11/29/21 Praying With JESUS: 40 Days Toward Church Revitalization — Day 12

John 9:35-41 (ESV)
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”
37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.”
38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

In today’s passage Jesus is having a conversation with some religious leaders about the blind man and his healing, not willing themselves to believe that Jesus had sufficient power to do such a miracle. Because of their stubborn hearts and unwillingness to believe, Jesus referred to the religious leaders as “blind” themselves.

What are the two greatest barriers you can identify that will need to be overcome in order for your church to be REVITALIZED? ____________________; ____________________

BELIEVE… The Pharisees in John 9 were insistent that Jesus could not have the power to heal blind eyes. Only God could do such a miracle. So, they questioned the formerly blind man twice; they questioned his parents. Yet they could not disprove that Jesus had done something unexplainable to them. Don’t you want Jesus to do something unexplainable in your church? Don’t you long to see Him restore Gospel fervency and evangelistic effectiveness in your church family? Jesus is the One who can do it! Not a committee; not the remaining members of your congregation. Only Jesus. Do you believe? Do you think He can solve, demolish, and overwhelm the barriers you listed above? Do you believe?

PRAY… Lord Jesus, we have evaluated our situation many times, even prayed over it; honestly our prayers have often been without true faith that You could actually do anything about our plight. But today, I renounce my own “blindness;” I turn away from my “blindness;” I embrace Your mighty power. You can do anything! I believe! You can walk on water; bring water from a rock; part a river and even a sea! You can raise the dead, and You can breathe life into dry bones! Jesus, I cry out to You, with the rest of my church family, pleading for Your miraculous intervention in our church. You are able! I believe You can overcome every barrier that stands against us, and I surrender my own defeatist perspective to your conquering grace! Jesus, come and do what only You can do in our church. In Jesus’ Name. Amen!

11/22/21 Praying With JESUS: 40 Days Toward Church Revitalization — Day 11

“Every church needing REVITALIZATION can assume at some point in the ups and downs of their existence that they lost sight of the Biblical model and structure of authority and must begin to recover it if any other patters of dysfunction can be addressed to ensure a healthy direction for the future. Authority matters. Who is in charge in your church? Jesus is the bridegroom of His bride. He is in charge. He is the one to whom the church must submit if it is to have life and experience the unity that only He can bring, for it came at the cost of His own life (Eph. 2:11-15).” —Brian Croft, “Biblical Church Revitalization”

Matthew 16:15-19 (ESV)
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

WHO’S IN CHARGE? When Peter correctly answered Jesus’ probing question about His identity, Jesus not only affirmed Peter’s answer, but went further to explain what it meant for Him to be “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Jesus went on to say that “…I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18) As Brian Croft wrote in his book quoted above, Jesus is in charge. “He is the one to whom the church must submit if it is to have life and experience the unity that only He can bring…”

As a friend of mine often says when pressing someone for an honest answer, “If someone held a gun to your head demanding to know who was in charge of your church, what would you answer?” If it is anyone other Jesus Christ then some serious repentance, prayer, and reorientation needs to happen.

PRAY: Jesus, I acknowledge and submit to Your authority, and Your authority alone, over Your church. I am not the authority in our church, nor is any other person the authority. Please forgive me for any time that I have attempted to exercise my own authority in Your church, as though it belonged to me and not to You. Please restore a deep sense of humility among all the leaders in our church, and a glad desire to submit to Your authority alone. I agree with Peter, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” and thereby You have full authority to reign in Your church. I surrender and submit myself to You, King of all kings, and Lord of all lords! Amen!

Praying With JESUS: 40 Days Toward Church Revitalization — Day 10

11/15/21 Luke 6:46-49 (ESV)
46“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:
48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Which person in Luke 6:46-49 are you most like right now, today?

__ The person building a house on a rock-solid foundation—you do whatever Jesus says; OR

__ The person building a house with no foundation—you are ignoring Jesus’ instructions

RETURNING TO THE WORD… REVITALIZATION is about a group of Christ-followers surrendering all their own pre-conceived ideas about what their church should look like and how it should behave, and returning to the Author of their faith, upon whom the church is founded.

We started this section of prayers by renewing our confidence in God’s Word. Not just for the sake of our church’s REVITALIZATION, but ultimately for God’s own glory and for our personal and corporate good. Let’s close out this section by asking God to transform our minds according to His Word so that we might prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God concerning our church.

PRAY… Lord, I love Your Word; I praise You for providing such a wonderful road map for life and living. You are my hiding place and my shield; from now on I wait for Your Word. I place my own thoughts and ideas in submission to Your Word. Sustain me according to Your Word, that I may live the life You designed for me, and in so doing be a part of a renewed church family set upon the very same purpose. Uphold me by Your Word; strengthen my resolve to seek Your Word before the counsel of others, and then compel all of us together to obey whatever You say. We love you and Your Word. In your Son’s Name, Amen.

 11/08/21 Praying With JESUS: 40 Days Toward Church Revitalization — Day 09

John 1:1-4 (ESV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

“THE THIEF COMES ONLY TO STEAL AND KILL AND DESTROY; I CAME THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE LIFE, AND HAVE IT ABUNDANTLY.” (JOHN 10:10) This life that Jesus gives is not just fire insurance against an eternity in hell, but it is the very substance of life in the present. He knows better than anyone else exactly what your church needs in order to be a life-giving force in your community.

John 5:24 (ESV) Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

FROM WORD TO LIFE… Fill in the blanks below:

 “…he who hears My word, and ________________ Him who sent Me, has _______________ life...” “…[he] does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into ______________ .”

When we believe God’s Word we avoid judgment, pass out of death’s claws, and receive LIFE!! This is true for eternity and for today! You and your church, as you believe God’s Word, His promises and assurances, will begin to experience NEW LIFE in Christ!

PRAY… Lord Jesus, help me to cling to Your Word as the very substance of life for me today and throughout eternity. Thank you for giving us Your Word; I want to thirst for it like the Psalmist, as the deer pants for the water brook, so let me soul thirst for You and Your Word. Use Your Word in me to build my faith and to help re-shape our church into an effective instrument for the Gospel in our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, I ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

 11/01/21 Praying With JESUS: 40 Days Toward Church Revitalization — Day 08

John 17:13-21 (ESV)
13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Use whatever resources you have at your disposal (commentaries, Bible software, Bible dictionaries, etc.) to examine John 17:17, and particularly the word “sanctify” as it appears in that verse. Write what you discover here:

___________________________________________________________________________

SANCTIFY… In you research on the word “sanctify” you should have come across information that says “sanctify” means to “set apart for special use.” The word comes from the Greek word from which we get the word for “holy” or “holiness.” It is an action initiated and carried out by God Himself in the lives of His people. And in the case of Jesus’ prayer request in John 17:17, it is a work God performs through His Word in the hearts and minds of His people. We are set apart unto God, out of this world, and beyond the reason and logic that drives humanity, through the work God does in us as we give ourselves to His Word. He “sanctifies” us in the truth, which is His Word. No tool in your REVITALIZATION process will be more valuable than God’s Word. Keep it close. Read, study, meditate on, and memorize it daily.

PRAY… Father, in keeping with Jesus’ own prayer on behalf of His disciples present with Him, as well as for all those who would believe in Jesus because of the testimony of those first disciples, I plead with You for Your sanctifying work in my own heart and life as I give myself daily to Your Word. Let Your Word dwell richly within me, and within our church family, that we will be sanctified in Your truth, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in our hearts for all that You are doing among us. I ask this in Jesus Name. Amen.