21 Days of Prayer -Day 19 -Thursday- August 24, 2023-- Prayer Focus - REPENTANCE
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT)
14 Then 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 will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
This is a great reminder toward the end of week 3, the role that repentance plays in revival. So this is not the end of something, but actually the beginning of something.
Psalm 24:3-4 (NLT)
Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?
4 Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies.
All of our sins are paid for, past, present and future. There are still things that try to hinder us and keep us at the foot of the mountain.
Enjoy what you experience with Jesus -
Big Idea: Repentance clears the way for revival.
Repentance means to turn not just from awful sin. But to turn away from anything that can hinder or distract.
2 Chronicles 29:5, 16, 17-18 (NLT)
5 He said to them, “Listen to me, you Levites! Purify yourselves, and purify the Temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all the defiled things from the sanctuary…….
16 The priests went into the sanctuary of the Temple of the Lord to cleanse it, and they took out to the Temple courtyard all the defiled things they found. From there the Levites carted it all out to the Kidron Valley.
17 They began the work in early spring, on the first day of the new year,[a] and in eight days they had reached the entry room of the Lord’s Temple. Then they purified the Temple of the Lord itself, which took another eight days. So the entire task was completed in sixteen days. 18 Then the Levites went to King Hezekiah and gave him this report: “We have cleansed the entire Temple of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table of the Bread of the Presence with all its utensils.
Taking completely away from things that accumulate, distract and hinder.
They cleaned out the temple and removed the clutter. They then moved it away further so it was out of sight.
We get so used to things that accumulate in our hearts, that we need to clean out and turn from.
3 prayers to pray:
Recognize it: Lord, show me.
Is there any clutter that needs to go?
Remove it: Lord, empower me.
Anything that hinders, Lord give me the power to lay it down and get it out of my life.
Romans 12:1 (NLT)
And so, dear brothers and sisters,[a] I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
Restore it: Lord, forgive me.
When we get the stuff out, we are restored to do and be what God has called us to be and do.
That frees us to ascend God’s Holy hill.
Psalm 51:10-12 (NIV)
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Repentance clears the way for revival.
