Please note: For the most part, today's post is not a prayer, but my hope and prayer is that God would use these words to spur you on in the work of prayer for revival in the Church. I thank God for those of you whom He raised up and given a desire to pray for revival and I am particularly thankful for those of you He has used in many ways to encourage and sustain me.

If you wish to discuss what I've written here, please send me a message and/or visit my other sites (naphtali_deer or deerlife). As I've said in my first post here, I want the comments here to be devoted to prayer and not discussion. Thank you for respecting that.

Yesterday on my other site I wrote of our ongoing need to pray for the Holy Spirit. (If you've not done so, I would encourage you to go and read that post based on Ezekiel 37:11-14.)

We must continue to take the position King Jehoshaphat did after he'd heard the Ammonites and Moabites and other nations were coming to battle against Israel:

In much the same way, if we are Christ's, we are going to be opposed on every side. May we never minimize or forget that. Jehoshaphat and Israel were facing a physical battle, but there was also a spiritual battle going on, and all of that is a picture the spiritual battle in which we are engaged. We are living in a realm of unseen powers and principalities. The devil is Christ's adversary and therefore he is also the adversary of all who are Christ's. The devil and his angels are on a relentless pursuit to tear down the work of Jesus Christ. Let us never forget that we are Christ's workmanship and the Church is His new creation, so we are targets of the evil one. The devil is the prowling, roaring lion who is looking to devour. He and his angels are working to do all they can to wreak havoc in the lives of the people of God. Of course, with that, we know that they are still under the sovereign hand of God, which limits their activities.

From a human perspective, did it really make much sense for Jehoshaphat to take that time to fast and pray (or later in the chapter we read how the nation of Israel spent time worshiping the Lord before and during the battle)? Consider that there were not a few, not even a multitude, but a great multitude of armies coming to battle!

Well, no, this doesn't make sense ... not if we look at it through human, secular eyes, that is. Sometimes many of us think prayer is only for the little things, but when it comes to those great multitudes, well, we really need to help out God a bit (or more than a bit!). How pathetic we are! Would that our longsuffering God might grant us patience to trust Him and wait upon Him, rather than resorting to our own schemes and relying on our pitiful resources. God's ways and God's thoughts are higher than ours. Whenever the children of God humble themselves and seek God's face in prayer and fasting for His heavenly wisdom and when we give Him the due reverence He deserves and demands, no matter how foolish and weak that may seem in the eyes of men, we can trust that our God will never fail to bless us and strengthen us and equip us with all we need for doing His will.

We see how Jehoshaphat confidently approached the throne of grace in Israel's time of need. We see how he continued to look to God's character – His sovereignty power and might – as well as God's past provision and His continuing covenant promises to His people. Because Jehoshaphat set these truths about the Lord before Him, he was able to set the Lord before him and was unmoved in this time when many might panic and react out of the flesh. Jehoshaphat knew he could trust God to hear and save Israel for the sake of His Name and boldly asked Him to do so. Of course, we can do the same for Jesus' sake. Yet, how seldom do we avail ourselves of the privilege of prayer and resort to acting before praying (if we pray at all)? Or how often do we go to prayer lacking boldness and confidence that our God is for us all because we do not immerse ourselves in the truths about God we find in Scripture, and then continue to find witness of throughout Church history and our own lives. How often do we panic and seek out human means of help all because we do forget His benefits and remember that He is the God who does wonders.

We also see that Jehoshaphat wasn't merely saying to God, "Bless us," or "Bless our plans," as if going to prayer would work like some kind of lucky charm or talisman, as a sort of add on. Jehoshaphat had no other plan but to go directly to the Lord in fasting and prayer. Jehoshaphat knew Israel had no other power or recourse but to turn to the Lord.  Right there we have the king of Israel publicly admitting in the midst of the congregation in the house of the Lord: "We are powerless...We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you."

O, that the Lord would send us more ministers who will stand up in their congregations and confess their weakness and lack of wisdom, their inability to do anything apart from Him! What blessed humility it takes for any of us to admit our total insufficiency and our total reliance on the Lord. Is not that what our Lord Jesus did? Was He not wholly dependent on His Father?

(Lord God, be gracious to us, come and fill Your ministers with Your Spirit, the Spirit of Your Son, so they might wholly rely on You and Your power and strength and not on themselves or the wisdom and strength of other men or of the world. Come and fill us likewise. Continue to impress on each of one of us that without You we can do nothing. We confess we too easily begin to trust in ourselves and our own resources and in the world's ways rather than trusting in You. You are the Vine, we are the branches. Help us to continue to abide in You so we might bear much fruit, fruit that will last, fruit to Your glory.)

