What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?

Brothers,



I am frustrated, disappointed, and yes, angry. I recently joined a very small body of believers desperately searching for a fellowship of hungry hearts. When I joined I noticed that the mid-week service was a time for Bible study. As I examined the constitution of the church, laid down by the founders 60+ years ago, I saw to my delight that the men that planted this church had written that the mid-week service SHALL BE A PRAYER SERVICE.



I pointed this out to the leadership of the church as I questioned why the service had been turned into another Bible study. The leaders all agreed that the mid-week service should be primarily a prayer meeting. I immediately suggested that we solicit written prayer requests from the congregation each Sunday morning and then print these on a sheet for our prayer warriors to take home. I also offered to coordinate the Wed. evening "prayer" meeting but was politely ignored.

Yesterday I hurried home from a 3-day break with the family in Myrtle Beach, hungry to get to the business of praying with my brothers and sisters. I brought our written prayer requests on index cards gathered from the congregation remembering the promise that these written requests would be prayed over on Wednesday nights.



I arrived for the meeting which was scheduled from 7pm-8pm. The meeting was sterile, cold, and consisted of a 50 minute Bible study on the "Fear of the Lord." At 7:50pm the prayer request cards were hurriedly divided up and we rushed through our prayers. I was fuming and hurried out the door, frustrated and yes, angry. The pastor phoned me today and I struggled to keep from venting. I want to speak truth in love but this is exactly the core issue in my life at this point. I want God to move in my life and the last thing I need is a 50-minute Bible study! Please don't misunderstand me...we need to study our Bibles. We also are in complete control of our personal prayer time and I am slowly learning to be quiet when I meet God each morning. But let us not forget that the early church was sustained and empowered by their corporate times of prayer. This is when Pentecost came...during a church prayer meeting!



I want to meet the Almighty God of the Bible! Only an encounter with the Holy Spirit can satisfy me now and while I agree that I must fear the Lord, I believe it is the very lack of fear that keeps our prayers so powerless and worthless. If we truly fear God, should we not be falling to our knees in repentance over the condition of our cold hearts and the pitiful state of His bride?

We say we want revival but we can't tolerate even one hour a week for corporate prayer. We have to fill the time with more teaching. Men, we are drowning in teaching! Forget the sermons, the Bible studies and the conferences....WE NEED PRAYER! We know from history that this is the only weapon in our arsenal and yet the weapon is so rusty and dull from lack of use, it is all but worthless. I believe our enemy chuckles when he hears our silly 10-minute prayer meetings...what a joke! He knows for certain that his grip is secure so long as men will love teaching and neglect prayer. The scripture commands us to "Be still, and know that I am God." Men, how can we really know the heart of God if we refuse to be still? Again I ask....why are we so afraid to be silent before God.? Could it be we are afraid of what He will say to us?



How long will we tolerate this charade we call Christianity? We have taken lukewarmness to whole new level. We say we want revival but we dread the convicting silence when we are still and under the searching gaze of the Holy Spirit. We fear that in the silence we may hear the screams of the Holy Spirit....starving to death in our selfish prideful hearts. I'm sick of it men and I'm sick of playing church. I will confront my pastor and there will be a change. One way or the other I will seek to watch with my Lord and Savior for one hour. Notice what Jesus asked of His three closest friends:



Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me."

He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."

Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What! Could you not watch with me one hour?" (Matthew 26:38-40)



I'm sorry for allowing my frustration to boil over into this blog. I am starving! We need to be aware that there are HOURS each day set aside for corporate prayer in Canton and I for one plan on being there from start to finish. This is where God will do His powerful work. I'm not belittling the messages or music we will hear but I believe it will be in the corporate hours of prayer that God will show Himself powerful. Sadly, some will miss this.

I will close with a topic that keeps coming to the top in all my reading on why revival tarries....the subject of repentance. Prayerfully consider the following from Charles Spurgeon writing about Acts 11:18.



What is "Repentance Unto Life"?



Yet again, I must ask you one question more. Do you think you'll repent of your sins if no punishment were placed before you? or do you repent because you know you shall be punished for ever if you remain in your sins? Suppose I tell you there is no hell at all; that, if you choose, you may swear; and, if you will, you may live without God. Suppose there were no reward for virtue, and no punishment for sin, which would you choose?. Can you honestly say, this morning, "I think, I know, by the grace of God, I would choose righteousness if there were no reward for it, if there were nothing to be gained by righteousness, and nothing to be lost by sin." Every sinner hates his sin when he comes near to the mouth of hell; every murderer hates his crime when he comes to the gallows; I never found a child hate its fault so much as when it was going to be punished for it. If you had no cause to dread the pit—if you knew that you might give up your life to sin, and that you might do so with impunity, would you still feel that you hated sin, and that you could not, would not, commit sin, except through the infirmity of the flesh? Would you still desire holiness? Would you still desire to live like Christ? If so—if you can say this in sincerity—if you thus turn to God and hate your sin with an everlasting hatred, you need not fear but that you have a "repentance" which is "unto life."



Brothers, let us keep pushing each other and most of all, please....let us commit once again to pray for each other each and ever day. I desperately covet your prayers!

I wrote this early today, was saddened by the angry tone and put it aside. I have prayerfully considered the content and am now sending it unedited...I'm sorry to be so negative but it is time to be real.

God Bless each one of us as we prepare our hearts for Canton.



Your brother, Steve