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Last Saturday was Shabbat Shuvah - the Sabbath of Repentance and Return which falls between Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement). It coincided with a massive prayer gathering in Washington DC, simulcast to numerous locations inside and outside the US, that drew tens of thousands together in repentance for the sins of our nation and a plea for God to bring revival and for the US to return to God through Christ - the only way we could ever be One Nation Under God.
This gathering was preceded by an online prayer summit in Africa September 17-19 entitled Africa Bless America.
These massive prayer gatherings give us great hope that God would respond to the thirsty hearts of His people and bring revival to the nation. Will the whole nation turn to God? Most likely not! But He will rescue those whose hearts are inclined to seek Him out of the world and bring them into His fold in greater numbers, even while the nation itself careens further and further away from being a nation that respects and worships the God of the Bible and toward a mindset and government systems that are post-Christian.
Some twenty years ago, prayer leaders of the movement of prayer for revival that swept the nation then came together to seek an answer to the questions: what does revival in our day and age look like? And why has it not come?
The answer was sobering: it was felt that a revival would only come to a lukewarm and comfortable church in the wake of suffering. In other words - a spiritual awakening in the form of a radical turning back to Him would have to be preceded by a rude awakening.
It is my humble opinion that this is about to unfold. We have seen the first, unprecedented signs of it in states less favorably inclined to communities of faith with the shutdown of churches and home fellowship under threat of prosecution, in blatant violation of our nation's constitution that separates church and state and forbids a state from enacting any laws that would hinder the church in its freedom of worship.
With public sentiment turning rapidly away from Christianity and towards a post-Christian anything-goes mindset of tolerance I would be shocked if there isn't more to come.
And it should not dismay us. It follows Jesus' warnings about the hatred of the nations toward followers of Christ in Matthew 26, and the reality of history. Not to mention the fact that in a large part of the world, Christians are heavily persecuted today.
It should also not dismay us, because persecution purifies us, builds our steadfastness, strengthens our faith (James 1:2-4), and solidifies our resolve (Acts 4:23-31). You want proof? The fastest growing churches are in countries where it can cost you your life to convert to Christianity! I learned many years ago firsthand from Polish Christians still under communism that our abundance and freedoms can lull us to sleep and enslave us to the world. Then when persecution does break out, we won't have the faith to withstand it.
So what do we do?
I prayed about that this last week as I pondered the question: Father, what do you want me, and by extension my fellow believers in the US, to repent of during this season of Shabbat Shuvah? We have to start with ourselves before we can repent for the sins of the nation.
And what does that repentance look like? After all, just saying "I repent" is not real repentance. Repentance is a process of conviction, followed by confession, followed by humbly receiving God's forgiveness, followed by obedient action steps turning away from the things I just confessed as sin. Without that last step our repentance is useless.
What kept coming into my head as I asked God that question was this: "Worldly Attachments." Along with it the line from Martin Luther's famous hymn A Mighty Fortress: "Let goods and kindred go." I began to realize that much of my peace and security comes from my abundance: enough financial reserves, a comfy home, two nice cars, good health insurance, an abundance of food, uninterrupted supply of electricity and water to my home, weekly trash pick-up, plenty of clothes, lots of entertainment a remote-click or mouse-click away. The list goes on. Could I live without that? Would I still have peace? Could I still say that I trust God with all my heart if my bank accounts were drained, my home burned down (like so many on the West Coast), there was no power or running water (like in many parts of the world)? Would I be able to rejoice if my comforts and comfort zones were taken away?
I was challenged by reading about the faith of George Mueller of Bristol recently. Shortly after he turned to Christ he sold all he had and resolved to live on faith in God alone, and to never make his material needs known to any person. He ran orphanages that housed, schooled and raised thousands of children that way. They never missed a meal, they never had lack, yet they never had to ask for a penny. Could I live like that?
I don't think God requires such a drastic step of obedience of every Christian. But the time is coming that it may become increasingly difficult to be a Christian in the United States, and greater faith, greater courage and greater dependence on God is needed.
And we must be ready. I want to share three faith exercises for your prayer journey this week:
1. Sharpen your listening skills: Build in time to listen to Him, Bible and journal in hand. Ask Him to speak to you about the small stuff: a practical problem, help with finding stuff you lost. God delights in speaking to you about these things and they are a must if you want Him to speak to you about big things!
2. Practice being in the moment with Him. Consciously connect with Him throughout the day and delight in the sense of His presence, whatever it is you are doing at the moment.
3. Memorize Scripture. The Word is a lamp and a light on our journey (Psalm 119:105), it corrects us in our thoughts and motives (Hebrews 4:12), it build our faith (Romans 10:17), it equips us for life and ministry (2 Timothy 3:16), and gives us the power to defeat Satan (Ephesians 6:17). The more of it is in your head, the more the Holy Spirit can use it to speak to you, reassure you, guide you. Download a Scripture memorization app from the App Store to help you.
The journey ahead is uncertain. We need to hold the Father's hand. The way we do it is to let go of worldly attachment and attach ourselves firmly to Him through listening prayer, the Truths of the Word. All three will work together to feed the faith we swill sorely need.
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