REVIVAL BEGINS WITH PRAYER

A NEW LEARNING
In the late 1960’s Bill McLeod pastored a church of two hundred people in Saskatoon that caught a spirit of prayer. Prayer became the most important activity of their church life. They poured out their hearts to God to send revival to them and their city. In 1971 God sent revival. It went on for months and involved countless other churches and moved to ever large venues to accommodate people night after night. In the years that followed the revival movement moved to every province and every US state having similar life changing results. Families were reconciled. Destructive habits were abandoned. But it all began with concerted prayer because praying people take God seriously.

I believe many in evangelicalism have concluded that to see crowded churches in North America we have to redesign, reorganize, renovate, restructure, rebuild, retrofit, and reshuffle. So we spend money on capital items when we should be spending time in prayer so that God will send revival and people will crowd into any kind of facility where God is busy. Over the decades as we modernized and contemporized our church programming I noticed that we became satisfied with less and less corporate prayer. Then along came the testimony of one pastor Jim Cymbala and the Brooklyn Tabernacle and his first books and videos that inspired thousands of Christian leaders as though Cymbala had stumbled on something revolutionary. Jim was a brand new pastor at his first church in Brooklyn which had only twenty members until one day there was standing room only at prayer meeting and until today when it is deemed a mega church. In his book called Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire Cymbala provides a one-word answer: prayer. He tells how passionate, persistent prayer transforms individuals, revives churches and revitalizes communities.

Instead of losing hope we need to go back to the biblical basics.
Communication with God through prayer is one of the foundational and unchanging essentials of a life with God.

See Bill McLeod's website
See Brooklyn Tabernacle site

A New Year's resolution

A NEW LEARNING
Well there goes that! I have already broken my resolution not to write anything about New Year’s resolutions. It’s an irresistible theme. Sorry. Perhaps by the end my apology will seem unnecessary.

Typically a resolution at the New Year marks a person’s commitment to some self improvement project or lifestyle change or habit reformation with the intent that the resolve be year long or until fulfilled. To that end people predictably choose to such resolutions as weight loss, debt reduction, physical exercising, eating properly, drinking less or no alcohol, cessation of smoking, being less grumpy or angry are common. A study reveals that 52% of resolute people expect to succeed but only 12% achieve it. Men succeed 22% more often when they set S.M.A.R.T goals, (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time based) such as losing one pound per week rather than a non specific “lose weight” objective. Men benefit from looking at rewards. Women succeed 10% more often when their goals are made public with the support of friends.

When it comes to spiritually minded people desiring something more profound in their experience with God, resolutions are sometimes of assistance. The full and original draft of ‘Five Resolves for Personal Revival’ is found at author Jim Elliff’s website for Christian Communicators Worldwide. Here are several statements of resolve that could not only affect a 2009 different from past years, but also accomplish a lifetime transformation.

1. I will not go to bed this evening nor live this day without fully repenting of all known sin against God.
2. I will not to go to bed this evening nor live this day without removing from my life every habit or activity I cannot be absolutely sure is approved by God.
3. I will not to go to bed this evening nor live this day without doing all that is possible to correct any wrongs between myself and others.
4. I will not to go to bed this evening nor live this day without spending quiet moments with God in prayer and sincerely meditating on His Word.
5. I will not to go to bed this evening nor live this day without asking and expecting God to use me as an effective instrument of revival in someone's life.

I love writing comedic, sometime romantic, sometimes enlightening material, yet there are times when earnestness forbids anything but gravity. My own spirit is touched by my personal need in life to revisit these resolves and not just for one day.

Elliff also recommends daily review and application of all five resolutions and when resolve becomes tired, admission of the weakness to God and resistance to the easy road to resign. Finding some friends with a similar desire to be holy and enjoying the values of mutual encouragement and authenticity is recommended. Then expect God to empower these personal resolves because they please Him.

May we move forward together in 2009.