“I wonder if you have been praying for revival. Many are, and that’s good. But if we make revival sovereign and don’t share our faith with the lost, in effect this is what we are saying: “Lord, I know that you have commanded us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. But we will stay here and pray. We know that you have chosen the ‘foolishness’ of preaching to save them that believe. But we will stay here and pray. And we know that the Bible asks us, ‘How will they hear without a preacher?’ But we will stay here and pray, because it sure is easier to talk to God about people than it is to talk to people about God.”
C.T. Studd said: “We Christians too often substitute prayer for playing the game. Prayer is good; but when used as a substitute for obedience, it is nothing but a blatant hypocrisy, a despicable Pharisaism…To your knees, man! And to your Bible! Decide at once! Don’t hedge! Time flies! Cease your insults to God. Quit consulting flesh and blood. Stop your lame, lying and cowardly excuses.”
A.W. Tozer hit the nail on the head: “Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late---and how little revival has resulted? I believe the problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work. To pray for revival while ignoring the plain precept laid down in Scripture is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble. Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience.”
God has given the Church the ability (under His hand) to govern the tides of revival. A.W. Pink writes, “It is true that [many] are praying for world-wide revival. But…it would be more timely, and more scriptural, for prayer to be made to the Lord of the Harvest that He would raise up and thrust forth laborers who would fearlessly and faithfully preach those truths which are calculated to bring about a revival.”
(p.4, "The Way of the Master," by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron)
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2 comments:
I pray for revival for the West, some type of reformation for the Church, and the continued ability to freely practice Christian faith and philosophy.
Hope your weekend was good, Jeff.
Russ:)
Thanks, Russ.
One e-mail I get said that American Christians should pray for committed Christians to be appointed in every office position, which is what the Founders of this country wanted.
On the other hand, I have heard for years that Christians in China have been praying that persecution would fall on America, so that the Christians in America would grow up and become much more spiritually mature, instead of being so selfish-minded and materialistic.
I have heard that revivals are occurring among Muslims in the Middle East, where thousands of Muslims, maybe even millions, are turning to Christ. I have heard of similar stories in Israel, where many Jews are turning to Christ. In Cuba, there has also been revival.
But here in the West, it seems we are largely falling further and further away from God. In America, at least, there is little or no unity among Christians, as we are divided by denomination and by color. And there is much false doctrine being preached in American churches today. Most Christians aren't very interested in evangelism either, it seems (though I have seen more Christians becoming zealous for souls to be saved in the past few years, largely as a result of "The Way of the Master" ministry). Persecution may be the best thing to bring American Christians together and to bring us to greater maturity in the Faith. Christians in the U.S. need to get serious about their faith, and quit taking things for granted.
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