Revival Prayer

"Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down,

That the mountains might quake at Your presence—"

Isaiah 64:1

In Isaiah 64 the prophet prays for his nation. Israel has backslidden and Isaiah longs to see God move in their hearts. Warren Wiersbe calls this “one of the greatest 'revival prayers' found in Scripture”. When a nation -- a people -- forget God the result is disastrous. It was true in Isaiah's time and it's no less true in ours. Do you long to see God move in the hearts of our nation's people? I have to admit that I yearned for revival in America ten years ago and prayed daily that God would bring it. It's been awhile since that passion has burned, and reading this verse today makes me realize I need to ask God to rekindle it. 

Oh Lord, bring revival to our nation, and let it start with me. 

A Godly Heritage

"I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also."

2 Timothy 1:5

There is a Jewish proverb: One mother achieves more than a hundred teachers. Timothy's mother Eunice and her mother before her Lois had a sincere faith in Christ that they lived out in front of Timothy. And Paul saw that same type of faith living in Timothy. Our children must have a faith of their own. They don't "inherit" it from us, but certainly we influence them by our faith -- or lack of it. "A life thoroughly committed to Christ, lived and tested over time, seasoned with experience and humility, is more powerful than most people ever imagine. People who have a heritage of godly grandparents carry this influence in their lives sometimes without recognizing its source." (Jay Kessler)

The Futility of Workaholism

"It is vain for you to rise up early,

To retire late,

To eat the bread of painful labors;

For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep."

Psalm 127:2

Although the Bible never mentions the word "workaholic", this verse certainly speaks to it. God doesn't want us to be slothful, but He doesn't want us to work so much that we neglect worship of Him, our relationship with our family, or the rest we need. God established rest from work and He intends for us to follow His example. When we feel we have to work beyond reasonable hours to get what we need we rob God of the honor of blessing us. "God gives to those who have learned to rest in Him, not to those who strive in their own strength. In the words of the Psalmist as translated by the NASB, 'For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.' Put in its simplest terms, the blessings of God are never gained by self-effort, no matter how fervent or how prolonged. God’s blessings are the product of His grace, appropriated by faith, not works. Work is futile when we strive, by means of it, to gain God’s blessings." (Bob Deffinbaugh

Be Silent Before Him

“But the Lord is in His holy temple.  Let all the earth be silent before Him.”

Habakkuk 2:20

Almost daily we see and hear things that make us wonder where our world is headed. Wars and rumors of war. Evil seems to be winning, but God is still on His throne and ultimately He will set all things right. In the meantime we wait patiently for His vindication. The more convinced we are of God's sovereignty and authority, the more apt we are to sit silently. And to the one who sits silently, God speaks.

Family Resemblance

"In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,"

Ephesians 1:4-5

It's intriguing to me how often I randomly meet someone for the first time and within minutes I know he or she is a Christian. There's a family resemblance that's unmistakable. And why not? We both have the same Father. We've been adopted into God's family. That's what happens when we receive Christ as our Savior. We immediately become the sons and daughters of God. And that means we become brothers and sisters to each other. "Adoption is a well known human institution but supernatural adoption of believers by God is far more than a name.  A man adopts one to be his son and his heir that does not at all resemble him, but whosoever God adopts for His child is like Him. He not only bears His heavenly Father’s name, but His image." (http://www.preceptaustin.org/, Ephesians 1:5-6 Commentary)

Don't Procrastinate

"how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?"

Hebrews 2:3

There  is no greater salvation than that secured for us by the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, it is the only way to salvation. Jesus said "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." Destruction doesn't come just  by openly opposing  or fighting against the gospel, it only takes merely neglecting it. 

The devil and his cohorts were devising plans to get people to reject the Gospel. “Let’s go to them and say there is no God,” proposed one. Silence prevailed. Every devil knew that most people believe in a supreme being. “Let’s tell them there is no hell, no future punishment for the wicked.” offered another. That was turned down, because men obviously have consciences which tell them that sin must be punished. The concave was going to end in failure when there came a voice from the rear: “Tell them there is a God, there is a hell and that the Bible is the Word of God. But tell them there is plenty of time to decide the question. Let them ‘neglect’ the Gospel, until it is too late.” All hell erupted with ghoulish glee, for they knew that if a person procrastinated on Christ, they usually never accept Him. (10000 Sermon Illustrations. Dallas: Biblical Studies Press)

God's Word to Men on Prayer

"Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, 

without wrath and dissension."

1 Timothy 2:8

God's word gives instructions for the role of men in leading prayer when Christians assemble.That they are to pray in every place with holy, blameless hearts. Humble hearts that are under submission to God. They are to pray without anger toward others and they are to pray in faith. 

"'I will that men pray everywhere.’ That is the same in spirit as the Apostle’s other command: ‘Pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks.’ A very high ideal, but a very reasonable one, for unless we can find some place where God is not, and where the telegraph between heaven and earth is beyond our reach, there is no place where we ‘should not pray. And unless we can find a place where we do not want God, nor need Him, there is no place where we should not pray. Because, then, ‘everywhere’ is equally near Him, and the straight road to His throne is of the same length from every hole and corner of the world; therefore, wherever men are, they ought to be clinging to His skirts, and reaching out their open hands for His benefits; and because, wherever a man is, there he utterly depends upon God, and needs the actual intervention of His love, and the energising of His power for everything, even for his physical life, so that he cannot wink his eyelashes without God’s help, therefore, ‘In every place I will that men pray.’" (Alexander MacLaren)

I