Thoughts for Life: #79 Men Who Served the Lord with Tears

Dr. Wesley L. Duewel: Paul testified to the Ephesian elders, as he looked back over his several years of ministry among them, and now bade them farewell.

"You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. I served the Lord . . . with tears" (Acts 20:18-19). (Google image, No more tears, this is a great post).

Any tear shed in sharing the heartbeat of God, any tear shed through Christlike loving empathy with our fellowmen, any tear born of the yearning constraint of the Holy Spirit is a tear by which we serve the Lord.

Nothing pleases Christ more than for us to share with Him His burden for the world and its people. Nothing so weds us to the heart of Christ as our tears shed as we intercede for lost ones with Him.

Then truly we become people after God's own heart. Then we begin to know what it is to be Christ's prayer partners. There were those in the Old Testament times who served the Lord with tears:

Job. Job was able to testify, "Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?" (Job 30:25).

David. David wept and fasted when men insulted God (Ps. 69:9-10). When his enemies were ill, he fasted and mourned as if for his brother and wept as if for his own mother (Ps. 35:14).

  Isaiah. Isaiah, echoing the heart cry of God, wept when enemy Moab suffered in drought and famine; his eyes flooded with tears (Isa. 16:9, 11).

Josiah. God heard Josiah's prayer for the nation as he fasted and wept before God for his people (2 Kings 22:19).

Ezra. When Ezra realized how deeply his people had sinned and brought the judgment of God upon themselves, he so prayed and wept before God that a large crowd of men, women, and children gathered around him (Ezra 10:1-2).

This is ever the pattern. A weeping leader results in a weeping, praying people. A leader who takes on himself the sins of the people, praying and repenting vicariously for them, will have a people who are led to repentance.

A dry-eyed leader with a heart not really broken, who knows no tears in his heart, may denounce the sins of the people, but seldom leads them to the confession of sin that brings God's mercy.

Nehemiah. When Nehemiah heard of the tragic condition of Jerusalem and his people, he recorded, "I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven" (Neh. 1:4). For days he kept praying and fasting as he served the Lord with his tears. Thus God was able to use Nehemiah to bring revival to Jerusalem.

Jeremiah.  Jeremiah is often called "the weeping prophet." What an example he set of burden-bearing and brokenness for his people! No doubt from the human standpoint it was the prayers and tears of Jeremiah and the vicarious prayers and tears of Daniel that brought a portion of Israel back from captivity. Listen to Jeremiah:

Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and
horror grips me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no
physician there? . . . Oh, that my head were a spring of
water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day
and night for the slain of my people (Jer. 8:21-9:1).

If you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your
pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears,
because the LORD's flock will be taken captive (Jer. 13:17).

See also Lamentations 1:16; 2:11; 3:48-51.

Daniel. For more than sixty years Daniel was a statesman in the court of the dominant world power of this time; he was also a man of God and a man of prayer.

  Paul. He also went among the people pleading, weeping, and leading the lost to salvation . . . He served the Lord with his tears as well as his sufferings (Acts 20:18-19), and that ministry was given both publicly and house to house (v. 20).

We can also be sure that his praying was anointed with his constant tears . . . If all his other ministry was made fruitful by his tears, we can be sure his praying was also.

Our Lord. Of Jesus we read, "During the days of Jesus' life on earth he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears" (Heb. 5:7). Undoubtedly this included Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane. The words however, seem to imply that this was a characteristic often repeated.

" . . . as he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over
it" (Luke 19:41). No doubt His breaking heart was convulsed with His tears of agonizing love. Probably He wept similarly when He called out, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem," as He expressed His longing, heart-broken love (Matt. 23:37; Luke 13:34).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Used by permission of the author and Duewel Literature Trust, Inc., Greenwood, Indiana. Creative reading style by Jean.

Ablaze for God
#79 Men Who Served the Lord with Tears
by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel
(pp. 240- 243) ZondervanPublishingHouse

Today's post suggestion: #10 God Looks Into Hearts, from Healing Thoughts and Prayers

Recommended viewing: StartingPointseries.com Andy Stanley's videos of 8 classes which are to help us reconnect our faith, now that we're older and have questions. Start with class 1.

Let's pray

Father, help us begin sharing Your heartbeat of Christlike empathy with others. May we shed tears born of the yearning constraint of Your Holy Spirit as we serve our Lord Jesus.
May we not be dry eyed, but moved to tears for those we are responsible to teach and lead in the ways of Christ.
Seeing the men listed above, including Jesus, we see our need is great, and that we should desire to weep for others' needs for salvation and growth in discipleship and service.
We ask for Your assistance in developing our ministry of tears, so as to have a heart like Yours. I pray this in Jesus' name, and for His sake. Amen.

Today's Bible verses-

1 Peter 5:6, 7 (KJV) "Humble yourselves therefore under
the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time;
(v. 7) Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."

James 4:7, 10 (KJV) "Submit yourselves therefore to
God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
(v. 10) Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and
he shall lift you up).

Ps. 39:12 (KJV) "Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear
unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears . . . "

Luke 19:41 (KJV) "And when he [Jesus] came near, he
beheld the city, and wept over it."

Today's special quotes and link-

~ Mike Huckabee- "Sit your children down and make them listen to this, Red Skelton’s famous monologue explaining the Pledge of Allegiance, word by word. I have a feeling that your kids will learn more about America from this beloved clown than they will from all the liberal clowns in charge of their school curriculum."

https://youtu.be/TZBTyTWOZCM

~ Max Lucado- "Your prayer on earth activates God’s power in heaven. You are the someone of God’s kingdom. Your prayers move God to change the world.

You may not understand the mystery of prayer. You don’t need to. But this much is clear: Actions in heaven begin when someone prays on earth. What an amazing thought!

When you speak, Jesus hears.

And when Jesus hears, the world is changed.

All because someone prayed."

From For These Tough Times: Reaching Toward Heaven for Hope and Healing
(c) (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006) Max Lucado

Today's popular post-

#36 Intercession Improves Ministry

C. Peter Wagner, from his book, PRAYER SHIELD, tells us, "It is not a simple matter to conduct the type of research that proves or disproves the power of prayer.

However, Nancy Pfaff, an intercessor, church growth consultant and founder of Nevada Church growth has attempted it."

Upcoming posts-

#80 God Desires that We Leaders Weep

16th- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

Practicing the Presence

18th- Saturday's post by Max Lucado

#81 You Can be an Anointed Leader

21st- Tuesday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel

#82 The Anointing Is for You

23rd- Thursday's post by Dr. Wesley L. Duewel