vision

  • "Will YOU not pray with ME one hour?"

    Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

    In the work of prayer, it's so easy of us to feel like Paul did in II Timothy 4: "But all forsook me..." To believe that we are the only ones burdened for and praying for reformation and revival. Of course, we know that we are not the only ones, as God always has a remnant; nonetheless, it's too easy to lapse into great depression and despair like Elijah did when we begin to think that we are alone.

    In this 21st century, is there is no one who calls on Your name, and stirs and rouses himself up to take hold of You, for You have hidden Your face from us, and have made us melt and consumed us because of our iniquities? (See Isaiah 64:7.)

    And though we know there is always a praying remnant, as we look out at the current state of the Christian church in the west, and as find so few people who are calling upon God's name, and so few who are stirring and rousing themselves up to take hold of Christ... it greatly grieves us. And then, in great contrast, we do find so many who are stirring and rousing themselves to do all sorts of other things, all other things except taking hold of Christ! There are Christians who are plenty busy with plenty of activities, and not that all of those are bad or sinful by any means, but how many are busy in this work of prayer?

    I recently found myself recently lapsing into uncertainty, fear, doubt, bitterness, and fatigue, and I knew my reactions were sinful and were not coming from a pure heart, and it was a sure sign my eyes and my heart were not rightly fixed on Jesus and on His calling to me.

    After the Lord's Supper, we read how Jesus went with all the disciples to the Mount of Olives and then Gethsemane. At that point, He took only three of those, Peter, James, and John, with Him as He prayed. Most of you know the story, how all three ended up falling asleep, while Jesus remained praying.

    Jesus' words from Matthew 26 came powerfully to me in this way:

    "Will YOU not pray with ME one hour?"


    In other words... "No matter what everyone else is doing, even if the rest are all 'sleeping,' so to speak, I am calling you to this work of prayer along with Me." I could see that I had slid downward into the position Peter was in John 21: "What about this man?" It does no good at all for us to look around at what everyone else is doing (or is not doing). Jesus' words to each one of us are the same as they were to Peter:

    "... what is that to you? You follow Me!"

    That rebuke / challenge / command reminded me of one of Martyn Lloyd-Jones' (a.k.a. - ML-J or The Doctor) sermons from his Revival series, which he preached in 1959 at Westminster Chapel (London), in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the 1859 revival. Lloyd-Jones was seeking and praying for revival; he'd known personal revival in his own life, and some revival showers had also fallen in his pastorate years before at Aberavon (Wales) in the late 1920's and 1930's. In those sermons, he sought to show the crucial need of revival and to stir up the flock of God to be praying for revival. The sermon I was reminded of is titled, "Preparatory Stages in Revival" (Exodus 33:7-11) (which you can listen to online and/or download here: http://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/preparatory-stages-in-revival/). In that particular sermon, The Doctor reminds us that throughout Church history, during the first stages of revival, God almost always calls out individuals to pray with Jesus, and that those who are called can't be concerned about what everyone else is doing. Each one of us who has received the burden and the calling to pray, must follow Jesus and be obedient and pray, regardless of what others are doing. As The Doctor said, "Oh, if we wait until the whole Church moves, it will never happen. It will never move. Do not worry about that. God's way is to take hold of individuals and to use them and then eventually the majority will be affected."

    Today I'd like to bring you a few excerpts from Chapter 13, "Prayer and Revival" from the book "Revival" (Crossway: Wheaton, 1987). The book contains the edited transcripts of the twenty-four sermons Lloyd-Jones preached in the revival series, and Chapter 13 is the published transcript of the sermon I alluded to above. In order to get the fuller sense of the context and the complete teaching, I'd urge you listen to the entire sermon, or to get the book and read the entire sermon (as well as listen to and/or read all the other sermons in the whole series). (In addition to the sermon I cited above, you can access for free the full set of audio recordings of all the sermons in the revival series through the MLJ Trust website (http://www.mljtrust.org/) via this link: http://www.mljtrust.org/collections/revival/. And, if you love the printed page as much as I do, in addition to listening to the sermons, I'd recommend your getting hold of that book, if at all possible.)

    And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp. And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle. And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door. And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle. (Exod. 33.7-11). . .

    It is important that we should understand that Moses was clearly led to take this particular action. He took this tabernacle out of the centre of the camp and put it outside, far from the camp. Now at this point there are many things which must detain us. The first of course, that this was an action taken by Moses, Moses himself. And I must pause with that, because you will always find as you read the history of these movements of the Spirit in the long story of the Christian Church, that generally the very first thing that happens, and which eventually leads to a great revival, is that one man, or a group of men, suddenly begin to feel this burden, and they feel the burden so much that they are led to do something about it. Look at the great history. Look at the Protestant Reformation, that mighty movement, where did it come from? How did it originate? I know that there were precursors even of that – Wycliffe, John Huss and others – but you see the real thing happened when just one man, Martin Luther, a very ordinary kind of monk, suddenly became aware of this burden. And it so burdened him that he was led to do something about it. Just one man, and through that one many, God sent that mighty movement into the Church.

