I WANT REVIVAL

PRAYER JOURNAL 5/23/2019

Ezekiel 23:41 You sat on a stately couch, with a table prepared before it, on which you had sat My incense and My oil.

There are those times when your prayer is light and joyful; full of praise.  Other times your spirit is heavy and grieved for the lost and the intercessory prayer you pray is filled with tears and groaning. And then there are the times in prayer when God begins to give answers to your questions; answers that are not easily digestible and require more prayer; more inquiry just to be sure you are hearing correctly.

Reading the words spoken by the Old Testament Prophets is a heavy process that requires rereading and inquiry to help the digestion process.  They usually were not words of joy and blessing; NO, they were the words addressing the state of Israel’s backslidden condition, the consequences that would accompany their actions and the Call to Repentance; ending with the HOPE OF RESTORATION repentance and returning to God would bring.

Throughout history this process has been repeated over and over because of God’s unending love for His Creation. We make the mistake, however, that God’s unending LOVE IS BLIND.  Whether it is disobedience through rebellion or malaise, God will not bless or move among His people until there is REPENTANCE.

This week I have been praying for a REVIVAL OF A MOVE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT and asking God WHY? And HOW?  I pray and worship and feel the Holy Spirit moving in me; the Praise Singers sing and worship and I feel the Holy Spirit moving in them BUT….then at the first pew, it hits a wall.  So I ask, WHAT IS THE WALL?  And HOW CAN IT BE TORN DOWN?

Earlier this week, God answered, “REPENTANCE. Before there will be a REVIVAL OF MY SPIRIT, there must be REPENTANCE.  The wall that you sense is the WALL OF SATISFACTION that has been built; my people are SATISFIED LIVING IN THEIR SIN.  There is no weeping, no Godly Sorrow, no conviction; NO REPENTANCE!”

This morning, God highlighted Ezekiel 23:41 as a further explanation.

YOU HAVE SAT UP YOUR STATELY COUCHES…

 “You have beautiful sanctuaries that you declare have been built as monuments to My Name, but they are merely wood and stone.  You have furnished them with padded “couches and all of the latest, state of the art equipment and proudly boast of your striking buildings when I desire that you would BOAST IN ME!”

YOU PLACE MY INCENSE OF PRAISE ON A PREPARED TABLE…

“Your lighted signs declare this to be a “HOUSE OF WORSHIP.”  But what do you worship? To whom do you offer the INCENSE OF PRAISE?  You raise your hands but your focus is more on the beautiful music, the artists and the screen display, than it is on me.  You sing the lyrics but they are just words that never MOVE YOU TO CHANGE.  You gather around my altar, not to WORSHIP ME but because everyone else comes forward; you repeat the words of a prayer but there is NO GODLY SORROW; NO CONVICTION; NO REPENTANCE!”

THE OIL OF MY ANOINTING RESTS BESIDE THE INCENSE…..

“But you have sat my anointing on a table; Oh you can point it out and say, “there it is; see it is still here; God’s anointing is on display for all to see. My anointing was never meant to be sat on a table but was to be carried upon the shoulders of Men and Women who would speak forth MY TRUTH!  You have set aside my anointing so that the Truth OF MY WORD may be more palatable; more easily digested; more friendly.  You offer an “EASY SALVATION;” one that requires no change; no true repentance; no denial of self; but that is NOT THE SALVATION I DIED FOR.”

REPENTANCE ALWAYS PRECEDES REVIVAL!

If you want a true REVIVAL OF MY HOLY SPIRIT moving in your midst, REPENT!  Get up off your STATELY COUCHES, pick up the INCENSE OF PRAISE and direct your worship toward Me; and allow the OIL OF MY ANOINTING to flow from your head down to your feet as you speak MY WORD; the WORDS I WOULD HAVE MY PEOPLE HEAR.

THEN WILL I SEND MY SPIRIT; THEN WILL YOU KNOW THAT I AM GOD!