Steps to Revival (part I)
I Am Proud of My Humility
2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will 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.
Joseph Parker, pastor of London’s City Temple in a previous century, once stated: The man whose little message is ‘Repent!’ had best pledge his head toward heaven. Repentance cost John the Baptist his ministry, his reputation, and his head. The message of repentance insured that Jesus would be received with studied coolness by the religious authorities of His day. The message to repent was not one which religious leaders warmly embraced when Peter and the other Apostles preached it in Jerusalem. Arguably, the greatest preacher to minister among Christian and Missionary Alliance churches was A. W. Tozer. His message was Repent. By the end of his life, he was banned from virtually every major conference in North America because the message was odious to religious leaders. Repentance is perhaps the hardest message to deliver in this day—and it is perhaps the most needed message of this day.
On one occasion, I preached in a chapel service at the First Baptist Church of Oak Cliff in Dallas, Texas, a large church of several thousand members. At the conclusion of the service I was confronted by a friend who ministered in that church. “Mike,” he solemnly intoned, “it was a great sermon, and we need to hear the message; but we don’t want that message. You’ll never be invited back to speak in this church.” The message which invited such stern rebuke was the message that the lack of vigorous advance bears testimony to the fact that as a people of God we are in need of repentance.
What was true for that Dallas church and for the churches of the Southern United States holds equally true for the churches of Canada and more specifically for our church. Though concerned for the spiritual health of evangelical churches in our nation, in our province and in this region, I am particularly concerned for the spiritual health of this congregation. So long as God gives me opportunity to address this community of faith I am obligated to call for repentance and to seek the spiritual welfare of this church.
I am not greatly exercised over the lack of perspicuity or the absence of spiritual sensitivity among the liberal churches—they departed the Faith long ago and have scant prospects for revival. Let the United Church follow its sordid path. We welcome those few vibrant fellow believers who yet provide a dim light within those darkened environs. Let the Anglican Church continued its downward plunge toward the divine judgement. We yet rejoice with those few fellow saints who courageously maintain a witness even within the stench arising from the garbage heap of darkened liberal theology which today defines that religious society. However, I am greatly concerned that the evangelical churches, and especially those churches which claim to hold Baptist convictions, continue to honour God through seeking out the place where He works and endeavouring to there work together with Him. I am greatly concerned that the churches with a reputation of being alive should reveal that life which is found in Christ alone.
In that vein I propose, by the grace of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, to invest time during the coming several weeks laying a foundation for revival in our day. Though I dare not perhaps expect to be the means by which revival comes to the whole of the Christian community of our city, I pray that we, through understanding the will of God and through uniting to insure that that will is carried out, will become a catalyst for revival. Though others may elect to continue for a time in sullen refusal to seek revival, may God give you and me grace to experience a fresh filling of His Spirit.
The Premise from Which God Speaks — I am well aware of the context in which this best known of all biblical promises is given. There are those scholars which say, with some justification, that this promise does not apply to us in this age of grace. The promise was given to Solomon in response to His prayer at the dedication of the Temple he had built. It is predicated upon a relationship which is utterly foreign to us in this day. No nation in the whole of history, save ancient Israel, can claim that every victory was the result of obedience to God and that every defeat was the result of disobedience to God. There is a sense in which this promise specifically has no application to us or to our day.
There is yet another, more general sense, in which the promise ever applies to any and to all who are called by the Name of the Living God. Whenever a people turn from God, they may anticipate that they surrender any claim to intimacy with Him through their rebellion. We anticipate blessing in proportion to the degree of righteousness. Should we not likewise anticipate the forfeiture of blessing in proportion to spiritual frowardness? I have no difficulty in appropriating this promise to the churches of our Lord, though I am cautious in daring to think that it has application in a national sense.
Solomon had prayed for God to fulfil the promise made to Israel through Moses. In his closing words to the people he had shepherded for forty years, Moses again informed Israel of God’s promises. In Deuteronomy 28:1-14 the blessings which applied under the Old Covenant are spelled out in detail: exaltation above other nations; deliverance from enemies; agricultural bounty; children; freedom from national debt and want. However, should the nation prove disobedient, God would curse them severely [Deuteronomy 28:15-68]. It was these horrendous curses which prompted Solomon to pray, imploring God to remember His promise to bless should the people, having been judged, repent and turn again to obedience to God and His covenant. Solomon’s prayer, and more particularly his specific requests of God, is recorded in 2 Chronicles 6:14-42.