    The same thing could be abundantly illustrated from the stories of other revivals. Read again the story of the revival in Northern Ireland, a hundred years ago, that great movement, which led not only to so many conversions, but which quickened the whole life of the Presbyterian Church and the other churches in Northern Ireland, and transformed the whole situations. It did the same in Wales also, and in the United States of America at the same time. Now, you will find that in all these instances, the movement began with just one man. take the man who began the prayer meetings in Fulton Street in New York City in 1857, a most ordinary man, but he felt this burden, and did something about it. The revival in Northern Ireland, started with just that one man, James McQuilken. And the same was true in Wales, with one man only, called Humphrey Jones, who, feeling the power of revival in America, felt a burden for his own country and crossed the Atlantic back to Wales, and began to tell people about it. Now, I emphasise this for one reason only, that this is what I like to call the 'romantic' element in the Christian life and in the history of the Church. That is to me what is so glorious about it. I dare not pass lightly over a point like this because somebody reading this book, whom I do not know, may be the person that God is going to use. And that sort of thing can only happen in the Christian Church, it does not happen in the world. The world looks to the leaders and the great people, but God, as the Apostle Paul says in I Corinthians is constantly confounding the wise by taking hold of the foolish. He 'brings to nought the things that are ', by using the things that are not. It may be anybody. There are no rules about this matter. . .

    So then, one man or a group of men may begin to feel the burden. And, therefore, I am entitled to ask whether you have felt the burden? And if you have not, what is the reason? Are you concerned about the situation? Have you got a zeal for the glory of God/ Does it grieve you to see his church as she is? If not, why not? If this is a burden that can come to anybody, has it not come to you? Let us leave it at that, but remember that it may be the action of one man. . .

    So, inevitably there is a kind of separation. 'Ah,' says someone, 'are you going to divide up the Christian Church?' I am not dividing it. What I am saying is that when the Holy Spirit of God begins to deal with any one of us, there will be this separation. It will not be paraded, it will not be the Pharisees' 'I am holier than thou' attitude. No, once a man begins to be burdened for the glory of God and the state of the Church, he immediately feels this call to consecration, he 'goes out' as it were. We must not overemphasise the physical aspect. It had to be physical there, but it is the principle that matters. Oh, what I am trying to say is this. In a day of grievous immorality, ungodliness and irreligion, such as this, in a day when vice is not only shouting at us, but is arrogant and is boasting, when it is being thrown at the people everywhere - all I am asking is whether we know anything about the call to a separation from that kind of thing? We are living in days when, as Christians, we are called to go the second mile. Ordinary Christianity is not enough, more is demanded. Are we not beginning to feel that nothing can deal with this situation but a manifestation of true life and living, holy living, as it is under God? That is what these men felt.

    So Moses put his tabernacle outside the camp and a long way from it. 'It must be separate,' he said. 'It has got to be holy.' And another emphasis I would draw from his action is that he is showing clearly the need of some unusual action, and of some extra effort. Now there are two things that always happen in this early stage of revival. The people who are concerned about revival, in a true sense, are not just out for a little bit of excitement, or interest, or some happiness, or phenomena, or coming with an attitude of 'something marvellous is going to happen and we are going to have a great good time' That is not how they think about it at all. And if you, my dear friends, are simply thinking about meetings, and excitement, and something wonderful, you have not begun to understand this matter.

    The first indication of a true and a genuine concern is that we are aware of our unworthiness and uncleanesss. We have got to separate ourselves. We have got to set up this tabernacle somehow somewhere outside the ordinary. It has got to be exceptional; it has got to be unusual. We have got to go out of our way. Now, this is the question that I want to impress upon your minds and to leave with you. In these days of exceptional evil, are you doing something exceptional? Or are you just content with coming to the services in the house of God, and doing some routine things? Of course, in the time when the Church was being blessed and all was well, people came to the house of God, they worked in the mission societies, they taught in the Sunday schools, and did all that as part of the ordinary work of the Church. I am not talking about that. What I am asking is this: have you felt that, because of the times through which we are passing, you are called to do something exceptional, to go out, as it were, to take some great deliberate action, that in a way separates you. That is the great lesson here.

    And then, that I may complete this review here, I am rather interested in what we are told about the remainder of the people. They saw that Moses and one or two individuals used to go out of the camp to the tabernacle to pray. In verse 8 we read,

    And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.

    There is something very wonderful about this. All they did was to look on with interest. They were aware that something was happening, but they did not know what it was and they did not understand it. They did not go out of the camp with Moses into the tent of meeting with God, and pray, and intercede. All they knew was that Moses had taken the tent outside the camp and that he and certain others periodically visited it. So they just stood at their their tent doors, watching Moses as he went and talking about him, wondering what he was doing and what exactly was happening. Now the appalling thing is that the right place for the tent was in the midst of the camp. But it was not there.

    As you read the history of the Church, you will find this repeated. At first just a few people feel the call, and separate themselves, and then the others begin to say, ‘What is happening to so and so? Have you heard about this man or that woman?’ They stand at their tent doors and they look on. They have a feeling that something is happening. But they do nothing at all. Oh, if we wait until the whole Church moves, it will never happen. It will never move. Do not worry about that. God's way is to take hold of individuals and to use them and then eventually the majority will be affected. But at this stage, they simply have this vague general awareness that something is happening, and they begin to look on wistfully at the action of Moses and his few companions. . .

    And so, as we finish our study of  stage one, we must ask ourselves, whether we have arrived at that stage. Do we know anything about that tabernacle and this call to separation and to urgent intercession? Those are the two things holiness and intercession on behalf of the mass of the people, and waiting in the presence of God, expecting more and more.

    ~ Martyn Lloyd-Jones, "Revival" (Crossway: Wheaton, 1987), 161, 163-164, 169-170, 172-173. Scripture quotations are taken from the KJV.
    * * *

    Might God be calling you to go out with Moses to pray?


