A few years ago I was reading a book written for Baptist preachers. It had a section about prayer meetings, and how to conduct them. It noted that the prayer meetings that were discussed were common amongst all evangelical denominations of that day (it was written in the late 1800s). It told about a prayer meeting for temperance. The writer discussed the HORRIBLE situation of alcoholism here in the United States which was robbing homes of fathers . . . robbing children of food . . . robbing society of good men.
When I read it, I was smitten with conviction. In that day, they were DEEPLY grieved about problems that were "small" in comparison to the moral chaos that we live with every day in our nation. I don't want to be "accustomed" to the horrible degeneration of my generation. I want be one to pray the price to see something done about it!
Several years ago, God gave me a poem regarding the change in our prayer habits in this country. At times I look at it again to remind myself of what I want God to do in OUR generation. I'm posting it here in case it could be a help to anyone else:
ICHABOD
Oh, those treasured saints of yester-year,
How they prayed, and prayed, and shed many a tear.
Hour upon hour, and often entire days
Were spent in desperate supplication for men to change their ways.
And, change their ways men did, you see,
From the strangling death-grip of sin, many wretched hell-bound souls
were set free.
Drunkards got converted, night-clubs were even shut down.
The saints just kept on praying, and turning the world upside down.
Some of the cruelest of men, and the hardest of hearts
Were transformed within, and given new hearts.
Sick bodies were healed, blind eyes were opened,
Impossibilities were made possible, because the All-Powerful God was consulted!
They depended on God for every little thing.
They always prayed through before attempting anything.
But, as time went on, thorns began to grow.
The cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches
Slowly began to replace the desire for the True riches.
Life styles began to change, everything was different.
Society was stepping up with modern new inventions.
Automatic lights, instantaneous cool and heat,
Faster ways of cooking and washing the dishes after you eat,
Time-saving inventions for almost everything,
Just simply push a button and leave it to the machine.
Cars for transportation, washing machines for clothes,
And so many other things to save us time, yet,
where did all our time go?
First the radio, then the TV,
Telephones, cassettes, videos, etcetera. . .
We’re in the computer age you see.
A fast-paced world is what we became,
With very little time for the really important things.
No time to study God’s Word, no time to share the Gospel,
The hours and days of pleading prayer were soon to be forgotten.
God didn’t respond as fast as our machines,
And we had no time to wait, so we simply stopped our praying.
The very life line that brought such victories,
The hours of prayer before God’s throne
that had changed the course of history
Were now abandoned and considered out of date:
“No one wants to pray tonight, we can’t stay up that late”.
With the lack of prayer came a lack of power,
And churches failed to meet the needs of the hour,
So deceivers arose to replace the lack of power
With exciting new ideas for a generation of religious cowards!
“And there arose another generation after them
which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which He had done”
No fear of God, no respect for Christianity,
A wild and wicked generation headed for eternity,
Eternity without hope, never having known
A real move of God to change the heart and soul.
Dark, and hopeless days, and getting darker still,
Where once was a flame of revival is now a terrifying death chill.
Will this generation die without a ray of hope?
Can’t somebody pray the price and throw out a life rope?
Stop all the commotion! Get down on your knees!
Oh, please, church, stay there, until God sends the victory!
When the pastor gives the altar call,
Stay down there till the power falls!
Don’t be satisfied without a move of God!
If you do, we’ll have to change our name to ICHABOD!
