American Reformation Church Prayer Journal 21
ARC Prayer Meeting
The last thing God’s people should want to hear is the word “Ichabod.” It means the glory of the Lord has departed. In context of Scripture, this took place under the failed priestly leadership of Eli in the book of 1 Samuel. Once the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines and the report came in that Eli’s sons had died, Eli fell backward, broke his neck, and died.
Soon afterwards, his daughter in law gave birth to a son. Before she died, she named him Ichabod since the Ark of the Covenant had been captured which was the essence of God’s presence in the midst of His people. For a few chapters in 1 Samuel, God’s Word records the adventures of the Ark going back and forth between the Philistines and Israel.
One episode that deserves mentioning was when the Philistines foolishly placed the Ark before their god, Dagon. They all went to bed and found to their dismay that Dagon had fallen and got busted up for their trouble. It happened a couple of times. The only thing missing was Patsy Cline singing in the background, “I fall to pieces.” Obviously, this was the true and living God letting the Philistines know their god of stone was an idol that cannot stand in the presence of the Almighty.
Once the Ark was returned to Israel in a somewhat comical way and remained in Kirjath Jearim a long time, the prophet Samuel addressed Israel. Samuel declared, “If you return to the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only” (1 Samuel 7:3, 4).
On the heels of this prophetic utterance, Samuel assured them, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you” (1 Samuel 7:5). Samuel faithfully preached God’s Word and then interceded for God’s people. It is assumed the nature of his prayer was related to his prophetic instructions. In essence, may God’s people be empowered by God’s grace, Holy Spirit, and the truth of His Word to return, repent, and remove idolatry from their midst.
God’s Word is full of these types of admonishments. Malachi 3:7 promises, "Return to Me and I’ll return to you.” James 4:8 states, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
At the American Reformation Church, this is part of why we gather each Wednesday night to pray and intercede for world missions, our nation, state, city, the universal church, ARC, and for each other.
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