I want you to take special note of an important factor frequently overlooked in reading this portion of the Word—God answered thirteen years after Solomon prayed. While I agree that it is important to bear in mind that God did answer His prayer, there is encouragement in the knowledge that God need not immediately answer my prayer nor give me assurance that He shall answer to make His grace certain and to assure an answer. It was when Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace that the LORD appeared to him at night [2 Chronicles 7:11]. Though not immediately germane to the message this day, this is more important than any of us dare imagine. When you pray and do not receive an answer immediately, do not despair, God hears and He will answer according to His will and in His time. Persist in prayer, saints of God.
However, this particular prayer anticipates repentance, anticipates a time when God has delivered His people over to the consequences of their own folly, and they, humbled and in straitened circumstances resulting from their foolish choices, again turn to Him for mercy. Chastened, they are brought to the point of deepest humility as they are forced to confess their lack of strength and inability to accomplish any great deed outside the power of God. In order to see this clearly, consider the promise in its context.
When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will 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 [2 Chronicles 7:13, 14].
God speaks of the heavens being shut up so that no rain falls; He speaks of locusts devouring the land and of a plague among the people. All these events are by His design. Our concept of God’s intervention in the world frequently betrays a sort of spiritual schizophrenia. On the one hand, we harbour the hope that God will only do good. The further we stray from God the more we seem to consider Him incapable of judging at all. You may recall the divine confrontation of such errant thinking in Zephaniah 1:12:
At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps
and punish those who are complacent,
who are like wine left on its dregs,
who think, The LORD will do nothing,
either good or bad.
Having strayed from God, we, too, shut knowledge of Him from our minds, perhaps because the thought of divine confrontation is too painful for us and because we stubbornly refuse to release our clinging grasp of that which is evil. However, even as we witness the tendency to reduce God to an absent landlord at best and a nonentity at worst, we speak of acts of God every time we see the power of nature unleashed. Earthquakes, cyclones, droughts, floods—all alike are classed as acts of God.
I believe we can safely conclude that God is not only capable of judging the world but that He does intervene to call mankind to account from time-to-time, even calling nations to account—nations which overwhelmingly reject knowledge of His mercy. However, today I am less concerned with nations than with congregations, and in particular I am concerned with this congregation. I fear that God does judge His people and that even in this day and even in our midst, we may yet see the judgement of God.
In the verse immediately preceding the text before us, God speaks of shutting off the rain, of sending locusts to devour the land and of plague. I look about us at the broader community of faith and I am certain that I can see withdrawal of blessing and delivery of peoples over to judgement. I look more particularly at us as a congregation and I wonder whether I see the judgement of God. It is only the dullness of our hearts which keeps us from recognition of the withdrawal of His blessing. It is only because we are consumed with promoting our own individual interests that we only dully sense the loss of rich blessing. It is only because we are out of touch with Heaven that we have no sense of spiritual loss.
Has our life as a church—has our life as individuals—grown dry and dusty with no blessing of God poured out on us? Where God blesses, the people are as a well watered plain. How precious is the promise of God through Isaiah:
This is what the LORD says—
he who made you, who formed you in the womb,
and who will help you:
Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant,
Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
They will spring up like grass in a meadow,
like poplar trees by flowing streams.
[Isaiah 44:2-4]
Do you not long for fullness of life only to witness locusts devour your blessings? I speak of the locusts which steal joy and rob us of peace. I speak of those locusts which are so abundantly prevalent in this vapour we call life. Our joy which should arise from knowing the Creator is eaten by the locust of scientific thought until we dare not speak of the Name of the Most High God. We are silent, fearing that some may ridicule our faith. We are devoured by the locust of tolerance so that we dare not speak aloud in condemnation of sin. We are consumed by the locust called popularity until we dare not be different, and thus refuse to stand against evil. The locust ambition and the locust power cow us into silence when inwardly we know we should remind our colleagues that there is so much more to life than the transient gauze surrounding us.
Plague after plague sweeps across the face of land leaving death and destruction in their train. Sodomites exalt their wickedness and good people remain silent lest they be thought extreme. Immoral people dare conscientious believers to speak a word against their wicked practises. Hearts rendered insensitive to righteousness are too often seen among the inhabitants of this world and the sensitive soul sees the sorrow left in the wake of such evil. Because of a continuing clamour for law and order, there is more law and less order than ever before. Our courts ban the reading of the Word of God publicly, ridicule righteousness and marvel that our youth have no respect for good. We must not appear to condone public prayer or the practise of good and then we wonder why it is so difficult to find an authority figure who does right because it is right!
There was a day when government leaders and other public figures made decisions based upon whether an action was right and good. Today, it is only the threat of law which insures that our leaders do right—and that is often insufficient. Even the police who are charged with maintaining the right are seen too frequently as willing to act in a questionable manner. Language betrays widespread disrespect for God, for good and for authority. All the while we wonder what has gone wrong with society. Is there not a plague of evil? Are we not suffering horribly because of the plague of wickedness?
