded.

    Our Father in heaven, forgive us for Jesus' sake.
    Restore to us a jealous and zealous love for You, Your Name and Your glory.
    Restore to us a jealous and zealous love for Your Church.
    Give us eyes to see the broken down walls and the burned gates in Your Church today.
    Break our hearts at what is happening in Your Church today.
    Break our hearts at what is happening in our own lives today.

    Lord God, You have already taught us to pray...
    Yet we are so slow to learn...
    Father, have mercy on us.
    Forgive us, for Jesus' sake.
    Though we are slow to learn we come to You and ask us to teach us again...

    God of heaven,
    We see how Nehemiah sat down and mourned for days before You over Your people.
    We confess we barely sit down and mourn for a moment before You, much less days.
    We confess we find it easy to down and engage in time-wasting activities for days on end...and another week passes...and another...
    We confess we are not heavenly minded.

    Our Father in heaven, forgive us for Jesus' sake.
    Restore to us a jealous and zealous love for You, Your Name and Your glory.
    Restore to us a jealous and zealous love for Your Church.
    Give us eyes to see the broken down walls and the burned gates in Your Church today.
    Break our hearts at what is happening in Your Church today.
    Break our hearts at what is happening in our own lives today.

    Lord God, You have already taught us to pray...
    Yet we are so slow to learn...
    Father, have mercy on us.
    Forgive us, for Jesus' sake.
    Though we are slow to learn we come to You and ask us to teach us again...

    God of heaven,
    We see how Nehemiah continued fasting and praying before You.
    We confess we find it difficult to fast and pray at all, not to mention continuing to do so.
    We confess we find it easy to feed our flesh and speaking and listening to others rather than seeking Your face in prayer.
    We confess we are not heavenly minded.

    Our Father in heaven, forgive us for Jesus' sake.
    Restore to us a jealous and zealous love for You, Your Name and Your glory.
    Restore to us a jealous and zealous love for Your Church.
    Give us eyes to see the broken down walls and the burned gates in Your Church today.
    Break our hearts at what is happening in Your Church today.
    Break our hearts at what is happening in our own lives today.

    Lord God, You have already taught us to pray...
    Yet we are so slow to learn...
    Father, have mercy on us.
    Forgive us, for Jesus' sake.
    Though we are slow to learn we come to You and ask us to teach us again...

    Forgive us, Holy Father, for Jesus' sake. We come before You and confess our apathy. How often Your children, our very own brothers and sisters, are in dire need, and yet we turn away because they are far away from us, we forget their difficulties, their struggles to survive, the persecution they endure daily for the sake of Your Name. We see how Nehemiah had a heart for his brothers and sisters even though they were far away from him. Give us a heart for our brothers and sisters, Your children, all over the world.

    Our Father in heaven, forgive us for Jesus' sake.
    Restore to us a jealous and zealous love for You, Your Name and Your glory.
    Restore to us a jealous and zealous love for Your Church.
    Give us eyes to see the broken down walls and the burned gates in Your Church today.
    Break our hearts at what is happening in Your Church today.
    Break our hearts at what is happening in our own lives today.


    Forgive us, Holy Father, for Jesus' sake. We come before You and confess our apathy. How often our brothers and sisters nearer to home are in dire need, and yet we turn away because we are apathetic and uncaring and are focused on seeking our own kingdoms; we worry about what we will eat, what we will drink and what we will wear, we worry more about our comfort and convenience rather than seeking first Your Kingdom. We sometimes forget that if we are Yours, we are called to be on mission right where we are. We forget we are Your priesthood sent out into the world, even when that world for us is our neighbor next door.

    Our Father in heaven, forgive us for Jesus' sake.
    Restore to us a jealous and zealous love for You, Your Name and Your glory.
    Restore to us a jealous and zealous love for Your Church.
    Give us eyes to see the broken down walls and the burned gates in Your Church today.
    Break our hearts at what is happening in Your Church today.
    Break our hearts at what is happening in our own lives today.

    Forgive us, Holy Father, for Jesus' sake. We come before You and confess our apathy. How often our brothers and sisters are in dire need, and yet how we are unable to see the need because we have lost the sense of Your glory. We worry more about looking socially acceptable and numerical growth. We are in great trouble and shame because we have not lifted up Jesus Christ and Him crucified and have failed to remain rooted in the apostles' doctrine and prayer. We confess we have relied on our own resources rather than the power of Your Holy Spirit. So long as we continue to remake You, the Lord Christ, His Gospel and the Church after our own image we will be remain in great trouble and shame.

    Our Father in heaven, forgive us for Jesus' sake.
    Restore to us a jealous and zealous love for You, Your Name and Your glory.
    Restore to us a jealous and zealous love for Your Church.
    Give us eyes to see the broken down walls and the burned gates in Your Church today.
    Break our hearts at what is happening in Your Church today.
    Break our hearts at what is happening in our own lives today.

    Please add your prayers as His Holy Spirit leads you.

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tent_of_meeting

"he called it the tent of meeting..."

I am burdened to pray to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the reformation and reviving of Christ's church.

The phrase tent of meeting comes from Exodus 33:7: Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp.

This site is devoted to God first and foremost. In all that is done here, my prayer is that God is glorified and His Name magnified and Christ and Him crucified is lifted up so He might be preeminent and God might receive all the praise, honor and glory due His Holy Name. All who have come to a saving knowledge of our Father by grace through faith in the all-sufficient sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are welcome to enter this tent of meeting to seek the Lord.

This blog is a place for all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ to come and seek God's face for revival. My intention is for this tent of meeting to be a holy place where we can enter into PRAYER together to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit leads you, please enter into prayer either here (think of "comments" as prayers) or on your own.

Habakkuk 3:2 O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.

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