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A Biblical View of Revival - Part 6 Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly; gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD (Joel 1:14 NASB). I have met a number of precious pastors in my lifetime who really struggle emotionally and mentally when their church attendance numbers begin to decline and they realize that the powerful, manifest presence of God is no longer being experienced by their congregations. If you are one of these pastors, you may have had some of the following questions go through your mind: “Is it time to get rid of some staff members or try another revitalization program? Is it time for me to begin looking for another church? Do I need to quit the pastorate altogether and get into some form of secular work?” Asking the Right Questions Pastor, you and I both know that these are probably not the right questions to ask. Instead, pressures within our churches should push us to first examine our own hearts. “Am I right with God? Am I walking in freedom over sin? Am I truly spending the time God wants me to have with Him in His Word? Has my relationship with God become healthy enough for me to hear His voice and show Him my love by obeying His directional commands? Am I being courageous in declaring the whole counsel of God’s Word and leading my congregation to corporately obey God?” When this type of personal examination has taken place first, and you know that your relationship with God is right, then it is time to focus on your congregation. At this point, God often calls His under-shepherds to lead the people under their authority in examining their corporate ways and deeds and repenting of anything that is displeasing to Him. How is this accomplished? The steps below may help you if this is a path God is leading you and your church family to take. Leading the Sheep Back to the Shepherd 1. Spend time equipping the people under your authority with a biblical understanding of how God holds both churches and individuals accountable for their sinful ways and deeds, and how your church family can actually repent of its corporate sins (Ezekiel 36:16-19). One way to do this is by preaching through the revivals found in Scripture (Moses: Exodus 32:1-35; 33:1-23; Samuel: 1 Samuel 7:1-17; Elijah: 1 Kings 18:1-46; Jonah: The Book of Jonah; Asa: 2 Chronicles 15:1-19; Hezekiah: 2 Chronicles 29:1-36; 30:1-27; 31:1-21; Josiah: 2 Chronicles 34:1-33; 35:19; Ezra and Nehemiah: Ezra 9:1-15, 10:1-5; Nehemiah 9:1-3; John the Baptist: Luke 3:2-18; Pentecost: Acts 2:1-47; Philip: Acts 8:4-40; Peter and Cornelius: Acts 10:1-48; Paul in Ephesus: Acts 19:1-2). 2. Ask God to reveal specifically to you and all those who are in positions of authority how your church family has departed from loving Him, keeping His principles and commands, and obeying specific directions for ministry He may have given your congregation. If your entire church family is involved in this process, it is important to remind them not to focus on individuals but on sins that are committed by many in the congregation or by the congregation as a whole. Some examples of corporate sin may be the church’s failure to witness or to make disciples or to genuinely love each other (Daniel 9:3-23). 3. Upon hearing from God, ask Him to show you the changes He would have you make in order to honor Him and see His reputation restored through the life of your church family (Acts 26:20). 4. Lead your church or group to confess their sinful ways and deeds before God, submit anew to God’s authority, restore God’s biblical standards over the group, and then begin taking specific steps to complete your repentance. In Scripture this often involved a solemn assembly where everyone in the group was encouraged to attend and repent of the group’s sinful ways (Joel 2:12-17). 5. Complete your church or group repentance by faithfully and consistently acknowledging to God that you are trusting His Spirit to give you the desire and the power to accomplish the changes He longs for you to make (Philippians 2:12-13). 6. Lead your church or group to always praise and worship God as the One who gets the glory for that which you begin seeing Him accomplish among you (John 4:24). May we all see Jesus exalted as we continue praying for revival and spiritual awakening! Start the series here with Part 1 It All Starts With God

A Biblical View of Revival - Part 5 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17 NASB). Have you ever noticed how the spiritually dynamic (and often first-recorded) messages of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-2), Jesus (Matthew 4:17), Peter (Acts 2:38), Paul (Acts 17:30), and John (Revelation 2:5) all contain a powerful focus on one key word? What do you think it is? Would love be that often-repeated word, since God is love and He loved the world so much that He sacrificed His only Son to pay for our sins (1 John 4:8; John 3:16)? Maybe the word faith comes to mind, since it is impossible to please God without it (Hebrews 11:6). Could it be the word grace, since Christ’s followers are no longer under the law but are now free to experience the power of God’s phenomenal grace at work within our lives (Romans 6:15)? No, none of these is correct. We only need to read those messages to see clearly that the key word is repent. Why do you think Jesus and these other New Testament leaders put such an emphasis on repentance? I believe the answer is twofold. First of all, without believing in the saving work of Jesus, repenting of our sins, and totally surrendering ourselves to the kind of relationship with Christ where His Spirit lives and rules within us, a person cannot be saved (Romans 8:9-14). Second, a key step to maintaining that dynamic love relationship with Christ is learning how to genuinely repent from sin any time we grieve or quench the Spirit of Christ who lives in us (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19). What Is Genuine Repentance? With this level of importance placed on repentance, we have to ask, “What does repentance look like in a practical way?” In Greek, the word repent is formed from two words. The first word denotes a change of place or condition. The second word means to exercise the mind, to think, to comprehend. When combined, these words indicate that a genuine change of mind has taken place. We realize that we cannot go on willfully disobeying the One we love and still maintain the intimacy God longs for us to experience with Him. We realize that we have to change our mind about our actions if we want to see that intimacy restored. Because repentance occurs in the context of a love relationship with Christ, sorrow is also a major part of it (2 Corinthians 7:10). When we sin, the Holy Spirit uses God’s Word to alert us that our thoughts and actions are grieving the One who loves us so very much and quenching the ability of Christ’s Spirit to work in us (Ephesians 5:26). We realize that our intimate communication with God has been lost (Psalm 66:18). We begin to woefully understand that, with the sin we just committed, it is as if we were trampling underfoot the Son of God and regarding as unclean the blood of the covenant by which we were saved (Hebrews 10:29). Therefore, wanting to no longer hurt the One who died for us, sorrow moves us to repentance. The apostle Paul said it is this passionate love of Christ that controls us and moves us to actually want to change our thoughts and actions (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). So, what do we specifically do when we repent? The first step toward genuine change involves crying out to God with sincerity of heart, agreeing with Him that what we did was wrong (1 John 1:9). This step must be followed by trusting Him to fill us anew and empower us to actually change our ways and deeds as we submit ourselves to the abiding presence and lordship of His Spirit (Ephesians 5:18; Galatians 5:16). Finally, we must purpose to once again perform deeds appropriate to repentance by obeying His commands (Acts 26:20; John 14:21). It is only through these steps of change and our renewed, loving obedience to Christ that our repentance is made complete. Most of us are familiar with and understand that as individual Christians, repentance is a critical step in maintaining our intimacy with Christ. But how does repentance work when a church sins against God? Is the process the same? How do you go about getting the whole church family to change its ways? These practical questions and others regarding corporate repentance will be explored in our next Biblical View of Revival. Until then, may we press on in crying out to God for revival and spiritual awakening! Read Part 6 Coming Under The True Shepherd

