November 3, 2010

  • Who are we? You, O LORD, are enthroned forever! Arise, have pity, build up Zion! (Psalm 102:11-17)

    Holy and Almighty God,

    We confess how we are so often like Israel:

    Isaiah 9
    8  The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
    and it will fall on Israel;
    9  and all the people will know,
    Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
    who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
    10  “The bricks have fallen,
    but we will build with dressed stones;
    the sycamores have been cut down,
    but we will put cedars in their place.”

    We look around us, we see the bricks fallen, and we are grieved.
    We look around us, we see the sycamores cut down, and we are grieved.

    We have seen the ruins in the Church, but we have become proud and arrogant.
    We have seen the ruins in the Church, but we forget we are not sufficient in ourselves.
    We have seen the ruins in the Church, but we don't want to rebuild in Your way.

    We confess we are proud.
    We confess we are arrogant in heart.
    We confess that instead of looking to You to lead us in rebuilding, we often look to ourselves and make ourselves gods.

    We confess we are not sufficient.
    We confess we have been puffed up with knowledge, rather than humbled by Your grace.
    We confess that we have been filled with ourselves, rather than filled with Your Spirit.
    We confess we have boasted in our own strength and our own wisdom:

    “The bricks have fallen,
    but we will build with dressed stones;
    the sycamores have been cut down,
    but we will put cedars in their place.”

    Forgive us, O Lord, for Jesus' sake, when we try to rebuild apart from Your supplies.
    Forgive us, O Lord for Jesus' sake, when we try to do Your work with a fleshly spirit.
    Forgive us, O Lord for Jesus' sake, when we try to do Your work with fleshly means.

    Cleanse and purify us from our sin.
    Create in us a new heart of humility.
    Create in us a new heart of dependence.

    Our attempts at building with dressed stones and cedars are filthy rags to You.

    You have said You would build Your Church.
    Yes, You do want to use us in that process, but we can never do so in our own strength and wisdom.

    Psalm 127:1  Unless the LORD builds the house,
    those who build it labor in vain.

    All our labor will be in vain so long as we are acting out of pride.
    All our labor will be in vain so long as we are acting out of arrogance.
    All our labor will be in vain so long as we are not humbled.
    All our labor will be in vain so long as we are relying on earthly wisdom.
    All our labor will be in vain so long as we are relying on earthly strength.
    All our labor will be in vain so long as we are not filled with Your Spirit.
    All our labor will be in vain unless we are relying on you.

    Humble us, Lord, so we might labor and build in the way You desire.
    Humble us, Lord, so we might labor and build with the supplies You provide.

    Holy Spirit, come down upon us and fill us once again so we might engage in the work of building in Your strength and wisdom for Your glory.

    We are nothing. You must be everything.

    How foolish we are to think that in and of ourselves we have anything of value to build Your eternal Kingdom.
    Who are we?

    Psalm 102:11  My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass.

    What are any of us in comparison to You, Eternal and everlasting God, You have had no beginning and have no ending. You were, You are and You always will be.

    11  My days are like an evening shadow;
    I wither away like grass.
    12  But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever;
    you are remembered throughout all generations.
    13  You will arise and have pity on Zion;
    it is the time to favor her;
    the appointed time has come.
    14  For your servants hold her stones dear
    and have pity on her dust.
    15  Nations will fear the name of the LORD,
    and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
    16  For the LORD builds up Zion;
    he appears in his glory;
    17  he regards the prayer of the destitute
    and does not despise their prayer.

    Who are we?
    We confess we are like an evening shadow.
    We confess we wither away like grass.
    We confess we are destitute.
    We confess our inability and insufficiency, Lord.
    We profess Your ability and sufficiency, Lord.

    You, O LORD, are enthroned forever!

    Holy God, Hear us, look with pity on Your people, the sheep of Your pasture, Your flock.
    Arise, have pity on us and favor us, not because of anything we have done, but for Jesus' sake.
    Remember Your covenant of grace we have received through faith in Christ's sacrifice.

    O, may we hold Jesus Christ as dear, the Chief Cornerstone.
    O, may we hold each of the living stones You are placing in Your temple as dear.
    You have taken us from dust and put Your glory into us!

    Arise, have pity on us and favor us for the sake of the nations who have yet to have heard.
    Arise, have pity on us  and favor us so all the kings of the earth will fear Your glory.

    You, O LORD, are enthroned forever!

    Glorious King, build up Zion, Lord.
    Appear in glory once again.
    The glory has departed from Your Church.
    We want to see Your Church in her former glory again.

    Use the remnant You are raising up to pray and to build.
    Use us as You will.
    We are destitute.
    Do not despise our prayer.
    We long to see Your Church revived and rebuilt and restored to her former glory.

    You, O LORD, are enthroned forever!


    Please add your PRAYERS below as the Holy Spirit leads you.

Comments (2)

  • Our sufficiency will always be in Christ alone. That is so comforting.

    Thanks for sharing this post, Karen.

    blessings

    FRANK

  • Thank You O Lord that You do not despise our prayer!  We look to You and You alone for our revival and renewal of our strength - to feel Your presence and know Your love,  to glorify You with all that we are!!   How wonderful to know that You are there!!  Amen!!

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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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