07/01/2024
Our devotional thought this morning surrounds praying as a holy act, and focuses on the subsidence of holiness in the church today. Our scripture verse tells us that unless we are holy then we will not see the Lord, and yet we, and our churches, spend an inordinate amount of time in the physical world. Even when we pray we tend to focus more on our wants and less on loving God and our neighbors, thanksgiving, asking for forgiveness, and other spiritual things. We need to lean into these things as we pray.
“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:”
Hebrews 12:14 KJV
The move away from holiness isn't new and Pastor E.M. Bounds recognized it as well when he wrote these words in the late 1800s...
"Unfortunately, we have substituted the external for the internal. Even in the church, we are much further advanced in material matters than in spiritual matters... It is largely due to the decline of prayer." – E.M. Bounds
If you were to walk up to a group of believers and pastors on a present-day street and ask them where their church was.... They would each begin directing you to the building where they worshiped, but had you asked a group of first century Christians this same question, their answer would have been much different... "It is here, we are the Church."
We have built our churches of stone and wood, but the true cornerstone isn't made of such... He is of spiritual construct and is not cold and inanimate, but living and within us. The cornerstone of the true Church is Jesus Christ. We ourselves are meant to be a spiritual house… are we?
“To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.”
1 Peter 2:4-8 KJV
I am not saying that church buildings are bad; what I am saying however is that we spend way too much time on the things of this world and not enough on the holy things of the spiritual realm. Prayer leads us into that realm. Bounds told the church of his day "We may excuse it, yet it is all too clear that the emphasis in the work of the present-day church is not on prayer." If he were here with us today wouldn’t he write the very same words?
There has been a slow but steady siphoning off of holiness within the bride of Christ. I was watching a National Geographic Special on icebergs. During the film an iceberg was floating in a warm sea and slowly melting away. We watched as it suddenly reached the point where its imbalance became critical and this enormous object violently upended... rolling and sending off waves and fragments of itself.
I am fearful the church today has reached a critical point in its loss of holiness. Are we on the verge of a massive upheaval after which we will no longer recognize ourselves as the Church? Is our holiness melting away? Perhaps you perceive the Church to having already upended. Listen to Peter as he instructs us in this regard…
“but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.””
1 Peter 1:15-16 ESV
Bounds concluded his devotional message with a warning of catastrophe that can only be averted by prayer...
"The church is not producing praying men and women, because the church is not intently engaged in this one great work of holiness." – E.M. Bounds
Pastors... Teach and preach on prayer!
Deacons and Elders... Go to your knees, and not just when you want some thing.
Congregation... Raise your hands in prayer, thanking God, and asking for forgiveness.
The church is teetering on a loss of its holiness, but all is not lost, and this direction can be reversed. Prayer, and especially fervent prayer, brings us into a holy state that illuminates the true Church that is in each of us. Let’s leave behind our petty differences, our physical liturgies, and the glorious buildings as we enter our prayer closets this morning, and become the embodiment of holiness, the actual Church and the true bride of Christ.
You are meant to be holy in prayer today, and our congregations are meant to be holy in communal prayer. Let's pray this morning that our holiness will be bolstered as we bow our heads and humble ourselves before God. Let's ask that Jesus reverse the loss of holiness in us, His Church, by having the Holy Spirit bring prayer back to life in us.... Let’s begin our search for a rejuvenation of holiness now.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for being Holy, and desiring that we pray and live out holy lives as well. Thank you Father for your Son Jesus who showed us and taught us how to pray, and for your Holy Spirit who helps us in this great spiritual endeavor. Help us Lord as we rebuff the world’s efforts to do away with prayer, and tries to convince us that at best it is of little importance. Help us as we redouble our prayers, and not just because we want you to provide us with more of something physical, but much more than that because we want to be closer to you, touch and experience your divine nature, and grow in holiness as we commune with you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who is the source, and fount of all holiness. Great are you who desires that we, your children, be holy as you are holy. Father, forgive us our sins, and for wandering away from our desire to pray as we should for those things that are spiritual, and lead us to holiness. Call us to repentance Lord and command us to return to you by saying “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” Hear our new prayers this morning, and see how they have become fresh in their divinity. Hear our voices Lord, and be pleased with them. Smile upon us, and call us worthy Abba as we pray that our love for you will grow forevermore, and that you will invite us once again to dine at your holy table.
Amen!
““There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.””
1 Samuel 2:2 ESV
““Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.””
Leviticus 19:2 ESV
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Rich Forbes