A Biblical View of Revival - Part 4 “Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them” (Ezekiel 36:19 NASB). Prior to COVID-19, statistics tell us that 74% of America’s churches were stagnant or declining in the area of church attendance. The largest evangelical denomination in the United States has been reporting an annual decline in church baptisms for the past nine years. Weekly churchwide prayer meetings are disappearing, and those that exist are usually attended by just a handful of those who are already doing everything else. Experiencing financial pressures or having their fellowship marred by internal strife and division is an age-old problem in many churches. Who Is to Blame? What do churches do when struggles like these begin taking place? In many cases, it becomes “blame the pastor” time! Of course, an ungodly pastor could certainly contribute to the challenges a church faces; but most of the time, the real issues lie with the congregation as a whole. As it says in Ezekiel 36:19, God brings remedial judgment or discipline upon groups of His children when they depart from Him corporately through their disobedient ways and deeds. One of the main ways God judges churches is by removing His anointing so that the life-altering manifestations of His presence and power are no longer experienced (Exodus 33:1-5; Revelation 3:14-19). What you end up with is a congregation filled with good, religious people who become very proficient from generation to generation in simply maintaining the traditions, programs, and activities of the church. They measure their church’s spiritual health not by their loving obedience to Christ, but by how faithful their members are in simply attending their church’s activities. Corporate Discipline in the Old Testament An Old Testament example of God moving to wake up and revive His children when corporate sin takes place is found in the unique and devastating story of Achan (Joshua 7:1-26). The context for this story has God telling the nation of Israel that when they conquered Jericho (the first city of the promised land), there were certain items that were to be dedicated to Him; all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron were to be “holy to the LORD” and were to go into the “treasury of the LORD” (Joshua 6:17-19). Following their divinely orchestrated conquest of Jericho, the sons of Israel, along with their leader, Joshua, were greatly dismayed when thirty-six of their men died while attacking the small town of Ai. They all recognized that God’s supernatural presence and power that had led them through the wilderness had been removed. As Joshua mourned this unexpected defeat, God began to reprimand him, saying, “Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them” (Joshua 7:10-12). The uniqueness of this narrative is brought to light when God showed Joshua that one man, Achan, had caused the nation to sin by taking from Jericho some of the gold and silver that fell under the ban. Since Achan was a part of the nation, the whole nation was disciplined, because it was the nation that God held accountable, not just one individual. When Achan and all of his family and possessions were removed from the people of Israel by stoning and fire, the sons of Israel were once again empowered by God and easily conquered Ai. Corporate Discipline in the New Testament In the New Testament, this same principle appears when Jesus denounced the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum because they did not repent after seeing His miracles (Matthew 11:20-23). In Revelation 2 and 3, five of the seven churches addressed by Jesus were warned that disciplinary measures would come their way if they failed to repent of their corporate sins. Some of the congregational sins present in those churches were: leaving their first love, holding to and propagating false teaching, immorality, failure to keep God’s directional commands, and being lukewarm in their relationship with God. This leads us to these questions: Are the challenges facing my congregation today related in some form or fashion to our having departed from our love relationship with God? Out of love for us, has God been disciplining us so that we as a church will turn back to Him, listen to His commands, and demonstrate our love for Him by repenting of our sinful ways and deeds? Next month, we will begin to examine the important role that personal and corporate repentance play in revival. May God help all of us individually and our churches as a whole to continually walk with humility before Him! May God help us make the connection between our corporate and personal sins and His righteous disciplines! May revival and spiritual awakening like we have not seen in our generation be experienced once again! Read Part 5 What Is Genuine Repentance?

