The other day when I was watching some television program on God TV Network, a dear sister in Christ, an organizer of this Christian channel, started praying to God interceding for the various cities in the America. She was intermittently making prophesies on revival in certain cities of America. All her prayers of intercession did not emanate from a heart of humility, confessing the sins of the people in these cities. She was exhorting the people of God in these cities to take hold of the outstretched hands of Jesus Christ. She was directing the Holy Spirit to bless these people and was telling God, "I am releasing God's anointing and blessings upon these people in the Name of Jesus Christ". While prophesying, she was approaching the Throne of Grace claiming the promises of God. Millions around the world were watching this program. We take it for granted that under the New Covenant we can approach the Throne of Grace in a casual manner without confessing our sins and the sins of the people for whom we are interceding.
When Ezra came to know that the people of Israel had not separated themselves from the people of the lands but had taken of the daughters of these lands for themselves, and for their sons with the result that the holy seed had mingled themselves with the people of these lands. When Ezra heard this thing, he rent his garment and mantle and plucked off the hair of his head of his beard, and sat down astonished. The following is the prayer of intercession made by Ezra:
"Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I say astonied until the evening sacrifice.
And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God,
And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens.
Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the word, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.
And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in His holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage." (Ezra 9:4-8).
In the subsequent verses, Ezra begins confessing to God, "We have forsaken thy commandments" and then tells Him how the people of Israel did evil deeds. He also thanks God for His great mercies reminding Him, "Thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this". In verse 14, Ezra tells God, "Should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations? Wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping"? Let us see how Ezra approaches the Throne of God. He admits that God could have punished the people of Israel according to the magnitude of their trespasses without leaving a remnant. Ezra pleads before God telling Him gently whether He would be angry with them till He had consumed them without leaving a remnant to escape.
Here is the picture of a true intercessor. He had confessed. He had wept. He had cast himself down before the house of God in presence of a very great congregation of men and women and children. Please note that when Ezra humbled himself before God like this in the eyes of the whole congregation, "the people wept very sore" (Ezra 10:1). How many of the people who heard the prayer of intercession made by the woman on the God TV were impelled to weep before God?
Today our land is polluted. The people of God have joined themselves with "strange wives" as had happened during the time of Ezra. Many people of God had divorced their spouses and then remarried during the life time of the spouses divorced by them. Many people of God had allowed their sons and daughters to live with their girl or boy friends as the case may be and to beget children. The other day I came across a report that in America about 37% children are being born out of wedlock. The divorce rate among Christians in America is higher than in the rest of the nation! This happens not only in America and also in the other Christian nations of the west. Everyone is doing what is right in his or her own eyes.
Where are the intercessors that fall upon their faces and spread out their hands unto the Lord our God crying out for His mercies, confessing their sins and the sins of the people of God in the land where they are living? We cannot dictate terms to our God for blessing a generation who have no fear of God and who profane Him. We have no authority to release the Holy Spirit or the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon the stiff-necked people. Who are we to release the Holy Spirit?
Many years ago, I was led by the Holy Spirit to make a model prayer for revival which is given below:
"Oh Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments. We are unworthy to approach Thy Throne of Grace by our own righteousness, except by the Blood of Thy Son Jesus Christ, our Lord. We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away.
We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled against Thee, by departing from Thy commandments. O Lord, our sins and iniquities testify against us. Our iniquities have separated us from Thee, and our sins have hidden Thy face from us.
Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in His ways and to follow His commandment of loving and serving God with our whole heart and with all our soul. Nor have we loved our neighbours as ourselves as we have failed to minister to the strangers, the poor, the orphans and widows. Nor have we loved our brethren in Christ thereby abiding in darkness in that we have failed to minister to the poor saints and to the missionaries in various mission fields. We have gloried in the spiritual gifts given to us by Thee, and have not gloried in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have become arrogant with our eyes being blinded by our self-righteousness.
Because of our backslidings, all the evil has come upon us, Thou hast sent a drought in the place of rain. Our churches have become desolate, and our adversary has trodden down many vineyards. The children of God have gone into captivity before the enemy. O God, we weep, our eyes runneth down with water; we spread forth our hands and there is none to comfort us. We are in distress. The joy of our heart has ceased; our dance is turned into mourning. The crown is fallen from our head; woe unto us, that we have sinned! Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us, consider and behold our reproach. Thou hast afflicted us for the multitude of our transgressions, and Thy judgments are righteous.
O Lord, we have a name that we live but are dead. We have become wretched, and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
Wilt Thou not revive us again that Thy people may rejoice in Thee! O Lord, revive the dry bones and breathe Thy life into us so that we may live again for Thy glory ? Restore Thy Church to its original glory and power. Unless Thou sendest us the latter rain, we will perish in the wilderness; our churches will become extinct; our nation will be lost.
O Lord, we beseech Thee to make bright clouds and send us showers of rain so that our wilderness will turn into a pool of water.
O Lord, we are desperately in need of showers of rain upon our land. Thousands of souls whom we have failed to reach with Thy glorious gospel are descending into the bottomless pit. Unless Thou sendest a revival to our nation, it will go the way of prediction by violence and civil wars as many nations have already plunged into this snare.
O Lord, there are many mountains in our land which we could not reach out with Thy glorious gospel. O Lord, send a revival to the valleys of dry bones in these mountains. Oh that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldest come down, that these mountains might flow down at the Thy presence.
O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years; restore us the years that we lost due to laziness or slumber in evangelism, by way of a Heaven-sent revival. Let our hearts be turned to our fathers on whose blood or sacrifices the Church was founded so that we may follow their footsteps. Let our hearts be turned to our spiritual children in captivity so that we may take care of and deliver them from captivity.
In Jesus' Holy Name, we pray. Amen.
(July 18, 2007)