    Isaiah 51
    1  “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
    you who seek the LORD:
    look to the rock from which you were hewn,
    and to the quarry from which you were dug.
    2  Look to Abraham your father
    and to Sarah who bore you;
    for he was but one when I called him,
    that I might bless him and multiply him.

    Isaiah 60
    22  The least one shall become a clan,
    and the smallest one a mighty nation;
    I am the LORD;
    in its time I will hasten it.

    May the zeal of a few stir up the majority!
    May God hasten it in His time!
    May none who are called be found disobedient to the heavenly calling!
    May none who are called be found slumbering in a spiritual stupor!

    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 you with everything good that you 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.

    Colossians 1:9  And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10  so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11  May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12  giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13  He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.


     
    Please note:  If you're not familiar with my other blog (http://naphtali-deer.xanga.com), you may not know that through his books and recordings, Dr. Lloyd-Jones has had a huge impact on me. He entered the glory everlasting in 1981, and I was saved the following year. Or, if you're new to tent of meeting and would like to know more about my vision for this blog and my heart for revival and my calling to pray for revival, I'd recommending your reading my post  "The Ministry of the Word and Prayer"  (http://naphtali-deer.xanga.com/697480839/naphtali-news-the-ministry-of-the-word--prayer/) to get a little more background on that, as I introduced tent of meeting four years ago this month and the connection there with ML-J. (You may also like to read my very first post on this blog: About this blog - why "tent of meeting"?, and my post from three years ago: A year ago today, God put it in my heart (Nehemiah 2:12)).

    If there are any ways I can assist you, I would love to do so. God has promised to bring people to His holy mountain and to make them joyful in His house of prayer (see Isaiah 56), but at the same time, we are always to use the means He provides. I would love to be an encouragement to you if you have received a similar burden to be praying for revival. You are welcome to post a comment or question below (usually I prefer the comments section on this blog to be devoted to prayer, but I'm making an exception with this post). Also, if you are in the Xanga network, you can message me (click here). I still feel very much like a tyro in these matters, but God has been faithful to lead and teach me, and sustain and refresh my soul time and time again. In a letter to John Wesley, George Whitefield wrote that: "The doctrine of election, and the final perseverance of those that are truly in Christ, I am ten thousand times more convinced of, if possible, than when I saw you last." Along with those doctrines, I am also ten thousand times more convinced, if possible, or I would say I am ten thousand times ten thousand times more convinced of the vital necessity for us to be praying for revival than I was when I first started this blog four years ago.

    Yours by the grace of God, for the reviving of the Church of God, for the joy of all nations, to the glory of God,

    Karen


    Work found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer_-_Christ_on_the_Mount_of_Olives_-_WGA07095.jpg / {{PD-Art|PD-old-100}}.
  • update: tent of meeting 3+ years later ~ "praying for a revival of religion"

     
    The following is from my blog post
    update 8/4/2012: "praying for a revival of religion" from my sister site deerlife. At the conclusion (after the multiple underlines), I've added some additional thoughts.

    Please note:  If you've not read my previous posts Update/prayer requests - October 7, 2010 and Simeon's Waiting, Payson's Waiting, Our Waiting, and update 6/13/2012: "Grant me also a spirit of prayer!" | "Oh the happiness of communion with God," I'd suggest you do so prior to reading today's post. All of those give you some background as to the work of God in calling me to prayer for revival... Philippians 2:12-14.

    The following is the text of a letter (slightly edited) which I recently sent to a few other members of our church...

    Dear . . .

    I recently talked with each of you about the possibility of us getting together as a group to pray. I know that along with myself, God has given each of you a heart to pray for the revival of the Church. It's one thing for us to be praying individually, and we should be doing that, but I feel that we're separated (~ Nehemiah 4:19), and this is a time for us to come together as a group, so we might be seek the Lord and be that house of prayer for all nations which God desires ~ Zechariah 12:10-14; Isaiah 66:6-9.

    Earlier this year the name of the Rev. Edward Dorr Griffin resurfaced for me. Griffin was a pastor in the eastern/northeastern U.S. during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Griffin experienced several revivals of religion during his lifetime. I've continued to reflect on these words for several months now:

    In his early ministry, Dr. Griffin was subject to seasons of deep mental depression. He would sometimes come from his study in much distress, complaining to his family that he could  not study, and that his sermons were "so flat," that nobody could hear him. But, when emerging from this gloomy state, his mind would act with unwonted vigor and success. In these seasons, he did not enjoy his usually comforting evidence of personal piety. In a letter dated December 18, 1813, to a young minister of his acquaintance, he says: — "I am interested to know what God has done among the people of your charge. From the trials with which he was exercising your mind in August, I concluded that he was preparing you to do something more than common for his holy name. In former years, I used statedly to have those trials before revivals of religion; and, before that in which you were born. I wholly gave up my hope for a time." It was about that period that he invited a few choice members of his church to meet in his study every Thursday evening, for the single purpose of praying for a revival of religion. As their interest increased, he called in others, till the meeting consisted of six or eight. It was strictly private, and, as he afterward assured me, became a scene of earnest wrestling. "If any one," said he, "had come in with a cold heart, it would have been like throwing water upon the fire. This small-company continued thus wrestling week after week, unknown to the church at large. Nothing, externally, indicated any unusual tokens of the special presence of the Holy Spirit for two or three months. But the time had come when those prayers were to be answered, and when God was to be seen as a prayer hearing God.''
     
    ~ from "Recollections of Rev. E.D. Griffin, or, Incidents illustrating his character" by Parsons Cooke (1855), 117-119.