A Biblical View of Revival - Part 3 “On the lips of the discerning, wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks understanding” (Proverbs 10:13 NASB). Loving parents often use a number of disciplinary approaches in helping their children overcome willful disobedience. Sometimes, the method used depends on the nature of the child and what it will take to see that particular child repent and change their ways. Some children only need a clear, strong, verbal reminder of the rule that has been broken, and they sorrowfully repent. Others who are more strong-willed may require the application of the “rod” described above in Proverbs 10:13. I can testify through my own struggles as a parent that it is not always easy knowing the best way to discipline each child; but one thing I know with certainty is that our omniscient, loving God always knows the best method to use in bringing a sinful individual, church, city, or nation to repentance. We must begin by underscoring the truth that God’s fatherly methods are always just and timely. They are also easy to recognize because they are often birthed out of the very nature of the sins being committed. An example of this is found in Jeremiah 11:10-11, where God’s people refused to hear His words. Their remedial consequence was that God then refused to listen to them when they cried out to Him. One of the psalmists understood this remedial approach all too well when he penned in Psalm 66:18, “If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” For Christians today, our failure to see prayers answered should push us to spend time with the Father, asking Him to reveal to us specifically if and how we may have failed to hear and obey His commands. We see a great example of God’s discipline in the life of the patriarch Jacob. With Jacob, his character was faulty in that he often cheated and deceived people, even his own brother and father. In order to help Jacob understand his sinfulness, God placed him in the midst of some very trying circumstances with Laban, an uncle who was also a deceitful man. After serving Laban for seven years, Jacob himself was deceived when Laban gave him Leah for a wife instead of Rachel, the daughter he truly loved. Laban then had him work another seven years for the privilege of marrying Rachel (Genesis 29:16-28). Later in his life and after many other remedial lessons from the hand of God, Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, and God blessed him greatly (Genesis 35:9-15). Another great example can be found in God’s dealings with Miriam, Moses’ sister, when she and Aaron inappropriately spoke against Moses. God heard her complaining and disciplined her by immediately covering her with leprosy (Numbers 12:1-15). Aaron humbly confessed their sinfulness and asked Moses to pray for her healing, which he did. By God’s grace, Miriam was immediately healed but was kept away from others outside the camp for seven days. Notice in both examples that the purpose of God’s discipline is not cruelty, but correction. The father heart of God is correcting behavior, developing character, and cultivating righteousness, all the while demonstrating His faithfulness. In the New Testament, you see God continuing this fatherlywork of disciplining His wayward children.As we saw last month, there were some individuals in Corinth who were weak, sick, or who had died prematurely because they failed to examine themselves and repent before observing communion. Do you remember what happened to Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5? They both agreed to lie to the Holy Spirit by keeping for themselves some of the money they had pledged to give to the early church in Jerusalem. When confronted by Peter regarding the price of the land they had sold, both of them in individual settings lied about the amount and then fell at Peter’s feet and breathed their last (Acts 5:1-10). Were these disciplinary measures too harsh? In answering this question, we again have to realize that our holy, omniscient God knows whether or not we will repent. In protecting us from being condemned along with the rest of the world, hurting others, or harming the reputation of His holy name, God sometimes sees that it is better to just call us home to be with Him. Please don’t hear me say that every sickness or early death is the result of someone’s personal failure in repenting from sin. Many of the challenges we face with health, finances, relationships, and daily struggles are there because we live in a fallen world whose ways and activities have been influenced for generations by people who have been disobedient to God and His Word. Still, what should a Christian do when he thinks he may be facing some type of remedial judgment from God? The short answer is, exactly what Jesus and His first disciples preached on a regular basis. We should examine our hearts before God and His Word and repent when the Holy Spirit reveals to us our specific sins! More on that to come. Next month, we will explore what the Bible says about God’s discipline towardgroupsof Christians when their ways and deeds become sinful. Read Part 4: Does God Discipline Entire Churches?

