This is an awesome truth written by a friend of mine, Ryan James Rhoades of Revival or Riots Ministries.

“The Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever!” – Psalm 111:10

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“The situation from a natural point of view was desperate, and if there was ever a time when a man was seemingly justified in calling on God in prayer, it was then. But, I want to show you tonight, one of the things I regard as hindrance in our life for God. Most of us do just exactly as Moses did. When the test comes we stop and cry, and as a second thing we stop and pray and put ourselves in a position where we become amenable to exactly the same rebuke that came upon Moses.

Moses started to pray. It is not recorded how long he prayed, or what he said, but, instead of God being pleased, He was grieved, and said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.” I will turn to the Scripture and read the exact words:

“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.”  - Exodus 14:15-16

God did not even say, you stretch out your hand, and I will divide the sea. But God said to Moses: “Stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it.”  It was not an act for God to perform,but it was an act for Moses to believe for.  The responsibility was not with God, it was with Moses.

A weak Christianity is ever inclined to whine in prayer, while God waits for the believer to command it.

In my judgment, that is the place of extreme weakness in Christian character. I feel that very frequently prayer is made a refuge, to dodge the action of faith.

And just exactly as Moses came down there and began to pray, instead of honoring God’s word to him by the use of his rod, so many times our prayer become offensive to God, because instead of praying as Moses did, God demands us to stretch forth our hand, exercise our rod of faith, and divide the waters.” – John G. Lake

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Now, before I write this I have to address the fact that I am fully aware this will fly directly in the face of much of what the church of Jesus Christ believes and is doing today.

It will fly in the face of some very large, very successful ministries that have done a lot of good.  It will challenge much of what you who are reading this believes and force you to make a decision.

It will force those who have been complacent to either repent and take action, or harden their hearts, call me a heretic, and continue in their disobedience to the Word of God.  This will bring some extremely sobering revelation and understanding to those who have ears to hear.

I am not here to try and people please and I am not here to try and be ‘accepted’ by what mainstream Christianity says should be the norm for the Christian life.  The normal Christian life in the New Testament looks a whole lot different than what most who profess Christ are walking in, seeing, and doing today.

Jesus was outright rejected by all of the religious elite of His day—what makes us think that we should think we should be accepted everywhere?  A servant is not above his Master (John 15:20).

“Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” – Galatians 1:10

With that being said, I will say very unapologetically that “praying for revival” is absolutely not Biblical or anywhere in the New Testament. There is nowhere that we as believers are commanded to “cry out to God” for our cities and to be begging God to have mercy on our nation.

Why?

Because when you say things like, “God, end abortion and send revival to America“, what you are saying is that it is God’s fault that abortion hasn’t ended, and that it is God’s fault that there isn’t revival in America.

I can hear the “How dare you’s” already.

But honestly think about it.

..instead of recognizing that He has empowered us and commanded us to expose the fruitless works of darkness (Eph. 5:11) and to take action ourselves (empowered by the Holy Spirit) to remove the ‘high places’ in our nations and in our lives, we are taught to get together in some place, large or small, stadium or church building, to “cry out to God”.  It removes all responsibility from the Christian who was commanded in Matthew 10 and Matthew 28 and all throughout the New Testament to GO and DO the works of the ministry, empowered by His Spirit.  It doesn’t say anything about asking God to do it for us.

God will not do anything that He has told us to do. He has already (past tense) sent us AS revival.  We do not need to ask HIM for it.

Put down your offense and THINK.  See if you can find that kind of praying in the New Testament.  God already HAD mercy on us when He sent His Son.  God is not angry.  We do not have to convince Him to not send judgment on our nation because the payment for sin was satisfied on the cross.

People will not go to hell because of their sins.  They will go to hell because they have rejected the PAYMENT for their sins.

Begging God to send revival is an old covenant mindset.  ”Standing in the gap” on behalf of others and our nation is an old covenant mindset.  Moses did it.  Abraham did it.  But you will not find anybody doing that in the New Testament except for Jesus Christ.

While many would use 1 Timothy 2 to back up “praying for revival and intercession”…read the entirety of the passage:

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.” – 1 Timothy 2:1-6

There is a large difference between what Paul was writing to Timothy about interceding and what much of Christendom deems is intercession today. Most of what people do in ‘intercession’ is coming from an old covenant mindset that says we have to convince God to not be angry with people and treat them like hell-deserving sinners. The problem with that, is He doesn’t look at people that way anymore.

That’s what Jesus did for us with the New Covenant.

“This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord.  I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds:  ”Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.“ And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.” – Hebrews 10:16-18

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” – 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Now, as I have said, there certainly is Holy-Spirit-led intercession…but if you are ‘interceding’ and trying to convince God to ‘have mercy on so-and-so…or on our nation..’ that is incorrect and anti-Christ.  It is anti-Christ because it is effectively saying that you are a better intercessor than He is and that His prayers and what He did isn’t good enough to convince God to not treat us according to our sins.

God had mercy when He sent His Son.  He is not angry.  Intercession like that is the kind that tries to improve on what Jesus already did.  That is how most Christians intercede.

Holy-Spirit-led intercession is the kind where you take authority over the works and workers of darkness by commanding the mountains to move.

Religious intercession:

“Oh, God please have mercy on our city…don’t send judgment and save your people oh God…oh God, oh God, oh God..rend the heavens and come down, God…send your Holy Spirit, God…send revival to America, God…end abortion, God…end prostitution, God…God, God, God…”

As if we have to convince God to be merciful and stop these things—as if it is His fault that they are going on…as if He doesn’t want people to be saved…as if He hasn’t already sent His Spirit…as if we want to see revival more than He does and that HE IS HOLDING OUT ON US. We will never be able to stand before God and accuse Him of not giving us what we needed to fulfill the Great Commission.  He gave us His Son, He gave us His Spirit, He gave us His authority, He gave us His Power, He gave us His Love, He gave us His fruit, He gave us His Name, He gave us the mandate, He gave us the mission, and He gave us Himself.  He has given us everything.  The only lack is in our thinking, and it is completely, 100% on our end.

Unfortunately, the above is how most ‘intercessors’ pray.  This is how most people pray for their family members or loved ones.  This is how many pray at stadium events that draw multiple thousands of people to ‘cry out to God’.  This is how people pray at houses of prayer that have sprung up all over the world.  This is how people pray when they gather together on Sundays and Wednesday nights for “harp and bowl” prayer meetings where they have to “fill the bowls of intercession” so God can pour out His Spirit…regardless of the fact that He already has.

And I will tell you it is one of the greatest deceptions that is ravaging the Bride of Christ today!

A proper way would be to realize that it is the god of this age that has blinded the minds of unbelievers (2 Cor. 4:4) and that it is God’s will for none to perish (“The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” – 2 Peter 3:9).

So it comes again to an issue of exercising authority as a Christian:

“I speak to every spirit that has blinded the minds and eyes and deafened the ears of my family members and friends and I break your power in Jesus’ name…I release EYES TO SEE and EARS TO HEAR (faith comes by hearing) in that place.  I release revelations of the goodness of God over those people in Jesus’ name (it is the goodness of God that draws man to repentance, [Romans 2:4], NOT the repentance of man that draws the goodness of God.) and Holy Spirit I ask that you would continue to bring people into their lives who will testify and demonstrate your goodness to your people.”

That’s New Testament intercession.

And at the moment that intercession becomes an excuse to sit in a room or in a building or in a stadium and not go out and reach the lost and demonstrate the King and His Kingdom is the very moment Christians backslide into complacency and disobedience.

Holy-Spirit-led intercession is the kind where you take authority over the works and workers of darkness by commanding the mountains to move.

“For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he says [Mark 11:23, Matthew 21:21,Matthew 17:20, Luke 17:6].”

We’ve got a whole lot of Christians asking God to speak to their mountains for them.

And it is wrong and keeps people in bondage.

It is the responsibility of every single believer to do the works outlined in Matthew 10:7-8:

“As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.  Freely you have received, freely give.”

Jesus said that the evidence of a true believer would be as follows:

“He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

And these signs will accompany those who believe (the implication here is that they will not accompany those who don’t believe): In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.  Then the disciples (all of them…not just the ones who were ‘called to evangelism’) went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. – Mark 16:15-20

Unfortunately, many in our churches believe that only some Christians are supposed to be doing these things.

That simply is not true and is not found anywhere in the New Testament.

While I do agree that prayer needs to be coupled with action, I wholeheartedly disagree that different people are not called to be harvesters. You do not see that anywhere in the life of Christ or His commands to His disciples.

That is confusing the ‘office’ as in a 5-fold kind of thing with the responsibility of every believer.  It is the responsibility of every believer to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, cast out devils, raise the dead, and cleanse the lepers.

Jesus didn’t say in Matthew 10 “…except you and you, because your calling is different. You stay back here and pray.“

Jesus said that if we truly love Him, we will do what He said.  The implication, again, is that we don’t love Him if we don’t do what He said to do.  And it’s not even much of an implication.  He says it:

“If you love me, you will obey what I command.” – John 14:15

Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” – John 14:23-24

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” – Matthew 7:21-27

As it is clear in the above verses, miracles alone do not constitute a good relationship with the Father.  All of the miracles and the like must be an out-flow of our relationship with God.  Jesus is talking about those who chased after the miracles for the sake of the miracles rather than for the sake of doing them to honor God and to love others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:38-39).

However, this does NOT negate the fact that believers everywhere are commanded to do what Jesus said to do.  And that very much includes going out and reaching those who need God.

Nowhere did Jesus say to sit in a room, or to gather in a stadium, or to fill up a synagogue/church building with people who would “cry out to God for revival”.

He said to go.

This is our mission as Christians.

Anything less is false and simply religiously spiritual-sounding excuses for our own disobedience and lack of desire to accept responsibility and be accountable for what we have been given to do.

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