Proverbs 1:20-33 - "God's Not Dead"

4:16 AM...God woke me up out of a sound sleep to pray for a new pastor and his wife. I asked God for specifics and He gave me these words from "God's Not Dead",,,

Let heaven roar and fire fall
Come shake the ground
With the sound of revival


Yes! Revival in spirits is needed so greatly in our world. I'm not sure why the Lord had me praying for them nor why He gave me this song but I was obedient in what He called me to do.

I started thinking about how yesterday had some pretty deep prayer requests. I had a phone call from one retired pastor's wife who is going through so much 'junk' and so very drained. I prayed with another friend who needs prayer for a very difficult situation with a grown child. I've been praying for another pastor's wife who is going through a tough situation in their family. Sometimes praying becomes so deeply hard. It is so difficult to see people dealing with such 'junk'...I am crying out to the Lord for Him to be their strength. 

I told Doc that twenty years ago a pastor would not have had some of the same prayer requests as today. Our world is decaying so fast. In Bible study last night Jim talked about how many people do not fear God. It shows in how they do not respect Him. 

Proverbs 1:20-33 gives a word picture of what it is like for those who do not fear God. Christ is Wisdom. The desire of His heart is for people to be in relationship with Him. There are three types of people in this set of Scripture. There are the simpleminded, scorners and fools. All three have rejected God. The writing is on the wall, so to speak, on what will become of those who continue to not fear Him. They will not live in eternity with the Lord but rather will live in hell. Matthew Henry writes...

"The love of Christ, and the promises mingled with his reproofs, surely should have the attention of every one. It may well be asked, how long men mean to proceed in such a perilous path, when the uncertainty of life and the consequences of dying without Christ are considered? Now sinners live at ease, and set sorrow at defiance; but their calamity will come. Now God is ready to hear their prayers; but then they shall cry in vain. Are we yet despisers of wisdom? Let us hearken diligently, and obey the Lord Jesus, that we may enjoy peace of conscience and confidence in God; be free from evil, in life, in death, and for ever."

It is only through a relationship with the Lord that one can have the promise of eternal life. Verses twenty eight through thirty three are a picture of what it will look like at the end of this world as we know it. When the Lord takes His people to live in eternity with Him, there will be some who will not have such peace. What is it going to take for people to fear the Lord? There are some who are blatantly refusing Him. There are some who are pretending they are following Him yet truly are not. There are some who are not listening to His Voice. The simpleminded, the scorners and the fools. Oh how we need revival in our land. We need people to desire Him to be their Lord and Master. We need the Holy Spirit to fill more people. These things will only happen when people get to the end of themselves and surrender. 

Dear Jesus,
Thank You for the opportunity to pray for my friends this morning. Father, I pray they will be filled to overflowing with more of You. I also pray for their church to be on fire for You. I pray that same prayer for our church...for all churches. Oh how we need You to set us all on fire. We need Your Holy Spirit to come down in a mighty way. Lord, there are some complacent people in our churches. I pray for You to grab ahold of them and make them realize the end is near and they need to get right with You. I pray for the simpleminded, the scorners and the fools to come into relationship with You. Oh how my heart breaks for the ones in difficult situations with family members. Father, be their peace. I pray You will fill my cup to overflowing with more of You. I pray for Your words to be my words and Your actions to be my actions. Holy Spirit reign in me in a mighty way today and every day. Thank You Jesus for being My Confidence. Amen.