Having a Bad Day Spiritually?

We are embarking on a season of revival. It appears that our church is "having a revival" in October but actually there are many other churches that are also "planning and having revivals." It’s what we do here in the southern Bible belt. You might wonder why I have "revival" in quotations marks. And the reason is, we can't really plan nor have a revival but what must happen is for God to graciously give us a revival. J. I. Packer notes that “revival is an extraordinary work of God the Holy Spirit reinvigorating and propagating Christian piety in a community. He goes on to state that ‘Revival is an extraordinary work, because it marks the abrupt reversal of an established trend and state of things among those who profess to be God’s people” (Packer 1990, 318). What this means is we are not really having or planning but praying that God will look at the church that has grown cold and indifferent to God and the things of God and would wake up by the pouring out of the Holy Ghost in an awakening.  

In addition, Packer talked about our piety “being reinvigorated and propagated.” So how’s your piety. Piety means holiness or godliness as will be seen in our devotion to and reverence for God. Maybe this is something we can do in planning and having a revival. Hebrews says, “How much more will the blood of Christ…purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb 9:14). The problem is the church (you and me) have been having some “bad” days spiritually speaking. Jerry Bridges talks about what we can do when this happens:

What should we do when we’ve had a “bad” day spiritually, when it seems we’ve done everything wrong and are feeling very guilty? We must go back to the cross and see Jesus there bearing our sins in His own body (1 Peter 2:24). We must by faith appropriate for ourselves the blood of Christ that will cleanse our guilty consciences (Hebrews 9:14).

In a bad-day scenario, we might pray something like this: “Father, I’ve sinned against You. I’ve been negligent in the spiritual disciplines that I know are necessary and helpful for my spiritual growth. I’ve been irritable and impatient toward those around me. I’ve allowed resentful and unkind thoughts to lodge in my mind. I repent of these sins and claim Your forgiveness.

“You have said You justify the wicked (Romans 4:5). Father, in view of my sins today, I acknowledge that in myself I am wicked. In fact, my problem is not merely the sins I’ve committed, some of which I may not even be aware of, but the fact that my heart is sinful. These sins I’m now so painfully conscious of are merely expressions of my sinful heart.

“But despite my sinfulness, You have said, ‘There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1). Given my acute awareness of my sin, that’s an incredible statement. How can I be without condemnation when I’ve so flagrantly and willfully sinned against You today?

“O Father, I know it’s because Jesus bore those sins in His body on the cross. He suffered the punishment I deserve, so I might experience the blessings He deserved. So I come to You, dear Father, in Jesus’ name (Bridges 2008, 12).

I wonder if we would take his advice and begin praying that prayer? Who knows what might happen to all those “bad” spiritual days we’ve been having.

Bibliography

Bridges, Jerry. Holiness Day by Day: Transformational Thoughts for Your Spiritual Journdy. Edited by Thomas Womack. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2008.

Packer, J. I. A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1990.