What must we do to receive revival?

What must we do to receive revival?
by Pas.Francis B

Published on Sunday April 21 2013

Many of us reading and watching News everyday and we find some interesting stories about the people who would like to become public figure and gain fame.  Some do adventures and some do purposeful mistakes and try to be on News.  On the other end some try to bring change in the world through charitable deeds and other means of help. How much we as God’s people you and I have to do? We have to do much more than that and we need to pray for revival to take place in our churches, cities, town and Nation.

How can we God’s children bring revival in our Nation?

God reminds us to look into the Scriptures from II Chronicles 7:11-14

“ 11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, 12 the Lord appeared to him at night and said:
“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

In these words God is speaking to His children, and He is speaking today with you also. Let’s see what He would like to talk with us through His Scripture.  God is asking each of you to focus in the verse 14 where God is reminding us about relationship.
This world is built upon relationship; it began with God and spread in each of our families, communities and countries.
God speaking to His children and said “if my people”. What privilege these people has to be called as God’s people. Yes it is true even with you and me, as He created us in His Image and redeemed us from the sin and sickness to give us eternal life and riches.
One of the things you might be surprise to see that God redeemed us to Himself, “I, the Lord… I have rescued you. I have called you by name;    now you belong to me.” Isaiah 43:1
This is because He pleasures in it and finds the joy. In these last days our Nations need revival that people might be delivering from their darkness to light, poverty to prosperity. In order to receive revival in our Nations what must we can do?

I-                   There must be Brokenness in our Prayer:  will humble themselves

II-                There must be Selflessness in our Prayer:  if my people pray

III-              There must be Earnestness in our Prayer:

IV-             There must be Holiness in our Prayer

There must be Brokenness in our Prayer:

In James 4:6 “But the kindness God shows is greater. As the Scripture says, “God is against the proud, but he is kind to the humble.” 
 It is a terrible thing to face punishment from the living God. Heb 10:31
Both the statements are terrifying as well as a satisfying statements. For God resist a man, a church, a nation, is a terrible thing, on the other end if we observe “to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God is to be exalted in due season.  The humbleness we can learn only from Jesus, He is the supreme example and shown through His practical way of living thereby in Matt 11:29 says
 ^“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

When God’s children are humble, they will never boasts of themselves, nor they argues with others, they always content with what they have, but the person who don’t has humbleness boast himself and boast about his accomplishments. The greatness and help of God they don’t recognize.  These people are like Pharisees as it is revealed in the God’s word.

In Luke 18:9-14, in this parable a Pharisee and publican prayer we can see.  Over five times the Pharisee uses the personal pronoun “I”.

1.     I thank thee

2.     I am not as other men

3.     I fast twice in the week

4.     I give tithes

5.     I possess

He was proud and haughty, as a consequence his prayer never reached to God and God didn’t answer his prayer. Let’s look at the Publican prayer; here we see the brokenness in his heart.  He humbled himself and exalted God in His prayer.  This exactly God is looking in our today’s prayer that acknowledging God as our source and helper in everything.  The Pharisee might be thinking that he is scholar and pleased God with his prayer, but in the sight of God he is a fool, and he didn’t know that he is deceived by Satan. 

C.H Spurgeon has written in Lectures to my students -“the devil is greater scholar than you and nimbler disputant”
PRINCIPLE 1:  Our brokenness prayer causes God to change the person and people to draw closer to Him.


There must be Selflessness in our Prayer:

Here twelve Hebrew words employed to express this single English verb to pray.  This one is used to state the purpose of mean “to judge self habitually” our major problem in prayer is self desire and design.
God reminds you from James 4:3 and even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

We need to ask God in what He pleases and gives praise to Him. Our primary prayer focus needs to glorify God through our works and worship. When God encountered with Jacob, as the morning is near Jacob  in His prayer asked God the wise thing that is He asked for Blessing, and Solomon asked for God’s wisdom, Jesus in His prayer asked to fulfill His Father’s will.
PRINCIPLE 2:  Practicing the selflessness in our prayers helps us to please God for eternal blessings.


We will be continuing …. In rest of the 2 things from this sermon what God is going to speak…

Published on Sunday June 2 2013

We are back in His time to listen what God is going to speak with us through the rest of the points.

As an earlier we have seen that Revival comes through

There must be Brokenness in our Prayer: 

There must be Selflessness in our Prayer: 

Now we are back in His time to listen what God is going to speak with us through the rest of the points.

There must be Earnestness in our Prayer

Many of the times our prayers are selfish and we most often we tend to pray for our

dear ones and  feel that if everything I have let me pray for others.

We desire that God do wonders and change the world in a span of time, He can do it

but where is our part.  EM bounds a great man of God said like this “Prayers must be red

hot. It is the fervent prayer that is effectual and that prevaileth.

Coldness of spirit hinders praying; prayer cannot live in a wintry atmosphere. Chilly

Surroundings freeze out petitioning; and dry up the springs of supplication. It takes fire

To make prayers go. Warmth of soul creates an atmosphere favorable to prayer,

Because it is favorable to fervency. By flame prayer ascends to heaven. Yet fire is not

Fuss, nor heat, noise. Heat is intensity-something that glows and burns.”

God is looking for a people who really pray earnestly for revival.  Have you ever

considered the 10/40 window there are many nations are unreached. How about those

people who have never heard Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Are we praying for such those

perishing souls in our prayers.  

Below source from Global Mapping

 

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Map

If Jesus didn’t prayed for you and me on the cross of Calvary we would have not received eternal blessing.

When we seek God’s face we will find the earnest in Him and we will be praying earnestly and God will listen.  This is what God expects from the lives of the people that they may seek His face.

PRINCIPLE 3:  Praying earnestly to God will touch the hearts of the people and changes their lives.

 There must be Holiness in our Prayer

Finally Holiness is important in our prayers to receive the revival.  Holiness is also known as purity.

If you look into the Bible Holy people are fit for holy duties— and them alone. With a sinful (selfish) attitude if we pray God is not going to listen to our prayers. You need to remember that sin separates us from God.

Psalmist says about the purity of a prayer "If I regard iniquity in my heart—the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18). We are commanded to pray, "Lifting up holy hands" (1 Timothy 2:8). When it says lifting up our holy hands means it is clean in every aspect of our lives.

When people of God want to pray God gives them some instructions and guidance to them.

"When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood!" (Isaiah 1:15). God speaks in the fullness of His grace ("Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet"—Isaiah 1:18, etc.), by this we understand that the necessity of gracious purity in man: "Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!" (Isaiah 1:16-7).

Holiness comes in our lives when we turn away from our wickedness and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  God demands in our lives holiness, in the Old Testament many of the times God said I am the Lord your God Holy and you be holy.

Yes my dear friends as we are washed by the blood of the Lamb and made holy and even apostle Paul also says in Romans that we need to sacrifice our bodies as a living sacrifice.

So let’s make a practice that we need to be holy and God will certainly listen to our prayers and bring revival in our community and country.

PRINCIPLE 4:  Coming to Jesus Christ is receiving the holiness and makes a way for the eternal destiny to live with God forever.