This morning as I talked to the Lord, I had an overwhelming sense of His calling me to prayer for the church of Jesus Christ. By and large, we, the church, have become an over-indulgent, spoiled church, whose primary aim is our own comfort rather than the spread of the gospel of Jesus. We are full of pride over so many things…our nice buildings, programs offered, number of baptisms and so much else. We have lost the humble, servant heart of our Lord. My ‘we’ includes me, too.
The Lord reminded me of a familiar verse in an exceedingly fresh way this morning.
“And if my people who are called by my name” – God is very specific that HIS people, the church, those of us who name the name of Christ, are the ones who should act.
“will humble themselves” – He insists first and foremost on humility before Him.
“and pray and seek My face” – We, you and me, His people, must, in humility come before Him, acknowledging our need for Him and His intervention in our lives and our church.
“and turn from their wicked ways” – that’s pretty plain. Do we understand that our pride and self-indulgence is wicked in God’s eyes?
“then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land.” – The land that we need healed is the church, my friends. Yes, the unsaved need to hear the gospel, but before that can happen, the church must return to our first love.
And so, I am commiting to 30 days of prayer for the church of Jesus Christ.
Each day I will spend some time with God, on my knees, seeking His face specifically about the church of Jesus Christ. I will ask for a humbling and brokenness that brings about revival among His people. I’m convinced that it is the only way that the church will regain its effectiveness.
Will you join me? Will you commit to 30 days of seeking God’s face specifically for the church? Each day I will post a reminder to pray for something specific in this regard. I am convinced that we will see God move in response to this. God promised that He hears and responds to our prayers.
Will you join me as we humble ourselves, pray and seek His face? Humble, Pray, Seek.
