Idols II

"Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty."  Zechariah 4:6 (NIV)

"If revival is being withheld from us it is because some idol remains still enthroned; because we still insist in placing our reliance in human schemes; because we still refuse to face the unchangeable truth that, 'It is not by might, but by My Spirit."  These words were spoken by Canadian missionary, Jonathan Goforth who, in the early 1900's, brought a great revival to northern China. They could not be more true today. Our idol can be our own self-reliance, our confidence that we can make things happen.

Why is it we would rather do almost anything than pray? Let us organize a meeting, write a "how to" manual, preach a fiery sermon--anything but pray! Prayer is humbling--we come to God acknowledging that He has the power, not us. It means relying on the Holy Spirit to accomplish the work, rather than our own capabilities. We usually have to wait for results and we DO NOT like to wait. In our culture, waiting is synonymous with doing nothing, yet God teaches us in times of waiting. In the spiritual realm, it's prayer that moves the hand of God.