prayer for the global financial crisis
Many economic and financial experts have been forecasting this financial meltdown and have often been unheeded or branded as irrational or doomsayers. Even preachers and prophets have declared the same. Here is something I received from a friend, some excerpts from an article by David Wilkerson from a decade back: “America’s Golden Calf is Going Down!”:
“. . .Beloved, America is facing God’s judgment–and we will never be the same! In the days to come, literally hundreds of thousands of Americans will lose their homes. Why? They’ve leveraged them with equity loans, so they could play the stock market and try to strike it rich!
I tell you, the stock market has become America’s golden calf! People see it as a financial savior, and they worship it daily–trusting in it, depending on it, giving it all their energy and attention. But it’s going to fall suddenly–and none of the small, individual investors will be spared. They’ll suffer the most, losing their homes, their cars–everything!
I must ask you: “Are you prepared for what is coming? If not, are you acting now to get ready? When I speak of being ready, where do your thoughts take you? Do you think immediately of investments, bank accounts, survival plans, safety for your family?”
Yet, I believe it is much more important today for American Christians to focus on spiritual preparation–before the coming storm hits. Let me tell you why.
I believe that when the coming storm hits with full fury, and the nation is reeling with panic and fear, people will flee all false gospels and feel-good churches. Christians will forget about gospel entertainment and Christian TV, and they’ll start demanding hard truth. They’ll flock to hear godly pastors, demanding the true Word of God. Their cry will be, “Who will preach to us a prophetic, life-changing word?”
Sadly, many charismatic Christians today talk much about being Spirit-filled–but they are totally bankrupt of truth. They’re not intimate with Christ–and so they don’t know how to draw on His strength in truth. They don’t tremble at the truth of His Word. They don’t know how to walk in His resurrection power or live wholly dependent on Him. Instead, they twist, manipulate, and misinterpret His Word to accommodate their flesh.
Many pastors and evangelists today have no interest in seeking the Spirit of truth. They think they can call on the Holy Ghost at any time to come down and sweep away all the powers of hell. But these people won’t be prepared for the dark times that are coming?
The only manifestations we’ll see when the storm hits will be men and women falling to their knees in awe and fear of God. They’ll be slain by the piercing, convicting, soul-cleansing preaching that comes from the Spirit of truth.
Indeed, today–while most of America focuses on its prosperity–God is waking a holy remnant in the church. These saints are on their faces, seeking Him with all their strength and crying out for a true Word from the Spirit of truth.
In recent months, our ministry has received hundreds of letters from pastors and believers who are repulsed by most of what they see in the church: hype, foolishness, entertainment, shallow preaching. They’re crying out, “Enough! We’re tired of seeing our pastors go to conventions and return only to introduce come new gimmick. We’re sick of seeing the flesh accommodated. We’re hungry for truth! We want to hear preaching that convicts us and challenges us to holiness and prayer.”
Believer, you can rest assured–in the coming days of calamity, the true revival won’t come through showboating, big-time preachers or TV evangelists. It won’t come through prosperity teachings or other doctrines of false security. No–God’s revival will come through a hidden company of pastors and lay people who have been in the school of Christ, learning His ways and trusting in Him. These will lead a revival of truth!
Yet not everyone is going to want truth. Many will turn to unbridled lust. Indeed, our society could see Sodom replayed a hundred times over. But, as our nation poises on the brink of chaos, many Americans will begin to seek truth, answers, life.
As for me, I want to face the coming times as ” . . . a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth” II Timothy 2:15
I urge you: Ask the Lord to prepare you–His way–for the day “America’s golden calf” comes down. Seek His Spirit of truth in your secret closet. Learn to recognize His voice above all the worldly clamor going on in His church. Then you’ll truly be prepared to face the coming storm.
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David Wilkerson is founder of Teen Challenge, Inc., the worldwide Christian drug and alcohol rehabilitation ministry. He is the author of The Cross and the Switchblade, and many other books. David and his wife, Gwen, live in New York City, where he serves as senior pastor of Times Square Church.
I have been meditating on the following passage in Mark for some time now. And I can see that this prayer is an appropriate prayer for people inside and outside the financial systems of the world, blind and in desperate need, to pray:
“Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus(that is, the Son of timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10: 46-47)
“JESUS, SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON ME!”
And let me add this Anglican prayer which is currently getting a lot of hits during this economic tsunami:
Lord God, we live in disturbing days,
across the world,
prices rise,
debts increase,
banks collapse,
jobs are taken away,
and fragile security is under threat.
Loving God, meet us in our fear and hear our prayer:
be a tower of strength amidst the shifting sands,
and a light in the darkness;
help us receive your gift of peace,
and fix our hearts where true joys are to be found,
in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
13 comments October 9th, 2008
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