“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.” Those are the poignant words of Psalm 62:5-7.
I want to remind you about the very important prayer meeting which will happen tomorrow night at First Baptist Paducah. We’ll meet in the church sanctuary, and we’ll begin promptly at 6:00 p.m. We will join our spiritual forces with those of brothers and sisters in Christ from other local congregations. It will be the joy of our First Family to host this important community event. Please help me spread the word. Everyone is invited.
May God meet with us tomorrow night! May God help us. We desperately need Him to renew our hope and restore our land. We need His forgiveness and His healing. May His Spirit sweep across our church, our community, and our nation – and may He draw many out of spiritual darkness. As we come together to pray here in Paducah, we recognize that our Sovereign God is raising up many similar gatherings across this great nation. As we pray here, may believers everywhere draw close to our Lord Jesus Christ and seek His face like never before!
An ominous national election lies on our immediate horizon. You already know that. When Jimmy Carter was elected President in 1976, Newsweek called it “the year of the evangelical.” Truth is, evangelicals weren’t united then, and we aren’t united now. And, politically speaking, that’s as it should be I suppose. We’re Christians first, after all. The highest flag we fly is the flag of Christ. Our political opinions are never as important as the gospel which makes us family. The trouble is, this year, this election is causing strife within the family – harsh disagreements between and among professing believers, the likes of which I have never before observed.
There may be lots of agreement among most evangelicals surrounding Roe v. Wade and the abortion issue, but on a whole range of other substantive matters there appear to be terrible fissures just below ground level. We need grace. We need faith. We need wisdom. We need Christ! Perhaps the Lord has brought us to this place so that we may find our unity in Him. And in Him alone.
If I may be blunt for a moment, there seems to have settled over the evangelical subculture in general, as well as in many corners of our own local faith community, an overwhelming sense of despondency as November draws near. So perhaps what we most need – right now – is joy.
As we think about humbling ourselves in prayer tomorrow evening, David the psalmist adds one more essential thought (62:8) which ought to be over-the-top encouragement for us: “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us!”
Amen. So let it be. Here. Everywhere. Now. Forever.
Pastor Charles
We are praying with you here in Laguna Hills, CA.
God Revive Us!
Will be praying with your church group as you gather together. Thank you for calling everyone to prayers. Our hope is not in man, but in our Lord. May God revive his church.
When it comes to crucial times like these in America, particularly in regard to ongoing PRAYER in the life of the believer and in the life of the Church, it appears that far too many “professing” Christians and churches are similar to some of the churches in Revelation…many have lost our first love…some have allowed impurity in the body…some are lukewarm…some are dead.
This is often revealed in how difficult it is to gather together a majority of the church’s local body to pray for crucial issues during perilous times.
Such are the times we live in today. Other believers around the world experiencing far more trials and persecutions often spend entire nights in prayer. May your commitment to prayer be an encouraging example to other leaders and followers of Christ in America, expecially in these difficult times.