Many people want to see God move. They want to experience a powerful transformative move of God that changes lives, churches, and communities. They may want this, but are they preparing for such a move. A farmer may want to see a bumper crop come harvest time. He will want in vain if he has not plowed his field, sown the seed, trusted God to send rain to irrigate the crop, and only afterward can he expect to reap a harvest.
Moves of God are mysterious. He sends then where and when He wants. The odds go way up if people are actively preparing for such moves of God. Whether you call it revival, spiritual awakening, or times of refreshing, they require some preparation on our part. God will always be faithful to do His part. What needs to happen in preparation you may ask?
First, it starts with a hungering for God to do more. More than the normal mundane religious rituals in which so many churches and believers get trapped. Private devotions are on the decline in many churches. I read a statistic this week that 80% of church members only encounter God once weekly during a worship service. The vast majority are indicating they do not encounter God on a regular basis in their private devotions. Is this true of you? Do you regularly spend time alone with God in worship? Are those times filled with passionate seeking and persistent encounters with the living God? Are they dry and dutifully done?
Part of preparation is a longing, a hungering, a thirsting for more of God. See Ps 42:1-2 and Ps 63:1-3. We know there is more than reading a devotion thought, offering up a hurried five to ten minute prayer before rushing out the door or falling fast asleep. The hungering soul will wake up early to carve out meaningful time with God.
This same hungering must pervade our worship services. People habitually show up, but is there hunger for fresh God encounters. If members are satisfied with the status quo humdrum going through the motions perfunctory acts of worship, there will be no great move of God. We must yearn for more. Prayerfully long for God to show up in fresh ways each time we gather.
The second step of preparation is we must repent. I spent a considerable time in repentance earlier this morning. I wrote about that in a previous post. If we harbor unconfessed and unrepented sin in our lives and congregations, we should not expect God to work powerfully. He finds our sin offensive. II Chron 7:14 states that we must turn from our wicked ways before God comes and heals the land. When is the last time you spent serious time in repentance in your personal life? Furthermore, when were you in a worship service most recently where the church was called to repentance? I'm betting not very recently for most.
Compromise fills the comfy seats in our churches. We should examine ourselves regularly, but it is so much easier to compare ourselves to those other worshippers in the room. God doesn't compare us to one another. He holds us accountable to the standard of His word. It is so hypocritical that we gather in His name to hear the very word we violate and we think nothing of it. God struck down Ananias and his wife just because they lied. If He did the same thing today we would have some very empty pews.
Another step of preparation for God to move is to pray. We hear this often. We need to pray more. When does your church gather to pray for more than just a prayer list for sick people? Does your church regularly pray for the salvation of lost souls, for the breaking of strongholds in your community, for breaking of addiction, and for revival? Some churches do not gather for prayer. They gather for fellowship, worship, and study. They do not set aside time for serious prayer. Our priorities in churches are soon discovered by what we budget and what we schedule on the calendar. We would all say prayer is important, but by the time we spend in it our actions indicate otherwise.
Combine all of that and it is easy to see why great moves of God seem scarce. Therefore, we must dedicate ourselves to preparation. The world is not getting any better. Jesus is the only hope and His church is the change agent needed. May we commit ourselves to purposed preparation that God might come and move in the land once again.
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