    My primary purpose is that of Griffin's:  to facilitate and to encourage one another in our "praying for a revival of religion." And by "choice members," I think all of us would humbly agree there is nothing at all choice about us, except the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has deemed to pour out His love, mercy, and grace upon us in Christ Jesus, and He has been drawing us to the ministry of prayer, and He has brought us together at . . . Church at this particular time. God Himself has made each of us willing in His power, He has given the burden for His Church and the desire to pray for her. In addition, from my reading Church history, it appears to me that prior to every revival of religion, God has raised up pockets of people to pray, a few choice members, as Griffin put it. Now, as to whether God will move in our case, we know He is sovereign and He pours out His Spirit according to His good pleasure – and yet He ordains means, which include importunate prayer. So let us take hold of and pay heed to Jesus' words:

    Luke 11:5  And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6  for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7  and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8  I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9  And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11  What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12  or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

    Luke 18:1  And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2  He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3  And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4  For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5  yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’”  6  And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7  And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? , Will he delay long over them? 8  I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

    May God find us faithful in the ministry to which He has called us ~ Hebrews 13:20-21.

    Lord willing, I would ask that you consider we all meet together for a meal and then prayer afterwards on one of the following dates . . .

    I don't know how often we might meet in the future, but I am trusting God will lead us. I am also trusting, as happened with Griffin, that God will raise up others with a similar passion and will lead us to call them in as well. I am praying that God might be gracious to us and rend the heavens and revive us again for the blessing of . . . Church and His Church at large to the glory of His name.

    I Samuel 14:6  Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.”

    Yours in Christ,
    Karen


    I deliberated whether to share this with you publicly, but I have seen the ruins in the Church and her continuing decline. We must cast off and stop resorting to fleshly and worldly means, and take hold of the means God has provided:  to come with boldness and assurance in prayer to His throne of grace, for this certainly is a great time of need (Heb. 4:14-16), and then diligently plead with God to have mercy upon us and rend the heavens and send His reviving fire to us so we might be the burning lamp and brightness to the nations which God intends us to be (~ Isaiah 64 & 62).

    I also want to encourage those of you whom God has been burdening to pray for revival in the Church to continue to follow His will for you and not to shrink back due to fear, doubt, or uncertainty. Our flesh, the world, and the devil will continue to give us every possible reason not to pray. And I will tell you this:  not very long after sending this letter, temptations, doubts, questions, and second-guessing of every possible sort began to fill and plague my mind about the whole endeavor. Yes, it seems preposterous and impossible to us, yet His ways and His thoughts are higher than ours. Our God continues to command His people to seek His heart and His face in prayer, and our seeking Him is never in vain.



         Isaiah 45
         11  Thus says the LORD,
         the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him:
         “Ask me of things to come;
         will you command me concerning
         my children and the work of my hands?...


         19  I did not speak in secret,
         in a land of darkness;
         I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
         ‘Seek me in vain.’ ...

    A day after writing that letter, I reflected: "It seems so far fetched to think a handful of people praying could battle the powers of darkness, yet that is always God's way, so He alone gets the glory due His name."

    Yesterday, as I was reading Ralph Wardlaw's Commentary on Zechariah 14, he referenced a portion of Isaiah 51, and I opened my Bible and read it:

    Isaiah 51:3 (NKJV)
    For the LORD will comfort Zion,
    He will comfort all her waste places;
    He will make her wilderness like Eden,
    And her desert like the garden of the LORD;
    Joy and gladness will be found in it,
    Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
    The LORD's desire is to comfort ALL our waste places. Therefore, so long as there ARE waste places in any part of the Church, we ought to be praying day and night...

    For God's glory in the Church and the joy of the elect,
    Karen

     




    Dear friends,

    Since I began tent of meeting, there's been a gradual transition over the past couple years, as I've slowly become more focused on and involved in my local congregation and less so with my blogs. Though I'm not posting here so regularly, I still want this blog to serve an encouragement to those who have received a burden from the Lord to pray for revival so you might persevere in prayer. My desire and my prayer is that God might be pleased to use my words here to stir you up to love and specifically to the good work of prayer (~ Heb. 10:24-25). I am more convinced today than ever that we are in desperate need of a genuine revival of religion, and one of God's appointed means toward that happening is through the concerted, fervent, and importunate prayers of God's people. I would also invite those of you who come across this blog who are not members of the Xanga community to e-mail me at naphtali DOT deer AT gmail DOT com (putting it that way so I don't get spammed). And, of course, any of you who are part of Xanga are welcome to message me. I would love to hear how God has been at work in you and at work in your congregations in calling you to such a ministry of prayer.

    Since having written that letter I cited above, I have found myself at a similar point where I was just over three years ago when I first started publicly posting here at tent of meeting. At that time, on April 14, 2009, in my first post here, I described some of the vision I had for this blog in a sort of FAQ format, and I had written:

    * * *

    I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS...

     

    Yes, and so do I! I am trusting God will make the way clear for all of us. God has been taking me and leading me by His hand step by step and putting me in a place I would not have imagined just a couple months ago. So things are not all clear to me yet, but I am stepping out in faith, I am putting my foot in the Jordan, and am anticipating and waiting on Him to make the way clear.

    * * *

    And today, August 6, 2012, I have even more questions! It can be disconcerting not to know what lies ahead, but, as Ira Forest Stanphill penned:

    Many things about tomorrow,
    I don't seem to understand;
    But I know Who holds tomorrow,
    And I know Who holds my hand.

