01/22/22 Praying With JESUS: 40 Days Toward Church Revitalization — Day 20

LUKE 12:31

What does it mean to “seek His Kingdom?”

A KINGDOM AGENDA… In the context of Luke 12 and Matthew 6, Jesus teaches that a Kingdom agenda means…

•   A soul is more important than riches (Luke 12:16-21).

•   Faith is more important than food, clothing, or life span (Luke 12:22-30).

•   Eternity is more important than possessions (Luke 12:33-34). Do your personal priorities line up with those that Jesus prescribes? In what ways does your life currently reflect this agenda? Do your church’s priorities line up with those that Jesus prescribes? In what ways does your church currently reflect this agenda?

PRAY… Jesus, at least part of the reason our church needs Your REVITALIZING grace and restoration is because over time we have drifted away from Your Kingdom agenda. We have adopted our own agenda and we have lost sight of what You value. Please forgive us; please forgive me. We do not want to pursue our own agenda any longer. We long to pursue You, even as the deer pants for the water brook, O Lord, our souls long for You above all else. Please fill our hearts with renewed vigor to passionately pursue You and Your Kingdom agenda for our church. Set us free from the bondage of selfish and self-centered pursuits to hunger and thirst after righteousness alone. In Your Name I pray, Amen.

01/17/22 Praying With JESUS: 40 Days Toward Church Revitalization — Day 19

Matthew 6:1-15 (ESV)
1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

This passage of Scripture links prayer in a believer’s life with at least three critical heart elements. These heart elements, when laid bare by the work of the Holy Spirit, reveal whether or not a believer is rightly aligned with God’s heart:

•   Theatrics = “beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them” (6:1,5)

•   Verbosity = “when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition” (6:7)

•   Forgiveness = “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (6:12,14-15)

AUTHENTICITY… There is no place in Christ’s church for hypocrisy. Jesus warned His followers not to make their faith activities a performance to impress others (Matthew 6:1,5,16). Neither should believers judge others because there is yet plenty in their own lives to be judged (Matthew 7:1-5). Instead Jesus both lived and taught authenticity in our relationship with Him and with one another. Are either of these statements true about you or about any one in your church family?

•   “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me, but in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men” (Matthew 15:8-9).

•   “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man…” (Matthew 15:19-20a) When we fail to be authentic with Jesus, we will undoubtedly be playing a masquerade with our fellow believers. Let’s repent of our lack of authenticity and come clean with Jesus about our hypocrisy today.

PRAY… Father God, I want to come clean about my hypocrisy. It is creating chaos in my walk with You and in my relationships with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Please forgive me for not living an authentic Christian life, and by Your grace empower me to live soberly and uprightly in my walk with You and in my relationships with fellow believers. I desire to walk in the Light as You Yourself are the Light, so that I can have Biblical fellowship with other believers and so I can walk in authenticity with You. Be honored today in all my relationships, as I cast off hypocrisy and embrace the life of Christ. I ask this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

01/11/22 Praying With JESUS: 40 Days Toward Church Revitalization — Day 18

“God’s Word and Spirit are so powerful that they can not only build a healthy church, but even take a dying, broken, discouraged congregation and give it renewed life, causing it to flourish far beyond what its founders ever imagined.” These are words written by Pastor Brian Croft in his article “Five Unexpected Lessons in Church Revitalization,” and recorded in a 9Marks Journal entitled, Revitalize: Why We Must Reclaim Dying Churches - and How.

John 15:1-11 (ESV)
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

GOD’S WORD… Identify three things Jesus talks about in this passage that need to be either developed or initiated, or advanced among your church family. List them here as three specific prayer requests: “Father, shape us into a church that… __________; __________; and __________. Include these three prayer requests in your prayer below…

PRAY… Jesus, thank you for teaching us in John 15 about faithfully abiding in You and Your Word, bearing fruit, being pruned, staying connected to You as our life source, prayer, obedience to Your commandments, love, and joy. Our church family is desperate for You to do a new work among us in these areas (include your prayer requests here)… In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

01/03/22 Praying With JESUS: 40 Days Toward Church Revitalization — Day 17

Matthew 5:23-24 (ESV)
23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

RECONCILIATION… I had not been their pastor very long. In an effort to become acquainted with the older members of the congregation, I invited one long-time member to be my visitation partner for a few months. The first time we went visiting together he surprised me at the end of the afternoon. Pulling into the church parking lot he reached into his shirt pocket to reveal a note card with the names of ten men written on it. “Pastor,” he began, “these ten men have deeply offended me and I want them brought before the church to answer for what they have done.” As we talked, I learned that he had been carrying this list of names around for more than three years, but had never attempted reconciliation with any one of them. Biblical reconciliation was missing from his demand; he was only interested in revenge. Perhaps you need to be reconciled to a brother or sister in Christ. Perhaps others in your church family are at distant odds over some issue or another. Regardless what the offense, without forgiveness and reconciliation, your church will continue to struggle and REVITALIZATION attempts will be stymied.

PRAY… Lord Jesus, we are a broken people, and among us we have broken relationships that, apart from Your grace, will continue to hamper the fellowship and the effectiveness of our church. Please show Yourself strong by surfacing every previous offense that is strangling us, and compel us, by Your Holy Spirit, to speak the truth in love to one another and to offer to one another the same forgiveness which You have so generously given to us. Please break down every stronghold of bitterness and unforgiveness in our fellowship, and replace it with the fruit of Your Holy Spirit. I humbly ask in Your Name. Amen.