April 14, 2009

• Naphtali News: the Ministry of the Word & Prayer

  (Dedication and acknowledgment: I want to give tribute to my wonderful husband, Paul, who allows me the space and the time and the resources so I might be devoted to prayer and the ministry of the Word. Thank you for loving me as Christ loved the Church.)  

  * * *

  Here's an update about where I'm headed, Lord willing...

  But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Acts 6:4.

  I. The Ministry of the Word...

  Lord willing, in a week I'll be in the Chicago area to attend The Gospel Coalition 2009 Conference: Entrusted with the Gospel: Living the Vision of 2 Timothy.

  Why the Gospel Coalition? If you are concerned about the current state of the Church and our slipping away from the centrality of the Gospel, please watch this entire video and you'll see...

  
  I had been considering going to this conference for some time now and finally signed up for it in January, and it has become clearer and clearer to me why God wants me there. And I am really excited to be going.

  Since we left our old church in September 2007 I've had opportunity to stand back and gain a greater sense of what the state of the Church is. To be an observer. It's sometimes hard being an observer...because you're not doing. I like doing! When you're an observer, you're that wallflower, standing to the side and watching and waiting...

  So I have sometimes felt frustrated during this time of transition, but more and more I can see that God has a particular purpose for His leading me as He did, and a big part of that is so I might be able to survey the Church at large, to get a greater sense of what is going on in the Church as a whole. It's true that prior to this period of time I'd already been distressed over the state of the Church, but since then, and in the past several months in particular, my burden for the Church has really intensified.

  Like Nehemiah, I had heard about some of the problems in the Church,

  The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the capital, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire. Nehemiah 1:1-3.

  ...but now God has been giving me the opportunity and the eyes to see the problems in the Church for myself:

  I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14 Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King's Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass. 15 Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. 16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work. Then I said to them, You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned.  Nehemiah 2:13-16.

  

  Do you see the trouble we are in?

  Some of you may be asking, "What trouble? How exactly is the Church lying in ruins with its gates burned?"

  Here are some ways I see that the Church is lying in ruins with her gates burned. (If you've been reading my blog for any time, you'll recognize that I've written on many of these themes.)

  • a growing tendency to teach salvation is by works and not by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ
  • a lack of teaching on the necessity of the new birth
  • a lack of teaching on the need for sanctification/holiness
  • a lack of teaching on the vital need of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life
  • a growing tendency to discount the authority of the Bible
  • a growing tendency to discount the substitutionary atonement of Christ
  • a growing tendency to make Christ merely a moral example
  • a growing tendency to elevate legalism, tradition and man-made religion over the freedom of the Gospel
  • a growing tendency to exult in our works rather than Christ's work
  • a growing tendency to resort to worldly means to build the Kingdom of God

  I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

  We're neither to add nor to subtract from the Gospel. The Church is weakened when we compromise on any part of the Gospel: the walls begin to crumble...

  Anything less than the Gospel of Christ is not the Gospel of Christ.
  Anything more than the Gospel of Christ is not the Gospel of Christ.

  or

  Christ + anything = False Gospel
  Christ - anything = False Gospel

  We recently studied the story of Balaam and Balak in BSF. Balak was trying to get Balaam to curse Israel, but no, God would not allow Balaam to curse Israel. However Balaam did cue Balak into a dirty little secret: how Balak could corrupt and undermine and weaken Israel. "Send them your Moabite women to entice them. That's the Israelites' weakness. They'll lust after your women. They'll take take the bait hook, line and sinker. They'll end up whoring after your Moabite women. And then they'll turn from worshiping their own God to worshiping Baal."

  This isn't merely a story about adultery as we usually think about it.

  When the Church is not keeping the Gospel pure, we're no different than the children of Israel who had begun to whore with the daughters of Moab. When we're whoring after other gospels, we're committing adultery against our Husband, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is one Mediator, one glorious Gospel. When we corrupt the Gospel, pollute it or undermine it, we've gone a whoring after false gospels just like the Israelites.

  No, it's not a literal adultery, as we think of adultery, but, in fact, it's worse–much, much worse. We're being unfaithful to the living God who redeemed us, the God who shed His blood for us on the cross and bought us. The God to whom we are now betrothed. The Church is the Bride of Christ. Jesus Christ is our Husband! He is the Lover of our souls. He is our Beloved! We have been accepted in the Beloved, so whenever we begin entertaining false gospels or teaching false gospels, we're whoring. We're leaving the God we love just like Gomer, the wife of harlotry, who committed adultery against her faithful husband Hosea. We must be on guard for we are all prone to wander, to playing the harlot: Let us never think we are not immune to deception and false teaching. The same thing happened early on in the Church.

  The Galatians were turning to a different gospel. But notice the firm stand Paul takes; look at Paul's words in Galatians 1: if anyone preaches any other gospel, let him be accursed! Accursed! We're not to pervert the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We're not to give way to any false gospel for one hour...I would say for even one millisecond. We can't begin to entertain those false gospels, not at all. We need to guard the purity of the Gospel. There are warnings throughout the New Testament about this.

  These false gospels are appealing to us just like the Moabite women were appealing to the Israelite men. Part of the appeal of these false gospels is that they're not all wrong. They're not blatant heresy. They're not so obviously off-base. That's the danger. They don't seem so bad to us. But anytime you mix error with truth, you get error. The truth has been polluted. It's no longer pure. If you put just a little arsenic in a glass of elderberry wine, you're in trouble. You wouldn't want to drink that now, would you? Would you–really?

  Eating that piece of fruit didn't seem so bad to Adam or Eve, did it? Then think back to how that all came about: Satan twisted the very Word of God. Eve was not well-rooted in the Word. In the same way, when we're not well-rooted in the Word of God, we'll end up getting off track, we'll end up drifting.

  One of the secrets of Jesus' ability to withstand Satan was that He fought Satan with the Word of God. Do we know the Word of God well enough to recognize truth from error?

  Nehemiah led the nation of Israel to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

  Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision. And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, Let us rise up and build.

  How do we rebuild?

  First off, we need to be clear about what we believe and we need to root out the false gospels from our midst, just like Phinehas did (see Numbers 25).

  And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped.

  No, no, we don't spear people, but we must stop the plague from spreading! We must stand in the gap like Phinehas. We must not allow these things to go on unchecked in the Church of the living God. We must guard the glorious Gospel. We can't even give false gospels even a hearing. We cannot compromise one iota. Ever. Once we let Satan in the door with His false gospels and false teaching, much like a communicable disease, the plague will spread like wildfire. We must hold ever true to the wholesome words we've received, to the simplicity of the Gospel of Christ.

  As I've been riding around "Jerusalem" and observing. I'm sad and grieving because I'm seeing a lot of ruins, a lot of dry bones and parched places where there should be life and flowing rivers. I have become increasingly burdened and distressed at the way the Gospel is being watered down and corrupted and tainted. To tell you the truth, I've never really liked the term "Protestant," because it's a negative term. And I don't like conflict; it really goes against my nature. I've always thought, "Why don't we merely say what we're all about? Why don't we focus on the positive?" Yet I've found that I've recently begun to have a sense of affinity with that the word "Protestant." (Perhaps that has to do with reading Luther, who's to say?) Although it is true we must uphold and put forth the Gospel in a positive sense, to say what we're all about, what we are for, yet as we do that, we must clearly say what we are not all about. As we speak forth all the words of His life, we must also clearly protest against any and all false gospels, any teaching or message that might undermine the Biblical teaching that salvation is the free gift of God and it is by grace we are saved through faith, not works.

  Though not an all-inclusive list, here are a few things I say we must protest.

  We must protest any so-called gospel that glorifies men rather than God.

  We must protest any so-called gospel that does not make Jesus Christ preeminent.

  We must protest any so-called gospel that attempts to glorify men's works rather than God's work for us.

  We must protest any so-called gospel that is based on men's works and ability rather than God's grace and God's power.

  We must protest any so-called gospel that does not teach the need for the new birth and regeneration through the Holy Spirit.

  We must protest any so-called gospel that tells us we must work to earn our salvation rather than receiving it as a gift by faith.

  We must protest any so-called gospel that does not teach of the necessity of the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ for our sins.

  We must protest any so-called gospel that speaks only of forgiveness and justification but neglects to address the call to a life of holiness and sanctification through the Spirit.

  We must protest any so-called gospel that minimizes, neglects or ignores, quenches or grieves the necessity of the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in the believer and in the Church as a whole.

  Have you seen the glory of the Gospel? Have you seen the glory of Jesus Christ in the Gospel? Are you willing to be a watchman who will guard the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ? Will you not do all in your power to guard it and fight for it? Will you not do all in your power to uphold it above any and all other false gospels?

  Lord willing, by His grace, I resolve to do so.

  Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. II TImothy 1:13-14.

  So, that's one reason I'm going to the Gospel Coalition conference next week. We must remain rooted in right doctrine. If we lose our rooting in apostolic doctrine, we're headed down a very slippery and very dangerous slope.
   
  We need to hold the line against false teaching. And very often the false teaching is very subtle. Our enemy doesn't come with a pitchfork and horns; he comes as an angel of light. Each one of us needs to be on the lookout. Our enemy is scheming, wily, crafty.

  God's plan of salvation is wholly through the Lord Jesus Christ. There is one way, one plan and there can be no compromise. That is God's plan to bring Himself the maximum glory and it is God's only way of salvation. When we start compromising on the Gospel, we are robbing God of the glory due His Name. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. There's no salvation through the plans and efforts of men, no matter how much we try. Human ingenuity and cleverness can never birth a soul into the Kingdom of God.

  I have been pretty focused on the Word of God for some time, yet I know I must continue to study and never let up. I need to keep guard and become even more well-grounded in the truth, so I can be a worker approved and not ashamed and so I can pass along to others what I am learning. So that's one reason I'm going to the conference next week. It also excites me to meet with men and women from different parts of the Body of Christ who are all uniting together for the sake of the Gospel. I would appreciate your prayers for the conference, the speakers, for all who will be attending, and for me as I go.

  (P.S.-If any of you are planning at the conference, or if you live in the Chicagoland area, perhaps we might be able to meet up!)

  * * *

  But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Acts 6:4.

  II. Prayer...

  I've written here about the ministry of the Word, but now I must back up. We must certainly be well-rooted in the Gospel but we can't only do that. We must be devoting ourselves to prayer as well.

  In Nehemiah 1, Nehemiah hadn't even seen the devastation in Jerusalem, he only heard of it, yet he wept over the city and prayed. It's taken me a while to be moved as Nehemiah was. I needed to see it firsthand. It is only now that I find myself feeling like Nehemiah.

  As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 And I said, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your dispersed be under the farthest skies, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there. 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today...

  Over the past couple months, along with the increasing burden I've had about the Church, I've had an increasing burden to pray and to uphold the Church in prayer.

  As I've studied the role of Moses as Israel's prophet and leader, I've seen how much of an intercessor Moses was for the people of Israel. And, of course, as I looked at Aaron, the high priest, by definition, that was part of his role, to be holding up the people to God in prayer. We see that there were twelve stones on the breastplate of the high priest, each engraved with the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. This was a wonderful reminder that the high priest was to keep these men and women close to his heart and to bring them before God in prayer.

  And as we know, both Aaron and Moses are a picture of Jesus Christ, our perfect and most excellent Prophet and High Priest, who still intercedes for us today at the right hand of the Father.

  What I might call the kicker to all this was a verse that was shared in a Sunday School class earlier this year (we were studying the various genres of the Bible, in this case prophesy); the teacher gave this reference from I Samuel 12:23:

  Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way.

  This verse has really stuck with me...Yes, as God has enabled me, I have endeavored to instruct you in the good and the right way, but I have to admit that prayer part has been lacking.