    As we're put into such uncertain and unpredictable situations, we are led to seek the God who is a Rock and everlasting Strength! As we're put into impossible situations, we are led to seek the God who can do the impossible! As we painfully come to see our own poverty, we plead to know experientially God's riches in Christ Jesus! As we see our own insufficiency, we are quickened to fly to God to seek to know Christ's full sufficiency! Once again, as I did three years ago, I am trusting God to lead me and to make the way clear in His way and His time. It is a blessed thing to be brought to the end of yourself time and time again so you might come to know Christ as your all in all!

    Matthew 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven...

    I know that God is sovereign. I know that He is good and all-wise and all-powerful and all-knowing. I know that God is always working all things for His glory, for His praise, for the preeminence of Jesus Christ, for the furtherance of the Gospel, for the good of His Church, and for the joy of His elect throughout all the nations – even though thoughts and circumstances will arise that may tempt me to doubt that. But as I (we) follow God's leading in the way He would have me (us) go, as we go day by day, step by step, prayer by prayer – I (we) can and must trust the Lord.

    Psalm 9:10  And those who know your name put their trust in you,
    for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

    Let us not shrink back in unbelief. Let me not shrink back in unbelief! Through Isaiah, the LORD warned king Ahaz in Isaiah 7:9b:

    If you are not firm in faith,
    you will not be firm at all.

    We walk by faith and not by sight. We stand in faith, we act in faith, and we pray in faith (and don't ever let someone ever try to convince you that prayer is not action – I'm not saying it's the only action, but it is action!), and we trust God in faith like Joab:

    II Samuel 10:9  When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. 10  The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. 11  And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. 12  Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him.

    As we obey the LORD, it's true we don't know what the specific outcome will be, but we do know Him, and we can trust Him!

    Let us remember whose we are – children of the living God, having been rescued from the domain of darkness and translated into His marvelous light,  once enemies who have now been brought near, we are now free to approach the mercy seat with a holy boldness through the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ; therefore, let us go to Him! May we draw near to the throne of grace, to lay before our loving, merciful, and gracious heavenly Father all our concerns, to let our requests be known, to cast on Him all our cares, so we might receive the mercy and grace He delights to pour out upon all who hunger and thirst for Him, so we might travel through our pilgrimage fully satisfied and sustained in Christ, to rejoice in the LORD and to know God as our strength (as Habakkuk sang of at the end of Hab. 3) – no matter what happens. Even though things may not turn out as we might have hoped or expected, let us remember this:  our God is never a disappointment!

    As the redeemed of God through Jesus Christ, we have received the high and holy privilege to draw near to God with a true heart in full assurance of faith (Heb. 10:22), and we are exhorted to come boldly to the throne of grace in our time of need (Heb. 4:14-16). Rather than looking at the storms about us, rather than entertaining the uncertainties, rather than fueling our doubts with our faith-sapping questions, rather than sinking into despair and hopelessness, may we continue to avail ourselves of the blessed privilege we have to fix our eyes on Jesus – much as Hezekiah did after he received the threatening letter from Sennacherib, the king of Assyria.

    II Kings 19:14  Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD. 15  And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: “O LORD the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 16  Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 17  Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 18  and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 19  So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.”

    Though that situation was different than mine, like Hezekiah, I've continued to take my burden for the Church along with that letter which I've written and have gone up to the house of the LORD and spread them before the LORD...

    O LORD the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; You have made heaven and earth.  Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see ... and do what seems good to You for the glory and honor of Your name and the blessing of Your Church, for we are Your flock, the sheep of Your pasture, purchased with the precious blood of the Lamb of God, Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, we are Your people called by Your name. LORD of hosts, You who are zealous and jealous for us, how long will it be until You have mercy upon us? Hear our prayers for Jesus' sake. Look down from heaven and return with mercy and visit this vine! Restore us and revive us, O LORD God of hosts. Shine Your face upon us again, so we might shine in this dark world to the praise, honor, and glory of Your name to the ends of the earth. Amen. (In addition to Hezekiah's prayer, please see also Psalm 80, Psalm 102 & Zechariah 1.)

    I appreciate and thank God for each of you who have visited this site and have read and prayed and added your own prayers here. I pray that those of you who are Christ's might grow in His grace and the knowledge of Him, and each of you might come to know (really know) His strength sufficient for each and every one of your days ~ Deuteronomy 33:25.

    Proverbs 4:18  But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

    Yours in Christ,
    Karen

    * Please add YOUR PRAYERS as God's Holy Spirit leads you. *


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  • Simeon's waiting / Payson's waiting / our waiting

      
    Luke 2:25  Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26  And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27  And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28  he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

    29  “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
    according to your word;
    30  for my eyes have seen your salvation
    31  that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
    32  a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and for glory to your people Israel.”


    33  And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34  And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35  (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
     
    I've loved reflecting on this incident in the temple with Simeon on several levels, but would like to consider what an encouragement it is for those of us who have been longing for and praying out to God for reformation and revival in the Church...

    God had put into the heart of Simeon that he would not see death before he saw the Lord's Christ. Now, I've not had a sure promise from the Lord spoken to me, "You will see reformation and revival in the Church before you die," but God has put the longing to pray for those things on my heart and He continues to put that before me, to the point where I MUST pray. However, I must confess even though the Spirit is willing, the flesh is often weak. But I must also say that I have blessed to taste and see the firstfruits of revival, and cannot despise the day of small things.

    Much like Simeon had been looking forward to the coming of the Lord's Christ, those of us who have seen and been grieved over the current state of the Church particularly here in the west have been led to pray in the hope that our Savior will return again with times of reformation, refreshing and revival to the valley of dry bones.

