This was the hardest day by far of these revival meeitngs. I fought toxic thoughts all day about what God is doing and not doing during these services. The message did not come as easily as the previous days. Then a little before noon I felt impressed in the direction of Ps 63:1-4. A message about the relentless pursuit of knowing God.
Once I knew the passage the message flowed. I have preached this passage before. The study today was fresh and the word felt fresh in my heart. I got the notes on paper and then sat back and went over the whole message prayerfully in my mind. I love to sit still before God think through the passage and message point by point. God preaches them to me before I ever preach them to others.
I still fought the toxic thoughts on the commute to Spring Creek. Many questions swirled in my mind. Did I really hear from God about this revival? Why hadn't He broke through? What held God back? I did not have answers to any of those questions.
I got into the prayer room to sit before the Lord alone asking Him to prepare me to be His vessel. After a while, four others joined me. We poured our hearts before the Lord pleading for Him to work and thanking Him for the work He has already done.
How would I describe the worship. Diverse. Heavy. Nostalgic. Once again the Atens took us to the very throne of God. When I use the word diverse, I do so because we sang two songs more associated with Black Gospel Music. I loved it. I think God loved it too. He loves all styles of music. We often get locked into our preferred style.
I say heavy because The Revelation song is all about worship before the throne of God. It was like I actually stood there pouring my heart out in praise among the rest of Heaven. I could not praise Him deeply enough. Reverently enough. Loud enough. Sincerely enough. He deserves so much more.
I say nostalgic because many of the songs we sang tonight took me back to my youth group and college days. In my mind, I was transported back to Super Summer at Baylor University the summers of my junior and senior year in high school. Moments of long ago encounters with God flashed across my mind. We sang those songs back then drawing near to God. They had life in them then and they had life in them tonight. God used the Atens to once again set the table to deliver God's word.
The message tonight challenged us to all stay on the relentless passionate pursuit of knowing God. We unpacked a few verses lay after layer, word after word. I felt God helping me. I saw several on the edge of their seat hanging onto the word of the Lord. A challenging word. I felt the truth coursing through me with passion, conviction and earnestness. A strange things happened during the preaching. God moved in my life. The truth encouraged me and worked on me. It changed my attitude and enthusiasm for the rest of the revival. God preached to me through those verses.
Someone came forward during my invitation prayer. When I walked down the steps, he was already on his knees deep in prayer. Another came and another. Many prayed in the pews. Then Sherman sang the perfect song for the invitation. An old song by Rich Mullins called Step by Step. A couple of lines nailed the whole night, "I will seek You in the morning and learn to walk in Your ways. Step by step You will lead me and I will follow You all of my days." Memories of early morning encounters with God rushed to my memory. I recall singing that song as a college student at Howard Payne with all my soul. I have been on that early morning relentless pursuit for decades now and am more zealous to do it after tonight than ever.
After dinner with the Atens, Brenda noticed I had a text while driving home. It was a lengthy text from the man who came forward tonight while I prayed for the invitation. God met Him powerfully. He wrote, "It felt like I was the only one in there and you were talking directly to me." God does that. He meets people where they are and moves in them. That is why we are holding these meetings.
We are scheduled to meet Friday night and Saturday night. I prayerfully pray we go through Sunday and well, we'll see what God does after that.
Once again we had over 100 views of the service and counting. From as far away as Arlington. I am well aware in these days revival can happen in homes just like in sanctuaries. I know God is working.
For now my focus is on bed and seeking Him for next message tomorrow night. It is ten minutes after midnight. Way past my bedtime. Time for a little rest before He calls me to resume my relentless pursuit of Him.
Praying
ReplyDelete