bible

  • Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for grieving You, for not paying attention to Your Word

    My last several posts have focused on Nehemiah 8, with the deep desire that the Word of God might be made central once again in the Church of God.

    Yesterday was Pentecost Sunday, and though I have written previously about our sins of grieving, quenching and limiting the Holy Spirit in many areas, it never really hit me until yesterday how truly grieved and quenched and limited the Spirit of God must be by the ways we treat the Word of God, particularly as we prayerfully consider the role of the Holy Spirit in giving us the Word of God.

    II Peter 1:16  For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17  For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18  we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19  And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20  knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. 21  For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

    II Timothy 3:16  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17  that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

    Nehemiah 8:3 ... And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

    Lord God, we praise You when we see how Your Holy Spirit was instrumental in bringing Your Word to us through men. How could we have ever known Your mind, Your heart or Your will apart from Your revealing them to these things to us? We were Your enemies. Our minds, hearts and wills were held captive to our sin nature. We had no capacity to understand You or know You, or even any desire to seek You on our own. Yet, You have been gracious to us in carrying along these men by Your Holy Spirit so they might speak and write from You, not from their own will, not of their own ideas. O, to consider that You Yourself breathed out Your Word to us as a gracious gift to us! Amazing. The Scripture is God-breathed, not man-breathed. To consider Your very breath filled and animated these men to breathe out and write Scripture that we have to read today. To consider Your very breath fills these Words! Yet how often do we open Your Word? How often are our ears attentive to Your Words? Do we really consider Your Word God-breathed? If we did, would we neglect Your Word as we do?

    We thank You, Holy Spirit, for the gift of Scripture to us.
    We confess how often our ears are not attentive to You and to Your Word.
    We confess how we have grieved, quenched and limited You by not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for grieving You, for not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for quenching You, for not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for limiting You, for not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Father, for the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ.
    Your Word is a lamp to our feet and light to our path!
    May we pay attention to Your Word as light shining in a dark place!
    Give us ears that are attentive to You and Your Word, Holy Spirit.

    Holy Father, Your very voice spoke from heaven to testify and declared Jesus Christ to be Your very Son. Holy Spirit, You descended upon our Lord like a dove. You were given to Him without measure and remained on Him to authenticate His person and His ministry. Our Father and Holy Spirit, Your voice continues to testify to us today through the Holy Scripture. You have given Your Holy Spirit to us to guide us and lead us into all truth and to sanctify us. Yet how often do we close our ears to Your voice? How often do we close our ears to Your voice when we do not open up Your Word to read or sit and listen attentively to Your Word as it is taught and preached in our churches? O, that we would pay attention to Your voice, to Your Word, like a light shining in a dark place so we might know Your will and walk in it. Apart from abiding in Your Word, we are in darkness and ready prey to be snatched up and devoured by the prowling lion, to be deceived and led into temptation and sin by his wiles and schemes.

    We thank You, Holy Spirit, for the gift of Scripture to us.
    We confess how often our ears are not attentive to You and to Your Word.
    We confess how we have grieved, quenched and limited You by not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for grieving You, for not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for quenching You, for not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for limiting You, for not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Father, for the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ.
    Your Word is a lamp to our feet and light to our path!
    May we pay attention to Your Word as light shining in a dark place!
    Give us ears that are attentive to You and Your Word, Holy Spirit.

    Lord God, We confess how we are so prone to wander, to follow cleverly devised myths – even though You have made clearly known to us the power and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. We too easily forget those things which are of first importance. So many churches have let go of the centrality of Jesus Christ and His Gospel in our teaching and preaching. What a travesty, what an abomination – especially when we have also been eyewitnesses of His majesty, as Your Spirit has come to us through Your Word to reveal Jesus Christ to us and His very own Spirit has come to dwell in us and to bear witness to us that we are Your children.

    We thank You, Holy Spirit, for the gift of Scripture to us.
    We confess how often our ears are not attentive to You and to Your Word.
    We confess how we have grieved, quenched and limited You by not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for grieving You, for not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for quenching You, for not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for limiting You, for not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Father, for the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ.
    Your Word is a lamp to our feet and light to our path!
    May we pay attention to Your Word as light shining in a dark place!
    Give us ears that are attentive to You and Your Word, Holy Spirit.


