Prayer Meetings for Revival

If there is anything that is greatly needed in this world at the present time, it is for a mighty work of the Lord, like those which were witnessed in bygone days. It is wonderful to see people praying sincerely for this in these days, but the Lord must first work in the lives of those who confess to know Him as Saviour. It is easy to look at the lives of others and see their needs but we must look at our own hearts and ask the Lord to reveal anything to us, which would be a hindrance to His will for our own lives – and for the spreading of the gospel to the wider community.

“As in the days of Noah…” (Matthew 24v37-39) I feel like many, that we are living in those days and sometimes we feel society can’t get much worse. However, if we haven’t got a love in our hearts for every soul we come into contact with, whatever their spiritual standing, then our personal needs are very great indeed. The Lord loved them all enough to die for them and we who profess to know Him should be filled with that same love. “Perfect love casteth out fear.” (1John 4v18)

My husband gave his testimony recently at one such prayer meeting north of the border in Co. Tyrone and it brought back memories of how we met for the very first time, in the home of a mutual friend in Dublin whom I had met on a trip to Israel. We were just strangers, meeting over a cup of tea, but later that summer evening we all went out to a restaurant and then walked on a moonlit beach, known locally as the “Velvet Strand.” My friend and another friend walked away ahead of us and Martin and I walked together, talking of our respective lives. I told him the story of how I became a Christian and he immediately appeared very interested. He had by then stopped going to mass and would have described himself as a humanist/agnostic. I returned to my friend’s home for the rest of the weekend – and he to his but we kept in touch by landline and letter; there were no mobile phones in those days!

Those were the days of the “troubles” in Ireland and Martin and I came from completely different backgrounds in every sense, coming from opposite sides of the border; in fact we were different in many many ways, including the significant difference that he was from a Roman Catholic background and I wasn’t. However, it troubled me mostly in those early days that we were definitely “unequally yoked” should things continue as they were and yet I know now that the Lord was working His will out through it all. When I first met his family and stayed with them every other weekend, I found them very warm people and everything worked very well, despite obvious differences. However, Martin was genuinely interested to find a church in the area that we could both go to which wasn’t easy back then. On the other hand, when he visited me and my family we would all go to church and it was there, one Sunday not long after we met, that Martin trusted the Lord to save him, after hearing a sermon entitled “Who then can stand before me?” preached from the Book of Job. He trusted the Lord quietly in his seat but said nothing to anyone until later when we were at home and he was quite emotional about this miraculous change in his heart, which only the Lord can do.

Strangely enough, his family I believe, liked me as a person and my family liked Martin, although both sides of the family had been concerned in those days of political turmoil, but I praise God that His will was accomplished in the end. Today we still pray for remaining relatives on both sides of the border and when I see what a miracle the Lord can do in our lives – I know that He can do it in any life. He can in fact, as Charles Wesley’s hymn “O for a thousand tongues” goes… “break the power of cancelled sin.”

We pray for the forthcoming meetings and prayer meetings in different locations across Ireland, that God would bless and that there would be a movement of His Spirit – something which we haven’t seen since the 1859 Revival. The latter took place 165 years ago, but to this day it is still talked about and its influence is to some degree still felt. Today there are many counterfeit “movements of the spirit” and I believe discernment is needed in this area. The Lord was never the author of confusion and mayhem – but we know who is. We continue to pray on for the great need in these days and that nothing would stand in the way of the Lord’s working upon lives, drawing souls to Himself and others into a deeper walk with Him.

Few Are Talking About It But….

I hope to print the following off in tract form…

…There is a very serious problem in our society. Yes, I know there are many serious problems but this one is widespread and leads to misery, destruction and death. A man bursts into a room in a house and then proceeds to viciously attack innocent people; as a result there are injuries and death. Newspaper reports tell of savage attacks on parents which lead to similar outcomes. I have read reports about victims who have died on account of frenzied attacks carried out by those who have entered a psychotic state “after ingesting a cocktail of illegal substances.”

