A Call to Repentance / Week 25

Introducing our New Blog

We are pleased to announce that we have now created a separate blog for the Call to Repentance.

This blog will serve as an archive, so that you can capture each week's prayer points, and join with us in moving through these forty weeks of prayer and of fasting together.

The blog begins with Week One, which was published on Sunday, January 13, 2008; and then lists each week's new posting, in sequence.

Feel free to visit this blog as you can, and to point other believers to this resource, too. You can see this blog by going here.

Or if you prefer, you can paste this blog into your own browser, as: http://acalltorepentance1.blogspot.com.

Thank you, and may God bless all of you as you coninue to press in along with us in prayers and in fastings of repentance unto the Lord for our national sins, and for our sins before Him as the church.

In His Love and Service,

Sara C. Ballenger, Founder and President

Capitol Hill Prayer Partners

REPENTANCE FOR THE SINS OF THE NATION:

"GAY" MARRIAGE (HOMOSEXUAL ISSUES; WEEK ONE)

The term "gay marriage" is an oxymoron: it is neither "gay" nor is it "marriage." But, whatever you call these illegal same-sex relationships, this is a HUGE topic. Our intention is to simply come before our Lord, in repentance, fully acknowledging that, in many courts throughout our land, "gay marriage" is considered "legal," and that this concept has taken hold in our nation.

The good news in this picture is that, according to the Christian Coalition of America, an average of 71% of the voters in America thus far have voted for state constitutional amendments banning homosexual "marriages". So far, 27 states have such constitutional amendments, including Alabama, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. This year, voters in California and Florida will have the opportunity to BAN "gay marriages" in their states, too.

For more information on the issue of "gay marriage," go to the Christian Coalition of America. And for information about how your own church or ministry can support and protect traditional marriage, go to the website for the Theological Education Institute, "http://www.teinetwork.com", and read their link for the Ministers' Affirmation of Marriage. The Affirmation addresses concerns about "gay marriage" with regards to civil rights and the ministry of the Gospel. Ministers across the nation are encouraged to sign on to support this document, and then to see it printed in state and local newspapers.

· "Father God, we come before you, freely confessing that 'gay marriage' is not gay nor is it marriage, but is instead another lie of the enemy. We ask Your undeserved mercy upon our nation, even as we see more and more lost souls falling prey to this web of deception. We ask, Father God, that You would forgive all those who are entangled in these illicit webs; and we ask that many would RISE UP to OPPOSE GAY MARRIAGE on the ballots in states across the nation.

And Father, as we look to the Church, we ask You to forgive those denominations that would ordain homosexuals into the pulpits. We cover those acts of abomination with Your shed blood. Holy God, cause many pastors to learn of the opportunity to sign the Ministers' Affirmation of Marriage, and to be faithful to do so. We ask all of this in the precious name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen."

· "Thy people shall volunteer freely in the day of Thy power." (Ps. 110:3 NAS)

PRAYERS FOR ISRAEL:

GOD'S FAITHFULNESS: HE KEEPS COVENANT

Psalm 89 starts by praising God for His faithfulness (vv. 1,2,5,8,24,33) and then cries out for His help (vv. 38-52). So we also started by proclaiming His faithfulness in the face of all the anti-God events occurring both in Israel and globally. We were encouraged that God Himself has declared, "My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips." (Psalms 89:34)

- Abba, we thank You for being faithful to answer so many of our prayers.
- We bless You that Israel is still here - and growing. - Thank You that many Jews are still returning home.
- We praise You that Israel is winning the war against terror.

- We are so grateful that the Golan Heights is still part of this nation's territory.
- We bless You that the city of S'derot, despite all the rocket attacks, still stands populated.
- Thank You that Jerusalem remains undivided.
- Hallelujah. Despite global pressure, no Palestinian State has been established on Your Land.

- We are excited to hear of the multitudes of Moslems coming to faith in Messiah Yeshua.
- We see Your hand at work, raising up a living, growing Israeli Body of Messiah - even with all of its various problems. (After all, only things that are dead have no problems!)

Intercessors For Israel
Friday Prayer Alert
27 June 2008

(Source: Intercessors for Israel)

LIVING FOR JESUS

[Crosby version]

"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21)

(Editor's note: In days gone by, so many Christians were so happy to be living for Jesus, that there emerged three hymns by that name: "Living for Jesus."

