The Ministry of Intercession: A Plea for More PrayerMurray, Andrew
Religion
The Ministry of Intercession: A Plea for More Prayer
Murray, Andrew
Intercessory prayer -- Christianity
4. "_Revive Thy work, O Lord!_"--There is a last thought, suggested by
the text from Hosea. It is as we return to _the Lord_ that revival will
come; for if we had not wandered from Him, His life would be among us in
power. "Come and let us return to the Lord: for He hath torn, He will
heal us: He hath smitten; He will bind us up: _He will revive us_, and
we shall live in His sight." As we have said, there can be no return to
the Lord, where there is no sense or confession of wandering. _Let us
return to the Lord_ must be the keynote of the revival. Let us return,
acknowledging and forsaking whatever there has been in the Church that
is not entirely according to His mind and spirit. Let us return,
yielding up and casting out whatever there has been in our religion or
along with it of the power of God's two great enemies--confidence in the
flesh or the spirit of the world. Let us return, in the acknowledgment
of how undividedly God must have us, to fill us with His Spirit, and use
us for the kingdom of His Son. Oh, let us return, in the surrender of a
dependence and a devotion which has no measure but the absolute claim of
Him who is the Lord! Let us return to the Lord with our whole heart,
that He may make and keep us wholly His. He will revive us, and we shall
live in His sight. Let us turn to the God of Pentecost, as Christ led
his disciples to turn to Him, and the God of Pentecost will turn to us.
It is for this returning to the Lord that the great work of intercession
is needed. It is here the coming revival must find its strength. Let us
begin as individuals in secret to plead with God, confessing whatever we
see of sin or hindrance, in ourselves or others. If there were not one
other sin, surely in the lack of prayer there is matter enough for
repentance and confession and returning to the Lord. Let us seek to
foster the spirit of confession and supplication and intercession in
those around us. Let us help to encourage and to train those who think
themselves too feeble. Let us lift up our voice to proclaim the great
truths. The revival must come from above; the revival must be received
in faith from above and brought down by prayer; the revival comes to the
humble and contrite, for them to carry to others; if we return to the
Lord with our whole heart, He will revive us. On those who see these
truths, rests the solemn responsibility of giving themselves up to
witness for them and to act them out.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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