“Revival Prayer”
INTRODUCTION: What is the FORMULA for REVIVAL? Prayer, Prayer, Prayer! It’s OK to pray for REVIVAL for this CHURCH … for a broader ministry … a deeper commitment … closer fellowship. BUT … all these are BY-PRODUCTS of a PERSONAL revival.
SOMETIMES … we pray to straighten out someone else. That’s why most people go to a marriage counselor … to straighten out their spouse. We often go into a marriage with the idea that we are going to change our mate. LADIES … how many of you thought you were going to CHANGE your husband, after you married him? It didn’t work, did it?
BUT … there is only 1 PERSON we can do anything about … OURSELVES! There is only 1 PERSON we can CHANGE … OURSELVES! If we, as INDIVIDUAL Christians, will be REVIVED … THEN … the CHURCH will be revived. REVIVAL isn’t a MASS happening … it’s an INDIVIDUAL happening.
WHAT SHOULD WE PRAY FOR … TO GET OUR HEARTS READY FOR REVIVAL?
Let’s see what JESUS prayed about … AND … look for some areas in OUR lives that might need to be REVIVED. In a few minutes, I will ask you to write down some specific areas in your life that need to be REVIVED. You can write them down, as the Holy Spirit brings these things to your mind.
TURN with me to John Chapter 17. What needs to be REVIVED in YOUR life?
1.- PRAYER LIFE – 17:1
If prayer was important to JESUS … how much more should prayer be to US! Nobody was more spiritual than Jesus … YET … He saw the need to be in constant touch with His Heavenly Father. Jesus saw the NEED for prayer – 16:32. You are never alone … AND … prayer lets us realize it. Maybe your PRAYER LIFE needs to be REVIVED.
2.- POWER – 17:2
Jesus had POWER … AND … when our PRAYER is lacking, so is our POWER. Peter Dynaka once said, “No prayer, no power … little prayer, little power … much prayer, much power.” Jesus knew where His power came from.
We need power to:
• Resist temptation.
• Witness.
• For Service.
• Victory over the Devil.
• Victory over habits.
• To live the Christian life.
MAYBE … this is an area in your life that needs to be REVIVED.
3.- RELATIONSHIP – 17:3
God wants you to “know Him” … in a real and personal way. He wants you to experience the PRESENCE OF GOD in your life every day … throughout the day. MAYBE … your relationship with Jesus needs to be REVIVED.
4.- PARTICIPATION – 17:4,18
Jesus was on His way to the cross when He prayed this prayer. He was PARTICIPATING in God’s plan. God didn’t put us here to be IDLE … BUT … to be ACTIVE in His plan. MAYBE … you don’t know God’s plan for your life (He has one!). MAYBE … you KNOW it … BUT … aren’t DOING it. MAYBE … your participation (or lack of participation) in God’s plan for your life needs to be REVIVED.
5.- DEVOTION – 17:5
NOTICE … Jesus wants to give “glory” to God in all that He does. He wanted EVERYTHING in His life to bring “glory” to God. Is this an area of your life that needs to be REVIVED? Is all that you think, say, do … pleasing to Him? MAYBE … our Christian life needs to be REVIVED … SO … we can give Him the “glory” that He deserves.
6.- TESTIMONY – 17:6
Jesus was a good testimony for God. He lived so others could see His Heavenly Father in Himself. Jesus once said (Jn. 14:9) – “He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father.” Do other people see Jesus in you? How’s your TESTIMONY? MAYBE … this is an area in your life that needs to be REVIVED.
7.- POSSESSIONS – 17:7
Jesus knew that everything He had, came from God. MAYBE … you are having a problem with “possessions” … BECAUSE OF … what you HAVE … OR … DON’T HAVE. MAYBE … your “possessions” have come between you and God. IF He isn’t in control of your “possessions” … THEN … MAYBE you need to turn them over to God. MAYBE … this is an area in your life that you need REVIVED.
8.- BIBLE STUDY – 17:8
Jesus gave us the “Word”. Are you in His Word? When you were a baby, your mother fed you “mush” … mushed carrots, mushed peas … mushed potatoes. BUT … when you got OLDER, you could eat ADULT food … like pizza, hot dogs, friend chicken! Some Christians are still on “baby food” … “mush”. MAYBE … your BIBLE STUDY needs to be REVIVED.
9.- PRIORITIES – 17:9-10
Jesus had His PRIORITIES right. He knew what God wanted … He knew God’s PRIORITIES. Is your PRIORITY … pleasing God? Are you letting other things take precedent in your life? Are you putting Jesus in the BACK SEAT … on the BACK BURNER?
We tend to take the EASY ROAD … the one with LESS CONFLICT … the path that’s headed our way. SOMETIMES … that path leads us away from Jesus. MAYBE … your PRIORITIES need to be REVIVED.
10.- PEACE – 17:11
Jesus is saying that when you are “at one” with the Father … you have “peace”. We are “in the world” … AND … as long as you look to the world for “peace” … you will never find it. Is there something in your life that you don’t have “peace” about? Is there something troubling you … keeping you awake at night … tearing at your heart and soul … eating at your stomach? You can buy sleep (it comes in a bottle …a pill). BUT … you can’t buy REST, PEACE. MAYBE … you have a need for that “peace” that comes only by God. MAYBE … your PEACE needs to be REVIVED.
11.- PERSEVERANCE – 17:12
Jesus said that He was faithful in guarding the souls of those who God had given Him. Jesus never gave up on anyone. He hasn’t given up on YOU. He will stick by you … UNTIL … you reach your Heavenly home. How’s your PERSEVERANCE? Have you GIVEN UP trying to live for Jesus? Have you GIVEN UP being faithful to your faith? MAYBE … your PERSEVERANCE needs to be REVIVED.
