revival... does not happen... without repentance...

A spirit... soul... cannot be revived... refreshed... without a recognition of sin... and a turning from it...

We pray for revival... for churches... friends... family... whether it be a renewed relationship with God the Father through Christ by way of the Spirit... or it be an initiating of the relationship that raises the dead... but sometimes I think we forget... what must come first... repentance...

Repentance... can't happen without sin being revealed... acknowledged... and grieved over...

How often do we pray for revival in the life of a loved one... but as pain and strife enter their lives... we pray for healing... removal of the difficulty... release... escape... when this might be the pain... or difficulty... God has allowed... to get their attention... capture their heart...?

Unfortunately... pain... grief... despair... coming to the end of ourselves in it... is often the sole experience that brings us to our knees...

Some wandered in desert wastelands,

finding no way to a city where they could settle.

They were hungry and thirsty,

and their lives ebbed away.

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

He led them by a straight way

to a city where they could settle.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for men,

for he satisfies the thirsty

and fills the hungry with good things.

Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom

prisoners suffering in iron chains,

for they had rebelled against the words of God

and despised the counsel of the Most High.

So he subjected them to bitter labor;

they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he saved them from their distress.

He brought them out of darkness and deepest gloom

and broke away their chains.

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for men,

for he breaks down gates of bronze

and cuts through bars of iron.

Psalm 107:4-16

(emphasis added)

Perhaps our prayer... for those in pain... should be for them to cry out to the Lord in their trouble... for His purpose in the pain to be realized... for His will to be accomplished... in the unseen realm...

And for those of us struggling... like me over the last week or so... be open... to the Spirit... to counsel... reveal... and be willing... to grieve... turn... and... receive...

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

James 4:7-10

As hard as it is... to endure... or watch others suffer... we need to seek God... in His Sovereignty... ask Him how to pray... ask Him... to help us focus on the eternal... and not just... the needs of the flesh...

For what is seen is temporary,

but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18

Do you know someone who's suffering...? are you...?

How might you pray... in a way... that transforms... hearts... for eternity...? and His glory...?