Joel2:13 And rend your heart and not your garments.”
Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.
During my final days in the university, I met a man who told me about his glorious past. He told me how he was used mightily by the Lord to do great exploits in the kingdom. One phrase that caught my attention during our discussion was "when I was on fire". He said that repeatedly and knowing that his "firefull" days were in the past got me. In fact, that night, he was hanging out with his girlfriend and it was obvious that their relationship was unholy.
In my few years of walking with the Lord, I discovered that it is very easy to deviate and wander away from the Lord without obvious notice. Backsliding doesn't occur all at once, it is a gradual thing. It starts with little negligence and apathy towards spiritual things in the secret before it becomes an open or visible thing.
"Little sins" is another strategy of the enemy to draw men away from the master. When the things we once abhorred and detested now becomes a norm, we need to return to the Lord. We need to find the path of consecration once again and walk in it. The church in Ephesus also wandered off the path of consecration and Jesus said to them, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent", Rev 2:5 KJV.
Most times, the deception of the enemy is that he allow us to engage in physical activities in the church as a cover up for a weak fellowship with the master. A preacher living in sin may pray and prophesy with signs and wonders following. It is possible to have a very weak prayer life and zero word study life and still be speaking in tongues. Never let activities replace your personal consecration to the Lord. There's a need for us to return to the master. The beginning of true revival starts with individual and corporate repentance. If we want to push back the evil in our world and establish God's kingdom in vital spheres of life, we cannot do it without walking in the footsteps of our master. The master of the church is saying, “If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored;If you remove unrighteousness far from your tent", Job22:23.
Father, I return to you. Cure me of my backsliding in Jesus name.