I need not point to the erosion of our purchasing power—the fact that we work longer to obtain less. I need not point to the growing chasm dividing rich from poor. I need not point to the multiplied instances of natural disaster, the floods and loss of crops and changing weather patterns which leave us with less than we anticipated. I need but point to the loss of blessing which leaves us spiritually dry, the loss of rich presence which speaks of devoured blessing, and the growth of wickedness despite our wishes as evidence that God is far from us and we are in need of revival.
The Provisions For Fulfilment of God’s Promise— If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways… It does not require great spiritual insight to realise that we are now under God’s judgement. It does not require diligent thought to recognise the withdrawal of His blessing. Canada enjoyed God’s rich blessings in days gone by; and those blessings were the result of a people willing to look to God in belief that He showers His blessings on those who seek His face. Today, Canada is losing international stature, losing moral suasion in her dealings with other nations, losing her place among the leading nations of the world; in no small measure this is because the people of God have grown quiescent and ceased to evangelise and ceased to honour God through putting Him first.
If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways… I do not appeal to the pagans of this nation—the unbelievers who while enjoying the benefits of God’s grace know nothing of the God of grace. I appeal to you—a people called by the Name of the True and Living God. It is His holy people whom He addresses, and He calls those people to humble themselves before Him, to pray, to seek His face, to turn from their wicked ways. In coming messages, I propose to explore this call at greater length, but it is mandatory that we review the provisions briefly at this time.
I stress again that God addresses His people—those called by His name. Among us at any service are no doubt representatives of those who know about God but who do not know Him. A religious individual is not necessarily a saved person. Accordingly, I call men and women to faith in Christ the Lord in each service and at every opportunity. The people of God are a subset of the set of the churches. Within the professing church is the true church, and it is that true community of faith, the people of God, whom our God here addresses.
When God calls His people to humble themselves, what shall we make of it? May I make His call simple by reminding you that we each tend to exalt ourselves in our own eyes and we even attempt to exalt ourselves before God. We are not servants! We are the served! We shall not surrender our rights! We shall demand our rights! You will perhaps recall that the Master spoke to this selfsame issue immediately prior to His exodus from this earth. A dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves” [Luke 22:24-27].
You will no doubt recall the time Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. When He had finished this demeaning task, He instructed them more fully in the Kingdom of Heaven. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me `Teacher' and `Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” [John 13:12-17]. Do you wish to be great in the kingdom of heaven? Serve your fellow saints in holy humility. Service to God without thought of reward is evidence of spiritual prescience. Give your service, your very life, without thought of using the gift of your life as a means to manipulate another or to control the actions of another.
There is another aspect to this business of humility which must be addressed—and that is the matter of humility before God. If we will receive the blessings we need and for which we inwardly long, we must surrender every claim to position and power. We must appear before God without any claim other than the plea of a beggar asking mercy of Him who alone can grant such mercy.
How is it that we once came before the Lord seeking salvation as mendicants, yet we now refuse to seek His mercy when we need it most? Crying out as did the tax collector, God, have mercy on me, a sinner [Luke 18:13], we begged for mercy then. Now we bargain with God and endeavour to coerce Him to do our will. Have we not yet learned? What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”
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 4:1-10]
When did we last pray? I know we say prayers, but when did we last pray? When did we last wait in the presence of God until we knew that He heard us and until we knew the presence of His Spirit assisting us in our weakness? As a congregation, we have but scant time for united prayer. I know that our spiritual forebears had prayer meetings and that we consider such activities quaint in our busy day; but they did accomplish great things for God and we seem unable to accomplish much of anything.
Modern Christians plan an occasional noisy march through the city and claim that the Spirit of God is present because a large number of the saints danced, marched, sang and waved banners; but we really cannot point to any tangible evidence of His presence. There is little change of behaviour or increase in spiritual desires as result of our efforts. We can get a crowd together under one pretext or another, but for all the camaraderie and the warm fuzzies we claim, we don’t see much of substance resulting from our efforts. Contemporary saints are great for planning, but there isn’t a great deal of evidence that the Spirit of God is at work among us. I am all for planning, but we have about planned Him out of our lives. Isn’t it about time that we again prayed?
