When Heaven is Silent: The Cry for Repentance and Revival
2 Chronicles 6:26a
When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee…
We pray, “Lord, send the rain!”, but do we pray, “Lord, forgive our sin!”? Could it be that the dryness of our churches is due to the dryness of our tearless eyes, and the hardness of our hearts? We should not think it a strange thing that when the church loses its desire to live holy before God, that God loses His desire to continue to release blessings and favor upon us.
However, the truth of the matter is, we had rather think of any other reason for why it has not rained, besides our own sins being the cause of it. I cannot speak for other countries, but it seems to me that at least the churches in America today are either at a plateau, or more likely in decline in both spiritual and numerical terms. The revival rains of our Lord which once rained upon this great land through the agonizing, repented hearts of His people, are as dry as our once tear-stained altars of prayer.
Yet, there is hope! King Solomon went on to pray that “…if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them; Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.”
Listen, dear church! This passage may have been written to the nation of Israel, but is just as applicable to God’s people, the church, today! 2 Chronicles 7:14 also says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Do not many of our churches lay in a spiritual wasteland, in desperate need of healing today? Do not our songs and our sermons seem all too routine, formal, cold, and dry? Do we not need a fresh wind from The Lord to rekindle the revival fires of our land, and call us back to repentance once again? Can we not use; rather, do we not desperately NEED revival rains to beat vehemently on our messes until we are completely washed and cleansed by the washing of the water of The Word of God?
Then pray, children of God…pray like you’ve never prayed before, in repentance and humility, and God will send the rain!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee…
We pray, “Lord, send the rain!”, but do we pray, “Lord, forgive our sin!”? Could it be that the dryness of our churches is due to the dryness of our tearless eyes, and the hardness of our hearts? We should not think it a strange thing that when the church loses its desire to live holy before God, that God loses His desire to continue to release blessings and favor upon us.
However, the truth of the matter is, we had rather think of any other reason for why it has not rained, besides our own sins being the cause of it. I cannot speak for other countries, but it seems to me that at least the churches in America today are either at a plateau, or more likely in decline in both spiritual and numerical terms. The revival rains of our Lord which once rained upon this great land through the agonizing, repented hearts of His people, are as dry as our once tear-stained altars of prayer.
Yet, there is hope! King Solomon went on to pray that “…if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them; Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.”
Listen, dear church! This passage may have been written to the nation of Israel, but is just as applicable to God’s people, the church, today! 2 Chronicles 7:14 also says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Do not many of our churches lay in a spiritual wasteland, in desperate need of healing today? Do not our songs and our sermons seem all too routine, formal, cold, and dry? Do we not need a fresh wind from The Lord to rekindle the revival fires of our land, and call us back to repentance once again? Can we not use; rather, do we not desperately NEED revival rains to beat vehemently on our messes until we are completely washed and cleansed by the washing of the water of The Word of God?
Then pray, children of God…pray like you’ve never prayed before, in repentance and humility, and God will send the rain!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill