A Call to Repentance - 37

INTRODUCTION TO WEEK THIRTY-SEVEN

This week, we continue to press in during WEEK THIRTY-SEVEN of our 40 Weeks of Prayer and Fasting, to offer prayers of repentance for the sin in the church, the sin in the nation, and the blessing of Israel.

We now address these areas:

1. SIN IN THE CHURCH: LACK OF PRAYER

2. SIN IN THE NATION: GREED

3. PRAYERS FOR ISRAEL: GOD IS OUR/THEIR DEFENSE

REPENTANCE FOR SIN IN THE CHURCH:

LACK OF PRAYER

"AND THE LORD SAW . . . AND WONDERED THAT THERE WAS NO INTERCESSOR" (ISA. 59:16)

The church has many organizers, but few agonizers, many who pay, but few who pray; many resters, but few wrestlers, many who are enterprising, but few who are interceding. People who are not praying are playing.

Two prerequisites of dynamic Christian living are vision and passion. and both of these are generated in the prayer closet. The ministry of preaching is open to a few. The ministry of praying is open to every child of God

Don't mistake action for unction, commotion for creation, and rattles for revivals.

The secret of praying is praying in secret. A worldly Christian will stop praying, a praying Christian will stop worldliness.

When we pray, God listens to our heartbeat. Hannah's "lip" moved, but her voice was not heard (1 Sam. 1:12, 13) When we pray in the spirit, there are groanings which cannot be uttered (Rom 8:26)

Tithes may build a church, but tears will give it life. That is the difference between the modern church and early church. Our emphasis is on paying, theirs was on praying. Then they had prayed, the place was shaken. (Acts4:31)

In the matter of effective praying, never have so many left so much to so few.

Brethren let us pray!

Leonard Ravenhill

· Father God, we ask You to stir the hearts of Your people to begin to fight the good fight of faith, on our knees.

We ask that You would use the current political and economic crises we face to cause many to "seize the moment" -- through prayer.

We thank You, Lord, that it is written that it is "not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the Lord" that Your will shall be accomplished on earth.

LORD, LET THE FIRE FALL!!

· "And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness." (Acts 4:31)

REPENTANCE FOR THE SINS OF THE NATION: GREED

[Please note: During weeks 13 and 14, we offered prayers of repentance for the spirit of greed that is in the church. We had already planned to address the issue of GREED in the nation, even before the crises erupted on Wall Street this past week. We praise God that He IS in control; and He does have a plan for our nation, and for everyone who lives on our land.

And right on time, we were blessed by the following article by Cal Thomas . . . just when we were grappling with this topic. Thank You, Lord.]

Lessons From The Puritans

By Cal Thomas

Jewish World Review

Sept. 18, 2008 / 19 Elul 5768 (excerpt)

"Whoever loves money, never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless." (Ecclesiastes 5:10)

The financial "crisis" on Wall Street has provided another teachable moment. It turns out that greed is not good after all.

While the media and politicians blame the usual suspects, greed, like illicit sex, is not held in copyright by either party or political persuasion.

Modern Western culture has been built on the success ethic, which says the acquisition of material wealth produces happiness and contentment and that the value of a life is to be measured not by one's character, but the size of his bank account, the square footage of his home, the cost of his clothes and the cars in his garage. The Puritan Thomas Watson addressed this notion when he said, "Blessedness ... does not lie in the acquisition of worldly things. Happiness cannot by any art of chemistry be extracted here."

Christianity Today magazine noted in a 1988 article, "The Puritan Critique of Modern Attitudes Toward Money": "American culture has been strangely enamored of the image of 'the self-made person' - the person who becomes rich and famous through his or her own efforts. The idea of having status handed over as a gift does not appeal to such an outlook. Yet the Puritans denied that there can even be such a thing as a self-made person. Based on an ethic of grace, Puritanism viewed prosperity solely as G-d's gift."

The writer might have added that prosperity should not be seen as an end, but a means. Throughout Scripture, people are warned that money is a false G- d that leads to destruction. Wealth is best used when it becomes a river, not a reservoir; when it blesses and encourages others and does not solely feed one's personal empire.

The modern business ethic seems to be to make as much money as possible, but with little purpose for making that money other than to enhance the wealth and status of those who make it. No wonder Paul the Apostle wrote that "the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil" (1 Timothy 6:10). It isn't money itself that is evil. Money, like fire or firearms, can be used for good or ill, depending on the character of the person who possesses it. But money can be worshipped with as much fervency as that golden calf in Moses' time. In Dow we trust!