I long to see a group of men and women spontaneously gather to seek the face of the Living God. I know that we can organise a few people for a brief prayer session and I know that we can obtain agreement that we need such sessions of prayer, but I long to see among us one spontaneous demonstration of the acknowledged need for prayer. I am not offering condemnation; I am simply making a statement of fact. We rush into our various meetings with a hurried prayer intoned by the moderator, rush through our worship services with a brief acknowledgement of our need for God’s guidance, but when did we last wait as a congregation before the Lord with the entire Body entering into prayer? If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray…
Humility before the Great God and prayer lead inevitably to seeking the face of God. Years ago I was but a young Christian and didn’t realise that God was not to touch my emotions. I would visit door-to-door in the West Oak Cliff section of Dallas with a young man named Don Beasley. Don and I won a few souls to the Lord and together we fought a fair number of spiritual battles. It was the prayers we two young Christians shared, however, which have found a place of permanent residence in the treasure chest of my memories.
No one told us we weren’t supposed to take time to wait on the Lord, and so after our evening visits we would sit in my sixty-seven Chevy Impala and bowing our heads we would wait on the Lord until we knew God was with us. We would wait silently, minutes passing before a word was spoken. The time which at first hung heavy seemed suddenly to fly. A sob would escape my lips or Don would sigh deeply, but the thing which has remained after the years have fled is the memory of the presence of God.
Those were sacred times and I almost dare not speak of them. I felt that should I open my eyes I would see the Risen Son of God seated with us. His presence with us was so real that we were overwhelmed with a sense of fear and awe. I make no claim to having seen the Risen Christ as did John on the Isle of Patmos, but I understand the meaning of His words in the beginning of that book. I think now of those times of prayer and the sense of holy fear and the longing for that presence seizes me again. I know what John meant when he said, I fell at his feet as though dead [Revelation 1:17].
You may say, “I never had such a sense of God’s presence.” Don’t you wish you did? Don’t you wish you knew what it was to be in the presence of God? Isn’t it about time that together we again sought the face of God? Isn’t it about time that as a congregation we set our hearts to seek out the presence of God? Isn’t it about time that as a people of God we determined that we would discover where He was at work and there we worked together with Him? Isn’t it about time?
I am compelled to speak with boldness born out of the confrontation of the Word to urge us as a people to turn from our wicked ways. When a people spend more time reading the daily newspaper than reading the Word, that people need to confess their sin and turn from their wicked ways. When a people invest more time in watching television and absorbing the ungodly attitudes of the ungodly people who write the ungodly shows presented as entertainment than they do in seeking the face of the Lord, that people need to repent and to turn from their wicked ways. When a people spend more money on cosmetics and scents than they spend on advance of the Faith, that people are far from the Living God and are in need of turning from their wicked ways. When a people know which players were traded to which sports team but know nothing of who has been converted to Christ, we have much wickedness from which we need to turn.
It would be an easy task for me to speak of the sin of the United Church and of the open flaunting of righteousness which seems to occur within that communion. Clearly, they no longer deserve to be called a church since they are at best a religious organisation. It would be a small matter for me to castigate the Anglicans and the casual manner in which so many within that communion dismiss the power of the Word of God. Their Canadian leaders long ago deserted the Faith of their forefathers. I could easily speak of the various cults and sects which distort the Word of God. It is we, however, a people called by the Name of Christ, who are confronted in these verses with our wicked ways. Need I become specific? Are we not aware of our own sin?
I have always held that our proximity to God would be revealed by His blessings on the land, for it is the people of God who stay His hand of judgement. When judgement comes to a land it is because there are none left to stand in the gap. Shackled by our sin and silenced by our unwillingness to forsake our own wicked ways, we watch the destruction of our own people and never say a mumbling word.
The Promise of God — Then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. This is the promise which drives conscientious saints of God to pray. God has pledged by His holy Name to hear from heaven, to forgive our sin, to heal the land. I keep a prayer book among the books of my library. Reviewing that book I discover listed therein a number of prayers graciously answered. To my shame, I note that the list of prayers offered during this past year is abbreviated—far too short. Perhaps God quit hearing prayers, or perhaps God was occupied with other matters. No! I note that when I prayed He answered graciously and in power. What great victories were won as result of prayer! What great riches were forfeited when I failed to pray more frequently and with faith that He would graciously permit me to enter into His victories.
God still hears and answers our prayers. Jeremiah 33:3 has never been repealed. Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. How great are your prayers? Were God to answer every petition you offered up this week past, could you enumerate them? Would you recognise them as answered prayer were they to be granted? If your prayers were listed together with your name on a great board at the front of the auditorium, would you rejoice for your fellow worshippers to know that you thought such great thoughts and sought such great acts from the Living God? Or would you be ashamed because of the poverty and the paucity of your requests?
