18. Revive us again!

 

Thoughts for the prayer warrior

 

18. Revive us again!

 

Bible Reading: 2 Chronicles 7:14.

“Then if My people will humble themselves and pray, and search for Me, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear them from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land.”       

         

I want to speak about REVIVAL today. To prayer for revival is the ONLY WAY to avoid spiritual decay, in OUR LIVES, and the life of the Church. 2 Chronicles 7:14, lays down FOUR simple STEPS TO REVIVAL.

          But, note: the text, first defines WHO MAY BE REVIVED: “My people...called by My Name.” Only God’s TRUE people can be revived. Sinners need to be converted! This often follows when the CHURCH IS REVIVED!

Today I want to carefully look at some of the conditions that God places on the outpouring of revival, from 2 Chronicles 7:14. “Then if My people will humble themselves and pray, and search for Me, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear them from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land.”

 

1.    God is looking for people to revive. “If My people.”

 

The “if” here is the beginning of the conditions that God is looking to be met before He will act.

God is issuing a conditional promise to His people, “IF” you do these things, I will respond. God has an expectation of detailed things before He brings revival.

These promises are only for those who place their faith in God. God is speaking to His people and no one else here. We must understand that this is a special deal that God only offers to His people. We often forget that the work of revival always begins with God’s own people first, why?

God must first renew His people before the real work of winning the world can take place. The work of revival must begin with God’s own people but is never meant to end there. For revival is to be ever-lasting and to truly make an impact on the world, we must reach out.

 

2.    “If My people, who are called by My name.”

 

God calls us out from among the world. Being a Christian means that we are meant to stand out from the rest of the world. We must live differently than the world because:

a.     We value different things.

b.    We value an eternal promise.

c.     We value a different lifestyle.

We are all called to be a holy priesthood, where every believer carries the responsibility for ministry, not just the pastor or the oversight and leaders. We are all called to be Christ’s witnesses in this world to share His truth and boldly seek His power.

We are known by a new name. Whenever a person comes to Christ they are a new creation and are given the opportunity to live a transformed life. The old is down away with, and all things have become new.

 

3.    “If My people will humble themselves and pray.”

 

Why does God desire for His people to humble themselves? The word humble means to be in submission, to live in a state of surrender. When we humble ourselves, we are literally saying to God, you are in control of my life. Remember that simple prayer that Evan Roberts prayed, “Bend me O Lord.” When we humble ourselves before God we are allowing Him to bend us to His will.

What happens when God bends us?

1.) Bending opens us to His guidance (Psalm 25:9).

2.) Bending allows us to know His grace (Proverbs 3:34).

3.) Bending gives us a gentle heart (Matthew 11:29).

4.) Bending leads us to true greatness (Matthew 23:12).

5.) Bending gives us spiritual garments (1 Peter 5:5).

6.) Bending gives way to eternal glory (Philippians 2:8).

Once we allow God to bend us, we cannot remain the same!

 

4.    “And pray.”

 

One of the key principles of revival is a concerted effort in prayer. When we pray we are bringing our lives to inter act with God and in the moment that we meet with God something amazing happens; He pours Himself into our lives. Therefore, prayer is so essential to experiencing revival.

Prayer is the foundation of a growing relationship with God and without prayer that relationship will never truly grow. We must go deeper with God if we ever want to experience revival in our lives.

Each day we decide to either build up that relationship with God or to settle for where we are in our relationship with God.

The principle of prayer is flows out of the New Testament Church

1.) Prayer needs to be a continuous aspect of the church (Acts 1:14).

2.) Prayer was a major part of the life of the church (Acts 2:42).

3.) Prayer is vital to seeing a divine display of power (Acts 4:31).

Revival is nothing more than God stepping into His relationship with you and filling it with His presence and power in a fresh way.

If you are not developing that relationship with God, you will never experience personal revival.

 

5.    “And seek my face.”

 

The Hebrew word for seek means to intend to find or to deeply desire. To seek something from God means to first have the deep desire to see it happen and then to keenly and persistently pursue it.

One of the major reasons why churches never see a movement of God is because they do not want it bad enough. There is a personal price that must be paid in finding revival. It is opening yourself to the leading of the Holy Spirit and then obeying what the Spirit says.

In 1904 those young people from Evan Roberts home church wanted to see revival so badly that they stayed at the church and prayed until 2am. We struggle to gather a handful of people to pray. The church today does not see God moving because we have stopped seeking. We need to be seeing 50 plus praying for a new move of God.

God said these words to Jeremiah: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”. We will only truly find God and His reviving power when we really and truly desire that which only He can give us.

Once that desire is there, then we must pursue it.

 

6.    “And turn from their wicked ways.”

 

When Evan Roberts spoke to those young people in Wales, his first challenge to them was to confess any known sin to God. Revival will never happen in your life until you let go of your sin. Sin is nothing more than pure bondage and it holds you in place like a chain wrapped around your body.

Why is it that God desires confession?

1.) Confession is a realization of wrong doing.

Most children get themselves into trouble from time to time. When your kids get themselves into trouble and must be told off, how many of you ask them if they know what they did was wrong?

We are God’s children and confession is merely telling God what it is that you have done wrong. When we confess we are admitting the fact that we have done wrong.

2.) Confession renews your relationship with God.

God cannot work through sinful living; it is impossible. God can only move in our lives when the path has been cleared. When we confess our sins to God, it is a clearing of the path that allows God to move because when we confess, He is faithful to forgive and cleanse our lives.

 

3.) Confession seeks God’s assistance.

When we confess our sin to God it is allowing Him to take the chains that bind us from our back and set us free. God never forces us to do anything that we do not want to do but when we confess, we are asking for God to send us His help.

 

Conclusion:

 

This morning, I firmly believe that God has the desire to bring revival to this church. The only question that really remains is do you have the desire to be revived?

If you want to experience personal revival, today, is the day to seek God.

If you want this church to see a shared revival, today, is the day to seek the Holy Spirit.

If you want our community to see a mighty outpouring of power, today, is the day to seek Jesus.

If God is tugging at your heart today, come forward and seek power from on high.