When the Spirit intercedes

383 3d P. M. 4 6s &s; 2 8s.
Pleading the promise.

THOU that hearest prayer,
   Attend our humble cry;
   And let thy servants share
   Thy blessing from on high:
   We plead the promise of thy Word;——
   Grant us thy Holy Spirit, Lord!

2 If earthly parents hear
   Their children when they cry;
   If they, with love sincere,
   Their children’s Wants supply
   Much more wilt thou thy love display,
   And answer when thy children pray.

3 Our heavenly Father, thou;
   We, children of thy grace;
   O let thy Spirit now;
   Descend and fill the place;
   That all may feel the heavenly flame,
   And all unite to praise thy name.
                  John Burton
                  Methodist Episcopal hymnal (1870 edition)

<idle musing>
This hymn spoke to me today, reflecting the yearning in my soul. Yes, we already have the Spirit, but also, yes, we always need to allow more of the Holy Spirit's control in our life. That's what this hymn seems to be saying to me, anyway.

By the way, hymnary.org adds a fourth verse:

4 And send Thy Spirit down
   On all the nations, Lord,
   With great success to crown
   The preaching of Thy word:
   Till heathen lands shall own Thy sway,
   And cast their idol-gods away.

Seems a bit too strong on the necessity of preaching—or maybe that's just me, reacting to the criticisms of what's going on at Asbury. After all, you can't have a revival without somebody (usually in their minds, a guy) standing up there urging repentance.

Perhaps they need to take a lesson from Andrew Murray, who had a revival break out in the children's Sunday School class. He couldn't believe it was real at first because of three reasons:

1. It didn't happen by his preaching
2. It happened in a children's class, and
3. That class was being led by a young Black teenage girl

He quickly changed his mind once he saw what was happening. Rather ironic, isn't it, that he was a Reformed pastor who preached on the sovereignty of God, yet when God sovereignly decided to do something that didn't align with his dogma … well, it couldn't be a God thing, could it?

All that to say, I suspect that the criticisms reveal far more about the criticizer than they do about the awakening happening at Asbury right now.

As for me, I will continue to pray that God would have his way there—and here, in my heart. Baker published a book on revival back in about 2004. The last paragraph has stuck with me: If you want revival, draw a circle around yourself while on your knees, and pray for revival within that circle.

Just an
</idle musing>