A Call to Repentance: WEEK THIRTY-SEVEN

2008-09-21T23:01:00.000-07:00

September 21, 2008

" . . . if my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. . . " (2 Chronicles 7:14)

	INTRODUCTION TO WEEK THIRTY-SEVEN

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

	SIN IN THE CHURCH: LACK OF PRAYER

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)

	SIN IN THE NATION: GREED

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)

	PRAYERS FOR ISRAEL: GOD IS OUR DEFENSE

PRAYERS FOR ISRAEL:

GOD IS OUR/THEIR DEFENSE

. Israel's security situation remains precarious. Yet God has promised to defend us.

- "Hear the word of LORD, O you gentiles, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep [guard] him, as a shepherd does his flock." (Jeremiah 31:10)

- Abba, arise and scatter Your/Israel's enemies (Psalm 3:7; 9:19-20; 68:1).

- Lord, deal with the Iranian threat. Block the current regime from accomplishing any of it's goals - declared repeatedly - concerning Israel destruction.

- While Iran's president Ahmadinejad is at the UN, hedge him in. May his time there actually be detrimental to Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

- Lord, deal with the nations who are hearing and seeing another Hitler arise to threaten genocide on the Jewish people - and are doing very little to stop him.

- Protect Israel's head of the IDF - Gabi Ashkenazi - and aid him in preparing the army for the future defense of Israel.

- Raise up a Defense Minister who will work well with Ashkenazi.

- Prevent the IDF from being more merciful to her enemies than You are.

- Concerning Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, "Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion." (Psalms 129:5)

(Prayers offered by Intercessors for Israel.)

	In Crisis, Wall Street Turns to Prayer

"In Crisis, Wall Street Turns to Prayer"

Financial meltdown triggers prayer sessions citywide.

By Tony Carnes
Christianity Today
Friday, September 19, 2008
(Excerpt)

Starting early last Sunday morning, the turmoil in New York's financial markets triggered a spiritual response among Christian leaders reminiscent of the response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Cell phone text messages quickly spread calls to prayer. "Barclay has pulled out of Lehman deal," one announced. Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers was finalizing bankruptcy papers; Merrill Lynch was clinching its deal to sell itself to Bank of America. Monday would be devastating.

. . . On Monday, Christians on Wall Street set up special prayer meetings for the week. First came the special prayer conference calls on Monday and Tuesday nights. Then, starting Wednesday, extraordinary prayer meetings were scheduled at Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Deloitte, and elsewhere. Pastors began planning to gather for a sidewalk prayer meeting outside of the stock exchange.

Mac Pier of the New York Leadership Center started getting calls from friends who were losing their jobs. "Of course, I prayed with them that God would give them the spiritual and financial resources they need." Pier says that the Wall Streeters who called him were stunned. "It was unnerving to them because of the speed [at which] it happened."

A. J. Rice, well-respected CEO of the hedge-fund firm Pomeroy Capital, received a lot of calls, several from friends at Lehman who were distressed by the devastation of their colleagues. One told him, "I have never seen grown men cry like that." A consultant to several financial companies relates that one friend called to say, "I need to see you to talk me off the ledge."

Some Christians in NYC hope that God can use the crisis for good. Pier says, "God can use this situation as he did in the 1857 Layman's Prayer Revival that started on Wall Street to draw people to a fresh recognition of our absolute dependence on his grace and love."

Some Christian money people also refer to working on Wall Street as working on "the dark side," with an environment that is "absurdly secular," "out of balance," and "egoistic." One trader says, "Some of the times when I get on the train, it's like I go to the dark side." Nowadays the trips are especially bleak. One chief operating officer says that maybe Christian faith can stand out as a light of compassion and truth. "We should not be intimidated by the magnitude of the darkness of the times, but [should] realize how quickly the light stands out in all that darkness. We need to turn around and realize that one match lights up all of Shea Stadium when it is pitch black. If Christians walk like Christians, we can do it. Prayer, first of all. So before any general ledger closes, we should pray over the books."

(Read more.)

