repentance

  • O That the Lord Would Guide My/Our Ways (Isaac Watts)

    In last Sunday's worship, we sang Isaac Watts' "O That the Lord Would Guide My Ways." I thought the hymn was a wonderful prayer that fit beautifully with my current posts on Nehemiah, where the people are in distress over their sin, they have confessed and repented of it, but then rather than relying on Christ wholly, they forget the covenant He has made with them and they make promises they can never fulfill apart from His power.

    I've adapted Watts' hymn into first person plural from first person singular (yes, with that some of the rhyming was lost ), as I have also adapted the Bible verses below into first person plural, so we might pray those verses and the hymn together corporately today.

    May our Lord keep us ever mindful of our dependence on Him from first to last, for He is the author and finisher of our faith, and without Him we can do nothing...

    * * *

    Lord God, we could do nothing to come to You in the first place, and we can do nothing to remain in You. Our salvation is all of You, to the praise of Your glorious grace alone. The works we do are all of You, all from You, all through You, all to Your praise, honor and glory alone.

    I Corinthians 1:30  He is the source of our life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 31  Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

    Lord God, our boast is in You alone. You are the source of our life. We are dead apart from You.
    Any good we have done and can ever do is all of You.
    For of You, and through You, and to You, are all things: to You be glory for ever. Amen.
    Praise be to You, O loving Father, for Your glorious grace freely poured out on us through Your Son & Spirit!
    We confess we are prone to wander. Hedge us in, guide our ways to keep Your statutes.
    Continue to be gracious to us, for Jesus' sake, pour out upon us grace upon grace.
    Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

    Philippians 2:12  Therefore, my beloved, as we have always obeyed, so now, may we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, 13   for it is God who works in us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

    Lord God, our boast is in You alone. You work in us to will and to work of Your good pleasure.
    Any good we have done and can ever do is all of You.
    For of You, and through You, and to You, are all things: to You be glory for ever. Amen.
    Praise be to You, O loving Father, for Your glorious grace freely poured out on us through Your Son & Spirit!
    We confess we are prone to wander. Hedge us in, guide our ways to keep Your statutes.
    Continue to be gracious to us, for Jesus' sake, pour out upon us grace upon grace.
    Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

    II Thessalonians 2:11  To this end we always pray for one another and ourselves, that our God may make us worthy of His calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power, 12  so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in each of us, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Lord God, our boast is in You alone. You fulfill in us every resolve for good by Your power.
    Any good we have done and can ever do is all of You.
    For of You, and through You, and to You, are all things: to You be glory for ever. Amen.
    Praise be to You, O loving Father, for Your glorious grace freely poured out on us through Your Son & Spirit!
    We confess we are prone to wander. Hedge us in, guide our ways to keep Your statutes.
    Continue to be gracious to us, for Jesus' sake, pour out upon us grace upon grace.
    Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

    Hebrews 13:20  Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21  equip each of us with everything good that we may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

    Lord God, our boast is in You alone. You equip us with everything good to do Your will.
    Any good we have done and can ever do is all of You.
    For of You, and through You, and to You, are all things: to You be glory for ever. Amen.
    Praise be to You, O loving Father, for Your glorious grace freely poured out on us through Your Son & Spirit!
    We confess we are prone to wander. Hedge us in, guide our ways to keep Your statutes.
    Continue to be gracious to us, for Jesus' sake, pour out upon us grace upon grace.
    Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

    I Corinthians 15:10  But by the grace of God we are what we are, and His grace toward us was not in vain. On the contrary, we worked harder than any of them (and let us continue to work harder), though it was not we, but the grace of God that is with us.

    Lord God, our boast is in You alone. We work but it is Your grace that works in us.
    Any good we have done and can ever do is all of You.
    For of You, and through You, and to You, are all things: to You be glory for ever. Amen.
    Praise be to You, O loving Father, for Your glorious grace freely poured out on us through Your Son & Spirit!
    We confess we are prone to wander. Hedge us in, guide our ways to keep Your statutes.
    Continue to be gracious to us, for Jesus' sake, pour out upon us grace upon grace.
    Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
    "O That the Lord Would Guide My Ways"

    (by Isaac Watts, 1719, adapted)
    Psalm 119:5

    O that the Lord would guide our ways
    To keep His statutes still!
    O that our God would grant us grace
    To know and do His will!

