“Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god” (Psalm 24:3-4).

When my husband and I were preparing for a three month sabbatical in 2015, it was our sense that our most effective years of ministry lay ahead, and we felt compelled by the Holy Spirit to spend some time in rest and play…but also much time in silence and solitude…drawing apart to hear clearly from God without being encumbered by all of our day to day ministry activity.

I never realized how difficult it would be to prepare to disengage and unplug from ministry for a season of rest and seeking the heart of God. As the time drew near for our departure (our first two weeks was spent in Israel), there was a sense of near desperation to “get it all done” and to “get ahead” on all of my deadlines, etc. As this process was taking place, I discovered some serious iDolatry in my life. The iDols are iPhone, iPad, and  iNternet.  I had no idea how addicted I had become to the technology that is so pervasively important to the work I do – writing, posting, communicating, compiling newsletters, blogging, etc. Although I spend much time in prayer and the Word, I believe the usage of “devices” far exceeds the time I spend in heartfelt devotion. And, since I was  committed to the disciplines of silence and solitude during much of our sabbatical time, I was able to see how the enemy can easily distract me and trip me up here!

I was prompted to do a study on idols and idolatry as it would relate to my own lack of proper balance, and what I now know has tempted me to cross the line into sinfulness. I have often trusted in the iDol of technology, which Psalm 24 warns about. It has quite literally become a false god in my life. 1 Samuel 12:21 says, “Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless.”

And I want to scream out – “But they aren’t useless – they are very useful to me!” And so, as I read “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols” (Isaiah 42:8), I must wrestle with this! Technology is surely an iDol the enemy of my soul has used…surreptitiously invading my day to day living, and covertly inserting a cancerous addiction to challenge my journey towards Christlikeness.

Certainly I use my phone, iPad and computer for God’s purposes, but I also waste a lot of time uselessly becoming distracted by all of the amazing things the internet has to offer me. Where is the balance that will help me to step back over the line I have crossed and put technology back into proper perspective? How am I to “…flee from idolatry” as Paul admonishes and to keep myself form idols, as John warns?  I certainly don’t want to “cling to worthless idols,” forfeiting the grace that could be mine (Jonah 2:8).

As I prayed about this issue in my life, the prophet Jeremiah brought perspective: “Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, Lord our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this” (Jeremiah 14:22).

This verse makes me evaluate: Am I putting my hope in technology – giving it too much of my discretionary time…looking at my email during meals with my family, asking Siri endless questions about this or that, pinning and Facebooking things that are not ministry related, etc.? There must be a balance. As I unplug from it all during the sabbatical (I’ve already reduced my daily emails substantially by simply unsubscribing from MANY things I never have time to read and just spend time deleting everyday), it feels good – freeing! I actually am beginning to feel the weight lifting as I intentionally leave my phone turned off more, and am not checking Facebook “one more time” before going to sleep, etc. This allows my first and last thoughts of the day (as well as most of the time in between) to be tuned in to the voice of my Lord rather than to be turned aside by lesser things.

My prayer is that by unplugging from technology from time to time, my heart will be pure and my hands clean so that I may give myself to standing in the Father’s holy place, fully committed to Him alone!

2 Thessalonians has become one of my favorite books of the Bible. It is filled with blessings to pray for and over others! What I love about these verses is how simple it is to adapt each prayer for believers wherever they may be and whatever circumstance in which they find themselves. It is easy to change pronouns or put in the names of the person/persons you wish to pray for as you bring them to the throne of God with His kingdom purposes for them in your heart and upon your lips:

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12: “…we pray for you always that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power in order that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Example: “Bill, I pray that our God may count you worthy of your calling…etc.”

2 Thessalonians 2:13-14: “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. And it was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Example: Tina, I always give thanks to God for you, as a sister beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you…etc.”

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17: “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.”  Example: “Joe, may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us…etc.”

2 Thessalonians 3:5: “And may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ”  Example: “Sarah, may the Lord direct your heart into the love of God…etc.”

2 Thessalonians 3:16: “Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!”  Example: “Don, may the Lord of peace Himself…etc.”

I can’t think of one of these prayers I would not want someone to pray over my life. Blessing people in prayer is a powerful way to reassure, inspire or support other believers. These prayers can also become part of your personal prayer time, praying over individuals, couples, families, your church, the churches in your community, government officials…well, you likely get the idea! Example: “Father, I lift my pastor, Tom, up to You! May You count him worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power in order that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in and through his life…etc.”

Perhaps you could look over these Scriptures and ask God to assign each one to someone you know: family members, pastors, missionaries, people you work with, friends, etc. If you can’t personally seek them out to pray over them, call or email these prayers of blessing to them. Who knows how much encouragement each one of us could give to the body of Christ today if we all take this challenge! If just ten of us do this, fifty people will receive power, peace and/or purpose from God’s Spirit. I’ll go first!