    Lord God, You are immortal, invisible, the God only wise. You were in light inaccessible, hid from our eyes! We were blinded to the light of Your glorious Gospel and held captive by the prince of this age in his kingdom of darkness, and yet You have been gracious to us and revealed Yourself to us through the Lord Jesus Christ and led us out of darkness into Your marvelous light. Through Your incarnation, sinless life, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension You conquered sin, death and Satan and By grace through faith, we have come to You. You have opened the prison doors and set us free, so we might no longer follow the voices of strangers but that of You, our Good Shepherd. You revealed Yourself to us through Your indwelling Holy Spirit. You revealed Yourself to us through the precious Words of Scripture. These Words are straight from Your mouth to our ears. How can they not be profitable to us? You are good and all Your gifts to us are for our good. Your Word is Your gift to us to be used for reproof, correction and training in righteousness. Your intent is that each of us be competent and equipped for every good work for Your glory, so we might be a light shining in a dark place and those in the world might see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven. You have provided to us the means for us be competent and equipped, to know and to do Your will. When we are not walking in Your will for us we are a reproach to Your holy name. We praise You for preserving and protecting Your very own Words for us through thousands of years so we might grow and thrive in our life and faith in You and bring honor to You. Forgive us when we neglect Your Word and settle for so many other cheap substitutes and expect to be competent and equipped for every good work. Forgive us for not being attentive to Your Word. Why should we not be surprised when we continue to fail and flounder in our battle against sin if we do not hold fast to Your Words? Why should we not be surprised when we see so many clamoring for milk when they should be eating meat?

    We thank You, Holy Spirit, for the gift of Scripture to us.
    We confess how often our ears are not attentive to You and to Your Word.
    We confess how we have grieved, quenched and limited You by not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for grieving You, for not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for quenching You, for not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for limiting You, for not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Father, for the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ.
    Your Word is a lamp to our feet and light to our path!
    May we pay attention to Your Word as light shining in a dark place!
    Give us ears that are attentive to You and Your Word, Holy Spirit.

    Lord God, we know there is no true teaching, reproof, correction and training apart from Your Word. Apart from Your Word, we would all be doing what was right in our own eyes. Your Word is an anchor to us. Without it and without Your Spirit guiding us as we read and study it, we would be carried about with every wind of doctrine. Thank You, Father, that You have provided clear teaching straight from Your mouth to us, Your children. Thank You that You have not left us in darkness. Thank You that You have made and continue to make clear Your mind and Your way to us through Your Word and Your Spirit. Thank You for being patient and longsuffering with us. Give us hearts to hunger more for You and Your Word more and more. May we not settle for anything less.

    We thank You, Holy Spirit, for the gift of Scripture to us.
    We confess how often our ears are not attentive to You and to Your Word.
    We confess how we have grieved, quenched and limited You by not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for grieving You, for not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for quenching You, for not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for limiting You, for not paying attention to Your Word.
    Forgive us, Holy Father, for the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ.
    Your Word is a lamp to our feet and light to our path!
    May we pay attention to Your Word as light shining in a dark place!
    Give us ears that are attentive to You and Your Word, Holy Spirit.
    Please add Your PRAYERS as the Holy Spirit leads you.

  • Awaken a hunger for Biblical preaching (accounts of revival in Virginia in the late 18th c.)

    During the past couple weeks I have been focusing here on the need for us to pray for Biblical preaching to be restored to the Church:

    During that time, the main Scripture text I have had us focus on has been the first portion of Nehemiah 8:

    Nehemiah 8:1  And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. 2  So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. 3  And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. 4  And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. 5  And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. 6  And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. 7  Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. 8  They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

    For too long Biblical preaching has been jettisoned by many in the Church all in the name of growing the Church. There is a desire to attract people to the Church, but we know that the message of the cross, the message of the helplessness and sinfulness of man is not an attractive message. The cross is an offense and Christ is the stumbling stone. We are never to make growing the Church our primary goal. The only thing that will truly attract people to the Church and to Jesus Christ Himself is the work of the Spirit of God Himself in the human heart, to bring brokenness, a spirit of repentance, poverty of spirit and the soul hunger for the salvation found in Jesus Christ alone. If we faithfully pray and lift up Christ and Him crucified, we can trust that the Holy Spirit will draw those whom He is calling to Himself.