Whenever we hear of trouble in the Church...

To whom shall we go when the Church is threatened from inside and out?

Whenever we hear of trouble in the Church...

In verse 3 we see how Jehoshaphat feared. Do we ever fear? Do we tremble? Do we ever see that our own earthly and fleshly supplies are pitifully insufficient and inadequate to fight the spiritual battle? Do we see that we can do nothing apart from the power of God at work on our behalf? How often do we become puffed up with pride, only to find ourselves pitifully defeated and upended? May we take heed, lest we fall. How pathetic we are that we so quickly forget the riches of Christ which await us at the throne of grace and glory!

O, that our Lord would look upon us with pity as we labor in vain and work from the flesh. But by His grace, we would certainly continue to build in our own efforts, to continue to toil in rowing and faint, to continue to labor in vain. May God be gracious to us and send His Spirit once more to work to soften our hearts so we might receive with humble gladness the lesson the apostle Paul had learned, the lesson of our blessed insufficiency and His total sufficiency!

My primary aim in writing today is to remind you (and myself) that as much as it makes little sense to us to continue to bow our knees and prostrate ourselves with the enemy approaching (and even as the enemy has come into the midst of many of our congregations and denominations like savage wolves in sheep's clothing), we must continue to go into the presence of the Lord in prayer, for along with the ministry of the Word, prayer is one of God's primary ordained means of reviving His Church.

As we pray for days or weeks or months on end, or even years, we may become discouraged for we may not see "results," but we must continue in faith and continue in prayer and seek His face. Prayer must always be our first course of action, never a mere afterthought, an add-on, a Plan B or a last ditch effort. Yes, I do know there are times we all must get up off our knees and act as the Lord directs us (well, yes, still praying without ceasing, bathing all we do in prayer and continuing to rely on His Holy Spirit), but may we never minimize, neglect or downgrade the vital necessity of entering into our closet and continuing in prayer for ourselves and one another, for our congregations and their leadership and the Church as a whole.

May our Lord guard us so we never skip ahead to action without first seeking Him in fervent prayer. Might it help us (me) to consider prayer as planting seeds? We read in Psalm 126 that as we sow faithfully in tears, we will surely reap a harvest in joy. Our labor in the Lord is never in vain, and that includes our labor in prayer, when we are praying according to Christ's will. We will reap in due season if we do not faint!

Almighty God, You know our spirits are willing but our flesh is weak. By Your Holy Spirit, strengthen us with Your power and might, so we might pray without ceasing alongside You, eternal Intercessor, Great High Priest.

Nehemiah 9:1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. 2 And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God. 4 On the stairs of the Levites stood Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani; and they cried with a loud voice to the LORD their God. 5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, "Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise..."

I would ask you read the whole of Nehemiah 9, and, as you do so, please ask yourself if you are making a separation from the world in your attitudes and actions. Let us keep in mind that as Christians God has called us out of the world to be holy to Him and to heed Him and His words to us... We each need to continue to ask ourselves if we are separating ourselves from the world and confessing our sins to Him and seeking to be holy as He is holy.

Many of you who are reading this have already received a calling of some sort to serve in the Body of Christ. We see here that though all the Israelites had come to see the need to separate themselves from the world and to confess their sins and iniquities, notice the role God's appointed leaders had. Certainly none of us can expect to be used by God so long as we are not examining ourselves before Him and confessing our sins to Him.

II Timothy 2:19  But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

22  So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

And let us also remember that there can be no true worship of God or true fellowship with Him apart from confession of sin. Our sin ought to grieve us, and yet we can take heart that God the Father has made provision for our sin in His Son Jesus Christ:

I John 1:5  This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 

2:1  My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2  He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3  And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4  Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5  but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: 6  whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.  

You may find the prayer below a helpful guide in your time of reflection after reading Nehemiah 9; it is based on portions of Nehemiah 9 plus other Scriptures.

May the Holy Spirit examine the thoughts and intents of our hearts and give us to desire to purify ourselves as He is pure as we reflect on God's Word together for the sake of His Name and for His glory.

* * *

Holy Father, Send Your Spirit to examine us. Your desire is for us to be holy as Your are holy. You have not only forgiven our sins through the atonement of Your Son Jesus Christ, but You have also credited Christ's righteousness to us. In addition, however, You have sent the gift of Your Holy Spirit to dwell in us to make us holy: to impart both the desire and the ability to walk in Your ways for us, and Your will for us is sanctification.

