While I was praying for the leaders and people of my country to turn their hearts to Christ, I became convicted of the fact that revival occurs one heart at a time. The first heart that must repent is mine. Each of us must repent of all the ways we’ve turned away from God if we ever expect to see revival on a large scale in our land. Until we who profess Jesus as Lord have repented of not walking in the ways of God, how can we expect those who do not serve Christ to turn to Him?
We first must shine the light of Jesus into the darkness. Never underestimate the power of God working through a single heart surrendered to Him. As I was praying, the Holy Spirit brought several areas in need of my repentance to mind. While certainly not proud of these, perhaps they will inspire you to repent of the same in your life or remind you of other areas you’ve allowed to fester unsurrendered for too long.
The first area to surface is all the time I spend on things that do not further the Kingdom of God. Mindless moments that turn into hours are too frequent. Any time not spent building the Kingdom is time spent watching it decay. Nothing in this world will last. Everything we build will someday be torn down. Only what we do for Jesus will endure (Matthew 6:19-21). Father, forgive me for the time I squander on the endless supply of useless distractions in this world. Let nothing come between me and your commands. Keep me from idle hands and wandering thoughts. May everything I do bring honor and glory to You.
We spend so much time focusing on our careers, achievements, hobbies, and entertainment. I’d offer the usual caveat that these things aren’t bad in and of themselves, but I’m not sure I believe that anymore. I’ve heard pastors and pundits excuse selfish behavior by offering similar qualifications all my life. The truth is, we are to meditate on God and His Word day and night (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2). That doesn’t leave a lot of time for earthly pursuits.
When we remember our only purpose is to bring glory to God, we should recognize that anything we do for mindless pleasure or selfish advancement is simply idolatry. This life is to be about Him, not us. Jesus, I repent of my penchant for promoting myself and my desires. I don’t want anything this world has to offer. I want you and nothing else. God, keep me from the lies and distractions of the evil one. Help me see through his clever deceptions and empty promises.
We must repent of putting anything before God. The longer I was praying, the more I recognized areas in my life that do not glorify God. It’s the seemingly little things that are most convicting to me. I repent of not spending every dollar He entrusts to my stewardship on things that will honor Him. I repent of allowing words to come from my lips that tear down rather than build up (Ephesians 4:29). To be sure, I must repent of not taking every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Thankfully, I do not need to repent of what most of us would consider “big” sins, but everything we do that is to our glory instead of His is indeed a very big sin.
If we want our country to experience revival, then revival must come to our hearts first. This begins with repentance. To repent is not to just say you’re sorry. To repent is to be so grieved by your sin that you fall down before the Lord and confess your failure and inadequacy. It is to be devastated by every careless act, word, or thought and to be repulsed by every selfish use of time, money, and talent. We’ve gone soft and too easy on ourselves. No longer. Today is the day of repentance. Today is the day we turn from sin and follow Jesus with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind (Mark 12:28-29).