Part of our problem is a failure to distinguish between needs and wants. Until the last century, most people were familiar with the Puritan ethic of living within one's means. The Gilded Age in the late 19th century demonstrated the folly of rapacious living, yet the Roaring Twenties generation had to learn the lesson anew from the Great Depression.

When the Forbidden Fruit was handed to Adam and Eve, they were allowed the moral choice to accept or decline. I know people who have refused to feast on the money tree. They live simply, within their means, and seem far more content than those who are trying to horde their wealth while clinging to the ladder of "success," terrified to let go. That isn't real living. The Puritans rightly saw that as covetousness.

· Father, we come before You in repentance that we have adopted the world's standard of "success" as our own. Forgive us, dear Lord, cleanse us, heal us, and deliver us, that we might find new life in You and refreshing by following Your ways. In Jesus' Name, amen.

· ". . . the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. . . " (1 Timothy 6:10)

"WHY GOD USED D. L. MOODY"

A Semon by R. A. Torrey -- 1923

(7) DEFINITELY ENDUED WITH POWER FROM ON HIGH

The seventh (and final) thing that was the secret of why God used D. L. Moody was that he had a very definite enduement with power from on High, a very clear and definite baptism with the Holy Ghost. Moody knew he had "the baptism with the Holy Ghost"; he had no doubt about it. In his early days he was a great hustler; he had a tremendous desire to do something, but he had no real power. He worked very largely in the energy of the flesh.

But there were two humble Free Methodist women who used to come over to his meetings in the Y.M.C.A. One was "Auntie Cook" and the other, Mrs. Snow. (I think her name was not Snow at that time.) These two women would come to Mr. Moody at the close of his meetings and say: "We are praying for you." Finally, Mr. Moody became somewhat nettled and said to them one night: "Why are you praying for me? Why don't you pray for the unsaved?" They replied: "We are praying that you may get the power." Mr. Moody did not know what that meant, but he got to thinking about it, and then went to these women and said: "I wish you would tell me what you mean"; and they told him about the definite baptism with the Holy Ghost. Then he asked that he might pray with them and not they merely pray for him.

Auntie Cook once told me of the intense fervor with which Mr. Moody prayed on that occasion. She told me in words that I scarcely dare repeat, though I have never forgotten them. And he not only prayed with them, but he also prayed alone.

Not long after, one day on his way to England, he was walking up Wall Street in New York; (Mr. Moody very seldom told this and I almost hesitate to tell it) and in the midst of the bustle and hurry of that city his prayer was answered; the power of God fell upon him as he walked up the street and he had to hurry off to the house of a friend and ask that he might have a room by himself, and in that room he stayed alone for hours; and the Holy Ghost came upon him, filling his soul with such joy that at last he had to ask God to withhold His hand, lest he die on the spot from very joy. He went out from that place with the power of the Holy Ghost upon him, and when he got to London (partly through the prayers of a bedridden saint in Mr. Lessey's church), the power of God wrought through him mightily in North London, and hundreds were added to the churches; and that was what led to his being invited over to the wonderful campaign that followed in later years.

Time and again Mr. Moody would come to me and say: "Torrey, I want you to preach on the baptism with the Holy Ghost." I do not know how many times he asked me to speak on that subject. Once, when I had been invited to preach in the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York (invited at Mr. Moody's suggestion; had it not been for his suggestion the invitation would never have been extended to me), just before I started for New York, Mr. Moody drove up to my house and said: "Torrey, they want you to preach at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York. It is a great big church, cost a million dollars to build it." Then he continued: "Torrey, I just want to ask one thing of you. I want to tell you what to preach about. You will preach that sermon of yours on 'Ten Reasons Why I Believe the Bible to Be the Word of God' and your sermon on 'The Baptism With the Holy Ghost.'"

Time and again, when a call came to me to go off to some church, he would come up to me and say: "Now, Torrey, be sure and preach on the baptism with the Holy Ghost." I do not know how many times he said that to me. Once I asked him: "Mr. Moody, don't you think I have any sermons but those two: 'Ten Reasons Why I Believe the Bible to Be the Word of God' and 'The Baptism With the Holy Ghost'?" "Never mind that," he replied, "you give them those two sermons.

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