Personal Prayer for Renewal

Dear Worshipers,

I was already planning to share a call to personal renewal with you in this edition as we head into the fall, then the Lord confirmed that for me on Friday. I was reading in the book of Jonah and the Spirit showed me that leaders must model what they request. Before he could call Nineveh to repentance, Jonah first had to repent of his own sin. You remember the whole running from God thing. Silly Jonah. Silly me.

No, God has not called me or you to preach repentance in Nineveh, but He has called us to live together in such a way that the world will know we are His disciples. I am guilty of not always doing that, and I have a strong suspicion you are as well. We need to be renewed in our passion for the glory of God. We need to set our hearts on Him as we sang on Sunday. We need to have the kind of profound worship experience that Jonah had in the whale so that we can get a fresh perspective on Who God is, and what it is He wants us to do.

For the last few years I have prayed the following prayer. I read part of it somewhere and crafted part of it. It expresses my desire to continually be renewed in the presence of my Lord

I cry out to You, Lord, to restore a sense of awe toward You and Your Word. Fashion a childlike heart in me that I might be continually preoccupied with You, Father. Cultivate in me a sense of wonder at Who You are and what You do. I need a fresh revelation of You, Jesus. I need to see You more with the eyes of my heart. I ask You to reveal more of Yourself to me on a daily, even moment by moment basis. Soften my heart and deliver me from any religious and cultural cynicism that may have crept in. Free me to express my worship to You in a way that You are worthy of. Let my life be a sacrifice of praise to You, through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

I have prayed it more regularly in some seasons than in others. I have cried out to the Lord with more earnestness at some times than at others. But I have been praying this prayer for myself. I want to ask you to do the same.

Craft your own prayer, or use mine. Find the words that express your heart to the Lord. Call out to Him to renew you. I know you want to experience more of God in your life. What are you going to do about that? I encourage you to pray. Not in a forced, demanding way: I pray and God answers. But pray expecting God to change you.

Over these last three years the Lord has been answering this prayer for me, and I know that he wants to do the same for you. Begin or continue to pray for renewal in your life. God is waiting to reveal Himself to you. What are you waiting for?

In Christ,

Pastor Scott