Your prayer of tears will save you, your family, and your nation. A church without tears does not experience the movement of the Holy Spirit.

Christians treasure trials because through trials, we meet God. To overcome a trial, you must pray with tears.

Psalm 126:5-6
5 Those who sow in tears
Shall reap in joy.
6 He who continually goes forth weeping,
Bearing seed for sowing,
Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
Bringing his sheaves with him.

Plant seeds with your tears. Then you will see a great harvest. When you plant seeds with tears, it will bring joy later on.

God treasures your tears.

When you pray with tears, God will bring victory in the end. When you live your life with tears in your eyes, you will have a good ending.

There is nowhere in scripture that mentions the Pharisees or religious leaders crying. When your eyes are dry, your heart is hard. Tears are a sign of humility, repentance, and brokenness.

Examine your heart: when is the last time you cried while you prayed or worshipped or ministered to someone or studied the Bible? If the Holy Spirit is working on your heart, you will have tears.

When you are going through a trial and cry out to God, let Him see your tears. When He sees your tears, they touch His heart and He moves and changes situations in our lives.

There is a difference between crying because you want something or in your flesh (tears of your soul) and crying out desperately for God and His touch in your life (tears of your spirit).

King Hezekiah’s heart became very dry. He was very prideful. But there came a time when he became very sick. The prophet came and told him that he would die. He immediately humbled himself and wept before the Lord. His spirit cried out for God’s mercy in his life.

Isaiah 38:1-5
1 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’ ”
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years.

In the midst of trial, we have the opportunity to meet God. We have the opportunity to become humble and draw close to God and lean on God.

How do we take this opportunity to become close to God? Through our tears. Nothing can grow in the desert because it’s so dry. If you don’t cry, nothing can grow through that trial. You must cry out to God from a desperate heart and spirit in order to grow in your relationship with God.

When you cry, God will move. When King Hezekiah cried, God saw his tears and extended his life 15 years. God saw his tears.

How many times has God seen your tears, the tears of your spirit?

The church of this generation has lost three things:

#1 Tears of mourning

Pastors and preachers tell their congregations that we don’t need to pray and cry like they did in “old times.” We are in a new time; the Lord is moving in a different way. It’s not true. The Bible is the same today and as it has been for hundreds of years.

#2 A willingness to die for Jesus, to be a martyr

You might say that you would be willing to die for Jesus, but when the time actually comes, will you be? If you aren’t willing to sacrifice your life and your flesh every day, what makes you think that you’ll be able to die for Jesus?

#3 An attitude of sacrifice

There is no sacrifice in worship. There is no sacrifice in giving. There is no sacrifice in serving God. The church this day makes serving the Lord as convenient as possible.

We pray that God brings tears back to the church, back to our lives.

There are different kinds of tears:

1. Tears of nature

These are tears that babies give when they are hungry or when they have a wet diaper. These are the tears that children give when they want something but don’t get it.

At some point, we have to mature out of these kinds of tears. Could you imagine if adults cried every time they were hungry or were uncomfortable?

2. Tears of the soul

This is when you cry because you are sad or overwhelmed or happy. This is when you cry because you watch a sad movie, because you listen to sad music, or because you feel sorry for someone.

3. Tears of the spirit

These tears have deep meaning. These are the tears you cry when you are repenting for sin. These tears change you. These are the tears you cry when you are deeply praying for someone’s salvation. These are the tears you cry when you think deeply about how Jesus died on the cross for your sin.

When you cry tears of the spirit, your relationship with God grows deeper.

God bless you,
Pastor Sun East