MAY 29 - RETURN TO THE LORD

Key Scripture:
"Even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity." - Joel 2:12-13

Devotional:
The journey to Pentecost begins where revival always begins-at the altar of repentance. Throughout Scripture, God's pattern for spiritual awakening starts with His people turning back to Him with their whole hearts.
In Joel's day, Israel faced devastating circumstances-a locust plague had destroyed their land, foreshadowing an even greater judgment to come. Yet God's invitation wasn't condemnation but compassion: "Return to me." This call echoes across the centuries to us today.
Notice what God desires: not mere external religious performance ("rend your heart and not your garments"), but genuine, heart-level repentance. The Hebrew word for "return" (שׁוּב, shub) implies a complete turning around-a 180-degree reorientation of our lives toward God.
Jesus echoed this in His first recorded message: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (Matthew 4:17). Before the power of Pentecost could come, the disciples spent ten days examining their hearts, reconciling relationships, and aligning themselves with God's purposes.
Consider David's prayer in Psalm 139:23-24: "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." This honest self-examination before God creates the fertile soil where the Spirit's power can take root.
As we begin these ten days of prayer, let us remember that our God is "gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love." He isn't waiting to condemn us but to cleanse us. His heart is for restoration, not retribution. True repentance always leads to refreshing (Acts 3:19).

Prayer Points for Holy Spirit's Outpouring:

• Ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate areas of compromise, lukewarmness, or sin in your life.
• Pray for a spirit of godly sorrow that leads to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10).
• Invite the Holy Spirit to break up the fallow ground of your heart (Hosea 10:12).
• Ask for a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit's convicting presence in our church.
• Pray that repentance would lead to times of refreshing from the Lord (Acts 3:19).

Ask God to search your heart. What have you tolerated that needs to be surrendered? Pray Psalm 51:10-12 over your life.