If, as I earlier suggested, our lives are desiccated, dehydrated and dry, exposing the lack of blessing in our lives and revealing the arid, parched conditions with which we are content to live, if our lives have been wasted and ruined by the locusts of wickedness, and if our land is blighted and blasted by the plague of sin until even our families are affected, should we not pray great prayers worthy of a great God? Should we not pray that God would forgive our sin of prayerlessness? Should we not pray that God would forgive our sin of pride? Perhaps we need to pray that God will forgive our sin of playing church while the world about us goes to hell? Should we not pray, confessing our sinful condition and seeking forgiveness? Our God is a gracious and merciful God who gives life and restores the weary soul when that one seeks Him. Should we not consider that it is high time to pray, asking that God will restore the land, delivering our homes and delivering us? I say that it is time to pray.
I daresay there are few among us who have witnessed the truly awesome power of God when He intervenes in human history. We know something of His might to save if we ourselves are saved. We are convinced that He can redeem the lost, though we are not much exercised over their condition. Though God works to this day, for the most part we are insensible to His working and we are content to pretend that He is silent. When God intervenes there is no question but that He is present. In revival, there is no need to advertise His presence—it becomes evident to any individual passing by. When the Spirit comes with power we need not attempt to work up an emotional response in preparation for the service—it will be spontaneous. It is this absence of His holy presence which grieves me now, for I long for each of you to experience God—but He shall not come until we humble ourselves and pray and seek His face.
I hear the report of God now and then. I heard of His presence in Saskatchewan in the sixties as revival broke out, the people rejoicing in Him and in His power. I heard of His mighty moving in Indonesia in the late sixties as His presence was revealed with power. I heard of the revelation of His glory at Asbury in the seventies, how the students were awe-struck by His presence. I hear of His moving among churches and schools throughout the southern United States in the nineties, a movement which began at the Criswell College in Dallas, Texas. Hearing of His powerful presence among parched saints I am compelled to cry out, “O, Lord, why not here? Why not today?”
I witnessed the power of God in revival on one occasion. Lynda and I witnessed an unusual revelation of power as God worked wonderfully among a people in a most unlikely place. Some years later I sat in the office of W. A. Criswell, my pastor at that time, and related to him that work of God which we had witnessed. We saw prostitutes saved, and with pure hearts and clean hands they gathered children into Bible classes to hear the message of grace and life. We witnessed the mentally incapable powerfully bringing many to life through their witness. We rejoiced in powerful victories over sin in the same city where Jim Jones worked his hideous evil. I told all this to Dr. Criswell.
That great man stepped from behind his desk, walked across the floor of his office to where I was seated, and kneeling before me he said, “I’ve longed for this for thirty-four years in this place. I have preached—seeking just that blessing here—and you tell me you found it in another city. Dr. Stark, kneel with me and pray for me—now. Pray that I will see God move in that way here.” And laying my hands on that great man, I prayed for him to know the rich blessing of God. I long for that blessing for us!
Here is the secret to this blessing: If my people, who are called by my name, will 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. I invite you to join me in applying this promise to our lives. Recognising that we are God’s holy people, let us humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways that He might hear from heaven, forgive our sin and heal our land.
Start here: if you have never confessed Him as Lord and Saviour, come today to take the pastor’s hand, saying, “Pastor, here I am—I take my stand for Christ. Today I confess Him as my Lord and Saviour.” If you call Him Lord, then you come, saying, “Pastor, here I come to obey Christ by identifying through believer’s baptism.” If you are not yet a member of a fellowship of believers, or if you are seeking a church to call home, come, the door to this congregation is now open. Come, taking the pastor’s hand say, “Pastor, here I am. Together with the people of God I am taking my stand as a member of His church.” Now is the time to begin to do right and to honour God.
Among us are Christians, baptised and faithful in service to Christ and His church in one capacity or another, perhaps even members of this congregation, and you know that the words of the text speak to you in some special manner. Today is the day to set matters right between you and God. Today is the day to come, kneeling at the altar to simply pray, telling your Father that you are sick of your ways. Though others may minimise your actions, in your heart you see your life as God does and you know your actions are displeasing to Him. Come, forsaking your wicked ways.
Other some among us know that it has been a long time since they have known the presence of God and it is time to seek His face. Today, come to the altar of God and there pray, telling Him that you long for intimacy with Him again. Yet others, if you will be honest, suffer from blighted and blasted lives because there is no prayer. Today, come and at an old fashioned altar begin the practise of prayer once again. There are among us even those who must know that pride has distanced them from the Father. Come, even as we sing and surrender your pride on an old fashioned altar that God may once more bless and enrich your life and through you bless His people one more time. Come now and angels attend you in the way as you come on the first note of the first stanza of our hymn of appeal and dedication. Amen.