first Love

  • Make us joyful in Your house of prayer for all the nations (Isaiah 56:1-8)

     
    Isaiah 56:
    1  Thus says the LORD:
    “Keep justice, and do righteousness,
    for soon my salvation will come,
    and my deliverance be revealed.
    2  Blessed is the man who does this,
    and the son of man who holds it fast,
    who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,
    and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
    3  Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say,
    “The LORD will surely separate me from his people”;
    and let not the eunuch say,
    “Behold, I am a dry tree.”
    4  For thus says the LORD:
    “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
    who choose the things that please me
    and hold fast my covenant,
    5  I will give in my house and within my walls
    a monument and a name
    better than sons and daughters;
    I will give them an everlasting name
    that shall not be cut off.
    6  “And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
    to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD,
    and to be his servants,
    everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
    and holds fast my covenant—
    7  these I will bring to my holy mountain,
    and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
    their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
    will be accepted on my altar;
    for my house shall be called a house of prayer
    for all peoples.”
    8  The Lord GOD,
    who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
    “I will gather yet others to him
    besides those already gathered.”

    O, Lord GOD,

    We were lost.
    Through Your Son, by grace through faith, You have given us salvation in Your house.
    In Your love, mercy and grace, You brought us to Your holy mountain.

    We were bound.
    Through Your Son, by grace through faith, You have given us deliverance in Your house.
    In Your love, mercy and grace, You brought us to Your holy mountain.

    We were unrighteous.
    Through Your Son, by grace through faith, You have given us righteousness in Your house.
    In Your love, mercy and grace, You brought us to Your holy mountain.

    We were enemies.
    Through Your Son, by grace through faith, You joined us to You in Your house.
    In Your love, mercy and grace, You brought us to Your holy mountain.

    We were foreigners.
    Through Your Son, by grace through faith, You brought us near in Your house.
    In Your love, mercy and grace, You brought us to Your holy mountain.

    We had no place.
    Through Your Son, by grace through faith, You have given us a place in Your house.
    In Your love, mercy and grace, You brought us to Your holy mountain.

    We had no name.
    Through Your Son, by grace through faith, Your have given us a name in Your house.
    In Your love, mercy and grace, You brought us to Your holy mountain.

    We were not a people.
    Through Your Son, by grace through faith, You have made us Your people.
    In Your love, mercy and grace, You brought us to Your holy mountain.

    We were unable to come.
    Through Your Son, by grace through faith, You have brought us to Your house.
    In Your love, mercy and grace, You brought us to Your holy mountain.

    We were from many nations.
    Through Your Son, by grace through faith, You have made us one holy nation.
    In Your love, mercy and grace, You brought us to Your holy mountain.

    O, LORD God,

    What are we doing with these undeserved, glorious privileges purchased for us through the cross of Jesus Christ?

    Are we ministering to You, LORD?
    Do we love Your name, LORD?
    Do we see ourselves as Your servants?
    Are we praying?
    Are we joyful in Your house of prayer?
    Are we praying for all nations?

    From many nations, You have brought us to Your holy mountain.
    Your house is to be a house of prayer for all nations.
    You have brought us into Your house, but how often do we bring our prayers there for all the nations?

    We confess we have not prayed as we ought.
    We have not loved You as we ought.
    We have not loved Your covenant mercies and grace as we ought.
    We have not loved Your Name as we ought.
    We have not loved the nations as You do.

    From many nations, by You have gathered us to Your holy mountain.
    Your house is to be a house of prayer for all nations.
    You gathered us into Your house, but how often do we pray for all the nations to be gathered there?

    We confess we have not prayed as we ought.
    We have not loved You as we ought.
    We have not loved Your covenant mercies and grace as we ought.
    We have not loved Your Name as we ought.
    We have not loved the nations as You do.

    Your house is a house of prayer for all nations.
    We are from many nations, we have been blessed and gathered in,
    yet are we praying for You to gather more from all the nations?

    We confess how we have not prayed as we ought.
    We have not loved You as we ought.
    We have not loved Your covenant mercies and grace as we ought.
    We have not loved Your Name as we ought.
    We have not loved the nations as You do.

    If we loved Your name, would we not be ministering to You in Your holy mountain?
    If we loved Your name, would we not be joyful in Your house of prayer?
    If we loved Your name, would we not come together in Your house for prayer for all nations?

    Give us a love for You.
    Give us a love for Your Name.
    Give us a love for Your covenant mercies and grace.
    Give us a love for the nations.
    Then we will pray as we ought.