    Let us never compromise, minimize or dumb down the preaching the Word of God in the name of Church growth or for expediency, popularity, trendiness or to gain favor with men. We are dealing with the eternal fate of the souls of men and women and boys and girls here! We're to be making disciples, not merely adding to the church rolls. The Church is not a business and must never be run based on surveys or what people say they want. God has made it clear what He wants: His Gospel to be preached to the ends of the earth to His glory! And, let us be clear about this: the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation! Yes, it's true that we may very well grow the Church in numbers through many, many other means, but how deep and lasting can such growth be if it is not rightly and solidly rooted in the right preaching of the Word of God? We need to beware of building on the sand and not on the Rock. We may very well have many souls come in through our church doors, but we must ask how many of those have truly entered into the straight and narrow gate and come into the Kingdom of God by grace through faith through the work of the Holy Spirit?

    I still intend this site to be a springboard to prayer for revival. Because of that I've primarily posted prayers based on Scripture to help lead you (and me) in prayer for revival, but I have broken with that a few times, including a couple times as of late. On occasion (including today), I have brought you some exhortations and some accounts of God's past workings in Church history because I have come to see that besides reading the Bible and seeing God's hand working powerfully among His people there to revive them (including in this account in Nehemiah), another great impetus to prayer for revival is for us to look back at the history of revival in the Church. As the apostle Paul wrote about the Old Testament history of the Church, the same thing is true of all the history of the church: that these things are written as examples for us.

    With that in mind, today I ask you to read a couple accounts of revival in 18th century Virginia. (The following excerpts are from Iain Murray's "Revival and Revivalism: The Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism 1750-1858," Banner of Truth Trust (Edinburgh: 1994, reprinted 1996).) My hope and prayer is that as you read and prayerfully consider these and reflect on them, the Holy Spirit will spur you on to pray for revival, and specifically to pray that God would awaken a hunger for Biblical preaching in the Church and the Word of God would be given its rightful place again in the Church all to God's praise, honor and glory. (Please note: since tent of meeting is a site I would like to keep devoted to prayer for revival, if you do wish to discuss these things further, I do invite you to message me and/or check out my other blogs here and here, where I do post on some of these things from time to time. Thank you.)

    Devereux Jarratt went to England for episcopal ordination in 1762 and on his return the following year became the rector of Bath parish in Dinwiddie County. In that position he stood alone 'not knowing of one clergyman in Virginia like minded with myself . . . I was called an enthusiast, fanatic, visionary, dissenter, Presbyterian, madman, and what not.' To his own hearers his evangelical preaching was 'strange and wonderful'. He summarizes their conversation about his preaching as follows: 'We have had many ministers and have heard many before this man, but we never heard any thing, till now, of conversion, the new birth, &c. – we never heard that men are so totally lost and helpless, that they could not save themselves, by their own power and good deeds; – if our good works will not save us, what will?' In his uncompromising preaching of the law and the gospel Jarratt proved to be the successor to Samuel Davies, and by 1765 there was the same evidence of concern among his people as had marked the work at Hanover County sixteen years earlier. His hearers multiplied and strangers began to attend from 'far and near'.

    Jarratt's scattered parish was served by several buildings at different locations. One of these – the Butterwood church – had to be twice enlarged. Then, in 1770-71, he record, 'we had a more considerable outpouring of the Spirit at a place in my parish called White Oak'. This proved to be the beginning of a revival period:

    In the year 1772, the revival was more considerable, and extended itself in some places, for fifty or sixty miles around. It increased still more in the following year, and several sinners were truly converted to God. In Spring, 1774, it was more remarkable than ever. The word preached was attended with such energy, that many were pierced to the heart. Tears fell plentifully from the eyes of the hearers, and some were constrained to cry out. A goodly number were gathered in this year, both in my parish and in many of the neighbouring counties. I formed several societies out of those which were convinced or converted; and I found it a happy means of building to those that had believed, and preventing the rest from losing their convictions....
    (p.64)

    David Thomas ... became 'the first Baptist preacher that ever proclaimed the Gospel of Peace in the counties of Orange and Culpepper. His preaching was in power and demonstration of the Spirit.' Although he belonged to the Regular Baptists, Thomas was working with Samuel Harris and other Separates by 1765.

    These baptist preachers' ... evangelistic preaching was the same in content to that of Whitefield and the other leaders of the 1740s....The substance of their evangelical and Calvinistic message offered no novelties. When Anglican clergy attacked Baptists as 'false prophets', they replied that they believed their opponents' 'own Articles – at least the leading ones – and charged them with denying them, a charge which they could easily substantiate.