A Biblical View of Revival - Part 2 Have you ever noticed that everything about Christianity is relational? Personally, I believe this is one of the main reasons Jesus taught His disciples to view and refer to God as “Father” when they prayed. When a person genuinely begins a love relationship with God by believing in Jesus and following Him as Lord of their life, that individual becomes God’s child (John 1:12-13). Now, when you put this biblical reality into the context of revival, what you get is a caring, heavenly Father who loves His true children far too much to ever let them depart from the glory of His manifest presence with them. So what does He do when one of His children slips back into the kind of lifestyle where that child’s love relationship with God is not healthy or growing? What does He do as a Father when His children stop listening to Him and lovingly obeying His commands (John 14:21)? If you are like me, every time I disobeyed my earthly father, I was disciplined; and it would certainly appear in Hebrews 12:5-6 that God treats His spiritual children in just the same way. One reason God established the structure and authority of having parents as leaders in the home (Ephesians 6:1-4) was so that children would have a working, experiential model from which they could learn about the consequences of sin. It is within the context of this wonderfully designed model that an individual is to learn how disobedience and sinful attitudes always put a strain on the fellowship and joys that were intended to be experienced by family members who truly love each other. It is also in this same dynamic of family love where God, the only One who knows everything about us and is always right and just in His judgments, steps in as our heavenly Father to discipline us when we begin doing things that are harmful to our relationships with Him and others. Hebrews 12:8 even tells us that if we are not experiencing this remedial discipline from the hand of God, we are “illegitimate children and not sons.” So, what does God’s discipline look like? The Bible tells us that, before we actually become a child of God, the final discipline for sin is extremely severe: “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Those who never receive this gift of having a relationship with God will forever “pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9). Being forever separated from the presence and love of God is by far the most severe, final discipline a person could ever receive for his or her sin. However, the good news for the true children of God, who have been “born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3), is that God’s remedial disciplines—the kind of disciplines designed to help teach us God’s ways and conform us to the image of Jesus—are far less severe and are designed for correction instead of final, eternal judgment. Space in this article will not permit us to look in detail at the disciplinary methods of God, but in preparation for next month’s edition, we at least need to see what was happening to the Corinthian believers when God stepped in to bring remedial discipline on them. In the context of the Corinthian church’s inappropriate observance of communion, Paul wrote, Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason, many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world (1 Corinthians 11:27-32). Is it possible that you or your church could be under the remedial discipline of our holy and loving God? Read Part 1: It All Starts With God Read Part 3: When God Disciplines Individuals

A Biblical View of Revival - Part 1 Have you ever tried describing the unique beauty of a precisely cut, high-quality diamond? With every turn of the gem, a new facet of light and design emerges. This same experience happens when we look intently at biblical and historical revival. For the Christian, every view of God’s supernatural work in reviving His children reveals an inspiring glimpse into His compassionate glory and power. Over the next several months, our goal is to examine some of the key facets of that for which so many are praying—revival and spiritual awakening! The best place to start is with God, for revival always seems to be present in His loving heart. Throughout the pages of Scripture, God is seen calling His children into an intimate love relationship with Himself. The Greek word for “know” used in John 17:3 expresses this so clearly; when Jesus was praying to the Father, He said, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Knowing God and His Son is so much more than just discovering and agreeing that the biblical details about His existence, character, and actions are true. When this particular word for “know” is used, it indicates that at some point in time, a genuine love relationship between God and an individual begins and then continues growing and maturing throughout that person’s lifetime. God desires that both today and throughout eternity, His followers experience the same kind of personal intimacy with Him