A return to God

Restoring Honor gathering on Saturday

Sacrifice thank offerings to God, 

fulfill your vows to the Most High,

and call upon Me in the day of trouble; 

I will deliver you, and you will honor Me."

Psalm 50:14-15

This past Saturday, I watched the Restoring Honor gathering in Washington DC hosted by Glenn Beck. While most in the media touted this event as a gathering of angry Tea Partiers, listening to a ranting, raving hate monger talk about politics and winning back the White House and Congress for the Republicans, I knew it would not be that way. I was not disappointed. 

Over the past few years, God has been moving my heart away from politics. While I still am incredibly thankful for my country and will vote and pray that Godly men and women are elected to office, I no longer look to Washington DC to keep this country strong. No...that is not where our hope lies. 

Our hope lies in God alone...and not just for this country but for the world. I am wrong if my focus is only on America. I am wrong if I desire change in Washington DC so that we can return to the "good life" of lower taxes and a better economy. I am wrong in believing that if we can just get the right people elected everything will be okay. 

I am only right when my focus is on God alone. I am only right when I look to Him for His plan, not my own. I am only right when I seek His hand of "Divine Providence" to move in our nation and do His will. 

This is not some strange idea...dependance entirely on God. This "firm reliance on Divine Providence" is what once lay at the heart of our nation. We didn't look to our military or Wall Street or our government for deliverance...we looked to God alone. And He delivered. 

He will deliver again, but not unless we ask Him. And that is where it all begins...PRAYER. 

I'm reading a book right now called Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala. Ever heard of the Brooklyn Tabernacle or its choir? He is the pastor. The church began in the early 1970s in a run-down building in a rough part of New York City with fewer than 100 people. Pastor Cymbala quickly became discouraged and thought many times of giving up until God impressed a message on him one day: "If you and your wife will lead my people to pray and call upon My name, you will never lack for something fresh to preach. I will supply all the money that's needed, both for the church and for your family, and you will never have a building large enough to contain the crowds I will send in response." 

Pastor Cymbala went back to his congregation, shared God's message with them, and said, "'If we call upon the Lord, He has promised in His Word to answer, to bring the unsaved to Himself, to pour out His  Spirit among us. If we don't call upon the Lord, he has promised nothing - nothing at all. It's as simple as that. No matter what I preach or what we believe in our heads, the future will depend upon our times of prayer. 

This is the engine that will drive the church. Yes, I want you to keep coming on Sundays - but Tuesday night is what it's really all about'...A minister from Australia (or perhaps it was New Zealand) happened to be present that morning - a rare occurrence. I introduced him and invited him to say a few words. He walked to the front and made just one comment:

'I heard what your pastor said. Here's something to think about:

You can tell how popular a church is by who comes on Sunday morning.

You can tell how popular the pastor or evangelist is by who comes on Sunday night. 

You can tell how popular Jesus is by who comes to the prayer meeting.'" 

As soon as I finished reading that, my mind went back to our church, Jubilee, in Seoul, South Korea. Their times of prayer were more powerful and unique, than any I had ever experienced. Once Pastor David had finished his sermon, he would then lead us in prayer for about 30 minutes. 

What stood out to me was not his wonderful words, but our involvement. He would pick out four or five main points from his sermon. He would then list the first point and pray over that point. As soon as he was finished, the entire congregation would then pray out loud, for about 5 minutes, over that point...personally applying it to their own lives. As I prayed, all around me I could hear my brothers and sisters in the Lord praying to God. It was incredible!!! 

I've not been back to Jubilee in two years since we moved to Charleston, SC. But my heart longs to return. It's not because of Pastor David's preaching, though it was and still is, wonderful. No, it's because of the tangible presence of the Holy Spirit that can be felt and seen in the lives of Jubilee members. And it is never more felt than during those times of corporate prayer. 

Pastor Cymbala, who encourages the same practice of group prayer, talks about this in his book: "During countless Tuesday night prayer meetings I find myself encircled by the sacred sounds of prayer and intercession filling the church...overflowing from every heart present...I can't help but think, 'This is as close to Heaven as I will ever get in this life. I don't want to leave here...(nothing else would ever) bring the kind of peace and deep joy I sense here in the presence of people calling on the Lord.'" 

That's exactly how I felt at Jubilee and it's how I felt on Saturday at the end of watching the Restoring Honor gathering. The entire morning was dedicated to three things: a return to Faith, Hope and Charity...the three themes of Glenn Beck's show since January. All the speakers called America to return to God, with the specific name of Jesus mentioned frequently. But it was the end, when Dave Roever stood up to give the final prayer, that I was moved to tears. Here were close to 500,000 people, standing in the sun at our nation's capital, calling on the name of the Lord to turn this nation back to Him. 

That is what America needs. We have got to get on our knees, before a Holy God, truly desiring to be in His presence and asking Him to shine His light through each of us. 

Though Pastor Cymbala wrote his book in 1997, this message is for today: "Satan's main strategy with God's people has always been to whisper, 'Don't call, don't ask, don't depend on God to do great things. You'll get along fine if you just rely on your own cleverness and energy.' The truth of the matter is that the devil is not terribly frightened of our human efforts and credentials. But he knows his kingdom will be damaged when we lift up our hearts to God."

Revival, Awakening...that is what America and this world needs. A return to God! And it begins with each of us. It begins by setting your clock an hour early (or staying up an hour later if you are a "night owl") and spending time with Him. And not out of guilt or duty but out of desire. 

"If we don't want to experience God's closeness here on earth, why would we want to go to Heaven anyway? He is the center of everything there. If we don't enjoy being in His presence here and now, then Heaven would not be heaven for us. Why would He send anyone there who doesn't long for Him passionately here on earth?" (Jim Cymbala)