    The new movement, however, reached further than the people in whom a hunger for biblical preaching had already been awakened; it soon extended to multitudes who had never heard the gospel before. At first regarded with suspicion and ridicule, then, for a season, exposed to persecution from the authorities, Baptists preachers pressed on with their work. No one could doubt that they believed men must be converted to God if they were to be saved. The old charge that Christians 'turned the world upside down' (Acts 17.6) was heard again. A lawyer prosecuting them in court complained, 'These men are great disturbers of the peace; they cannot meet a man upon the road but they must ram a text of Scripture down his throat'. Another complainant alleged that in Loundoun County these men were 'quite destroying pleasure'. Yet their message continued to spread, in Semple's words, 'Like the spread of a fire . . .it does not in all cases advance regularly; but a spark being struck, flies off and begins a new flame at a distance'. One writer estimates that in 1772 'as many as forty thousand Virginians may have heard the gospel from the Baptists'. The growth int he Separate Baptist churches bears out the effects of this evangelism. In 1770, according to Semple, the Separates possessed only two congregations north of the James River and about four on the south side; two years later their number appears to have grown to twenty, with twenty-one branches. In 1774 they had thirty churches south of the James and twenty-four to the north.
    (pp.65-67)

    Lord God,

    Awaken a hunger for Biblical preaching in Your people!
    Awaken a hunger to preach Biblically in Your servants!

    We praise You for men such as Devereux Jarratt and David Thomas. We pray You would raise up men like these, men who would be willing to stand alone and preach Your Word without compromise. O, to have such enthusiasts, fanatics, visionaries, dissenters, madmen and what not! These are the men of whom the world is not worthy! Men who count their own reputations and their own lives as nothing but who have an unending passion and fire to preach Your Word in season and out of season. To have evangelical preaching, strange and wonderful preaching, filling our churches! How blessed! How glorious! To have the helplessness of man so clearly preached that complacent sinners and unregenerate church-goers who hear would be convicted and pierced to the heart and cry out, "What must I do to be saved?!" and come into the sheepfold of Christ. O, that the law and the Gospel would be preached in such uncompromising ways. May we not give people what they want to hear but what they need to hear to save their souls.

    Awaken a hunger for Biblical preaching in Your people!
    Awaken a hunger to preach Biblically in Your servants!

    We pray You would clearly call and ordain and send out men to preach the good news of great joy, the Gospel of peace through Jesus Christ. How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim peace and preach Your good news! There is no peace and no good news for men apart from the Gospel of Christ. Anoint Your servants with Your Spirit, give them a double portion of Your Spirit. May they not succumb to the temptation to rely on their own power and wisdom but wholly rely on Your power and wisdom, to Your glory alone. May Your Word be effectual to grow Your Church in Your way and in Your time as it is preached by Your chosen instruments with boldness and assurance and authority.

    Awaken a hunger for Biblical preaching in Your people!
    Awaken a hunger to preach Biblically in Your servants!

    I pray You would raise up men like these who are willing to be mocked for Biblical preaching. We know that many in the existing Church and denominational structures will balk against such preaching. Strengthen Your servants by Your Spirit so they might stand strong in the power of Your might despite the opposition they will certainly receive. May they never bow to the pressure of men but continue to be constrained by Your love and live and preach for You and not look to their own interests. May they not to count their lives as dear to themselves but be willing to do all that is necessary to preach Your Word without compromise. May they bow to You alone. May they seek to please You and not men. May they seek to serve You alone and not the world's mammon. May they fear You and not men. Keep them steadfast, immovable and abounding in Your work as You remind them that their labor in You is never in vain. The preaching of Your Word is never in vain for You have promised that in due time we will reap with joy. Raise up men who will seek first Your Kingdom rather than worldly kingdoms and acclaim. Strengthen them to go outside the camp to You, Jesus Christ, bearing Your reproach, for the sake of the elect. Keep them ever-mindful that we have no continuing city here but we seek the one to come.

    Awaken a hunger for Biblical preaching in Your people!
    Awaken a hunger to preach Biblically in Your servants!

