The heart of this people

 Isa_29:13  Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

As this people draw near with their mouth and honor God with their lips, as this people, could that be said of us?

Have we drawn near to God with our mouth, and with our lips only, have we honored Him? Our heart far from Him as the Israelites spoken of in this verse?

Many times I see 2 Chronicles 7:14 thrown about on the internet, or "prayers" typed for you to read and "pray" along. The reason I typed prayer in quotations there is that I do not think most people know what prayer is. They have a mystical otherworldly attitude about it, it's for other people I can't achieve prayer warrior status. Since I can't I won't even try.

I started this off to be of a question a friend and I talked about. Where are the churches of yesteryear: breakfasts, lunches, hours long church services, 3 services a week,  Visitation night, Saturday get togethers, families fellowshipping on the nights between services.

Where is that time? Then I got hit with a very real point from my own understanding, it is not the church's fault, they have molded themselves to what the people want. They have pared down their services and why? Because the people of God do not attend, and if they do, how dare you go over an hour long on the service!

Where are the men and women with a heart for God? 

They have moved their heart far from God, and their fear of God is taught by the precept of man.

What exactly does that mean? Glad you asked.

The people were fearing God more from tradition and the teaching of the elders rather than a heart knowledge. Rather than knowing God and seeking Him they were worshipping by rote. The search for Him was rhetorical, did not actually require an answer from Him. They did not fear disappointing God, but rather they feared the man teaching of God and his disapproval. We should be far more fearful of a Righteous Judge rather than a man who can only affect us here.

How like today this sounds! We worry more about what the church thinks of us and tailor our image when we are around them to what they see, what we want them to see instead of the all knowing, all seeing God who knows the heart.

The people (Recalcitrant)

Isa_6:10  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

Worshipping by rote, having a checklist and routine to the service and going home as we did our duty to the church and hey maybe God actually got something out of it too.

For many of us that is exactly what we do, we put our serious pious face on and in our best stentorian voice we proclaim we are going to church, we are going to the Lord's House.

Why don't we tell people we are going to worship and praise our God? Why don't we tell people we are going to fellowship and pray?

Nope. We are going to church.

The heart of this people is far from Him. 

The heart of the people have left their God, we decided to limit our worship, our praise and most importantly our exposure to the Spirit of God. 

You say "but I can worship at home." of course you can God is everywhere, but home is where you live and eat and watch tv and pay bills and play with the kids and sleep. Will you truly effectively worship at home? or is that just what you tell everyone to make sure they know how pious you are?

As I said a few minutes ago the people have decided to limit their "God" time. To one hour a week by and large, to one service and to a specific time limit and if the preacher goes over or interferes with your timetable, oh boy is he going to hear it.

We do not go to meet with God, we go to be seen and heard and go home.

The Preacher (Reneging)

The preacher has been called to preach the Gospel and instead they preach  what the people want to hear.

2Ti_4:3  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

In America we have reached that time, when the people will not endure sound doctrine, when they want to hear good blessing to all and to all a good night. And the pulpit gives them what they want!

The Preachers of this nation have failed. They gave the people what they wanted, they fell prey to easy money, light work, and extended vacations, they have preached a poem, a novel rather than the Gospel. They have taught all is love and goodness and kindness and peachy keen and have left out the judgment, the sin, and the very God they say they serve.

When we have a church service and one shows up, when the board advises that the electric bill must be cut to one service a week, when the preacher "feels" God leading them to limit the times of the services for the people will not bear the long sermons, so they give up and give in and the people suffer for it.

The Put back (Restoration)

Psa_85:6  Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?

There is one way and one way only to restore the God of our Fathers to eminence in this nation. There is one way and one way only.

We the people must humble ourselves before God, admit we have left Him, that we are the problem. We must turn ourself to God. That is all we can do. I can not answer for you, you can not answer for me. It must start in your heart, my heart, our heart.

There must be prayer, repentance, contrition, and a genuine heart revival for you and for me. This is not an immediate turn around in us, for the backsliding didn't happen in one day. this must be a 24/7 heart searching for God, 365 days a year.

We must ask God if He will revive us again. We can not do that, no matter how hard we try, we must have Him to awake in us our Spirit, to renew a right heart within us.

Without Him there is no revival, no awakening, for only He can open our eyes, our hearts to Him and His Spirit.

The preacher must preach to the one as to the thousands. God gave you a Word to say, He gave it to you for the people or person that is there. You must be faithful in all seasons and times. If the churches start having church, Sunday School, Sunday Morning, Sunday evening and Wed or Thurs night, the people will come. You have those services and keep the church open. That's a start.

When the pastor treats it like it's important, the people will. When the people treat it like it is important it will be. When God sees we are serious with Him He might just get serious with us again.

The only way to show Him we are serious is to be faithful in the little things, like attendance, prayer, and He will then trust us with the big things: His Spirit, His Presence, His Blessings.

Until we the people get our heart right there will be no turn around in this nation. A heart right with God, that seeks Him daily. 

We the people, we must do this.