that He experiences with His own Son. Jesus again underscored this high level of intimacy when He said in John 14:20-21, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who . . . loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” And once again in His high-priestly prayer of John 17, Jesus continued accenting God’s divine plan of intimacy when He said in verses 22-23, “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.” The apostle Paul certainly understood this oneness with God. He defined the goal of this divine intimacy in Romans 8:29-30. “Those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” In other words, God is calling His children into this glorious love relationship in order to transform them into the image of His Son. When God’s called followers live in the fullness of this Spirit-filled relationship, like Jesus, they will bear the kind of spiritual fruit that proves them to be God’s children and brings Him the greatest amount of glory (John 15:8). So why is revival always in God’s heart? God so longs for this intimacy with His children that when they depart from Him through disobedient sin or neglect, He cannot idly stand by and watch His beloved followers hurt themselves or bring dishonor to the covenant relationship He has established with each and every one of them. In Psalm 85:6, the psalmist indeed asked the right question: “Will You not Yourself revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?” For individuals and groups of Christians, God alone is the author of revival—the only One who can take earthen vessels and fill them anew with the treasure of heaven (2 Corinthians 4:7). Now, if all of this is true, and God alone is the One who brings revival into the lives of His children, how does He go about bringing this to pass? What does He do to get His children to cooperate with His plan? We’ll answer these questions in Part 2 of this series next month! Part 2 - God’s Discipline Flows from His Love

Originally published as a blog post by Harvest Prayer Ministries Have you ever been in a season of spiritual waiting? For Jews this was the period following Passover and leading up to Shavuot (commemorating the giving of the Law/Torah). Christians also embrace this time of waiting from Easter to Pentecost. After the Resurrection of Jesus, He spent 40 days with the disciples. He ate with them, taught them, and demonstrated His resurrected life. But after 40 days, He ascended to the Father and told them to wait in Jerusalem for the promised Spirit. It’s rare to find someone who likes to wait. Perhaps though, that is an attribute we should seek to be better at. We are certainly commanded often in scripture to wait on and for the Lord. Waiting paid off for those first disciples. Ten days of prayer, worship, and waiting on the Lord led them to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. They would never be the same as they received the promise of the Father. When you are in a season of waiting, press into that. Make it a time of prayer and anticipation. What is God about to do? Our waiting upon the Lord is an active time that places everything in the hands of the Lord. Though we live post-Pentecost and the Spirit has come to us, we still wait on the Lord and fresh fillings of His Spirit. The timing of the Lord’s work and purposes are still in His hands and we pray with increased passion and anticipation during these days of waiting. Look up, your redemption draws near! How to Pray in a Time of Waiting Lord, in my waiting, help me to be strong and filled with courage. “Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:14). Lord Jesus, in my waiting, lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation. “Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day” (Psalm 25:5). God Almighty, in my waiting, help me to have patience as Your return is near. “Now as for you, dear brothers who are waiting for the Lord’s return, be patient, like a farmer who waits until the autumn for his precious harvest to ripen” (James 5:7). Holy One, in my waiting, may Your integrity and uprightness preserve me. “Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for You” (Psalm 25:21). Father, Your word says that if I will wait for You I will gain new strength, mount up with wings like eagles, run and not get tired and walk without becoming weary! Help me to trust You for these promises. “Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary” (Isaiah 40:31).

