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Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: US
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Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You
"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God: Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations.'" - Ezekiel 14:6
In this Holy Week when we remember the death and burial of Jesus and celebrate His resurrection, conversations continue about the outpouring at Asbury University that began on February 8, as well as lament over shootings, overdoses, family difficulties, finances, and so much more. We hear of prayers for Jesus to awaken His people and bring salvation to those without Him. The cry for revival to come to our nation, states, cities, and towns is coming from the north, south, east, and west. But while we cry out for revival, we cannot ignore our own lives. We must personally confess our sins to the Lord to be part of receiving His outpouring.
In His Word, the Lord has made it clear that we must repent before revival comes to an individual or a nation. It is no secret that the United States needs to be awakened to the Holy Spirit and that our country desperately needs to turn back to God. We must stop and ask the Lord what we personally must turn away from before revival comes.
As the Israelites sought the Lord, He said, "Repent." In Ezekiel 14:6, He defined repentance as "[turning] away from idols and [turning] your faces away from all your abominations." Repentance is often described today as someone driving down the road, realizing they are going the wrong way, and making a U-turn.
In Ezekiel, we see that Israel turned their back on God when He had called the nation to be set apart. You and I can relate to Israel as we have created idols out of finances, sports, careers, technology, relationships, and material possessions, all while we who are in Christ are called to live our lives free from a tie to the things of the world. It isn't wrong to have these things, but we must have balance and accountability in our lives so that we do not make them our idols.
When we acknowledge our sins to God and confess that without Him, we cannot do anything about our sins, we experience biblical repentance; a turning from our ways to God's way.
Today, I plead with you to go before God and ask Him to reveal any unconfessed sin in your heart. As the Lord reveals the sin, own and confess it to Him. To personally experience an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we must come clean. We must do as the Scriptures instruct us: repent, turn away from idols and abominations, and turn entirely to Jesus. We can believe God's Word: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
Heavenly Father, we invite you to work in our lives today and throughout this Holy Week. Lord, help us spend time with You so that the Holy Spirit can reveal the sin in our hearts. When He does, we will confess our sin, turn to You, and recommit ourselves to You being our first love, as You remove all idols and abominations from our life. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Family Research Council
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I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4
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