A Call to Repentance: WEEK NINETEENMay 18, 2008"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:32)
INTRODUCTION TO WEEK NINETEEN
This week, we continue to press in during WEEK NINETEEN of our 40 Weeks of Prayer and Fasting, to offer prayers of repentance for the sin in the church, the sin in the nation, and the blessing of Israel.
We now address these areas:
1. SIN IN THE CHURCH: WORSHIP OF MAN
2. SIN IN THE NATION: NATIVE AMERICAN ISSUES (II)
3. THE BLESSING OF ISRAEL: SALVATION
SIN IN THE CHURCH: WORSHIP OF MAN
REPENTANCE FOR SIN IN THE CHURCH:WORSHIP OF MAN RATHER THAN GOD"Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be ye not partakers with them . . . for it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret." (Eph. 6,7, 12)
The bride of Messiah in the West is, for the most part, part of the problem as opposed to being part of the solution.
Yeshua, please reveal the rampant humanism that plagues Your bride in her thinking and her theology. Lord, purge Your bride of the worship of man, which is humanism. Restore to the Church a love for Your Word, a love for Your truth. "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." (John 17:17)
We ask You to teach us to pray and study the Word and to not be deceived by an's ideas or schemes -- especially those that work but are not of You."Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15)
"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Messiah: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Messiah: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Messiah." (Ephesians 4:11-15) (Source: Intercessors for Israel)
-- And Father God, on behalf of Your church in America, we repent of this sin. Please forgive us, cleanse us, and make us whole and new in You. In Your Name, Yeshua, Amen.
SINS OF THE NATION: NATIVE AMERICAN ISSUES (II)
REPENTANCE FOR THE SINS OF THE NATION:NATIVE AMERICAN ISSUES (II)
INTRODUCTION: PART TWO
Much of today's church fails to realize that its willful participation in the spiritual, psychological, economic, and physical traumatizing and destruction of whole tribal groups has positioned it for judgment by the very God it claims to serve. By its participation the church has given the powers of darkness the legitimate right to restrain, undermine, and thwart the release of God's kingdom power and authority through His church into North America. As a willing participant the church has established spiritual precedents that virtually guarantee the judgments of God will come upon this nation.
What are some of the spiritual precedents the church has participated in or allowed to be activated? What exactly does a spiritual precedent look like? First, let's define the meaning of spiritual precedent. The term precedent is defined as an act, statement, legal decision, or case, etc. that may serve as an example, reason, or justification for a later act, legal decision, or statement. The spiritual aspect is governed by the principles outlined in the word of God which clearly explain outcomes that can be expected by personal or corporate legal decisions, actions, or statements of stance.
For example Proverbs 28:13 says "the man who covers his sins will not prosper." The precedent is the action of a person covering and hiding his sins. The decision to cover up and hide sin sets in motion God's just decision and response to not allow prosperity to be released into the guilty party's life. Essentially, a person establishes a precedent by his decisions or actions and God guarantees a spiritual consequence for his selected action. Therefore, a spiritual precedent is when a natural action or decision activates and ensures a certain spiritual consequence.
In applying Proverbs 28:13 to the corporate body of Christ in North America today, we could say that when the church refuses to acknowledge its part in the decimation and destruction of Native families and communities - and in this sense is covering its sins - then God promises that His church will not prosper. Make no mistake, our heavenly Father is faithful to fulfill His word, even if means not allowing His own children to prosper. Consequently, the church of North America is actually responsible for hindering and diminishing the cause of Christ in the continent.
Spiritual Precedents - Related to the treatment of North America's Indigenous People Every historical event established a spiritual precedent, thus guaranteeing that the nation will reap that which was sown in its treatment of North America's Indigenous people. In most cases the church was in some way involved, either directly or by passive compliance or by selective ignorance.
In the weeks ahead, we will examine four of these spiritual precedents in detail, offering prayers of repentance for each one. They are:
1. Indian Removal Act (1830) - [which led to the infamous "Trail of Tears"]
2. Theft of Divine Inheritance: Issues of the Land
3. The Sin of Broken Treaties/Covenants4. Forced Assimilation through Education: Examining in particular the history of the Carlisle School in Carlisle, PA
(Source: First Nations Counseling Ministries)
THE BLESSING OF ISRAEL: SALVATION
(Source: Intercessors for Israel)
We have just celebrated Israel's 60th anniversary as a modern-day nation-60 years since God has restored sovereignty to the Jewish people in their own land. Praise the Lord! This occasion was actually marked on four different days: On Thursday, May 8, we observed the anniversary as a national holiday (because the date on the Hebrew calendar, the 5th of Iyar, fell on Shabbat, May 10). The anniversary was also commemorated on the Hebrew date and also this past Wednesday, May 14, which is the date according to the Gregorian calendar. Some Arabs also remembered Israel's anniversary yesterday, Thursday, May 15, a day they call Nakba (catastrophe).
The rebirth of Israel was anything but a catastrophe. It was perhaps the greatest blessing-or one of the greatest blessings-of the modern era, from which all mankind (include Israel's enemies) will benefit: "Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!" (Romans 11:12)Therefore, as Israel now enters its seventh decade (seven being a Biblical number symbolizing completion), we began by praying for Israel's completion or fullness in terms of salvation.
We used, among other Bible passages, the following Scriptures from IFI's prayer topics (ways of praying and interceding for the people and Land of Israel, regardless of current news, which can be found on our Web site, www.ifij.org):"And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn." (Zechariah 12:10)
Restore us, O God; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved! . . . Restore us, O God of hosts; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved! Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved! (Psalm 80:3,7,19) And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins." (Romans 11:26-27)
Specifically, we prayed:· Thank You, Lord, that Israel is in the process of being saved.· As believers who live in this Land, burden our hearts to pray for the salvation of those around us (Micah 4:6- 7).· Give us a harvest and raise up the workers (Matthew 9:37-38).· "Cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound" (Leviticus 25:9) in Your Land.· Bring back those Jews who turned away from Yeshua.
· Lord, You can save anyone-save even the anti- missionaries and ultra-Orthodox who are so opposed to Yeshua and Messianic Jews. Raise up the "Pauls" of our generation! Please pour out Your Holy Spirit on religious neighborhoods, synagogues, and yeshivot. · Remember that You promised, when You brought us back to this Land, to take out our "heart of stone" and to give us a "heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26).· Turn all of Your people-religious and secular alike- to Your Word and reveal the truth of our Lord and Messiah Yeshua.· Lord, lift the veil that is still over most of Israel!
Song of the Week
AMAZING GRACE
"I was blind but now I see!" (John 9:25)Words: John Newton; 1779Music: James P. Carrell and David S. Clayton; 1831
This is probably the most popular hymn in the English language - a television documentary was even made about it. Perhaps it is because its words so well describe the author: John Newton was a slave trader before coming to Christ. It was sung at the funeral of American president Ronald Reagan.
"Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see." (Enjoy the entire hymn by going here.)
"Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul." (Psalm 66:16)
A Closing Thought . . .
ON JONATHAN EDWARDS
Jonathan Edwards believed that sufficient numbers of God's people, sanctified, properly motivated, and united in prayers of agreement, could move God's heart to bring heaven to earth in answer to prayer. Edwards, whose ministry grew out of a life of extraordinary prayer, was used of God to spark the First Great Awakening in America. God rewarded him not only with answered prayer, but by revealing Himself to Edwards. He writes of one prayer encounter with the Lord:
I had a view . . . of the glory of the Son of God as Mediator between God and man, and of His wonderful, great, full, pure, and sweet grace and love, and His meek and gentle condescension . . . The person of Christ appeared ineffably excellent with an excellence great enough to swallow up all thought and conception, which continued, as near as I can judge, about an hour. It kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears and weeping aloud. I felt an ardency of soul to be, that I know not otherwise how to express, emptied and annihilated, to lie in the dust; to be full of Christ alone, to love Him with my whole heart.
E.M. Bounds writes, "So it is with all great intercessors. They come into that holy . . . condition of mind and heart by a thorough self-dedication to God, by periods of God's revelation to them, making distinct marked eras in their spiritual history, eras never to be forgotten, in which faith mounts up with wings as eagles, and gives a new and fuller vision of God, a stronger grasp of faith, a sweeter, clearer vision of all things heavenly, and eternal, and a blessed intimacy with, and access to, God" (Weapon of Prayer, Ch. 11). As we seek God on behalf of our fellow countrymen, may He reveal Himself to us, energizing and motivating us to greater faithfulness! May God use our prayers to spark another Great Awakening!
(Written by: Pierre Bynum, National Prayer Director, Family Research Council)
