Psalm 24:3,4 “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart.”
In 1949, a great revival took place in the Hebrides. Seven men and two women had decided to pray and not stop until God visited them in a powerful way. One night, at a prayer meeting held in a barn, one of them read the above verse, shut his Bible, and said: “It seems to me just so much sentimental humbug to be praying as we are praying, to be waiting as we are waiting here, if we ourselves are not rightly related to God.” He asked God to reveal if his own hands were clean and his own heart was pure. Suddenly God’s awesome presence swept the barn. They came to see that there was a direct correlation between revival and holiness. A power was let loose that night that shook the island. A man arrived and felt compelled to go to church and get right with God. People had visions in their own homes. When Duncan Campbell arrived for the planned mission, all the services were packed out and people fell to the floor in repentance under the power of God.
As Tozer commented: “Prayer for revival will prevail when radical amendments to lifestyle are made, not before.” If we’re serious about meeting with God, we have to move beyond the ‘sentimental humbug’ which the man above referred to, and embrace lifestyles of authentic obedience. We’d all love to see God move in power where we are, but at what cost? How much do you want of God? Because nobody has less of God than they want.
Think about that last line, I’ll repeat it:
How much do you want of God? Because nobody has less of God than they want.
Lord, I mean business. I choose to become ‘rightly related’ to you today. Amen!
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