Jon's Blog

Back in 2005, we moved from Colorado to Indiana. After three and a half months church searching, my wife and I have settled on a church of about 600 in small-town Brazil, Indiana. It was actually the second church we visited, way back in July. Since I travel most weekends, I wanted my wife to be the main decision-maker in where she wanted to attend. She did one Sunday in mid-October. She went back to Christ Community (her third time there) and felt a sense this was where God wanted us.

The pastor spoke from his heart, and challenged his people that they (and he) were lax in their faith, in their commitment to Jesus Christ. Next he called for a three-day Solemn Assembly where as individuals and a church, they would repent of their sins before God. The church was open 24-hours from Wednesday (Nov. 2) at 5 am through Saturday (Nov. 5) morning. Each evening, a two-hour corporate prayer and worship time was held. Hundreds came!

Wait a minute. Something is wrong here. This was a growing church. A happening church. Probably the biggest church in town. That says successful! Blessed of God! They were even regularly seeing souls saved. Why would this pastor feel they needed to repent?

Daniel was a very godly man. A man of prayer. Yet, in Daniel 9 we see his incredible prayer of repentance, where Daniel identifies with the sins of his corporate body—the Jews. David—who by our hierarchy of sins was one of the biggest sinners on the pages of Scripture—was called “a man after [God’s] own heart” (Acts 13:22, also 1 Sam. 13:14). Why? Perhaps because of his powerful passion to seek God. When David sinned, he was quick to repent. He wanted to stay connected to God. “[Don’t] take your Holy Spirit from me,” (Ps. 51:11) he cried.

Repentance is not something we like to do. Nor is it something that most churches or pastors today want to even broach with their people. We have all been raised in a society that blames something or someone else for our own faults and problems. Repentance becomes a foreign concept in such a society. Yet it is not a foreign concept to God. In fact, having a repentant spirit is a key to God’s blessing.

What happened immediately after the Solemn Assembly? Some interesting results. The Sunday morning worship—though always pretty good—was a cut above. There was a Presence there that brought passion, that brought people to tears—grown men even. Communion saw people stream to the altar after receiving the elements. I went to a men’s barbeque the Monday night after the Assembly and saw men openly sharing what God was doing in their lives, how He had met them during that time of repentance.

Even in the most grace-oriented or seeker-oriented churches, repentance is a concept that needs to be talked about. Without it, we cannot find God. If you want God’s blessing in your life or on your church, maybe it’s time to repent.

--Jonathan Graf is the president of the Church Prayer Leaders Network and a popular speaker and author. You can contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .