Prayer, Not Outrage

I’m somewhat on a roll on this issue of praying for revival and restoration rather than responding with frustration or even anger at the lost world around us. Feel free to read the two previous posts here and here.

As I’ve committed to pray an hour each week for revival (2 Chronicles 7:13-15) for myself, believers and the lost, I’ve wondered about how to focus my time. In my chronological Bible reading plan, I’d already read through Daniel and Ezra, then today read Nehemiah.

So, I chose three prayers from the Old Testament, each focused on restoration for the people of God…the place to begin as we admit our own sin, then move from our own revival as believers into the world of the lost. I also chose two Psalms. So be prepared that this will be a text heavy post because of the passages.

For quick reference, I wrote these references in my Bible:

Here are the prayers I chose. I am including these passages in this post, except for the Psalms, to make it easy if you want to pray this way as well.

Lord, the God of the heavens, the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant with those who love him and keep his commands, let your eyes be open and your ears be attentive to hear your servant’s prayer that I now pray to you day and night for your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins we have committed against you. Both I and my father’s family have sinned. We have acted corruptly toward you and have not kept the commands, statutes, and ordinances you gave your servant Moses. Please remember what you commanded your servant Moses: “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples. But if you return to me and carefully observe my commands, even though your exiles were banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I chose to have my name dwell.” They are your servants and your people. You redeemed them by your great power and strong hand. Please, Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to that of your servants who delight to revere your name. Give your servant success today, and grant him compassion in the presence of this man. Nehemiah 1:5-11

Now, our God, what can we say in light of this? For we have abandoned the commands you gave through your servants the prophets, saying: “The land you are entering to possess is an impure land. The surrounding peoples have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness by their impurity and detestable practices. So do not give your daughters to their sons in marriage or take their daughters for your sons. Never pursue their welfare or prosperity, so that you will be strong, eat the good things of the land, and leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.” After all that has happened to us because of our evil deeds and terrible guilt — though you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have allowed us to survive — should we break your commands again and intermarry with the peoples who commit these detestable practices? Wouldn’t you become so angry with us that you would destroy us, leaving neither remnant nor survivor? Lord God of Israel, you are righteous, for we survive as a remnant today. Here we are before you with our guilt, though no one can stand in your presence because of this. Ezra 9:10-15

I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: Ah, Lord — the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant with those who love him and keep his commands — we have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned away from your commands and ordinances. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, leaders, fathers, and all the people of the land. Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but this day public shame belongs to us: the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel — those who are near and those who are far, in all the countries where you have banished them because of the disloyalty they have shown toward you. Lord, public shame belongs to us, our kings, our leaders, and our fathers, because we have sinned against you. Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, though we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the Lord our God by following his instructions that he set before us through his servants the prophets. All Israel has broken your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. The promised curse written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, has been poured out on us because we have sinned against him. He has carried out his words that he spoke against us and against our rulers by bringing on us a disaster that is so great that nothing like what has been done to Jerusalem has ever been done under all of all of heaven. Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquities and paying attention to your truth. So the Lord kept the disaster in mind and brought it on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all he has done. But we have not obeyed him. Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand and made your name renowned as it is this day, we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, may your anger and wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become an object of ridicule to all those around us. Therefore, our God, hear the prayer and the petitions of your servant. Make your face shine on your desolate sanctuary for the Lord’s sake. Listen closely, my God, and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations and the city that bears your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before you based on our righteous acts, but based on your abundant compassion. Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and act! My God, for your own sake, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your name. Daniel 9:4-19

What if we pray these prayers, or your own, for our own hearts to be purified and revived in Christ and for that to spread to the lost world? Only God knows, but whatever He chooses to do, we need to live in constant revival and pray for the lost.

Wouldn’t that be better than the outrage we see in our world today…among the lost and the saved?

In Ed Stetzer’s book, Christians in the Age of Outrage, that I mentioned I was reading, he speaks about our role as ambassadors to a foreign land as we live “as heaven’s representatives in a world working against the very assignment we have been given.” He made 3 powerful statements about this:

1. We are sent with allegiance to the King.
2. We are sent with a message of reconciliation.
3. We are sent to a foreign land with a mission to complete.

My prayer is that you and I will take this assignment more seriously and feverishly than ever before.

Banner photo by Ben White on Unsplash