As I watch the news and see our nation erupting in pain, suffering and violence, my heart is grieved and my spirit aches for God to pour out revival in our midst – that there might be a great move of His Spirit, a re-establishment, restoration and renewal of the family…and hearts that are turned to Jesus resulting in Christlike obedience and behavior. Yet, without repentance on the part of God’s people, passionately and humbly crying out for forgiveness and reverencing the Name above all names, God is not compelled to respond with healing in our increasingly broken land.
Why is the Church so impotent in this crucial hour? Why are we complacent and inactive? Why are we turning our heads away from the ugly realities of our culture, wringing our hands in despair and worrying? Why are we hiding our lights under bushels rather than living out the life of Christ in us – the hope of glory?

I’ve been reading Wesley Duewel’s classic, Revival Fire again! It stirs my soul and makes me long for God to move in extraordinary ways to awaken His slumbering people! Duewel states, “God is infinitely original in His working…God’s mighty work of salvation has transformed the most hopeless situations and the most spiritually damaged people. The more widespread any revival movement becomes, the more transforming are the moral effects in the areas where God’s holy fire has burned.” How I long to see our nation burn with the fire of God instead of the fire of hatred and unrest and pain!

Greg Frizzell, author and proponent of city-wide united prayer movements has shared that two important principles are needed for God to move in the midst of His people in revival. First, he says, “Genuine revival is closely related to a dramatic increase in both the amount and intensity of Spirit-anointed prayer among God’s people.” Second, “Revival comes when God’s people have an ‘increased sorrow over sin’ and a ‘desperate hunger’ for a transforming ‘new relationship’ with God.”

As we pray, God will reveal sinfulness that requires heartfelt repentance. Yet, God’s people do not know how to pray, and generally balk at anything that looks like corporate prayer. Personal revival can certainly come; however, for lasting, sustainable moves of God to take place in the midst of God’s people, we must come together – as families, as the local church, and in communities – crying out for God to restore us to right relationship with Him. 2 Chronicles 7:14 promises that God will hear and answer and heal our land! How can we not take Him up on this amazing guarantee of His presence in our midst?

I have great hope that as God’s people cry out to Him day and night, repenting of our sins and seeking His face for righteousness to be restored to our lives, our families, our churches, and our nation…God will hear and bring the healing we so desperately need.

Ten Specific Prayers for Revival and Spiritual Awakening

Taken from: A Powerful Prayer Life by Gregory Frizzell

1. Ask God to bring deep conviction of sin, spiritual brokenness, a holy fear of God and genuine repentance among His people. There will be no revival without these elements and only God can produce them in His people. After all we cannot program or work up genuine brokenness and repentance. (2 Corinthians 7:10)

2.Pray for deep cleansing, genuine repentance, and spiritual power to engulf pastors and Christian leaders. Revival and spiritual awakening are extremely unlikely without a mighty move of God in pastors and Christian leaders. Renewed pastors are absolutely crucial to a move of God in our day! (Ephesians 6:14-20)

3.Pray for God to bestow spiritual hunger in His people and draw them to fervent intercession. God has to grant people the genuine faith and the fervent desire for prayer. With all our promotion and programming, we cannot “produce a genuine prayer movement. (Philippians 2:13)

4.Pray that God will bring loving unity in our churches and a deep harmony between our churches. Many churches need healing among members and many churches need to stop competing jealously with other churches. (John 13:35)

5.Pray for God to fill His people with a passion to see people saved. (Only God can give a genuine burden for souls.) Until God’s people intensely pray for the lost and do aggressive soul winning revival will tarry. Be sure you are constantly praying for many lost people by name. (Romans 9:1-3)

6.Pray for God to give His people a passion for missions and starting churches. Great revivals produce an explosion of mission projects, new ministries and new church starts. Only God can grant a genuine passion for missions. (Matthew 28:19)

7.Pray that God will call thousands into ministry, missions and Christian service. Many churches are dying for lack of soul winners, teachers and church workers. Furthermore, we can start only as many churches as we have church planters to start them. (Matthew 9:37)

8.Pray that God will pour out His Spirit like a mighty purifying flood. Ask God to purify our “motives as we pray for revival. After all it is possible to pray for revival for selfish or ambitious reasons. Our motives must be solely for: (a) the glory of God, and (b) the increase of the kingdom of God. We must not prayfor revival just to solve our own problems or make our church successful in the eyes of men. (James 4:2)

9. Pray for a mighty move of conviction and salvation upon communities of cultural influence. Some key examples are Hollywood actors and producers, government officials, educators, teachers, and college professors, news and media people, talk shows hosts, comedians, homosexual activists groups, and the music industry. (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Provide specific lists for your congregation.

