Revival!

Revival

2 Chronicles 7:14

John Basham, ?Prayer is the backbone of a revival.... Instead of substituting new ideas such as religious films or social entertainment, why not really try the God-given method for revivals: ?Pray without ceasing???

Definitions: Revival is always extraordinary... Revival is God’s finger pointed right at me... Revival is the inrush of the Spirit into a body that threatens to become a corpse... During times of revival ... prayer flows more easily. Preaching is more powerful. Guidance is more vivid.

I. Revival is for God?s people ? ?If my people... called by my name... ?

A. God?s ownership

B. God?s family

II. Revival involves four ingredients

A. Humility

1. A young woman went to her pastor and said, "Pastor, I have a besetting sin, and I want your help. I come to church on Sunday and can’t help thinking I’m the prettiest girl in the congregation. I know I ought not think that, but I can’t help it. I want you to help me with it." The pastor replied, "Mary, don’t worry about it. In your case it’s not a sin. It’s just a horrible mistake."

2. Humility means two things. One, a capacity for self-criticism. ...The second feature is allowing others to shine, affirming others, empowering and enabling others. Those who lack humility are dogmatic and egotistical. That masks a deep sense of insecurity. They feel the success of others is at the expense of their own fame and glory. If criticism is put forward, they are not able to respond to it. And this produces, of course, an authoritarian sensibility.

3. (Philippians 2:3) "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."

4. (1 John 1:8-10) "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. {9} If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. {10} If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."

B. Prayer

1. Charles Haddon Spurgeon - Prayer pulls the rope below and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly. Others give but an occasional pluck at the rope. But he who wins with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously, with all his might.

2. (Luke 18:1) "And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;"

3. (Matthew 7:7) "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:"

4. R.A. Torrey, ?Some years ago we often sang a hymn, "Take Time to Be Holy." I wish we sang it more in these days. It takes time to be holy; one cannot be holy in a hurry, and much of the time that it takes to be holy must go into secret prayer. Some people express surprise that professing Christians today are so little like their Lord, but when I stop to think how little time the average Christian today puts into secret prayer the thing that astonishes me is, not that we are so little like the Lord, but that we are as much like the Lord as we are.?

5. My responsibility is to pray, God’s responsibility is to heal. If he chooses not to do so, then he’s responsible for that.

C. Desire ? ?seek My Face?

1. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180) -The true worth of a man is to be measured by the objects he pursues.

2. (2 Chronicles 15:15) "And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about."

3. The core problem is not that we are too passionate about bad things, but that we are not passionate enough about good things.

4. (1 Chronicles 16:11) "Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually."

5. A.W. Tozer, ?If we yearned after God even as much as a cow yearns for her calf, we would be the worshipping and effective believers God wants us to be. If we longed for God as a bride looks forward to the return of her husband, we would be a far greater force for God than we are now.?

D. Repentance

1. Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983) - An unrepented sin is a continued sin.

2. (Proverbs 28:13) "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."

3. Gordon MacDonald, ?Repentance is not basically a religious word. It comes from a culture where people were essentially nomadic and lived in a world with no maps or street signs. It’s easy to get lost walking through the desert. You become aware that the country side is strange. You finally say to yourself, I’m going in the wrong direction. That’s the first act of repentance. The second act of repentance is to go in an alternate direction. It implies that you not only do this but you admit it to your companions.