    I pray You would take this hunger for Biblical preaching and put it into those who are now outside the existing Church. Draw all Your people from every nation, every tribe and every tongue to Mt. Zion to hear the Word of the Lord. We know Your sheep will hear Your voice, but too often what is heard in many congregations is nothing close to Your voice. No wonder why so many are left in darkness and despair. We see so many sheep who are harassed and helpless and remain so because they do not have shepherds who care for them and love them enough to preach the cross to them. The preaching of the cross alone will lead them to everlasting peace, joy and hope. We thank You for the assurance that Your sheep will not listen to strangers, but that Your irresistible grace will draw them to You as Jesus Christ is lifted up in our preaching. May we be once again be known as people who turn the world upside down. Would that we disturb the peace by preaching Christ. Many today cry out "Peace, Peace," but they are dupes of the devil. Many, many souls may feel happy and content, but they are deceived and heading for hell. They are under condemnation but they do not know of their need. They do not see the true state of their souls. How can they know of their sin if they do not hear the law preached? How can they know the way of salvation if they do not hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ clearly preached? May Your Word be preached clearly so it might awaken the dull of hearing out of their sleep and lethargy. May Your Word be preached clearly so the dead would be raised to life. May we not cater to itching ears, but steadfastly proclaim Your Word without apology. May we faithfully proclaim Your Word and trust that when that spark is lit, Your Spirit will carry it where You will to enlighten many who are now in the darkness and blinded by the prince of this age. We are sorely in need to such fire and light today, Lord! The world is cold to You and their eyes are blinded. Even many in our churches are lukewarm and have their vision clouded. We can trust that as we remain true to the preaching of Your Word, hearers will be multiplied and strangers will come from far and near.

    Awaken a hunger for Biblical preaching in Your people!
    Awaken a hunger to preach Biblically in Your servants!

    Isaiah 2:2: It shall come to pass in the latter days
    that the mountain of the house of the LORD
    shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
    and shall be lifted up above the hills;
    and all the nations shall flow to it,

    Isaiah 2:3: and many peoples shall come, and say:
    “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
    to the house of the God of Jacob,
    that he may teach us his ways
    and that we may walk in his paths.”
    For out of Zion shall go the law,
    and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

    Awaken a hunger for Biblical preaching in Your people!
    Awaken a hunger to preach Biblically in Your servants!

    Please add your prayers as His Holy Spirit leads you.

  • pray for ministers to read from the book clearly, give the sense & understanding - Neh. 8:8

    My recent posts based on Nehemiah 8 have focused us to pray that the Word of God might be restored to its rightful place in our churches.

    As we look through the Word of God, we can't help but see how much God values and treasures His Word, and we ought to do the same. So much of the Church today has been guilty of not treasuring the Word and not giving the Word of God its rightful place. That's why I am continuing to post on this theme (and expect to continue to do so with at least a couple more posts from Nehemiah in the coming days, D.V.). If we don't have our foundation set rightly in the Word of God, we will end up going all wrong. In the past several years, we've certainly reaped what we've sown; we've seen the sorry fruit of that over the past many years now.

    For today's post I'm returning once again to Nehemiah 8.

    As you read and reflect on the passage below, please notice how the ministers of God were used by God to read and teach the Word of God to give understanding to the people of God. (You may also like to read my related posts here, here, here and here.)

    1  And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. 2  So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. 3  And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. 4  And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. 5  And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. 6  And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground. 7  Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. 8  They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

    9  And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. 10  Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” 11  So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12  And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

    Lord God,

    We are Your people. The sheep of Your pasture. We thank You that while we had gone astray each to our own way, You laid our sin on Jesus Christ, the Lamb without blemish. We thank You for redeeming us with His precious blood. We thank You for giving us the gift of Your Word to sustain us day in and day out.

    We are Your people. You have given us Your Word, but apart from Your Holy Spirit we can have no true and right understanding of Your Word. As we read and listen to Your Word, we pray You would continually guide us, protect us from error and lead us into all truth.

    We are Your people. You have given us Your Word. In addition to Your Holy Spirit, You have ordained and gifted and sent men and women today in the Church to give us understanding from Your Word. We pray You would protect those You send from error and lead them into all truth. We pray You would give us ears to hear Your voice and to flee from the voice of strangers.

    We see in Nehemiah 8 how You ordained and sent and gifted leaders who

    read from the book
    read from the book clearly
    gave the sense
    so that the people understood the reading.

    We pray You would send us such ministers today!


    We confess how so many of our leaders no longer read from the Book at all! Preachers and teachers in the church and parachurch organizations look to their own ideas or to the words of men in other books or on television or the internet. They go everywhere else for messages but to You, O Lord. O, how foolish we are! You alone have the Words of life. So many confer with other men but they have neglected to sit and commune with You, living God, and listen to You speak to them through Your precious Word. We confess there are so many leaders out there who center and ground their teaching on any and all things but Your precious, life-giving, life-changing Word.