10.Specifically pray for God to pour out His Spirit in a fashion even greater than He did in America in 1858 and Wales in 1904. (Ten percent of Wales’ population was saved in five months!) Ask God for a modern day of Pentecost in the United States and Canada. (Mark 11:22-24; John 14:13-14.)

I was recently recalling an occasion in my life when I spent a lot of time and effort trying to fix a situation in my own strength. The outcome, as you can probably imagine, was a disaster. My ideas, my wisdom, my experience and my advice were so filled with my own fleshly desire to see quick resolution of conflict and peace prevail that, to my shame, I neglected the Kingdom purposes of God…and indeed, God Himself. Dallas Willard has stated in his book Hearing God: “There is no avoiding the fact that we live at the mercy of our ideas. This is never more true than with our ideas about God. Meaning well is not enough. Those who operate on the wrong information are likely never to know the reality of God’s presence in the decisions which shape their lives and will miss the constant divine companionship for which their souls were made.” 

These words brought up the memory above, and, although I made a mess of things with my efforts alone, I am more than thankful that God has forgiven my lack of pressing into Him for His counsel, peace and purposes for the situation I was attempting to fix. There have been not so nice consequences for my lack of listening to the voice of God, but over time, He has worked to bring healing and restoration into the situation.

Pondering all of this, I have to ask the question, “How can I resist the urge to live at the mercy of my own good ideas…about situations, people and even God?” We are responsible to handle the word of God with accuracy: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). If we can hear through the Spirit the accurate way to move forward, or to even stay out of the way in places where the wisdom of God is clearly needed, it seems much conflict and stress could be avoided or diffused in Christlike ways.

In seeking the Father for answers, there came some clarity. When I am tempted to insert my will and desires into the life of another person or into a situation:

• I should first prayerfully submit my will and my desires to God. As Jesus modeled, I must only say or do what I hear God telling me to say or do. His silence should always compel me to also be silent and/or to refrain from acting.

• I should ask: Father, where are You working in the midst of this person’s life/this situation to gain His insight and perspective.

• I should pray for His presence and power to be inserted into the life/situation so that He will receive honor and glory in the midst of whatever result occurs.

Now, Father, give me the strength to follow the steps You have given me so that I will press into Your presence as Your Son, Jesus Christ, always did! May I never throw myself headlong into a situation where You belong and I do not. Give me the fruit of self-control to subdue my desires to fix people and situations, allowing You to move in power and enabling Your glory to be seen. Help me, in my everyday life, to seek first the “divine companionship for which my soul was made.” It is only then that I will live and move and have my being (Acts 17:28) in You alone.

Over the past several months, I have found myself longing for more opportunities for solitude…for time with God that for this season of my life seemingly can only be found in the peaceful, set apart spaces. More than a quiet time, more than sitting alone in silence for a few minutes of the day…I need to make room for unhurried stillness so I can just be…and so I can hear God’s voice with greater clarity.

I have taken a couple of retreats that involved complete solitude for long stretches…even several days…and I struggled. I am a people person…my thoughts go wild even when I intentionally purpose to take each one captive! What, I wondered, unnerves me so much about leaving the familiarity of people, my busy life and technology to fix my full attention upon God?

But then I read a passage from a compilation of Henri Nouwen’s prayerful life, The Only Necessary Thing, which has transformed my hesitancy into an urgent expectancy:

“Although the discipline of solitude asks us to set aside time and space, what finally matters is that our hearts become like quiet cells where God can dwell, wherever we go and whatever we do. The more we train ourselves to spend time with God and God alone, the more we will discover that God is with us at all times and in all places. Then we will be able to recognize God even in the midst of a busy and active life. Once the solitude of time and space has become a solitude of the heart, we will never have to leave that solitude. We will be able to live the spiritual life in any place and any time. Thus the discipline of solitude enables us to live active lives in the world, while remaining always in the presence of the living God.”

What first gripped me was the imagery of my heart becoming like a quiet cell (I imagined one that I was housed in at a retreat center a few years ago) where God can dwell. I began to ask the question, “What could I learn about myself through the discipline of solitude that would inform my everyday life in the way Nouwen describes?” My prayer is that solitude becomes a hospitable place in which to posture my heart before Jesus. I want to journey into the discipline of solitude and what God might be pleased to teach me there. Currently, this is an expression of desire only as I seek God’s face for the way forward.

Father, allow my heart to become a quiet cell where You are welcome to dwell. Transform my everyday life so that I may always remain in Your presence, no matter what is going on around me or within me.