“Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.” Genesis 4:26
What precipitated this re-direct after 130 years of human history? Was this a revival of some sort? Was there some precipitous event that caused this shift? Was it some kind of large-scale return to the Lord? Did God use the putrid stench of sin to bring this about? (Lamech’s murder and polygamy are the immediately prior context.) Maybe Enosh played some pivotal role in this “calling on the name of the Lord.” Perhaps he was God’s appointee for that hour.
However it came about, these words have lent me fresh boldness in praying for:
My own offspring. That they would “begin to call on the name of the Lord” with greater fervency, passion, and intensity. That the Lord would be their focus–their only focus. That God would initiate any and every necessary event in their lives to bring about the “then” and cause them to “begin” again at a deeper level than ever before.
Myself. For renewed vigor, determination, and stick-to-it-iveness in “calling upon the name of the Lord.” For deliverance from spiritual mediocrity. For decisive action on God’s part to correct deficiencies, resistance, or rebellion.
Our church family. That we not become comfortable and complacent before Holy God. That we not allow sin to remain unconfessed and unforsaken. That the Spirit of God be not grieved by unwholesome or unedifying speech, or bitterness or slander or malice. That our leaders would be exemplary in righteousness.
Our nation. That God would bring about a “then” in our day. That He would precipitate a “began.” That He would give our nation a sense of their great loss in not having a relationship with the One, True, Sovereign, Redeemer-God. That many would be introduced to “the name of the Lord.” And that, trembling before His holiness, “men would begin to call upon the name of the Lord.” That in God’s mercy and by His limitless grace, He would invite us and turn us again to “call on the name of the Lord.”
Oh that God would orchestrate a movement like this in our time and sphere!
Blessings,
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