Prayer for the American Church based on Psalm 51

Have mercy on Your Son's Bride, the American Church, O Father. Blot out our transgressions according to your loving devotion and your great compassion. Wash us clean from our iniquity and cleanse us from our sins. For we know our transgressions and our sins are always before us. Against You and You only have we sinned and done what is evil in Your sight so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge. We admit that the American Church was sinful at birth, sinful from the time we were conceived.

Surely You desire truth in the inmost being; You teach the American Church wisdom in the inmost place. Purify us with hyssop and we will be clean; wash us, and we will be whiter than snow. Let us hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. Hide Your face from the sins of the American Church and and blot out all of our iniquities.

Create in the American Church a clean heart, O Father, and renew a right spirit within us. Cast us not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from us. Restore to us the joy of Your salvation, and sustain us with a willing spirit. Then the American Church will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You.

Deliver the American Church from bloodguilt, O Father, the God of our salvation, and our tongues will sing of Your righteousness. O Father, open our lips, and our mouths will declare Your praise. For You do not delight in sacrifice, or we would bring it; for you take no pleasure in tithes and offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O Father You will not despise.

In Your good pleasure, cause Your Son's Bride, the American Church to prosper; build up the body of the American Church. Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, as we offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy pleasing to You as our spiritual service of worship.

A Call for Revival in the American Church based on Joel 2

Blow the trumpet and sound the alarm in the American Church!

Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; in fact, it is at hand— a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. For the Day of the LORD is great and very dreadful. Who can endure it?

“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”

So rip open your hearts and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster. Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him that we can offer back to Him, our heavenly Father.

Blow the trumpet in the American Church! Consecrate a fast, proclaim a sacred assembly. Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the aged; gather the children, even nursing babies. Let the newlyweds also be gathered.

Let every Christian weep before the Lord and say, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among the nations. Why should people say, ‘Where is their God?’”

O Father, please heal Your land, please heal Your Church!

Father, please pour out Your Spirit afresh on all people. Please cause Your sons and daughters to prophesy, Your old men and women to dream dreams, Your young men and women to see visions. Spirit of God, fall fresh on everyone, both high and low.

Father, we know Your great and awesome Day is coming soon. Please motivate Your Church to share the good news of deliverance through Your Son, Jesus; the good news that everyone who surrenders all authority to Him will be saved.

A prayer for the American Church based on Nehemiah's prayer in Nehemiah 1.5-11

O Father, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion with those who love Him and keep His commandments, let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your Son's Bride, the American Church.

I confess the sins Your Son's Bride, the Church, have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned. We have behaved corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments that Your Son gave us, nor followed His example. Based on the seven letters to the seven churches, I know there are consequences for unfaithfulness and I also know there are promises of rewards for returning to You and obeying You.

Your Son died to redeem your servants and You demonstrated Your mighty power when You raised Him from the dead. Your redeemed servants are Your Son's Bride, the Church. You established the Church so Your manifold wisdom would be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.

O Father, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and to the prayers of Your servants who delight in reverence of Your name.

Please pray for all the churches on the map of churches: www.tenminas.net/map-of-churches

#church #revival #prayer #greatcommission #thegreatcommission

Update from New Orleans, LA

We want to thank everyone for praying for our family! Our grandson, Peter had a rocky start, but is doing great now. We left Florida on the 17th, spent a couple of nights in Mississippi, and now we are in Louisiana. We plan to spend 11 nights in three locations then head home. We are visiting churches to strengthen and encourage them and casting vision for revival.

Please continue to pray that God will wake up the American church.

Florida Trip for Peter's Birth

Update - Peter Arthur Olk was born on July 8, 2019.

Originally posted on July 4, 2019.

We are off on another grand adventure in the Dawn Treader! Shout out to Abigail for the name for the RV. Our first stop is Florida where we are anticipating the birth of our grandson Peter. After that we will continue visiting churches to strengthen and encourage them and cast vision for revival. Please continue to pray that God will wake up the American church and raise up an army advance His kingdom against the satan's strongholds. That is all.