· As we offer our prayers of repentance for the spirit of greed that has reigned in our nation, let us also remember those who have been directly afflicted by the past week's events on Wall Street. May our Lord visit each one with His love, grace, compassion and truth, and may those who do not yet know His TRUE POWER find salvation, cleansing, new life and peace in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

· "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

	Studies in Repentance: D.L. Moody (7)

"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.

To obtain a copy of this booklet, write to:

Sword of the Lord Publishers
P.O. Box 1099
Murfreesboro, TN 37133

	Hymn of the Week

ABIDE WITH ME

Words: : Henry F. Lyte (1847)
Music: William H. Monk (1861)

"But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them." (Luke 24:29)

Lyte was inspired to write this hymn as he was dying of tuberculosis; he finished it the Sunday he gave his farewell sermon in the parish he served so many years. The next day, he left for Italy to regain his health. He didn't make it, though-he died in Nice, France, three weeks after writing these words. Here is an excerpt from his farewell sermon:

O brethren, I stand here among you today, as alive from the dead, if I may hope to impress it upon you, and induce you to prepare for that solemn hour which must come to all, by a timely acquaintance with the death of Christ.

For over a century, the bells of his church at All Saints in Lower Brixham, Devonshire, have rung out "Abide with Me" daily. The hymn was sung at the wedding of King George VI, at the wedding of his daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth II, and at the funeral of Nobel peace prize winner Mother Teresa of Calcutta in1997.

[To read the somber, but comforting words of this old hymn -- words filled with the hope of Glory -- go here.]

	40 WEEKS . . . NOW 40 DAYS

40 WEEKS . . . NOW 40 DAYS

The following guide to prayer for the 40 DAYS leading up to our presidential election on Tuesday, November 4th, has been prepared by Intercessors for America and is endorsed by the National Prayer Committee.

We thank YOU for the thousands out there who have already partnered in prayers, fastings, and repentance since we introduced our 40 WEEK plan early this year. Week after week, we have quietly taken note as the headlines have trumpeted the answers to our hidden work of prayer -- both in the church and in the nation.

As we shortly come to the end of these wonderful 40 WEEKS of seeking Him in earnest repentance, the Executive Board of Capitol Hill Prayer Partners is pleased to share the prayer guide, below, with all those who are part of our own network of intercession.

God bless you!

Sara C. Ballenger, Founder and President

Capitol Hill Prayer Partners

40-DAY PRE-ELECTION REPENTANCE, PRAYER AND FASTING

September 26 - November 4, 2008

"Return, America, to the Lord your God." - Hosea 14:1

A repentance and prayer guide has been compiled as a courtesy by Intercessors for America for you and may be freely copied, posted, and distributed.

Click he re for IFA's prayer guide and to find additional information on prayer and fasting.

	Who We Are

Capitol Hill Prayer Partners (CHPP) is a ministry dedicated to encouraging prayer for our leaders, and for issues involving our national security. We are a 501 (c) 3, tax-exempt nonprofit ministry, relying solely upon the gifts of our friends to maintain this work.

Permission is granted to distribute this bulletin at will. HOWEVER, WE ASK THAT YOU NOT POST ANY OF OUR PUBLICATIONS ON ANY WEBSITE WITHOUT PERMISSION. Please cite Capitol Hill Prayer Partners as the source for this information. Thank you for praying with us for our leaders and our nation.

We greatly appreciate your help in supporting this publication. Offerings may be sent to:

Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
P.O. Box 5152
Herndon, VA 20172-1970.

Please make checks payable to: CHPP. THANK YOU!

	Past Issues are Archived on our Blog

All of the past issues of the Call to Repentance are now available on a special blog, developed by Capitol Hill Prayer Partners.

You can visit our blog by going here.

Or, if you prefer, you can copy this site into your browser and visit the blog here:

http://acalltorepentance1.blogspot.com/

Thank you all for your own prayers of agreement as we continue to work through 40 WEEKS of Prayer and Fasting, before our Lord, for our sin as a church and as a nation. Amen.

chpp@patriot.net

A Call to Repentance - 37

A Call to Repentance: WEEK THIRTY-SEVEN