Originally published as a blog post by Harvest Prayer Ministries Over the past several years, God has been stretching my creativity and my imagination in prayer. It has been such a refreshing season of growth for me, as I am one who, in the past, tended to get stuck in comfortable ruts. Like many of us, I grew up praying with my head bowed, eyes closed and hands foldedin my lap. I was often told that this posture came about as an effective way to keep children from doing what they shouldn’t do during prayer time. The practice continued into my adulthood, as I was never taught another way. Even in worship services, it is common to hear the admonition to “close your eyes and bow your heads” as we are led in prayer. As I studied the Bible, I discovered multiple examples for utilizing our bodies and our voices in prayer. This started a rich practice of utilizing the numerous ways God’s people in Scripture and throughout the ages sought and responded to Him in prayer and intercession. I highly recommend letting the Holy Spirit speak to your heart and guide you (and/or your family, small group, etc.) into what may seem unusual or strange to you at first, but which may give your prayer lives fresh life! Following each, I will give you one or two suggestions for utilizing the practice. Bow Your Head or Body Bowing heads or bodies shows reverence and submission to God as an act of worship– Genesis 24:26-27 (Abraham’s servant bowed low in worship to God when his very specific prayer had been answered); Exodus 34:8-9 (Moses bowed his body toward the earth and made his request before God). Have each family member give one or two prayer requests. Bow your heads or bow to the ground and pray over those requests together. Kneel Kneeling has always been a universal sign of submission and obedience – Daniel 6:10 (Daniel knelt three times a day, praying and giving thanks); Luke 22:39-44; Matthew 15:25; 2 Chronicles 6:12-14. Pray for your unsaved family and friends as you kneel together before the Lord. If you feel led to, spread your hands toward heaven, as King Solomon did. Raise Hands Raising or spreading out our hands as a sign of both praise and petition – (The Hebrews used their hands to show their dependence upon God and their respect for Him. Lifting up holy hands was the common prayer posture among the Jews and the early Christians. Lifting their hands symbolized an expectant attitude and trust in God–that He would fill their empty hands with His blessings) Exodus 9:29; Exodus 17:10-13; 1 Kings 8:54-55; Psalm 63:4; Psalm 141:2; 1 Timothy 2:8. Pray for the leaders of your nation, your state, and your community. Lift up holy hands together as you do. Pray that God will give them wisdom and discernment. Pray for their health and protection. Pray for their families. Stand Standing is a sign of reverence and respect – 1 Chronicles 23:28-31 (The Levites were instructed to stand every morning and evening to praise the Lord); 2 Chronicles 20:2-9; Luke 18:9-14. Stand alone or together and give praise to God. Take turns thanking Him for all of the blessings He has brought into your lives. If you want, say short sentence prayers like this: “Lord, I praise You for_____.” Lie Prostrate Lying prostrate before the Lord – This is a position taken in times of deep, intense, emotional prayer. There is no more humble position than this one. Deuteronomy 9:18-20, 25-27 (Moses lay prostrate before God for 40 days and nights); 1 Chronicles 21:16-17; Matthew 26:39. Think of some deeply important needs–your own or someone else’s. Perhaps someone is struggling with a life-threatening disease or some kind of life crisis. Perhaps sin has been weighing you down–this would be an appropriate position in which to confess and ask the Lord for forgiveness. Or maybe you need to ask God something very important. Come before the Lord on behalf of these requests, and lie face down before the Lord. You can pray quietly by yourself or pray out loud with others. Look Up Looking up – (Jesus looked up when He gave thanks for the loaves and fish) Mark 6:39-44. As you give thanks for a meal, look up to heaven as you do. Spend time thanking the Lord for the way He has provided everything you need–your food, your clothing, your housing. Look toward heaven when you pray. Pray Quietly Spend some time praying quietly. – 1 Samuel 1:9-18 (Hannah prayed quietly before the Lord). God is perfectly capable of hearing our thoughts when we pray silently. There are times when praying in this way is very appropriate. We need to learn as an individual or a family to be comfortable with silence, because out of silence the Lord often speaks very clearly. Spend some time together in silent prayer. Ask the Father to speak to your heart. If you have trouble concentrating, picture Jesus in your mind and concentrate on Him. Shout Shout your praise to the Lord – Psalm 66:1-4 (The director of music was directed to shout for joy before the Lord in this psalm.) Psalms 71:23; 95:1; 98:4-6. It is certainly appropriate to cry out to the Lord in times of desperate prayer. It is also appropriate to raise our voices in praise! Try praising God in a loud voice, saying Acts 4:24: “Sovereign Lord . . . You made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.” Conclusion It is important to learn that if we seek the Lord, He will be found by us (1 Chronicles 28:9). It is also important to know that our Heavenly Father rewards those who seek Him in faith: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). Model this passage: “Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always” (1 Chronicles 16:10-11).

