Moving towards the end...

I am grateful to see how many within the River City family took up the challenge to read a book together this summer. "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire" has been the story we have used to examine prayer, to open our hearts to God in new ways, and to create a collective conversation.

The aim was to dedicate July and August to reading and discussing the book, and then continuing on with some of these themes in September with our next series "Into the River." We are now in the last stretch of August, so this will be the last week of blogs and replies.

Today's blog is tied to the last entry, so you may want to re-read that one again before jumping in. Here is a quote from the book on pgs 134-135:

“Alexander Whyte, after observing the 1859 awakening in Scotland, made this marvelous statement: “In revival, the congregation does the preaching.” What he meant was that, beyond the presence of preachers, musicians, and other ministries, what speaks to the heart is that God is dwelling in close communion with his people.”

I thought this was a particularly important concept for us to remember as we more deeply pursue the heart of God through prayer and listening. There are a lot of elements to a revival taking root – great preaching, preparatory prayer, and spirit-led worship, are just a few. But that is not historically what lights the match to the kindling. Instead, as Alexander Whyte observed, “in revival, the congregation does the preaching.”

Wherever you are at in your prayer journey, I hope that you will reflect on this quote today and do some honest introspection. Is revival happening in your own heart? Do you want it to be happening? Is your character being transformed? Are you becoming more loving and less irritable? Do you find yourself growing in generosity and shrinking in selfishness? Are you seeing the passions of God in this world with more clarity? Is repentance becoming something your heart desires more all the time, so that you can commune with God?

These questions are not posed to create a guilt trip. Instead, it is to remind us that spiritual renewal is not a minister’s job. If those watching from the outside are going to have an encounter with God, it will most likely happen because they see the congregation having an encounter with God.

If you don’t sense this happening, but wish you did, there is good news! Desire is all you need to begin. If you feel even the slightest pull to open yourself to God’s healing presence, then that is evidence He is already at work within you. Pray that what begins with a trickle will turn into a might river, and that all around us will get swept in to the mighty power of God.