    Bring us into Your holy mountain.
    Make us joyful in Your house of prayer,
    So Your house might truly be a house of prayer for all nations,
    So Your house might be truly filled with those praying for all the nations,
    So Your house might be filled with all the nations,
    So Your Name will be highly exalted.

    these I will bring to my holy mountain,
    and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
    their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
    will be accepted on my altar;
    for my house shall be called a house of prayer
    for all peoples.

    Please add your PRAYERS as the Spirit leads.

  • one sign of revival: attentiveness to the Word of God (Whitefield's Journals)

    A couple days ago, when I began to write my post May we gather as one man to hear Your Word (Nehemiah 8), I was expecting to post on Nehemiah 8:1-8, but then decided to cut it off in the middle of verse 3 because the passage was so packed.

    The end of verse three really hit me then (and it still does), particularly the word attentive:

    And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

    I had planned to post on that last portion of verse 3 yesterday, but before I began to pray/write/prepare to post on that I had been paging through George Whitefield's Journals looking for something else, and, in the providence of God, I ended up stumbling across a wonderful account of Londoners being attentive to the Word of God in much the same way we read of in Nehemiah 8.

    I had actually planned to include this account in my prayer yesterday, Give us ears to be attentive to Your words alone, but I got carried away with praying, so I would like for you to read it today (from p 88-89):

    ...for near three months successively, there was no end of the people flocking to hear the Word of God. The churchwardens and managers of charity schools, were continually applying to me to preach for the benefit of the children; and, as I was to embark shortly, they procured the liberty of the churches on weekdays,––a thing never known before. I sometimes had more than a dozen names of different churches, at which I had promised to preach, upon my slate-book at once; and, when I preached, constables were obliged to be placed at the door, to keep the people in order. The sight of the congregations was awful. One might, as it were, walk upon the people's heads; and thousands went away form the largest churches for want of room. They were all attention, and hear like people hearing for eternity.

    I now preached generally nine times a week. The early sacraments were exceeding awful. At Cripplegate, St. Ann's, and Forster Lane, how often have we seen Jesus Christ crucified, and evidently set before us! On Sunday mornings, long before day, you might see streets filled with people going to church, with their lanthorns in their hands, and hear them conversing about the things of God. Other Lecture Churches near at hand would be filled with person s who could not come where I was preaching; and those who did come, were so deeply affected, that they were like persons struck with pointed arrows, or mourning for a firstborn child...

    ...for near three months successively, there was no end of the people flocking to hear the Word of God.

    They were all attention, and hear like people hearing for eternity.

    On Sunday mornings, long before day, you might see streets filled with people going to church, with their lanthorns in their hands, and hear them conversing about the things of God.

    I've not seen people flocking to hear the Word of God in my city. Have you seen that in your city?
    I've not seen that type of attentiveness to the Word of God in my city. Have you seen that in your city?
    I've not seen the streets in my city filled with people going to Church conversing about the things of God? Have you seen that in your city?
    I've not seen that kind of hunger for the Word of God in my city. Have you seen that in your city?

    I think, no, I know it, a lot of people think those of us who are praying for revival are nuts.

    Honestly, how can you not pray for revival when you read these accounts?
    How can you not get down on your knees and beg and plead with God to revive us again?

    That is why I am praying for revival, and I hope this gives you one more reason to pray for revival.

    Martyn Lloyd-Jones spoke of the glorious possibilities God has for us as believers. This is one of those! People flocking to hear the Word of God and being attentive and hearing for eternity!

    Dare we imagine it? Yes, we must imagine it! We must never lose sight of these glorious possibilities! And then let us look to the God of glory who can impart that hunger for and attentiveness to His Word once again! He is the God who can do immeasurably above all we can ask or imagine!

    One sign of revivals is that there is an increasing desire to hear the Word of God preached rightly. We can see how wonderfully the Holy Spirit worked to make God's people attentive to His Word at the time of Whitefield. Whitefield wasn't preaching fluff. He wasn't catering to itching ears. He wasn't sugar-coating things. He was preaching Christ and Him crucified. He was preaching a Gospel of repentance and remission of sins by grace through faith in Christ. He preached of the need for souls to be born again and regenerated by the Spirit. I regret to say many people today do flock to churches, but those are churches where fluff and sugar-coated preaching is the rule. The apostle Paul's words to Timothy are evident: our churches are filled with people who no longer endure sound doctrine. They have heaped up teachers for themselves because they have itching ears. They have turned their ears away from the truth and turned to fables. Such preaching does nothing to impart life to dead souls or revive lukewarm or cold believers. I long and pray for the day when people would flock to hear the Word of God preached as it ought to be!