    Forgive us, Word of God, for neglecting the holiness and the absolute centrality of Your precious Word.
    Be gracious to us. Restore Your Word to its rightful place in our churches.
    We are Your people. The sheep of Your pasture. We are hungry for true and living Bread.
    Send us ministers after Your own heart,
    ministers who love You and Your Word,
    ministers who will


    read from the book
    read from the book clearly
    give the sense
    so we Your people would understand the reading.

    We confess how so many of our leaders may read from the Book but they do not read from the Book clearly! Forgive us, Word of God. We confess how so many of our leaders have taken Your wholesome words and made them unwholesome. They have taken the living waters and made them stagnant. There is no life in the words they speak. They have not preached Your Word with authority. They have not preached Your Word with Your Holy Spirit power. They have not preached Your Word as if it were truth. They preach no differently than Pilate who asked our Lord, "What is truth?" They preach as if the Bible is just another book and its teachings not authoritative or vital to us. So many make no clear distinction between the broad way that leads to destruction and the narrow, straight gate that leads to life.

    Forgive us, Word of God, for devaluing the authority and uniqueness of Your precious Word.
    Be gracious to us. Restore Your Word to its rightful place in our churches.
    We are Your people. The sheep of Your pasture. We are hungry for true and living Bread.
    Send us ministers after Your own heart,
    ministers who love You and Your Word,
    ministers who will


    read from the book
    read from the book clearly
    give the sense
    so we Your people would understand the reading.

    We confess how so many of our leaders no longer give the sense as they preach and teach but rather they end up confusing their hearers! We confess how so much preaching and teaching today does not clearly lift up Jesus Christ as the way, the truth and the life. Your Gospel is to be proclaimed, not to be debated. The Word of God is to be expounded, to show forth Christ clearly from beginning to end. Satan is a deceiver and a liar and the father of lies. The devil wants to keep people blinded and entangled by his lies. Misinformation, disinformation and confusion are his specialties. He delights to keep people wrapped up in his kingdom of darkness, in the shadows, in confusion, without a true sense of reality, blinded and unable to see the light of Your glorious Gospel and hear the good news of great joy proclaimed. Your Word is to be preached and taught clearly so it might bring light to those in darkness, to set the prisoners free, to bring oil of joy for mourning. Yet how often is the Gospel message clouded and blurred today, so no sense is given, but only nonsense is taught and souls remain lost and in the dark, apart from You, the true Light. So many who sit under such teaching never understand their true spiritual condition: that they are lost sinners with no hope apart from the Gospel. How can lost sinners believe on Christ unless they hear preaching that gives the sense?

    Forgive us, Word of God, for obscuring the light and truth of Your precious Word.
    Be gracious to us. Restore Your Word to its rightful place in our churches.
    We are Your people. The sheep of Your pasture. We are hungry for true and living Bread.
    Send us ministers after Your own heart,
    ministers who love You and Your Word,
    ministers who will


    read from the book
    read from the book clearly
    give the sense
    so we Your people would understand the reading.

    We confess how so many of our leaders do not impart understanding to their hearers! We confess that some leaders have been enamored with intellect and scholarship and the esteem of men that they no longer preach the simple message of Christ and Him crucified. We confess that other leaders have added layers and layers upon the simplicity of the Gospel, to confound it, to make the Gospel about us and our works rather than about Jesus Christ and His work done for us on the cross and continuing in us through His Holy Spirit. You, Lord of the universe, invited the little children to come to You. Even the common people heard You, Lord. The glorious Gospel is foolishness to the world, but to those being saved it is the power of God. Yet today we confess that so much of what is preached and taught complicates, confuses, clouds and confounds those who hear it. So many leaders today do not clearly lead and shepherd the hungry sheep into green pastures and the thirsty sheep to still waters. We confess so many of our leaders no longer impart understanding of Your Word to Your people, but rather cause much misunderstanding, so the flock remains hungry and thirsty. Our leaders neglect to clearly proclaim that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only power to save sinners; that Christ is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.

    Forgive us, Word of God, for being ashamed of and stumbling at the simple wisdom of Your precious Word.
    Be gracious to us. Restore Your Word to its rightful place in our churches.
    We are Your people. The sheep of Your pasture. We are hungry for true and living Bread.
    Send us ministers after Your own heart,
    ministers who love You and Your Word,
    ministers who will


    read from the book
    read from the book clearly
    give the sense
    so we Your people would understand the reading.

    Please add your prayers to the Lord to send us ministers who will

    read from the book
    read from the book clearly
    give the sense
    so we would understand the reading.

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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