The Hindrance to Revival

"If the pastor is not praying, he's playing. If the congregation is not praying, it is straying."

-quote from Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill

Powerful Proverb

Pluribus intentus, minor est ad singula sensus"-

"He who thinks of many things, thinks of nothing and does nothing right"


Found this in a sermon by Martin Luther. Good stuff. Here are some Luther links that I came accross this week. I highly recommend the first, a sermon by Luther on prayer.

http://www.holytrinitynewrochelle.org/ASIMPLEWAYTOPRAY.html

http://www.orlutheran.com/html/mlserms.html

A Proof of the Power of Prayer: To God be the Glory

I have a pen pal in the Ohio prison system. I write to him on a monthly basis and I send him my sermons each week. I also try to send other discipleship materials on occasion. He's a growing Christian fellow and excited about God.

Last Christmas our congregation made him cards and I sent them to him, along with a catechism booklet. About the same time the prison system changed their policies. They would not let anyone send anything (other than letters) via the postal system to their inmates. They had to be specially ordered through a certain company. As a result, my friend got the cards, but not the booklet. We were both bummed about that.

I give this background because it is vital information for this, his latest letter to me:

Matt,
How are you doing? I got some good news. On Monday the Sargent called me into his office and told me I have contraband in his office. He opened it up and there was the book you sent me. He told me to sign for it to be destroyed. I did it. He then handed me the book and said that he destroyed it and for me to get out of his office. He also told me not to have any more books sent, but it was real cool of him to give it to me.

I remember when I got those cards and the contraband ticket. I prayed that somehow I would get that book, and tada..I got it a few months later. God is good and he works in ways I never thought he would.

Praise the Lord. Rightly did William Cowper write,

Deep in unfathomable mines of never failing skill
He treasures up his bright designs, and works his sovereign will.

My only question is, "Why did it take almost 4 months for the book to get to him?" Do you think the Sergent read it?

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence he hides a smiling face.

Gospel Propagation

I think that this is my new favorite verse. At least this is my favorite verse for prayer.

"Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, even as it is with you."

2 Thessalonians 3:1 (KJV)

The ESV translates it that the word may "speed ahead." Literally it means "to run." Paul wants us to pray that the ministry of the gospel would shift into high gear and spread with a rage that would compete with a forest-fire.

You see why Paul prays this in the first chapter of the book Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching. Albert Mohler writes of the primacy of preaching in the church and says,

When you hear people speak about how to grow a church, how to build a church, and how to build a great congregation, few and far between are those who say it comes essentially by the preaching of the Word. And we know why, because it comes by the preaching of the Word slowly; slowly immeasurably, sometimes even invisibly, and hence we are back to our problem. If you want to see quick results, the preaching of the Word just might not be the way to go.

Gospel ministry is slow. That's why it needs our prayers.

This last Lord's Day I asked the congregation to be praying for the Lord to give us some ideas for gospel ministry this summer. We want the gospel to "run" here in Ashland. Building a church based on the Word of God is not easy, but it is the way to make a church. Mohler continues,

If you are going to find results in terms of statistics, numbers, and visible response, it just might be that there are other mechanisms, other programs, and other means that will produce that faster. The question is whether it produces Christians.

Prayer Implies a Sovereign God

I have been much infatuated lately with the side of the Civil War you will never hear about in the classroom: the religious ferver and revival in the Confederate Army. Mt. Olive Tape Ministry, found on sermonaudio.com, has many lectures that dig into these great men and the religious renewal that took place during this time of unparalleled death.

Men like Stonewall Jackson, General Lee, and RL Dabney bled devotion to God and would bleed for the good old fashioned Calvinism I so much treasure. Providence served as their guiding principle for life and the declaration of the gospel could not be clearer than in those camps.

But in one lecture RL Dabney is quoted to have said, "Prayer assumes the doctrine of providence. If there were no such doctrine and all was fatalism, prayer would be a waste of breath."

Dabney attacks fatalism, but the same holds true for any other non-sovereign god belief system. It is a fact that an Arminian gives up on his pathetic beliefs when he prays.

But the current tide of religion has been turning towards a radicalized Arminianism, to a belief called "Open Theism." Open Theism (OPT), a belief that seems to be taking the nation by storm, believes that god (I don't think I should capitalize that. If feel I shouldn't) does not know the future and is constantly gaining knowledge. This god is not sovereign, but always reacting to what man does. It has been likened to a chess match. Man moves, then God makes his move to counter ours.

But what role could prayer play with this kind of God? Prayer would not be the offering up of one's cares and desires to God for his mighty working. Calvinists say that God has included prayer in the outworking of his plan. But the OPT's god (I assume) does not have an eternal decree that is being worked out in time. I assume that prayer in this scheme would be nothing more than a regular, everyday conversation--much like one would have with a friend or co-worker. I assume the response of this god would be, "I'll do my best, but you have to help me in it, all right?"

In the end, the open theist is hopeless and helpless. But the God of the Bible continues to hear, answer, and show himself powerful.

Will You Join Me in Prayer?

Commenting on Mark 9:29, "This kind can come forth by nothing but prayer and fasting," the great Welsh preacher Martyn Lloyd-Jones says,

It seems to me that the call to every one of us is ...to consecrate and dedicate ourselves specifically to the task of praying for that spiritual revival which God alone can send. The trouble with us, I am afraid, is that we have not sufficiently diagnosed the situation. We are still confident in our methods. It seems to me there is no hope until we shall have so realised the nature of the problem that we are driven to our knees, to wait upon God.

Knox in Prayer

It is said that the Queen of England trembled when John Knox went to his knees in prayer. One time she even exclaimed that she feared Knox's prayers more than an outfitted army.

Why was she so shaken? It was because Knox believed that God worked through prayer. This was no simple assent to a truth. Knox acted on his belief. He would boldly come before the throne of grace like no other, throwing his petitions at the Father's feet.

Author Larry Christenson attests to this in his book The Christian Family. As a matter of fact, Christenson almost goes so far as to attribute the whole reformation of Scotland to Knox's prayers. He writes,

"[Knox] prayed with such power that all Scotland was awakened. 'Lord, Give me Scotland or I'll die!' he cried. And he prayed with such intensity that the Lord answered."

More Cowper: Power of Prayer

I highly suggest Cowper's poems. Blessings to shower you soul (even if you are not depressed!).

Take heed to his words from An Exhortation to Prayer,

"Satan trembles, when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees."