There are two primary Gods available to serve in our society, in addition to all the other gods people concoct. The greatest and most beneficial is the God of gods, King of kings, and Lord of lords, the one that identifies us as Christians because we are Christ-followers. The second and extremely powerful is the “God of Me”, my flesh, the god that motivates all self-centered driven motivation, action, and thought.
As we observe the activity and daily life of today’s society, we can easily see it is driven by the God of Me. The actions of everyone, regardless of their affiliations, interests, and education, are driven by selfishness primarily……even those actions that we consider selfless, if we dig deep enough to the core motivation, “self” is somewhere in the middle. One of the most prominent expressions of self-centeredness or the God of Me is demonstrated in the entitlement mentality. Sadly, the “entitlement attitude” is consuming society including the church today. Why do people go to church? Why do people have a relationship with God? Why do people avoid the church oftentimes? Because SELF wanted something from God and the members of the church. They are in church because THEY are getting to some degree what they want, or they have left because they didn’t get what THEY wanted.
The God of Me is nothing new. It was born with the extraction of Satan from the Heavens. Satan incites Me, motivates Me, fuels Me. The God of Me is the greatest threat to the Kingdom of God, in that “Me” steals souls from Heaven. “Me” is Satan’s greatest and most obedient servant. The examples in our society today are endless and devastating… Every social issue we observe is driven by the demands of “ME”.
Most of my friends, due to our age, are dealing with adult kids and very often grandkids. Our kids, the Millennials, are caught up in technology, materialism, and entertainment on a greater level than anything previous. Pastimes are consumed with on-line games, YouTube, Netflix, social media, and other online distractions. My kids can be found on their phones or computers searching through social media, games, or videos at any given time day or night while barely awake. My kids are average examples of what lifestyle looks like in their age range. In spite of their Christian convictions, there are endless compromises, seemingly small and non-threatening, in their lives, they have justified and see no fault with. On second glance, however, when the compromises are evaluated with a more discerning eye, we can detect the deadly subtleties everywhere, and they are deadly physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally, socially, practically, monetarily and worst of all spiritually. We see the attitude of responsibility and maturity, in addition to sacrifice and selflessness, falling by the wayside left and right. The preoccupation with SELF demands top priority causing relationships of every kind, including once close family relationships to now fall to an all-time low on the list of top priorities. Relationship with God is non-existent even in the one that would proclaim a strong Christian walk because, in truth, there is no time in daily life to cultivate and pursue said relationship due to the daily demands of “ME”. We have lost all understanding of the truth that excellent relationship comes at a huge and ongoing cost, namely commitment. Before I go on, my kids would balk at the paragraph above pointing out I, too, am distracted by my phone and other technology. It is true, however, the reason I am not as completely victimized by the same temptations is I can’t operate my devices, maintain them, and access them to the same degree my kids’ can. In this case, my salvation to some degree!
At this very brief addressing of a devastating and potentially eternal problem, what is the answer?
2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Prayer! Intercession! Surrender on our knees is the only answer that is now available to us. As I read accounts in the Bible of intercessors, i.e. Moses, David, Paul, Peter, Daniel, etc., along with great intercessors since the writing of the Bible, i.e. George Mueller, Reese Howells, Watchman Nee, Andrew Murray, Dutch Sheets, or Leonard Ravenhill to name just a few. I am convinced our only real strategy is PRAYER…INTERCESSORY PRAYER…SACRIFICIAL, SURRENDERED PRAYER.
Since I come from a different generation and see things quite differently than my younger counterparts, it is the calling of my age group to succumb to prayer, intense prayer for intervention. I am not overlooking the fact that each person is responsible for their surrender to God, including the younger generations, but with knowledge, and wisdom that comes from years of experience due to our age, we have a great responsibility to still do our part for the eternal preservation of mankind in the Eyes of God by engaging in intercessory prayer. Most likely, it will be our greatest legacy.
As I have pondered the current strategies by the enemy to hamstring our society endlessly lately, I find myself also pondering the strategy given to us in the name of Prayer endlessly. I ask, “What is Prayer and it’s real purpose?” I find myself in a new yet original place of understanding. As I consider my relationship with my kids as a parent, I am reminded of just how much I love conversation with them. I LOVE it more than I recognize when they ask my advice, or to listen when they want to process, or just sit and talk. I LOVE it when it appears they care what I think, or they value my responses, or act on some suggestion I might offer. It incites my love for them, my respect for them, and I find myself wanting to bend over backward to assist them, encourage them, reinforce them, or even warn or try to protect them. It occurred to me the same is true with the Father and my conversations with Him, my prayers. The more I engage with Him, the more I demonstrate my love, respect and appreciation for Him and the part, the overwhelming part, He plays in my everyday life are the key factors that grow my relationship with Him. Whereas I am limited in what I can do for my kids in any given situation, my Heavenly Father is UNLIMITED and can move in the practical everyday world on my behalf, as well as in the spiritual realm/world on my behalf. Whereas, I might forget a conversation I have with one of my kids and then not follow up or through on it, my Heavenly Father NEVER forgets, overlooks, or allows a conversation/prayer to expire or get lost in the everyday busyness.
The greatest weapon in warfare for the Christian is PRAYER, and the least used. The most powerful and influential asset we have is PRAYER and the least spent. The most comforting and encouraging form of communication we have is PRAYER and the least engaged.
If I issued an invitation to join me in a deeper more committed place of prayer, I wonder, in the middle of all our busyness, who would REALLY accept and jump on the bandwagon of INTENSE, ONGOING INTERCESSORY PRAYER with me? Would even I?
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