  ...far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you

  Those are strong words. Samuel is saying there that if we're not upholding one another in prayer, we're sinning. That's serious stuff. And prayer is never optional for those who are teachers in the Church. That's the same thing we find in Acts 6:4: prayer and the ministry of the Word. They go together.

  When you look at the men and women of faith throughout the Bible, they were people of prayer.

  When you look at the great movements of revival in the Church, people were praying. Usually not many, of course, but a small handful, a remnant.

  And, of course, there's Jesus...

  I know I don't pray like I should, so I'm stepping way out of my comfort zone here.

  I'm no prayer expert, but I know these things:

  • God wants His Church to be salt and light in the world.

  • God wants His glorious Gospel to be proclaimed to the end of the earth.

  • God wants us to remain rooted and established in Him.

  • God is grieved when His Church is floundering and lethargic and powerless and off track.

  • We have no power to be the Church apart from the power God can provide for us.

  • When we work out of our own strength, we bring no glory to God.

  • By His torn body and shed blood Jesus Christ has opened the way for us to go boldly into the throne room of God.

  • Our Father God tells us to ask and we will receive, to seek and we will find, to knock and the door will be opened.

  • Where two or three are gathered, He is in the midst of us.

  I also know that God's Church is in distress. Our walls are broken down and gates are burned. We have no power in ourselves to rebuild the walls and the gates.

  So, yes, we do need to guard the Gospel (as I wrote about above), but we also need to be interceding and storming the throne of grace with a holy boldness. We should go reverently, yes, of course, but shouldn't we go as little children who are stubborn and persistent, who won't take no for an answer? Think of your child (or a child) pestering you if he wants something. He'll keep at it. Sometimes it drives you crazy! But he's only asking because he knows you love him and he has faith you will give him what he's asking. (Of course, the child's desires are not always pure, which is also true for us as well.)

  As children of God, we have full right to be in God's presence. We have every right to be there because we are His children. As children of God, it's the place we ought to be. We can now enter into the most holy place through a new living way, through the torn flesh and poured out blood of our Savior. That's why the Son of God became man, why He took on flesh, why He came to earth–all to bring us back to God. Are we availing ourselves of the opportunity that has been bought for us at Calvary? Are we squandering our rich inheritance as children of God to commune with the living God?

  Prayer is one of the highest privileges we have as children of God. We now have a relationship with the true God! Think of it! If you had a chance to meet with anyone, wherever you were at, at any time, any famous person or person you've admired throughout history, wouldn't you jump at the chance? Yet do we feel that way about prayer? Do we get excited about approaching the King of kings and the Lord of lords? Can we not tarry with Him one hour in prayer?

  My dear brothers and sisters, we need to pray. Because we are in need. We need more than just what we can do. In ourselves we are insufficient. We can try all the latest bells and whistles, we can run the church like an attraction or like a business or with the latest gimmicks or what have you, but those things will never do. We may build something, but it won't be God's Church. If we rely on the power of men and the ideas and plans of men, all we will get is what men can do. But–if we rely on the power of God, we will get what God Himself can do. We are not talking about a business here. We are talking about the Body of Christ. We are talking about the Kingdom of God and the habitation of the Spirit. The Church is a living organism. To build the Kingdom of God, we need the power of God. To live as the people of God, we need the baptism of the Spirit. We need a movement of the Spirit; we need revival in the Church. We must be bold and ask God to rend the heavens and come down and cleanse us and fill us and empower us to be the Church He has intended. Nothing else will do. No one else will do. But God...

  Why do we keep settling for broken cisterns rather than going to the source of living water?

  We can try with all our might and all our power. When will we learn that His Church will only be built by his Spirit? And one of His main means of doing so is for the people of God to spend more time in prayer than in planning. More time on our knees than on scurrying about in activities.

  This year is the 150th anniversary of the Welsh revival (you can read a little about it here). In "Revival Comes to Wales" I read accounts about the Shekinah glory was present during that revival. I began hungering and thirsting and asking, "Why can't we ask for that? Why can't we expect that? If them, why not us? If in 1859, why not in 2009?"

