I woke up around 4:00 a.m. thinking last night would be the breakthrough night for the revival. I came to the office to pour out my soul to the Lord in prayer asking Him for a breakthrough. God has manifested His presence in every service but I still cannot say real revival has come. I still cannot say we have experienced anything supernatural.
Later in the afternoon when I sought the Lord again I had great peace. I had great peace that first God was the object of my pursuit foremost and not the experience of revival. I sought to maintain that perspective right up to the service starting.
Once again I was disappointed because the crowd was very small. I stood in the back last night as Chris led us in worship. The warehouse proved hot once again but the passion for more of God deep in my soul burned hotter. I sang and prayed all throughout the night. I cried out to God to bring a breakthrough. I offered to Him songs of praise and ultimately my life.
Everything seemed flat last night. Standing in the back it appeared nobody really got into the worship other than two people. Granted all I could see were the backs of the people. For the life of me I could not understand how God would hold back as much prayer that has been put into this. It seemed for the most part we were going through the motions.
I preached my heart out from Acts 4:1-31. No matter what happened Peter and John continued to proclaim the name of Jesus. They could not be shut up. In contrast with the church today we cannot get anyone to open up about Jesus. I read once where 90% of people in church have never shared Jesus Christ with anyone. Another survey revealed that 95% have never led anyone to faith in Christ.
In Acts the name of Jesus fell from the lips of His followers continually. They were not ashamed. They were bold and they prayed for more boldness. Those few followers started a revolution in Jerusalem that eventually encompassed the whole world. When Peter and John had finished preaching in Acts 3, 5,000 people trusted Christ for salvation on that day alone. We seldom see days where half a dozen or saved at the same time in this day and age.
The New Testament church prayed. They prayed a lot. Contrast with churches today. Every so often we hear how God is working mightily through some church. We hear about prayer meetings where throngs come and the power of God is evident. We say we want the power of God evident in our situations but we do not pay the cost in prayer. We want a short cut. There are no short cuts to revival.
Night after night I have preached the pure unadulterated gospel. I have pleaded with God to save the lost. There have been people I have prayed for by name in the services and still no decisions. I got on my knees a few nights ago pleading for people to put their trust in Jesus. Not one single decision for Christ thus far. I preached so hard last night my collar became soaked with sweat and perspiration rolled down my face all night. Brenda told me afterward the sweat actually soaked through my Khaki pants. I have not held back.
When the invitation was extended nobody responded to salvation. I challenged the church to do what Peter and John did when they were released from jail. They joined with their companions and cried out to God in one accord. I wonder if there has ever been a night or a day when the people of Faith Community really lifted up our prayers in unison and faith. The urgent prayer last night echoed for true revival and for spiritual awakening. We also prayed for more boldness to proclaim the name of Jesus.
One more time I knelt at the altar totally exhausted. I buried my head into the plywood stage and cried out to God for help again. I have no interest in just having some scheduled services. I want to see God bring a revolution to Paradise.
I am amazed at the hardness of hearts of people in this community. Many in our own church appear to have no hunger for God in their own lives or desire to see a genuine revolution in this community. The ground here is hard. One person asked me about the difference between Paradise and Seminole in revival. It dawned on me that Seminole had many more prayer warriors. For years all the churches collaborated with a lady named Joyce Dow for community prayer. She faithfully hosted a prayer meeting in a different church from 11-1 on Thursday afternoons. Those prayer meetings are some of my favorite times back in Seminole. Through her prayers and the prayers of many others the hard ground of spiritual in the hearts up people had been plowed and broken up by God.
I know of a group of ladies who have been praying for revival for decades in Paradise. Their numbers are few but they have stayed the course for decades. They pray every Wednesday morning though several of them are getting more feeble in their health as they get older. We pray every Sunday evening at Faith Community. We do not have a service. We have a prayer meeting. It is not well attended but we do pray. Everywhere you look in the books of Acts believers were gathered together for prayer.
For the life of me I do not understand why God is holding back. Perhaps God has been rejected and what He wants to do nobody really wants to happen. Either way I had much larger expectations for this revival. I thought I heard from Him so clearly about having this revival and what He would do. To date our meetings have been mediocre at best. Good but nothing to write home about. Honestly, I am frustrated. I have begged God to back us up. People are not going to be revived and saved just because you have some services scheduled. The power of God must be on display. When Elijah took his stand on Mount Carmel God answered with power. That power manifested itself in fire and when all the people saw it they fell on their faces crying out, "The Lord He is God." When Peter and John preached thousands not only listened but they responded in faith to the salvation message of Jesus. God backed them up. We need God to back us up.
Here in Paradise there are some concerned with matters of eternity. There is always a remnant who yearn for more of God and Faith Community has that too. We have a faithful remnant praying and attending. By and large this community is unconcerned with matters of eternity even though we have had two tragedies in a week. If God does not come and back us up with His power we have no hope. Things will continue to spiral down toward wickedness and paganism.
My heart is crushed for the soul of this community. What will it take for God to arise and pour out His Spirit over all of us and all the churches. I covet prayers from all who read this. Apart from a supernatural intervention from God the city will not be shaken and revival will not come.
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