    We are in desperate need of the Holy Spirit to be upon us like Simeon, so by faith and patience we might inherit the promises, that we might be strengthened to continue to tarry in prayer and seek God's face with importunity, to be watchmen who are crying out to Him day and night to rend the heavens, to plead for Christ's baptizing fire to fall again upon His Church (should His second coming tarry). O! that our Lord might keep us steadfast, immovable and always abounding in this work of the Lord – this work of prayer – knowing full well that our labor in Him is not in vain (~ I Cor. 15:58).

    I'm going to include some of a personal account, which I first wrote earlier this fall, but which I've edited & expanded upon today. I present it here in the hope that God might use it as an encouragement to your souls, for I suspect you will have, if you have not already had, similar struggles. We are all prone to doubt, and we are all tempted to question and wonder what it is we are doing and what we should be doing, to the point of great discouragement and even to the point of being on the verge of quitting. The devil is the author of every type of confusion. And there are two things the devil does not want us as God's Church to be engaged in: prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4). The Church can try any and all means, and we see so many congregations and denominations doing just that today, but the real battle and the real warfare starts when we are wholeheartedly engaged in prayer and the ministry of the Word, i.e. - when we are using God's ordained means of reforming and reviving the Church, it is then that the devil will do all he can to undermine us in any way he can. But our God has promised to equip us with all we need for doing His will:

    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 you with everything good that you 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.

    What began troubling me were such questions as these: What has God promised in regard to a revival? And should I really be praying for revival? Is such prayer misguided, that is, are these desires and prayers all of my vain hope and my invention and imagination? What use is it? And so on.

    Well, deep down, I knew it was not my invention. I knew I wasn't looking to pray for revival; it wasn't something I picked up, but rather God put it upon me. Yes, I'd read Lloyd-Jones and a few others about revival, but all of that hadn't impacted me. I was reading, but not understanding fully, though yes, I knew there was something to it. Plus, if this were my invention, I am more and more convinced that I would have long ceased to care about it or would have quit. The temptations have been far too great. But here I am keep getting called back to prayer for revival. I know my personality to be one that starts one thing and once I've gone so far with that, I can too easily put it down and start up again with a whole other thing. So certainly, it is no strength or stick-to-itiveness or desire of mine that is propelling me to keep praying for the same things over and over with no real change or visible result. God has given me this bone and anytime I start to turn away or anytime I try to toss it away, He tosses it back at me, and I MUST pick it up!

    As Oswald Chambers wrote: "There is no other competitor for my strength!" The love of Christ constrains me! It makes no earthly sense to keep planting seeds and casting a net which bears no fruit. But when you are driven by the Spirit, you have a holy compulsion that is ever working to subdue the flesh.

    And so, in short, the devil's plot to get me discouraged based on some recent circumstances has helped to firm up my resolve (well, the resolve is a divinely implanted one - Phil. 2:12-13).

    But how refreshing it was for me to open up Payson's memoir, actually to a portion I'd already read previously, but I didn't really remember it until I started reading it – or else I might have picked it up to reread in conjunction w/ my reflecting on my recent disappointment. I am ashamed to say it, but I must confess how I found my frame was swayed and tossed about due to outer circumstances, so there I was once again being pulled down and choked by the mephitic air! And afterwards, almost immediately when it happened, I was grieved over my faithlessness and how despicable that was! And so I ran to the throne of grace, for I knew I had no other place to go - and I did have some sense of assurance come to me. One of the hymns I remember from my Catholic church upbringing came to mind, one I'd not sung or heard in a while:

    Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
    O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
    All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
    Praise Him in glad adoration.

    And with that I felt some relief.

    I ended up writing about disappointment. The words came quickly and wasn't planing to write about it at all, though it was very heavy on my heart. I'd been rereading something a friend had written to me about Abraham, and then I pulled up the Matthew Henry commentary on my laptop and began to wonder: "Here is this man who has got the supreme assurances of God spoken directly to him, and yet, there he is asking for more!" And after that, I read these words of Matthew Henry:

    Note, True believers sometimes find it hard to reconcile God's promises and his providences, when they seem to disagree.

    That described my state: I found it hard to reconcile - O, very, very hard! The recent providence seemed to strongly disagree with God's promises! I often find it hard day in and day out . . . week in and week out. . . .

    It makes me weep for I continue to see other saints who have no SENSE of the LIVING GOD and the REFRESHING He wants to provide. . .  We have this fount of blessing, and it is bursting and meant to be shared freely among the saints, but how often are we able to do so? I know once in a while I do, and I can tell by the response, that there is a hearing but not an understanding of my words. . . For those who have not, it is just like speaking another language. Those who speak the language of Canaan do recognize the language of Canaan!

    There are professing Christians who are thirsty, O! some of them are desperately thirsty, but they are not getting to the Living Water, and it grieves me to see that. I want them to get there and drink and be filled and satisfied and glorify and enjoy God there with us!  The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.  Well, I tell you, no wonder the Church is in such a decrepit state: Is she crying out with the Spirit to come and drink? No, of course, not. And why not? BECAUSE SHE HAS NOT DRUNK DEEPLY OF THE SPRINGS OF LIVING WATER. How can anyone call another to a spring he's not known, much less not drunk of! Well, it's really impossible. . . .