    O send Thy Spirit down to write
    Thy law upon our hearts!
    Nor let our tongue indulge deceit,
    Nor act the liar’s part.

    From vanity turn off our eyes;
    Let no corrupt design,
    Nor covetous desires, arise
    Within these soul of ours.

    Order our footsteps by Thy Word,
    And make our hearts sincere;
    Let sin have no dominion, Lord,
    But keep our consciences clear.

    Our souls hath gone too far astray,
    Our feet too often slip;
    Yet since we've not forgot Thy way,
    Restore Thy wand’ring sheep.

    Make us to walk in Thy commands,
    ’Tis a delightful road;
    Nor let our heads, or hearts, or hands,
    Offend against our God.


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


  • "we are in great distress" (Nehemiah 9:36-37) ~ May this great distress turn us to Christ

    I've been posting for quite some time on Nehemiah, with my last posts focused on Nehemiah 9 and 10. My last post was an exhortation for us to praise God for the unilateral covenant He makes with us through Jesus Christ because any and all covenants we make with God will fail. Prior to that, I reminded us that we ought to be examining ourselves and confessing our sins, yet as we do so, we can be tempted to despair and resort to our own power, to earthly means to be holy, rather than relying wholly on God's Holy Spirit to do so.

    As I reread portions of Nehemiah 9 once again, verses 36 and 37 really hit me, particular the phrase: we are in great distress.

    36  Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. 37  And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress.

    We see the people of God were living so far below the life God had for them, and they had seen that. They got to the point where they cried out to Him that they were in great distress.

    However, instead of casting themselves on God's covenant love, mercy, grace and power (as they had just recounted prior to that confession: see all the references in the previous verses in Nehemiah 9 to God's continuing love for them in spite of their sin and rebellion), Israel went ahead and made a series of resolutions to do better. They made promises they could never keep in their own power, and we read of their total inability to keep those promises (see Nehemiah 13).

    We may shake our heads at Israel, but don't we so often do the very same thing? We see God's holiness, and we see our sins and failures in contrast. Then we begin to despair. We resolve and promise to do better. We forget our absolute powerlessness to walk in God's ways and our utter dependence on God's strength to do anything good. And we will fail. Time and again . . . and again . . . We will fail like Israel. We foolishly forget the unilateral covenant God has made with us in Jesus Christ.

    As I reflected on this section in Nehemiah, I began to consider it was somewhat similar to where Paul was in Romans 7:

    14  For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15  I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16  Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17  So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

    21  So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22  For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23  but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24  Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

    Hadn't Paul gotten to where, like Israel, he was saying, "I am in great distress"?

    But unlike Paul, Israel did not really see they were totally dependent on the Lord God for their salvation from beginning to ending. That's why they began making all those promises and resolutions (Neh. 10) – even though they'd just professed God as

    the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love,

    Israel really didn't understand the extent of the covenant God had made with them. They didn't understand God's greatness, God's might and God's awesomeness. They did not really understand God was a God who keeps covenant. They did not understand the steadfastness of God's love for them. So they went back and began to resort on their own feeble abilities, rather than resting in His covenant and relying on His mighty power.

    How often do we do the same? How often do we try to live the Christian life in our own power and our own abilities? Do we really understand God's greatness, God's might and God's awesomeness? Do we really understand the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the God who keeps covenant with us for Jesus' sake? Do we really understand the breadth and length and height and depth of God's love for us in Jesus Christ? How often do we forget that God's covenant mercies in Christ are wholly sufficient to save us from both the penalty of sin as well as the power of sin!

    25  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

    Romans 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3  For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4  in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5  For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6  To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7  For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8  Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

    O, Lord God,

    How often do we fall into the same trap Israel did? We see our sin keenly. We see our failures. We see our great distress. And we are grieved. As well we should be. But then, instead of turning to Christ, we turn to ourselves and our own abilities. We resolve to do better. We make a zillion promises. We mean well. We try to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. But our best and noblest and cleverest efforts in the flesh will never be pleasing to You. Like Israel, we have a zeal for You, but not according to knowledge. Forgive us, O Lord.

