Emptiness everywhere. Political talk maybe, evolution debate maybe, all flesh, all useless, all empty. Nothing works. Up by the bootstraps. But we don't pray. Oh a little, the daily prayer, maybe two. Me too. No more. We're all fleshly.

Things are falling apart, dreadfully falling apart. The nation is falling apart, evil is called good and good evil but still we don't pray. We're called the sleeping giant but if we never wake up we're just a dead giant. No good to anyone. No salt or light. All this political talk is USELESS. Political ACTION is USELESS. Only what is done in the Spirit matters. No, you don't have the Spirit just because you believe, not the WAY you need to have Him, NO.

But this is all there is, there is no more, they say. Not listening to that any more. Long time not listening to that really but definitely no more listening any more now.

The level of spiritual life in the churches is pitable. Joking around, worldly entertainments, dissipation of spiritual energies, trust in fleshly action. "God wants us to do what we can." And nobody is telling them we can't do ANYTHING in our own power.

They speak their flesh so dramatically from the pulpit. Good acting. Or not so good, acting anyway. Can't convict anyone that way. Dramatized cheer, even dramatized fire and brimstone. Oh for the real thing. The flesh profits N O T H I N G.

They prayed all over the island of Lewis for years for revival. All the people. For years. Wherever people pray and believe for it, God sends it. Even the unbelievers on Lewis knew the Bible, taught their children to memorize whole sections of the Bible. They considered it a duty. Then when revival came it was there in their heads to be drawn on. And they had real revivals, many of them. Real ones. Presence of God overwhelming, fear of God, believers got revived, unbelievers got saved. God Himself come down among them.

We could have revivals like that here and now if we were doing the same things. I don't know anybody who is. I know some pray for revival. We sort of tuck it into our prayer routine, we don't really Pray For Revival. And there is actually preaching against making any sort of effort. There is preaching against Finney who said a few indefensible things but Finney knew God, had the spirit of prayer, had the Holy Spirit.

From what I've heard, the revival in Saskatoon under Bill McLeod was completely genuine, a work of God himself. And yet I find criticism of him too. Discernment is good, discernment is necessary, must be big in any genuine revival, but we also need some tolerance of doctrinal differences.

In prayer we should be giving that to God too. Ask Him to teach us, ask Him to give discernment, put it all in prayer.