SPECIAL REQUEST: PRAYER FOR REVIVAL IN NEW ENGLAND
I am requesting prayer for a spiritual awakening in New England. This burden for special prayer for revival began at our Bible school, Mount Zion International School of Ministry. The leadership was led by the Holy Spirit to begin prayer intercession in anticipation of a Holy Spirit outpouring.
New England is the birthplace of revivals in America. Now in sobering times, God has seen fit to place this prayer burden on many intercessors. Many are now sharing their heart cry, “Oh Lord, rend the heavens and come down. America needs a spiritual revival more than in any time in history. Lord, do it again!”
Please share this burden with all your friends and contacts. For more information, contact us at prayer@mzisom.org or by visiting us at www.mzisom.org.
DAVID ENCOURAGED HIMSELF IN THE LORD
These are familiar words: "And David was greatly distressed" (1 Samuel 30:6). He had just returned from Gath, where King Achish had said to him, "Thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God" (29:9). With those praises ringing in his ears, David and his men returned to Ziklag, anxious to be reunited with their wives and children. However, they found their city burned to the ground, their homes destroyed, and their children and wives gone. The Amalekites had invaded while they were in Aphek and taken captive all that was precious to David and his men.
What a horrible day of infamy in the life of this anointed man of God! "Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep" (1 Samuel 30:4).
The people rose up in anger, and because of their overwhelming grief, there was talk of stoning David. David himself was torn with grief, with not a tear left to shed. "And David was greatly distressed" (v. 6). They had come to the end of their rope, all hope gone and swallowed up in grief and despair.
What does a child of God do when discouragement sets in and he feels useless, like a complete failure, abandoned by God and rejected by those who once cared? Believe it or not, God was in this apparent tragedy. God had incredible blessings ahead, but he had to be cast completely into the hands of the Lord. This was a situation that no amount of human resources could solve.
"But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God" (v. 6).
David learned to stand alone, dependent only on God and finding all he needed through personal communion and affection for the Lord. What a victorious sight—David standing amid the ruins of his life, rejoicing in God's faithfulness and encouraging himself in the presence of the Lord. He came to see that all that really counts in the face of death and despair is a personal knowledge of God.
Once the lesson was learned, God opened the heavens and spoke clearly to David. Directions came loud and clear. David inquired, and God answered, "Without fail you will recover all" (1 Samuel 30:8). There was nothing lacking—David recovered all.