Please pray for all the churches on the Map of Churches!

Climate Change is real!

The climate has been changing since the Great Flood discussed in Genesis 6-9. It's not going to stop changing until the heavens and earth pass away as discussed in Matthew 24.35, Luke 21.33 Revelation 6.14, 20.11 & 21.1.

In the beginning, God gave authority to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it. Genesis 1.26, 28. In the next chapter of Genesis, "the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it." [Genesis 2.15]

So, the original plan was for man to have authority and responsibility to maintain God's creation. However, mankind rebelled against God's plan and as a result, the earth was cursed. [Genesis 3] If that wasn't enough, mankind got even worse. So, the Lord said, "I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” [Genesis 6.7, 13] On the other hand, Noah found favor with God and He chose to save Noah's family. [Genesis 4.8]

Climate change is / was caused by mankind!!!

Rising carbon dioxide may or may not be associated with rising temperatures which may or may not be associated with climate change. None of that matters!

The one thing that is certain, we, all of mankind, have rebelled against the Lord, the creator and chosen to go our own way. The only thing that matters is repenting of our rebellion and turning back to God.

I have no idea whether repentance will change / delay God's plan to destroy the earth. I am convinced that repenting will improve our relationship with Him. The Bible is replete with stories of people and nations repenting and God turning away His wrath. The book of Jonah is just one example.

I implore America, I exhort America, I beg America, repent, turn back to God and beg Him for mercy!

What Does “Give Back” Mean??

I hear the phrase “give back” a lot these days. What does that mean? To whom are you giving back? What are you giving back? Why are you giving back?

I read a few articles on the internet trying to get answers to those questions. It appears the motivations to give back are quite varied. Not only do they include altruistic reasons such as improving the community, but it seems they also include somewhat selfish reasons such as learning new skills or improving resumes. It also seems that some people give back once or twice to assuage their guilt. For example, once a year, they help out with feeding the homeless on Thanksgiving or they buy a toy and give it to one of the organizations collecting such during the Christmas season. For them, it isn’t a lifestyle.

For those of us who are born-again Christians, we have received an incredible gift! Although it is impossible to repay the gift, we should be giving back 24/7/365 out of a deep love for Jesus. It should be our lifestyle! 

For those who are not born-again Christians, it is impossible to earn your way into an eternal relationship with God. There is no amount of giving back that will be enough. The only way to be reconciled back to Him is by admitting that you can’t do it. Only Jesus can wipe away your sins.

Most of the Bible can be summed up in the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. As we travel the country and talk with people about Jesus, I am shocked at how few “Christians” have heard of either of them. So, here they are (BTW, these are quotes from Jesus so I am putting them in red):

Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.” - Matthew 22.37-40 (BSB)

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28.18-20 (BSB)

The Great Commandment can even be summarized into, “Love God and Love others”. Do you love God? I struggle believing it is possible to be a born-again Christian and not love God. Despite being a Christian for over 40 years, I am regularly reminded of the depth of my depravity. It is only by the grace and mercy of God and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to pay the price for my sin that I have hope of eternal life with God. How could I not love Him?

Do you love others? Have you have heard the statement, “How much do you have to HATE someone to not tell them about all that Jesus has done for you and the consequences of rejecting Him?” I didn’t come up with that statement and I don’t know to whom to give credit. However, it is very convicting to me. How about you?

Jesus also said, that if we love Him, we will do what He commanded (see John 14.15 & 21). Are you doing what He commanded? 

If you really love God and love others, then you will be doing everything you can to obey the Great Commission. Are you:

• Claiming your authority as an ambassador of Jesus? (see also 2 Corinthians 5.20)
• Going to all nations?
• Making disciples of Jesus?
• Baptizing them in the name of Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit?
• Teaching them to obey (observe) everything He commanded?
• Relying on the ever presence of Jesus?

I challenge everyone who identifies as a Christian to give back as a lifestyle. Join Jesus in His mission.

And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them into a kingdom, priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.” Revelation 5.9-10 (BSB)