While the primary interpretation is for the nation of Israel, its application is for the Church today. Israel was to be unto the Lord a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex 19:6). They were to declare His glory to the nations.
But how could Israel impact and influence the nations, if they themselves needed to repent and return to the Lord? So it is with the church today. If we want America to repent and return to God, then the Church must first repent and return to God.
In verse 14, God gives us Seven Steps to Revival – certain conditions we must meet in order to experience genuine revival, personally and collectively.
STEP#1 "If" – The CONDITION.
It is such a little word, but everything hinges on it. If we really desire revival it must be on God’s terms, not ours; God’s way, not our way.
In the context, there is a sense of urgency – desperation (v 13).
Vance Havner wrote, "The situation is desperate, but the saints are not." We need to be desperate for revival.
R. G. Lee, a fiery Baptist evangelist of a previous generation, said it correctly when he wrote,…
If all the sleeping folk will wake up,
If all the lukewarm folk will fire up,
If all the dishonest folk will fess up,
If all the disgruntled folk will smile up,
If all the depressed folk will cheer up,
If all the estranged folk will make up,
If all the gossipers will shut up,
If all true soldiers will stand up,
If all the dry bones will shake up,
If all the church members will pray up...
Then we can have a revival!
STEP #2 "My people" – The CHRISTIAN.
Revival begins with God’s people – PERIOD! Not the unsaved. Not America as a whole. Not in Congress or the Senate. But with God’s people.
We cannot blame society, government, schools, or any secular individuals for the absence of revival.
STEP #3 "Which are called by my name" – The CHURCH.
At least 17 times in chapters 6 and 7, God refers to His name.
As a Church, we bear God’s name.
We are "Called-out ones." We have been called-out by God, unto God, and for God.
STEP #4 "Shall humble themselves" – The CONTRITION.
Contrition is a deep and intense sorrow for sin. It is being broken before God.
Psalm 51:17 "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."
1 Peter 5:5 "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
STEP #5 "And pray" – The COMMUNICATION.
Every aspect of prayer: confession, praise, petition, intercession, adoration.
STEP #6 "And seek My face" – The CONTEMPLATION.
A deliberate focus on God; Search Him out in prayer; Strive after Him.
Psalm 18:1-3 “I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. 3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.”
Psalm 63:1 "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;"
STEP #7 "And turn from their wicked ways" – The CONFESSION.
Sensitivity to sin, within and without, characterizes the one who walks with God.
1 John 1:8-10 "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and the truth is not in us."
To confess our sin means:
1. To say the same thing about sin that God says.
2. To agree with God as to all the results of sin.
3. A genuine sense of guilt because of it.
4. A determination to put it out of our life once and for all.
CONCLUSION: If we set these 7 Steps to Revival in motion, what will the result be?
“The Lord will hear from heaven, And will forgive our sin, And will heal our land.”
This is a promise from God Himself – The Lord of heaven.