This week we feature the hymn that was written by Fanny Crosby in 1863; and put to music by Sylvester Main.)

Living for Jesus, only for Jesus,
Striving in wisdom daily to grow,
Telling His goodness, seeking His glory,
Onward to Canaan, joyful I go;
Doubts may befall me, trials oppress me,
He is my Buckler, strong to defend;
Bright is the prospect, pleasant the journey;
Jesus will lead me safe to the end.

Refrain

O the love of Jesus!
Wondrous love of Jesus!
I will exalt Him forevermore.

(For the remaining lyrics, go here.)

HOW TO KEEP FROM BEING DECEIVED:

by Derek Prince

Four Safeguards - Protection from Deception

This week: CULTIVATE THE FEAR OF THE LORD (Part Two)

Over the past two weeks, we have studied two of the four safeguards that Derek Prince cites to protect us from deception:

1. HUMBLE OURSELVES BEFORE THE LORD

2. RECEIVE THE LOVE OF THE TRUTH

Part Two of this section follows.

To view this teaching in its entirety, go here.

The third safeguard is to cultivate the fear of the Lord. Many Christians say there is no more fear in the Christian life, but that is not true. Certain kinds of fear are excluded, but not all. I will give you a list of Scriptures that Ruth and I have memorized: at least a dozen different passages about the fear of the Lord. The promises are so exciting that I cannot understand why anybody would not want the fear of the Lord.

Here are some of them:

Proverbs 22:4:
By humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches and honor and life.

You will find that at least 50 percent of the time the fear of the Lord is directly connected with life. It is one primary condition for a good life.

And then, I think, most important of all is the prophetic picture of Messiah in Isaiah 11:1-2.

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
[All the New Testament Scriptures confirm that this is Jesus. Now, listen:] The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him;
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

It is interesting to see that the Spirit that rests on Jesus is sevenfold - seven is always the number of the Holy Spirit. It says in Revelation 4:5 that before the throne of God there are seven lamps of fire which are the seven Spirits of God.

Personally, I understand this passage in Isaiah to reveal to us the seven spirits of God. The first is the Spirit of the Lord: that is, the Spirit that speaks in the first person as God. Then they all come after that in pairs:

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding;
the Spirit of counsel and might;
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

It is important to see that knowledge must be balanced by the fear of the Lord - because knowledge puffs up, but the fear of the Lord keeps us humble. It speaks volumes to me that the Spirit of the fear of the Lord was resting upon Jesus. Though He was the Son of God, He had the fear of the Lord; it rested upon Him. It never lifted from Him.

It is important to see that knowledge must be balanced by the fear of the Lord - because knowledge puffs up, but the fear of the Lord keeps us humble. It speaks volumes to me that the Spirit of the fear of the Lord was resting upon Jesus. Though He was the Son of God, He had the fear of the Lord; it rested upon Him. It never lifted from Him.

Continuing with the fear of the Lord: the fear of the Lord is a counterbalance to joy. It is very important that when we get excited we are anchored by the fear of the Lord. Again, I consider this a tremendous weakness in the Charismatic movement. People get all excited and happy, clap their hands, dance around - which is wonderful - but not without the fear of the Lord.

Psalm 2:11 says: Serve the Lord with fear, And rejoice with trembling.

That may seem to be inconsistent, but it is the balance. You rejoice, but with trembling. You stand in awe while you are rejoicing. This is carried over into the New Testament where it describes the growth of the church in Acts 9:31:

Then the churches [or the church] throughout all Judea, Galilee. and Samaria had peace and were edified [or built up]. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.

Again, notice the balance: the Holy Spirit comforts us, but we have to walk in the fear of the Lord. We can be encouraged, we can be built up, but that must be balanced by the fear of the Lord.

You might say, "Well, Brother Prince. I've been redeemed. I'm a child of God. Surely I don't need to fear God any more." On the contrary, you should fear all the more because of the price that God paid to redeem you. That is stated in 1 Peter 1:17-19.
And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work [and "each one" includes you and me], conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay [or sojourning] here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

So the very fact that we have been redeemed is the reason to pass the time of our sojourning here in fear - because God invested so much in us, He paid for us with the blood of Christ. This leaves no room for flippancy, which is really a denial of the fear of the Lord.