These terrible events and many many more have taken place in recent times, but there are others which are not even talked about because no one dies. Right now all over this country there are situations where parents are terrified and locking themselves away from abusive offspring and I am sure that there are children who are terrified of parents who are abusive drug addicts too. It is appalling to think that some politicians desperately want certain drugs to be legalised, particularly Cannabis which they say is “harmless.” There is a well-known saying that “drugs are available at every crossroads in Ireland.”

The truth is that some prominent figures in our society, as well as business and professional people may also be drug users and some may well be addicts. There is a silence on the subject which is not healthy, as very often respectable families do not wish to admit that their children have a problem. Drug pushers approach schools and other places where there are children and young people of a vulnerable age; what is most appalling is that we may feel that we cannot always trust the “forces of law and order” either. As someone who worked with me once cynically said… “where money is concerned you can trust no one.”

Who can you trust in these days? There is certainly only one Person we can put our trust in….and that is the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. In an era of mayhem, addictions, fear and abuse – there is peace that passes all understanding, when we put our trust in the Prince of Peace.

He breaks the tempter’s powers (“but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” 1Corinthians 10v13) He sets the slave to abusive substances free… whether it is alcohol, so called “soft” drugs or terrifying drugs like heroin, or a combination of everything. He calms the troubled hearts of those who are abused, terrified and at the mercy of dealers and he calls the addict from the dark depressing cycle of endless addiction.

Oh come to Him now and pray to Him in a quiet place. Repent of all previous sins (for the Bible says that “all have sinned” Romans 3v23). Ask Him to come into your heart and take care of your needs – whatever they are. Whether you are the person who is worried about the addict – or the addict yourself, He knows everything about you and wants to take control of your life and make you a new person. He loved you enough to give His very life for you and His desire is that the rest of your life would be lived as He intended it to be lived – for His glory. Today He loves you still and lives to set you free, that you may have that knowledge of sins forgiven and a Home in heaven.

Jesus said: “…him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” (John 6v37)

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11v28)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3v16)

“Peace I leave with you, my peace give I unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14v27) “And the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4v7)

Little James Robinson (January 1892 – December 1894)

I have in my possession a tiny blonde curl belonging to my great uncle – my maternal grandmother’s little brother who died before her in 1894. Many sentimental objects can be discovered when we are clearing a loved ones home after their death, but this one touched me deeply, as my grandmother had passed the framed poem and the curl on to my mother. How amazing to think that he is still being thought of in a year which will be the 130^th anniversary of his death! Above is the poem which the family framed all those years ago and although my grandmother never knew her little brother, as she was born later, in 1896, the story of how he died clearly affected her, as it had left the family so heartbroken.

He had been on my mind recently when I heard news of an outbreak of whooping cough (or pertussis) which has been spreading rapidly in England. This was the disease that little James, the beloved toddler caught months before his death, as a quick check of the internet revealed his death register and “cause of death.” Of course these days antibiotics can kill much of what we may be subjected to today but they didn’t exist back then.

I often wonder what heaven will be like and how we will appear “age wise” but of course “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered in to the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1Cor. 2v9) I believe that I will meet little James, my great uncle in heaven and I have a feeling that “age” will not be like it is here on earth; the fact that he was my great uncle will have no bearing on how we appear to each other, although we may well be aware as to what era in human history we lived through. Those “blood bought” souls will rejoice together in their Saviour, whether they had not reached an age of understanding or whether they had come by faith, in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven, I believe, is full of babies and little children and those who have “come as little children.” I know of people who have had cot deaths and miscarriages and if they don’t know the Lord in this situation how much harder it is! I often wish they could think on the words of the last two verses of a certain old hymn “Looking this Way,” which tells of loved ones waiting in glory for us… Saved loved ones, as well as little children and babies, are already there. Oh that they could see that their little ones are there in heaven and the Saviour longs for them to be reunited!

Sweet little darling, light of the home,
Looking for some one, beckoning come;
Bright as a sunbeam, pure as the dew,
Anxiously looking, mother, for you.

Jesus the Saviour, bright morning star,
Looking for lost ones straying afar;
Hear the glad message, why will you roam?
Jesus is calling, “Sinner, come home.”

Judson W. Van De Venter (1855-1939)