Dangerous Prayer

I am so encouraged that over the last few years there seems to be a growing cry all over the country for God to revive His Church…and from some unlikely voices and places.

I think the rapid deterioration and growing darkness of our culture and our world is leading many to a holy dissatisfaction with status quo…especially in the Church.

Innovative methods of doing church and novel theologies have been tried over the last 30 years and found wanting. I have witnessed the rise and fall of several in the Seattle region over my tenure at Westgate Chapel.

So now, there seems to be much more openness to the topic and growing prayer movements calling on the Lord to send revival in our day.

And that’s great!

I find it very encouraging.

But as we pray, we need to be careful.

Careful because I see in Scripture a noticeable pattern of God’s judgment that accompanies a new work of God.

This shouldn’t cause us to stop praying for revival. I’m convinced that we have no alternative but revival for the sake of the preservation of the Gospel in future generations.

But we need to know up front that a new work of God is not like getting new toys for our toy box, for our entertainment or personal gratification.

God doesn’t mess around.

In the early days of the Tabernacle and God saying it was where He wanted to meet with His people…Nadab and Abihu got presumptuous and arrogant in their worship and fire broke out from God and consumed them (Leviticus 10).

In the very early days of the occupation of the promises of God, Achan disobeyed God, took the spoils of Jericho for his own benefit and it cost him his life and his family (Joshua 7).

In preparation for the ark of God’s presence to be returned to Jerusalem and eventually installed in the new Temple Solomon would build, Uzza, a priest who should have known better, disrespected the place God met with His people, reached out to steady the ark and God struck him dead on the spot (2 Samuel 6).

In the earliest days of the glory of the Lord in the new thing God was doing…building His Church…Ananias and Sapphira presumed to lie to leadership about their gift to the church, and God took it as a lie against Himself and killed them both while the words were still in their mouths (Acts 5).

I am not suggesting that God is going to strike people dead in the coming revival.

What I am suggesting is that we’d better understand, when God shows up in ways we are praying for, that His fire burns both ways…and we must walk in great humility and fear of the Lord.

It’s the best way to live anyhow.