    But with that reminder from Matthew Henry, I began to fix my eyes on Jesus! – and on God's good sovereignty! – and was enabled to write:

    As the visible disappoints
    With His truth gird up your loins

    Turn from the seen, look beyond
    Look away, look to your God

    His providences may seem stern
    But all His promises are firm

    Every sheep called by His name
    Hope does not put us to shame

    God's love into our hearts poured out
    Give Him the glory, do not doubt

    That poem expressed some of my deep grief and recent disappointment, but with it a reassurance and a refocus on the invisible God in the midst of the continuing visible disappointments. ~ he endured as seeing him who is invisible. In the world we WILL have tribulation. And sad to say, even in the CHURCH we will have tribulation.

    Now to those Payson excerpts (taken from Memoir, Select Thoughts and Sermons of the late Rev. Edward Payson, Volume 1 by Edward Payson (1783-1827) and Asa Cummings, boldface mine):

    The year 1816 was the most remarkably distinguished for the effusions of the Holy Spirit on his people, of any year of his [Payson's] ministry, with the exception of that in which his happy spirit took its flight, when he preached so much from the bed of death. This fact the reader will regard as a striking commentary on the subjoined extracts from his diary:—

    "Dec. 16 [1815]. Since the last date, I have passed through a greater variety of scenes and circumstances than in almost any period of equal length in my whole life, and have experienced severer sufferings, conflicts, and disappointments. Some time in February, I began to hope for a revival; and, after much prayer for direction, and, as I thought, with confidence in God, I took some extraordinary, and perhaps imprudent, measures to hasten it. But the event did not answer my expectations at all; and in consequence, I was thrown into a most violent commotion, and was tempted to think God unkind and unfaithful. For some weeks, I could not think of my disappointment with submission. There were many aggravating circumstances attending it, which rendered it incomparably the severest disappointment, and, of course, the most trying temptation, I had ever met with. It injured my health to such a degree, that I was obliged to spend the summer in journeying, to recover my health. This, however, did not avail, and I returned worse than I went away, and plunged in the depths of discouragement. Was obliged, sorely against my will, to give up my evening lectures, and to preach old sermons. After awhile, however, my health began to return, though very slowly. God was pleased to revisit me, and to raise me up out of the horrible pit and miry clay, in which I had so long lain; and my gratitude for this mercy far exceeded all I felt at my first conversion. Sin never appeared so odious, nor Christ so precious, before. Soon after this, my hopes of a revival began to return. About a month since, very favorable appearances were seen, and my endeavors to rouse the church seemed to be remarkably blessed. My whole soul was gradually wrought up to the highest pitch of eager expectation and desire; I had great assistance in observing a day of fasting and prayer; the annual thanksgiving was blessed in a very remarkable and surprising manner, both to myself and the church. From these and many other circumstances, I was led to expect, very confidently, that the next Sabbath, which was our communion, would be a glorious day, and that Christ would then come to convert the church a second time, and prepare them for a great revival. I had great freedom, in prayer, both on Saturday night and Sabbath morning; and, after resigning, professedly, the whole matter to God, and telling him that, if he should disappoint us, it would be all right, I went to meeting. But what a disappointment awaited me! I was more straitened than for a year before; it was a very dull day, both to myself and the church; all my hopes seemed dashed to the ground at once, and I returned home in an agony not to be described. Instead of vanquishing Satan, I was completely foiled and led captive by him; all my hopes of a revival seemed blasted, and I expected nothing but a repetition of the same conflicts and sufferings which I had endured after my disappointment last spring, and which I dreaded a thousand times worse than death. Hence my mind was exceedingly imbittered. But, though the storm was sudden and violent, it was short. My insulted, abused Master pitied and prayed for me, that my faith might not fail; and therefore, after Satan had been permitted to sift me as wheat, I was delivered out of his power; and. strange as it even now appears to me, repentance and pardon were given me, and I was taken, with greater kindness than ever, to the bosom of that Saviour whom I had so insulted. Nor was this all; the trial was beneficial to me. It showed me the selfishness of my prayers for a revival, and my self-deception in thinking I was willing to be disappointed, if God pleased. It convinced me that I was not yet prepared for such a blessing, and that much more wisdom and grace were necessary to enable me to conduct a revival properly, than I have ever imagined before. On the whole, though the past year has been one of peculiar trial and suffering, I have reason to hope it has not been unprofitable, and that I have not suffered so many things altogether in vain. I have seen more of myself and of Christ than I ever saw before: and can, at times, feel more of the frame described in Ezekiel xvi. 63, than I ever expected to feel a year since. The gospel way of salvation appears much more glorious and precious, and sin more hateful. I can see, supposing a revival is to come, that it was a mercy to have it so long delayed. My hopes that it will yet come, are perhaps as strong as ever, but my mind is on the rack of suspense, and I can scarcely support the conflict of mingled anxieties, desires and expectations. Meanwhile, appearances are every week more favorable, the heavens are covered with clouds, and some drops have already fallen. Such are the circumstances in which I commence the ninth year of my ministry; and surely never did my situation call more loudly for fasting and prayer than now.

    In 1816 there was revival. And later on in 1822, there was another time of revival, during which Payson wrote on February 26 that

    "The revival has been advancing, and there now seems to be every reason to hope, that God has begun a great work among us. I would not be too sanguine, but things look more favorable than they have for seven or eight years. Every day, I have two, and three, and four inquirers to see me, and their convictions are very deep and pungent. Three have just obtained hope.