Guide us into all truth. Open our ears and hearts to hear Your Spirit speaking to us. May we not grieve or quench Him. We come before You. Examine us. Show us our thoughts and intents of our hearts so we might confess our sins to You and receive Your forgiveness and purification through Christ's blood. We know our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked; therefore, we know we cannot know ourselves apart from Your Spirit revealing our true nature. We praise You, O God, that You love us enough so to discipline us and You are kind to us to show us our sin and to lead us to repentance. We praise You that You are ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love because we are Yours in Christ. Forgive us our sins and cleanse and purify us for Jesus' sake. We have sinned greatly, but we come to You humbly and yet with bold assurance that You will never forsake us, holy God, because we come through our great Savior Jesus Christ.

How have we acted presumptuously and stiffened our necks?
How have we not obeyed Your commandments? (v. 16)

How have we refused to obey You?
How have we not been mindful of the wonders You have performed?
How have we stiffened our necks?
What leaders have we appointed to return to our slavery to sin? (v. 17)

What kind of golden calves had we made?
How have we committed great blasphemies against You? (v. 18)

Holy Father and spotless Lamb of God, You have sent us Your Holy Spirit to abide with us forever and to lead us into all truth. You have given Your good Spirit to instruct us in Your ways, in the ways of holiness. You have sent Your Spirit so we might be holy as You are holy and to bring glory to Jesus as we live lives holy to You.

Loving Father, You have not withheld Your only begotten Son from us, Jesus Christ, the true Bread for our hunger and the living Water for our thirst. We lack nothing. You have given us Your very Kingdom. And yet how often do we turn like sheep each to our own ways and to the voices of hirelings and away from You, our great Shepherd, and Your appointed leaders?

How have we been disobedient and rebelled against You?
How have we cast Your law behind our backs and killed Your prophets?
Perhaps not literally killed them, but how have we become angry in our hearts with those who have warned us in order to turn us back to You? (v. 26)

You have given us into the hand of our enemies. We are suffering now for our blasphemies against You. Your Church is not shining as a city on a hill. Our light is a bare flicker now. We are crying out to You, Lord God, in this our time of suffering. Almighty God, hear from heaven, and, according to Your great mercies, deliver us from the hand of our enemies. Deliver us from our desire to live to self and to sin and to the world. Create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us. O, so many times we have done evil against You. But You have been kind to us. O, loving God, Your mercies toward us are higher than the heavens. You have continued to be longsuffering toward us, not treating us or our sin as we deserve. You have continued to stretch Your arms out to us. You have shown Your covenant love toward us in giving us repeated warnings to turn back to You, so we might make You alone our strength, our wisdom, our righteousness, rather than relying on ourselves and walking in our own ways. You have shown us once and again that the way that seems right to us always ends in death.

How often have we neglected to hear Your warnings to us to turn us back to You and Your law?
How often have we acted presumptuously and not obeyed Your commandments, but sinned against Your rules? (v. 29)

O, righteous Father, how foolish and brutish we have been. We confess we have not been wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. Your commandments, Your rules, Your words: they are all life to us. You have given them to us that we might have life abundant and joy unspeakable and peace that passes all understanding. They are not constricting but freeing. They are all for our good. You are for us. You are our loving Father and are always seeking our good. Forgive us for continuing to turn a stubborn shoulder and stiffening our necks and not hearing and obeying You and Your words to us. For many years You have borne with us, Your Church. You have warned us by Your Holy Spirit through Your Word. You have continued to wash us with Your Word, and we confess we would not give ear. Forgive us, Lord, for turning away from You and Your Word. Turn us, and we will be turned. Open our ears now, so we might hear. Circumcise our hearts, so we might obey You. In Your great mercies do not make an end of us or forsake us. We appeal to You through the one Mediator between You and us, the man Christ Jesus. We have no appeal but His body and blood. For His sake, pour out Your love, grace and mercy toward us once again. We know we are not deserving of anything but wrath and condemnation from Your hand. We can only cry out along with the tax collector, "God, be merciful to us, we are sinners!" Be merciful to us for Jesus' sake! Thanks be to You and You alone, we are Your children, elect by Your sovereign will, and saved by the blood and the life of Jesus Christ our Savior and brought from death to life by the operation of Your good Spirit. Have mercy on us, holy Father. We confess we have sinned a great sin in Your sight by continuing to turn our backs to You and Your Word again and again.

Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, You who keep covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to You that has come upon us. Our lives as individuals and the life of Your Church is in great disarray now. We are so far from where we ought to be. Yet we must confess that You have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for You have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly. We have not kept your law nor paid attention to Your commandments and Your warnings that You have given us. Behold, we are slaves this day, rather than walking in the freedom You have intended for us. We are slaves to the world's wickedness. We are slaves to self. We are slaves to our own lusts. We are slaves to the lust of the flesh. We are slaves to the lust of the eyes. We are slaves to the pride of life. We are slaves to the ideas of men. We are slaves to the might of men. We are slaves to the power of men. We are slaves to our own cleverness. We are slaves to our intellect. We confess we have not relied on You as we ought. O, may we not love self! O, may we not love the world! Renew our minds so we might love You and You only, so we might wholeheartedly live for the One who died for us. Constrain us with Your love, O Christ. Strengthen us to die to self and to mortify sin by the Spirit.

Send Your Spirit now to fall fresh upon us. We have looked to the hills for too long now. Our help comes from You, who made heaven and earth. Forgive us, O Lord, for seeking help elsewhere. Thank You for showing us our desperate state and for turning our eyes toward You, for there is no true help apart from You. There is no true help for Your Church apart from You. Keep our eyes fixed on You, the author and finisher of our faith. Strengthen us now to look to You, to heed Your Word and to continue in obedience to You and Your Word by the power of Your Holy Spirit. What You have begun in us by the Spirit, we can never expect to finish in our flesh. Complete the work You have begun in us. O, Lord, Your mercies in Christ Jesus toward us endure forever. Perfect that which concerns us and Your Church. Do not forsake us, we are the work of Your hands. Amen.

Please add your prayers of confession as the Lord leads you.

Continuing on in Nehemiah . . . My last post was on the need for us to preach assurance of the forgiveness of sins for all who are in Christ, based on that portion in Nehemiah 8 where the people began to weep over their sins when they heard the Word of God, but they were instructed to rejoice. After that time of rejoicing, however, there was a clear call to confession and repentance of sins. Conviction, confession and repentance of sin is a necessary proof of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ; there can be no true worship of the LORD our God apart from circumcised and softened hearts, hearts which are broken, contrite and grieved over our sin. And let us always remember that conviction, confession and repentance of sin comes as God's Holy Spirit works through the reading, preaching and teaching of His Word. In addition to this post, please see my related prayer from Ezra 9 as well as these:

• May we gather as one man to hear Your Word (Nehemiah 8)
• Give us ears to be attentive to Your words alone (Nehemiah 8:3)
• one sign of revival: attentiveness to the Word of God (Whitefield's Journals)
• "People cannot take preaching...People are dying through lack of knowledge." (ML-J)
• pray for ministers to read from the book clearly, give the sense & understanding - Neh. 8:8
• Awaken a hunger for Biblical preaching (accounts of revival in Virginia in the late 18th c.)
• Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for grieving You, for not paying attention to Your Word
• Forgive us, Holy Spirit, for grieving You by despising the gift of Your Word
• May we increasingly desire to understand & study Your Word (Neh. 8:13)
• "not only in word" - send Your Holy Spirit so we might proclaim Your Gospel in power

I would encourage you to read through Nehemiah 8 before continuing reading here.

Nehemiah 9 [1] Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the people of Israel were assembled with fasting and in sackcloth, and with earth on their heads. [2] And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. [3] And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God.

O Lord our God,

How often do we assemble together with such a solemn attitude as we see here? How often do we see the depth of our sin in light of Your holiness? How often do we confess our sins? How often do we confess others' sins rather than seeing the planks in our own eyes? How often do we live no differently than the world? Are we not to be separate from the world? Are we not to be holy as You are holy?

How often do we assemble together and not have Your Word read? No wonder why there is often no difference between those of us who are in the Church and those who are not. No wonder why there is no conviction of sin. No wonder why there is no confession of sin. No wonder why there is no repentance of sin. Be merciful to us. Forgive us for neglecting Your very own Word to us, Your God-breathed words. Restore to us the reading, right preaching and teaching of the Word in our churches, O Lord. Give us pastors and teachers who know the vital necessity of making Your Word put in the central place. Give Your people a hunger to hear Your Word preached and taught rightly, rather than settling for second best, for drinking from broken cisterns and stagnant water.