Originally published as a blog post by Harvest Prayer Ministries One of the greatest dangers in the Christian life is stagnation. It happens when we quit moving. There are lots of reasons why we quit moving and growing. Sometimes it just isn’t easy and we decide to stay where we are. It’s easier to stay than go. The press of other issues in life sometimes cause us to stop right we are spiritually. Obstacles from situations or other people often bring our spiritual progress to a halt. One of the most dangerous reasons is simply lack of vision. We’ve been growing, we are doing things in the Kingdom, we are seeing God move and there can come that moment of feeling we have arrived. The failure to have the spiritual vision that challenges us to keep moving is deadly. Psalm 84 is a tool God has used to continually challenge me to keep moving – especially in my prayer life. I have used this powerful psalm to keep myself on a prayer pilgrimage. It is interesting that Psalm 84 speaks of pilgrimage (vs 5) because the whole psalm is really about dwelling in God’s house. How do you dwell somewhere, yet still be on a journey to that place? I think that apparent contradiction is why it appeals so much to me. You see, that’s where I am spiritually. Through Jesus, I now dwell in God’s house. Indeed, it can be said that you and I are God’s house in which He dwells through His Spirit. That is just solid biblical teaching. But in living this out, I discover that I am on a journey – a journey of awareness of Christ’s presence in me. And like any journey, I must keep moving if I am to arrive at my destination. Without setting my heart on the pilgrimage of continually being attentive to the truth that Jesus lives within me, I will forget the amazing truth that I not only can, but am even now dwelling in the House of God! It is prayer that keeps me walking in this state of alertness. “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.” (Psalm 84:5-7)

Originally published as a blog post by Harvest Prayer Ministries "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven!” We have all made this declaration thousands of times, and yet, there are so many insidious ways that the enemy of our souls finds to take our hearts off of God’s heavenly will for His kingdom on earth. When I first married my husband, I was so grateful to God that I unintentionally allowed Dave to become an idol in my life. This is, I believe, not an unusual occurrence when people are deeply in love with one another; however, it never occurred to me that this had become so until my husband pointed it out one day. With great humility he sat me down and explained that I was putting way too much spiritual expectation on his meeting my needs and had begun to make my relationship with him more of a focus that my relationship with God. As he opened my eyes to this very glaring fact, I knew it instantly to be true. My love for Dave had superseded my passion for the presence of God. I was becoming more and more content in depending upon my husband to meet every need and fulfill every desire and to give me guidance and counsel. Some of this dependence is not inherently bad…but it was growing to a point of becoming spiritually dangerous for me, as well as for my husband. Dave was, of course, flattered and happy to be my “everything” but he began to see a lessening in how his wife was pursuing the presence of Christ in all things. How blessed I am to have married this man, for he was unpretentious enough to guide me back to the One my heart should always be fully captivated by. My kingdom life and work could have been damaged and/or delayed by the enemy’s attempt to distract me – even with something as wonderful as my new spouse! The Devil is devious and underhanded to do such a thing, but he is so successful at it that many Christians, myself included, can easily fall prey to it. Perhaps your distraction is not a person, but might be technology, a hobby, the busyness of your life, doing good and valuable kingdom things, etc. The Devil knows where we are weak and most likely to be tempted…sometimes it doesn’t take long before we are physically and/or mentally caught up in the presence of what is not God’s intent for us. The key is to recognize when this is beginning to happen to us and to find victory. For some of us, it will mean a greater effort, for we have already become addicted or distracted. We must help one another and encourage each other to be faithfully yoked to Jesus over all other distractions (even those that seem to be kingdom-focused). That said, how can we pray for God’s best kingdom life each day? Here are several to get you started: Father, help me to have a repentant heart for all of the times I have placed others and other things above or before You! Give me a deeper desire to soak in Your perfect presence so that I will want nothing more than I want You! Forgive me for my inattentiveness and neglect. Forgive me for my wandering heart and thoughts. Forgive me for straying from Your kingdom in favor of my own! “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). Grace-filled God, help me to keep my eyes fixed upon Your face and my ears listening for Your voice today. Help me not to waver to the right or to the left but to walk in the way You guide me for Your kingdom’s sake. “Love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him” (Deuteronomy 30:20); “I will meditate on Your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways” (Psalm 119:15); “Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil” (Proverbs 4:25-27). Father, protect me from the temptations and roadblocks the Enemy puts in my path to “cut in on” my journey to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those You put in my path. May I never be so distracted that I am not fully aware of a divine appointment or a task You place in front of me. You were running a good race. “Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth (Galatians 5:7)? Holy Spirit, help me to put on Christ daily and to clothe myself in the armor of God each day so that I might be prepared for the battle. May I be continually aware of wearing the righteousness of Jesus. “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:10-17). Lord Jesus, give me the strength to turn away from the things that I tend to spend so much time with that they have become or have the potential to become idols in my life. Give me quick recognition right now of anything that I need to say “no” to in order to say “yes” to You! Help my everyday life to be a reflection of Your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven! “Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts” (1 John 5:21).