  Then, lo and behold, the Sunday after reading all that and praying about that, I attended a worship service, and what is the pastor talking about: someone from his congregation who has that same desire to see the Shekinah glory to come down in the midst of their worship. Here and now. In 2009. Why not? Why not us? Why not today?

  Why not? Can God not do this for His children? Does not God want to visit us again to pour out His fire and power on us? To give us the later rain? Do we see the Shekinah glory as a mere fable or something that we don't have access to because we're in the 21sst century? Does not God delight to show us His glory? Should we not be asking Him to do so? Why should we not be asking for Him to come and revive us? Do we not see that apart from Him we can do nothing? Are we content with our various activities and our religious observances? Should we not be continuing to ask Him, to plead with Him, for His power and His presence to come down among us? And to give Him no rest. To be like the importunate widow we returned again and again to the judge? Will God find faith on the earth? Do we keep returning again and again, do we keep asking Him to visit us and to pour out His Spirit and His power upon us, to revive us again?

  As this burden to pray has increased, I realized that I ought to invite others to come alongside me in prayer. So at first I thought I would devote the Sundays on my blog between Easter and up through Pentecost to prayer. Not so much regarding instruction in prayer or exposition about prayer, but to prayer itself.

  But then I felt that God wanted more than that. 

  The result is that I've started a new website devoted to prayer, tent_of_meeting (still a work very much in progress). (BTW, if any of you can answer a few questions I have about Xanga themes, I would really appreciate your help!)

  Here's my working mission statement for tent of meeting:

  I am burdened to pray to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for Christ's church and for revival. 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. As the Lord wills, I wish to devote the days leading up to Pentecost this year to times of prayer on this blog.

  If God has similarly been burdening you over the state of the Church and has been putting it on your heart to pray for revival in the Church, I would ask that you join me in prayer at  tent_of_meeting. I don't really quite know how often I'll post there. I don't know quite know what it will look like or where this will go or for how long, but as of now, I believe I am to devote at least the time between now and Pentecost Sunday, May 31, to prayer on that site. You can merely come and read and pray yourself. You can add a prayer. However God leads you. My hope and my prayer is that God will raise up men and women who are hungry for Him and who will increasingly desire to seek His face in prayer.

  I'll say a little more right here about tent of meeting. Please think of "tent of meeting" like a prayer meeting, only it's an online prayer meeting. I do want it to be a holy place. A place where our eyes are fixed on Him. A place where we are seeking Him. A place where the comments made are not really comments but are actual prayers of the saints. It's all to be offered up to Him. For example, if you're on the site and you read a prayer there you appreciate, instead of commending the poster, you can comment with a simple "Amen," just as you would do in an in-person prayer meeting, and then, as you feel led, you can go ahead and carry on with your own prayer, either on the blog or not.

  If you have more questions and for more information, please read Why "tent of meeting"?. I will say here, I don't really know what I am doing. All I know is that I'm stepping out by faith in what I do know and I am trusting God will lead me. And I do appreciate your continued prayers.

  Earlier this year I read "Abandoned to God," the biography of Oswald Chambers. The book was wonderful, I've mentioned it a couple times previously on my blog, but there was a little phrase in there that struck me:

  "go beyond the traditional structure" (p. 167)

  I wrote that down on a scrap of paper (I didn't have my notebook w/ me at the time) and below it I wrote:

  "Does this mean anything for me?"

  I tucked that paper into my Bible case along with a lot of other papers I have stashed there and have pulled it out periodically. This whole thing has stuck with me.

  With the "tent of meeting" website, I think I'm going beyond the traditional structure a bit.