    "I rejoice the more in this work, because it enables me to stop the mouth of my old adversary, and to prove to his face that he is a liar. I could not doubt that I had been enabled to pray for a revival these many years. Nor could I persuade myself, that Christ had not promised it to me. The essence of a promise consists in voluntarily exciting expectation of some benefit. In this sense, a revival had often been promised to me. And when it was not granted; when, one time after another, promising appearances died away ; and especially when I was left to such exercises as rendered it impossible that I should ever be favored with a revival,—Satan had a fine opportunity to work upon my unbelief, and to ask, Where is your God? what do you get by praying to him? and where is the revival which he has been so long encouraging you to expect, and to pray for?  Now, I can answer these questions triumphantly, and put the lying tongue to silence. But the work is all God's; and I stand and look on to see him work; and this is favor enough, and infinitely more than I deserve."

    Those two excerpts were perfectly suited to my need at the time, and the thing is, as I've said before: I had already read them previously, but there they were once again just at the right time! Our God does not leave us as orphans, does He? O, thanks be to God for the great cloud of witnesses! I am blessed beyond measure! To have these words of the saints piled up around me, in the Word of God and in these other books, richly preserved for me to help me not to loiter on my heavenly journey! To recapture the vision of Canaan's clusters, the land flowing with milk and honey, the wines on the lees well refined, the feast of fat things full of marrow:

    the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk...

    Much like Simeon waited for the Consolation of Israel, Payson had prayed faithfully, and then his faith had become sight, and with it he knew the time of prayerful waiting had not been in vain and the taunts of the devil were all lies. Even if we may not be privileged to see revival in our lifetimes as Edward Payson did, if the Lord has called us to pray, we will be able to say with assurance, "I could not doubt that I had been enabled to pray for a revival these many years," and we can trust the Lord is only waiting to be gracious to us, that He might be more highly exalted, and so long as His second coming tarries, one day He will come again to revive His Church to His praise, honor and glory; and even at the sound of our cries, we know He is already very gracious and is already answering, though we do not yet see the answer (Isaiah 30:18-19).

    My heart is definitely lifted now as I write, I have had so many blessings come upon me from the Scriptures in these past few days. I can't even begin to start to recount them, and I feel I can't take it all in, and I won't be able to do them justice at all. I feel so unworthy that He has continues to pour out so much to me. But one was Zechariah 9:8:

    I WILL CAMP AROUND MY HOUSE...

    Consider who it is that is camping around us? And see how He speaks of His Church: MY HOUSE! And then, Heb. 3:6 - Christ being a Son over His house, and the end of Ephesians 2, etc.

    And this from Matthew Henry:

    Note, God's house lies in the midst of an enemy's country, and his church is as a lily among thorns; and therefore God's power and goodness are to be observed in the special preservation of it. The camp of the saints, being a little flock in comparison with the numerous armies of the powers of darkness that are set against it round about, would certainly be swallowed up if the angels of God did not encamp about it, as they did about Elisha, to deliver it, Rev. xx. 9; Ps. xxxiv. 7. When the times are unusually perilous, when armies are marching and counter-marching, and all bearing ill-will to Zion, then Providence will as it were double its guards upon the church of God, because of him that passes by and because of him that returns, that whether he return a conqueror or conquered he may do it no harm. And, as none that pass by shall hurt them, so no oppressor shall pass through them any more; they shall have no enemy within themselves to rule them with rigour, and to make their lives bitter to them with sore bondage, as of old in Egypt.

    We are in the midst of the enemy's country. No, let us say it: it is far worse, for the thorns have infested the flock of God, have they not? And yet we read the promises of God's continuing care for us, His little flock. He never fails to water the vineyard! Whoever touches His covenant people touches the apple of His eye!

    Late last night I went back and began reading at the beginning of Zechariah and right there is the full assurance of God's jealous love for His Church:

    12  Then the angel of the LORD said, ‘O LORD of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these seventy years?’ 13  And the LORD answered gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. 14  So the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion.

    And the same thing in chapter 8:

    1  And the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying, 2  “Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath...

    I don't think there's any more to be said. God's mercy and zeal and God's jealous love for His people is never changing and persevering!

    And now, Whitefield's words, which I should plaster on my wall and on my forehead!

    "God NEVER sends any of His servants on a NEEDLESS errand. I long to see that time when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters shall cover the sea. even so, come Lord Jesus, come quickly!"

    God has called us to cry out to Him day and night for revival, much as He called Simeon to wait for Consolation of Israel. The errand is not needless, though we are sorely tempted to think so time and time again, so long as we keep looking to the visible.

    As the disciples were to go into Jerusalem and get the colt, when they would be asked, "Why are you loosing that colt?" Because the Lord hath need of him. And so, the same with us, "Why are you loosing your tongues in prayer to an unseen God for revival? BECAUSE THE LORD HATH NEED OF THEM. That's all we need to know, isn't it? He is a good Master, is He not?

    I hope you will indulge me... once more from Payson to close, this being less than three months before his entrance into the everlasting kingdom in 1827:

    Aug. 8. He had a violent nervous head-ache; and was much interrupted in speaking by a difficulty of breathing; but said, in a cheerful voice, to some of his church who were in, "I want you always to believe that God is faithful. However dark and mysterious any of his dispensations may appear, still confide in him. He can make you happy when every thing else is taken from you."

    O, Lord God, make us happy in You and surely we WILL be able to bear all things, to persevere in prayer through those dark and mysterious dispensations, and be more than conquerors and finish the race set before us with joy!

    May God take these words and bless them to your soul's need today and strengthen you to persevere in the cause of Christ for the sake of His blessed name. May God strengthen us to uphold one another in prayer as we seek His face for revival.

    ~ your sister Karen



    * Please add your PRAYERS below as the 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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