12.- JOY – 17:13
Have you lost the JOY of your Christian life? Christians should live a life of PRAISE … no matter the circumstances. WHY? BECAUSE … we have so much to be thankful for. Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit … a new nature … a relationship with Him … victory over sin and the Devil … a home in Heaven. BUT … we lose our JOY … WHEN … we take our eyes off of Jesus. MAYBE … your JOY needs to be REVIVED. MAYBE … you have taken your eyes off of Jesus.
13.- PURITY – 17:14-16,19
Jesus was not “of this world” (17:16). It’s EASIER to BLEND IN with this world … THAN … to STAND OUT. It’s less hassle … fewer persecutions … the easy road. BUT … like the PRODIGAL SON … IF you LIVE in the pig pen, you’ll soon start SMELLING like a pig … LIVING like a pig … ACTING like a pig.
Jesus only cared about 1 THING … to present a PURE LIFE to His Heavenly Father. MAYBE … there are some areas in your life that need to be CLEANSED … presented on the ALTAR … REVIVED. MAYBE … your PURITY needs to be REVIVED.
14.- BOND OF LOVE – 17:17, 21-23
NOTICE … the word “one”. Jesus and the Father were “one” … that is a BOND! You and I got off to a BAD START with “oneness with God” … WHEN … we were born in sin. BUT … if you are “born again” … you are joined to God in marriage as the “Bride of Christ” … a “oneness”.
HOWEVER … that “oneness” will not be fully realized until we get to Heaven. Only then, will we be in PERFECT UNITY. What about in the meantime? SOMETIMES … our Christian life is “hit and miss”. We just try to keep our heads above water. There is only 1 WAY to be at “oneness” with Christ … right now. AND THAT IS … to let Him live through you.
• He wants 1 WILL … HIS will.
• He wants 1 MIND … the MIND OF CHRIST.
• He wants 1 LOVE … HIS love.
• He wants 1 LIFE … HIS life living through you.
Do you lack that “bond of love” between you and Jesus? MAYBE … that’s something that needs to be REVIVED.
15.- PATIENCE – 17:24
Jesus had to have lots of PATIENCE. He was never restricted by time … UNTIL … He was born as a babe in Bethlehem. Jesus CREATED time … He is ETERNAL. The 33 years that Jesus lived on this earth must have seemed like an eternity to Him! BUT … Jesus was PATIENT … BECAUSE … He was in God’s timing.
We like to run ahead of God … not wait for God’s timing. We get impatient with God. BUT … His timing is always right … He’s always right on time. MAYBE … your PATIENCE needs to be REVIVED.
16.- PARDON – 17:25
Jesus called God His “righteous” Father. God is “righteous” … BECAUSE … He pardons sin. Is there some SIN in your life that is keeping you from REVIVAL? Is there a SIN in your life that is stealing your victory and joy? Some SIN that is keeping you from fellowship with Him? MAYBE … REPENTANCE is what needs to be REVIVED in your life.
17.- LOVE – 17:26
Jesus was sensitive to the needs of others. Are we as loving as we ought to be?
To GOD … who SAVED us?
To JESUS … who DIED for us?
To OTHERS … their needs and feelings?
MAYBE … our LOVE is in need of REVIVAL.
CONCLUSION: Have you been challenged by the Holy Spirit tonight to offer something to God for REVIVAL? Has the Holy Spirit placed a NEED on your heart? THEN … give it to God … offer it up to Him … THAT … He might accept the desire of your heart … AND … give you REVIVAL. “You have not, because you ask not.”
You have been given a pencil and a piece of paper. Think of something that you see in your life that needs to be REVIVED. Write it down. Fold the paper, and place it in the fire that we have here at the altar. Listen to Leviticus 8:28 – “And Moses took them from off their hands, and burnt them on the altar upon the burnt offering: they were consecrations for a sweet savour: it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord.”
Give your need to God. Place it into the fire as a sweet smelling offering to God. Ask Him to REVIVE that need in your heart and life.
THE LORD’S SUPPER.
OUTLINE FOR HANDOUT:
“Revival Prayer”
INTRODUCTION: John Chapter 17
WHAT NEEDS TO BE REVIVED IN YOUR LIFE?
1.- PRAYER LIFE – 17:1, 16:32
- Jesus saw the need for prayer … how much MORE us!
2.- POWER – 17:2
- Is there power lacking in your life … due to lack of prayer?
3.- RELATIONSHIP – 17:3
- Are you experiencing a relationship with Jesus constantly?
4.- PARTICIPATION – 17:4,18
- Are you participating in God’s plan for your life?
5.- DEVOTION – 17:5
- Is your life devoted to bring “glory” to God?
6.- TESTIMONY – 17:6
- Do others see Jesus in you?
7.- POSSESSIONS – 17:7
- Are your possessions, or lack of them, turned over to God?
8.- BIBLE STUDY – 17:8
- Are you still on “baby food” … or into the meat of His Word?
9.- PRIORITIES – 17:9-10
- Have you put Jesus on the front burner of your life?
10.- PEACE – 17:11
- Have you been looking for peace in this world … or in Christ?
11.- PERSEVERANCE – 17:12
- Have you given up trying to live the Christian life?
12.- JOY – 17:13
- Have you lost the joy of your Christian life?
13.- PURITY – 17:14-16,19
- Are there some areas in your life that need cleansing?
14.- BOND OF LOVE – 17:17,21-23
- Is there a “bond of love” between you and Jesus?