  However, my intent is not to be trendy. My intent is not to go beyond the traditional structure for the sake of being able to say I've done so. Yes, it is an experiment of sorts in terms of the mode and method. Perhaps others have tried it. I don't really know. I do know it's something God has put on my heart and believe He wants me to do. I don't know how it will all turn out. But my hope and prayer is that through "tent of meeting," God will bring together like-minded men and women of faith from all across the Body of Christ, children of God who are burdened by the current state of the Church and who are ready to come as little children to the Good Shepherd with a desire to enter into the tent of meeting and seek God's face in one accord and to cry out, "Abba, Father, we can do nothing. You can do all things. These things are impossible for us, but possible for you." Men and women who acknowledge that in and of ourselves we have no power. Men and women who have come to the end of themselves. Men and women who acknowledge we are poor and needy and we are in need of mercy and grace to help us. People who freely confess we need the living God. We have seen the state of broken down state of the Church and we know nothing less will do but Him. We need to touch His garment. We need to see His glory. We need Him. We must have Him. We are panting. We are longing. We are thirsty and hungry. Nothing else will satisfy. No one else will do. Who have we in heaven but Him? To whom should we go for He alone has the words of life? To whom should we go for the remedy to the Church's current ills but the Creator and Sustainer of all things, the Head of the Church, the very life and blood and breath of the Church?

  If we are talking to the living God, if we are communing with Him, if we are going to God's throne of grace through Jesus' body and blood and in Jesus' name, if we continue to ask Him to purify our motives and if we have a sincere desire for Him to bless His Church, can we not expect Him to do so in His way and His time? Can we not expect Him to rend the heavens and come down and show us His glory? Can we not expect Him to return to His Church and bless us and transform us into people who turn the world upside down? To be a vibrant Church like we see in the book of Acts. To be a holy priesthood proclaiming the praises of the One who brought us out of darkness into His marvelous light. To be salt and light. To be burdened for lost souls.

  As way of background, I came across six of Martyn Lloyd-Jones' messages on Revival quite by "accident." I don't remember how I ended up finding these but there they were. I had heard that ML-J's message on Exodus 33 was one you had to listen to, and there it was! If you are burdened over the state of the Church, I would encourage you to listen to all of the messages. Four of them are based on Moses' prayers in Exodus 33. In Exodus 33 we see Moses praying for God's presence to go with the nation of Israel and then we see Moses being bold and asking God to show him His glory. Moses didn't stop going to that throne of grace and neither should we. We must make the most of the time and pray without ceasing.

  As I listened to the second message, "Revival 2- Preparatory Stages," I realized I should choose the name "tent of meeting" for the prayer site; that will give you more insight into why I chose that name. And I will tell you these were all things God was putting in my heart before I listened to the message, only God crystallized things for me through that message.

  Oh, how we need His presence! How we need to see His glory! How we need a visitation of His Spirit! A new filling! A new baptism!

  Between now and Pentecost, I'm not sure how much regular blogging I'll be doing. God has challenged me in this. "Whose blog is this anyhow?" He's reminded me that this is His blog and not mine. Oh, I love to write and to teach and blog here and have loved getting to know you, but I do believe I need to change gears for the time being. And we will see where God leads and what He wants to do.

  Will you pray with me that God will breathe His breath into us, into His Church, that we might know He is the Lord, that He might receive all the praise, honor and glory due His blessed and holy Name?

  The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, you know. 4 Then he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off. 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord. Ezekiel 37:1-14.

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  Please see my follow-up post, Here I stand & from here I cast (devoted to prayer & the ministry of the Word).

  Some related posts on the Gospel:
  
  my deep concern for the churches
  At Calvary: Can you say, "I'm with Him"?
  Good Friday: Are you glorying in the cross or in your works?
  April Fool's Day: Have you become like the foolish Galatians?
  Second Sunday of Advent: FAQ about Santa Claus and the Gospel of Christ
  First Sunday after Christmas: Are you trusting in the Babe alone?
  Reformation Day: Martin Luther on "How One is Justified before God, and of Good Works"
  My posts on True and false religion

  Some related posts on prayer:
  
  Things To Look for in a Church, 8: A Praying People
  Reflections on Atlanta: The Body of Christ, part 6: Pentecostal Prayer and Christian Unity
  Things to look for in a Church, what we find in Solomon's Temple, 6: Prayer
  Ash Wednesday 2008: A Prayer for a "Holy Visitation"
  Why not pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
  Naphtali News: God speaking to me about my failures & the one thing needful

  Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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