The third key to revival is prayer.
Jer. 33:1 says, “Call upon Me and I will answer you.”
Prayer is the key to open the window and put us on the road to revival and seeing the glory of God. But I’m talking about practicing prayer with discipline. Being prepared to die to comforts or to die to your own plans in order to devote time to prayer.
Persist in prayer
Prayer takes time. This is why many do not know the power of prayer. We would rather pick a promise and stand upon it and claim it for our own. That kind of prayer is self-serving. God doesn’t get anything out of that kind of prayer.
God’s purpose is that we have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Why do we find it so difficult to understand something so simple? The men of God who have made an impact on the world have all been, without exception, constant and persistent in prayer. They were not satisfied with a few routine moments of daily prayer.
We are always ready to preach, read a book, or work for God. But when it comes to a life of prayer we realize that our old self shies away from it. We must overcome that tendency to pull away from times of prayer.
We have to silence all the voices that tempt us to give up our spiritual search.
The first few moments in prayer are the most difficult, especially if we have not been faithful in the discipline of prayer.
Our wills resist the weight of the cross. We want to quit and do other things. The secret is in staying with it whether or not we “feel” the blessing. We are to believe that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. (Heb.11:6)
Our praying does not have to follow a rigid method. But we need to long to meet with God alone in prayer. Good Christian music can inspire our worship. Reading the Word aloud opens up our inner being to the workings of the Holy Spirit. Plus it helps shut all other voices out.
You need to be persistent in seeking God’s face. It is very likely that after spending some time in prayer, you will experience the peace of the Holy Spirit.
When you are in the practice of praying, your burdens and anxieties are being handed over to the Lord.
But do not stop. It is only the beginning. Pray for Revival. Pray that God breaks your heart with the things that break His heart.
Than you will find that you are not the center of the universe. Your problems no longer occupy a predominant place I your life, and you can focus on God Himself and on your personal fellowship with Him.
Wait in the presence of God
Before Pentecost the disciples were ordered to wait. “Stay in the city (Jerusalem) until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49)
Before hearing God’s voice from the cloud of glory, Moses had to wait. “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you….’”
Obviously we do not like to wait. But waiting offers great benefits.
The search for God should not be based on our emotions, but on a daily and constant will to find Him. We often say, “Lord, show us your glory.” But our behavior doesn’t agree with the longing. We quickly give up the search.
When we really do long to see God’s glory, we are ready to wait in the presence of the Lord, to spend time with Him.
Even once the Lord has lit the fire of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we must keep the flame alive.
Leviticus 6:12-13 reminds us that “the fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings (or peace offerings) on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.”
In the tabernacle a priest had the daily responsibility of looking after the fire. He had to take away the ashes and add more wood each morning. We can imagine him on cold, early mornings hunting for wood in the desert, loading it on his shoulders, taking it to the altar, and putting it on the fire. His service provides us with a clear lesson. We cannot maintain our spirituality without effort and daily dedication.
It is a principle of nature that all fires tend to go out. Relationships can deteriorate if we do not tend to them. Even in the marriage relationship the flame of love has to be kept going. It has to have friendship, faithfulness, and companionship on a daily basis.
Our relationship with God is the same way. But you must “Draw near to Him.” I Thess. 5:19 exhorts us “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.” If we do not tend it, the fire goes out. We need to spend time with God, pursue God’s presence. We must remove the ashes of sin and worldliness and arrange our altar every day. God wants us to keep our spiritual fervor.
We must walk in daily fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Have you become lost in your religious routine or are you still radically in love with Jesus?
Many Christians become “professional worshipers”: he knows what happens in church; he learns a few Bible verses; he adopts some religious vocabulary; he serves God is a token aspect; and then he insists, “I know it all.”
We need to have a firm resolve to fan the flames of that first love today; and a determination to go to the altar of sacrifice and surrender our lives in prayer; pray for yourself, cleanse your heart, keep yourself pure, and free from worldly attitudes;
Pray for revival, pray for the strongholds in the area where you live and here in the neighborhood of the church; pray, pray, pray, God answers prayer.
Churches that are moving in the river are realizing their need for churches and ministries to unite together and pray, recreating the atmosphere of the Upper Room and believing God for a visitation of His Spirit. Friends we need a visitation of the Spirit of God.
Prayer is not a monologue but a majestic dialogue. But we have to learn to hear the voice of God. (ex. God told me to be still, be quiet one day)
It is imperative that we walk in the Spirit, submerged in the river of God. When we dive into the water, to a certain extent we lose the capacity to see and hear. Under the river of the Holy Spirit we stop hearing what the world says, it’s trivial remarks, it’s gossip. Nothing of that kind interests us then. We are intent on our intimate fellowship with the Holy Spirit. But as soon as we raise our heads above the level of the spiritual river, we hear once again the voice of the lying devil, the voice of discouragement. That is why we are to pray, “Lord, plunge me into Your river, Keep me there. I want to depend on you. I want to hear Your voice.”
Conclusion:
What keys are missing on your key chain?
What about your hunger level? He wants to rekindle that hunger in you. Does the Holy Spirit have all of you? He wants to rekindle that passion in you.
God is a jealous God, putting anything or anyone before Him is idolatry.
It’s time to smash the idols and live for God and God alone; that’s the beginning of a personal revival in your life.
It’s time to be consumed in our commitment and radical in our relationship.
Some people were on fire for hell, now they’re just lukewarm for heaven. It just doesn’t make sense.
God wants all of you.
The apostle Paul experienced wonderful things with the Lord. His marvelous conversion on the way to Damascus placed him face to face with Jesus Christ. His ministry witnessed the supernatural through revelations in the Word. Signs and wonders accompanied his preaching.
The passion produced in him consumed him to the point that he was willing to give up everything. His deepest long was set on the very person of his Savior and King Jesus Christ. He earnestly longed to know Him.
He said in Philipp. 3:7-8: “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”
What governs your heart?
Many Christians splash their feet in two inches of water when they could plunge down into the depths of God.
The people of Israel were immature in their relationship with God. In their pilgrimage through the desert, they did not seek God in order to love and obey Him. They were only interested in the benefits He could give them.
I don’t know about you today but there is a fire burning in me; it’s a hunger for more of God; to know God more intimately.
What about you? The immature Christian seeks only the Lord’s hands. (His benefits and blessings)
A spiritual Christian has his eyes set on the Lord’s face, on His very being.
Are you satisfied with the fringe benefits or do you want the entire package. I want God and all of God. I want more. I want to go deeper. I don’t intend to stay where I am. I know there’s more and I’m going after it. How about you?
The next key…. Worship