    We are in great distress. May this great distress turn us to Christ!
    If we have found grace in Your sight, show us Your way, that we might know You that we might find grace in Your sight.
    You, O God are great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love.
    O LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, may we receive of Your fullness.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know Your greatness.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know Your might.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know Your awesomeness.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know Your covenant mercies in Christ.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know the breadth, length, height and depth of Your steadfast love for us in Christ.

    We have received Christ's righteousness as Your free gift to us by faith, but then we confess we so often begin to lapse back into works-righteousness and put ourselves into bondage. We forget the mighty and awesome power and freedom You have made available to us through the gift of Your indwelling Holy Spirit. We forget that Jesus Christ is all-sufficient for our sanctification as well as our justification. We often profess we have Christ's blood covering our sins and we have Christ's righteousness credited to us by faith. But how often do we forget we have Christ's very Spirit, imparted to us, so we might walk in Your will and in Your way for us, to be holy as You are holy? Holy Father, You have given us all we need to walk in Your ways and Your will for us. All! We are partakers of the divine nature! We have Your very resurrection power dwelling in us through Your Spirit! That is why You tell us Your commandments are not burdensome for we have been given the very power we need to obey them. Christ's yoke is easy and His burden is light. But Your commandments will continue to be burdensome and wearisome to us when we resort to working in our own flesh. Not only that, but whenever we attempt to live a holy life apart from Your power, we are robbing You of Your glory.

    We are in great distress. May this great distress turn us to Christ!
    If we have found grace in Your sight, show us Your way, that we might know You that we might find grace in Your sight.
    You, O God are great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love.
    O LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, may we receive of Your fullness.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know Your greatness.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know Your might.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know Your awesomeness.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know Your covenant mercies in Christ.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know the breadth, length, height and depth of Your steadfast love for us in Christ.

    Merciful Father, Hear our cries. We are in distress. We are Your children by grace through faith in Your Son, Jesus Christ. Look upon us for His sake. We are in great distress today. We confess this freely to You today. We confess we are so like Israel. We confess we want to walk out a holy and righteous life all by ourselves, all in our own power. We confess we want to take pride in our own ability and strength. Forgive us, Lord God. You will not share Your glory with any other. You alone are God. Humble us and show us our total inability to do anything good, so we might rely wholly on You as we ought and bring You the glory You alone deserve.

    We are in great distress. May this great distress turn us to Christ!
    If we have found grace in Your sight, show us Your way, that we might know You that we might find grace in Your sight.
    You, O God are great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love.
    O LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, may we receive of Your fullness.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know Your greatness.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know Your might.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know Your awesomeness.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know Your covenant mercies in Christ.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know the breadth, length, height and depth of Your steadfast love for us in Christ.

    Author and perfecter of our faith, in our distress today, we are here and casting ourselves wholly on Your glorious grace just as we did at the beginning of our life in You. We had nothing then and today we still have nothing apart from that which You give us. All we have is all a gift from You, coming from Your covenant mercies and grace showered on us through Jesus Christ. In and of ourselves we confess we are unworthy. But through You we are made worthy. In and of ourselves we confess we are wretched. But through You we are blessed. In and of ourselves we confess we are impotent. But through You we can do all things. Help us to continue to walk in Your Spirit so we might not fulfill the lust of the flesh but walk in Your holy ways, in thought, word and deed. Lord Jesus Christ, You are the Vine; we are the branches. We confess that without You, we can do nothing. Help us to abide in You and You in us so we might walk in Your Father's commandments as You did and bear the fruit to His glory and have fullness of joy.

    We are in great distress. May this great distress turn us to Christ!
    If we have found grace in Your sight, show us Your way, that we might know You that we might find grace in Your sight.
    You, O God are great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love.
    O LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, may we receive of Your fullness.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know Your greatness.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know Your might.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know Your awesomeness.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know Your covenant mercies in Christ.
    Grant us grace upon grace, that we might know the breadth, length, height and depth of Your steadfast love for us in Christ.

    Please add your PRAYERS as the Holy Spirit leads you.

  • Are we separating ourselves and confessing our sins? (Nehemiah 9)

    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.”

    20  Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21  Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

    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.


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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