    I will say that for those of us who are praying for revival, one of the most encouraging things we can continue to do is to read the accounts of revivals and the stories of the men and women God used during those times. Go back! Please do that! You can find books at your library or do searches online or ask me. When we look back at the work God has done in the past, it gives us hope of what God might do once again. When I read of past revivals and then look at the state of the Church today and the state of my own soul, it makes me sick to my stomach and causes me to weep to see how far we are from the glory God has for us . .  yet at the same time it also spurs me onto prayer for it gives me a vision of what is truly possible through the power of God Almighty. Yes, it seems impossible! It seems so unlikely! Yet we have a God who does the impossible and does unlikely things! He can part the Red Sea! He can cause the waters to stand up in a heap! He can cause Jericho walls to fall down! That's what makes God God after all!

    We all know that God's Holy Spirit can come in the blink of an eye and rend the heavens and open a single heart or 3000 hearts to Him. The Spirit blows when and where He wills. Such a movement of the Holy Spirit is what I have been praying for, and I know many of you are also. Yes, this is impossible with any of us, but it is possible through Him.

    When we look at the state of the Church through our human eyes, we would so quickly give up. But when we look at the Church with the eyes of faith and the assurance that God loves the Church and will never leave her or forsake her, we cannot help but persevere in prayer...after all, Jesus Himself is persevering in prayer, is He not? Truly God is the God who can do miracles today, and some of the greatest miracles God can do are to bring dead sinners to life and to take cold or lukewarm believers and ignite the with passionate fire. Many people are seeking physical healing, but let us consider how much more wondrous and amazing are the supernatural spiritual healings God desires to work in souls, souls which are currently separated from Him by that great gulf fixed or those souls which once burned hot for Him but now have left their first Love. I know I have seen touches of that reviving work in my own life and in the lives of a few others, but I am not satisfied with that. I am praying God might do such work on a large scale as we have seen happen at various times throughout history, including the time of Whitefield and the brothers Wesley. That's what revival is. It's not a sideshow. It's not a feel good experience, it's not a health and wealth prosperity gospel, but it's the power of God coming to breathe life into dead souls, or to revive into all but dead believers for His glory.

    Revival is people convicted of their sin and cut to the heart, pleading "What must we do to be saved?"
    Revival is people seeing they are unclean and their righteousness is filthy rags.
    Revival is people weeping over their sin and seeking to be holy.
    Revival is people being transformed and set free from the power of sin.
    Revival is people zealous for the glory of God and the Gospel.
    Revival is people being shaken from their apathy about their own soul and the souls of others.
    Revival is people being given a heart to weep and plead for the souls of the lost.

    Again, none of us can make revival happen, but we can plead with the Lord that He might be gracious to us, and we can be faithful to remain in His Word and give out His Word without compromise. God is sovereign and He does all things in His time, always. But let us not give up meeting Him in prayer in the tent of meeting, and let us not give up encouraging one another to pray. Perhaps God's Spirit might be poured down on us from on high! We are poor and needy! May He have mercy on us, His Church, for Jesus' sake! Amen.

    Please add your prayers that God might revive us again, that we might be attentive to His Word once more.

  • "Love Song for Jesus" by poetically_truthful

    Once again today I'm sharing a prayer from another of my Xanga friends, poetically_truthful (Shannon). It was originally posted here.

    Dear brothers and sisters, please ask the Holy Spirit to examine your heart and love for the Lord Jesus Christ as you prayerfully read her words here.

    Love Song for Jesus

    Perhaps I've been distracted, maybe I've been lost. Maybe I've been growing, or learning something new. I don't know. All I know is I looked around and I see no fellow sheep standing in my field!

    You have been far from distant, but I would still like to come running home. You are everything to me. You're the life inside of me, the very air I breathe. It's no exaggeration. I know who you are to me. I know what you've done for me. I know how you love me. It's very possible I was on the road to forgetting...

    I cry when I remember my love for you. When I remember October three years ago, and that visit you paid me in that dream, the LIFE you've given me... it's a free gift. I could never deserve it otherwise. I guess I could sit in regret and guilt about that, but I think there's another option. Confession? I confess that my focus is not always on you. I confess that at times I take you out of my life's equation. I confess that over time, I've grown... complacent? I confess that I have lied and not been responsible. I confess that I have neglected areas in my life that I should not have neglected. Most importantly, I confess that I miss you.

    Things are changing in my life and I certainly don't understand it all because changes bring new things. Please check up on me often- I don't ever want to stray from you.  

    I love you.

    * * *

    Holy Spirit, be gracious to each of us, open our eyes and show us the true state of our hearts and our devotion.

    Brothers and sisters, Please add your prayers as His Spirit leads you.

"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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