heaven's tree book club

October 9, 2012

Intercessor and Revival

Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! - Isaiah 64:1-2

Revival is something I have thought a lot about. IVCF was big on praying for revival but they appear to be in the minority. The Baptist and Methodist churches I have been a part of never talked or prayed for revival. In this season of droubt in my life revival is something I pray and long for both personally and globally. This is now my fourth day of fasting and I am almost to the end of the book and I am thinking about looking at fasting next since it fits well with learning about prayer. I feel fine today, a little bit better than yesterday. However, I was not well enough to join my dad and go down to the bay area which saddens me because this is now the second time.

"All the true revivals have been born in prayer. When God's people become so concerned about the state of religion that they lie on their faces day and night in earnest supplication, the blessing will be sure to fall. - E. M. Bounds, f. M. Bounds on Prayer'

"Behind the concept of revival is the Hebrew word chayah, which means "to live." In Strong's Concordance, the word is translated "make alive, nourish up, preserve, quicken, recover, repair, restore, save, keep alive and make whole."2 Who among us does not desire that the church be quickened, made whole, preserved, and kept alive? We must pray with heartfelt passion for this to happen. And it will. When the church is revived, she will be stronger and mightiet against the powers of darkness. She will be a brighter light in this dark world. She will be victorious and attract the lost.

When revival hit Wales, the whole community was shaken by the power of God. Crowds would go to the prayer meetings at 6:00 a.m. Because the Holy Spirit affected many people, the entire community was soon turned into a praying multitude. Evan Roberts, the young man God greatly used in the Welsh Revival, would speak of four tenets or keys to walking in revival. These are helpful as we seek personal and corporate revival in our own lives:

 1.   The past must be made clear by sin being confessed to God and every wrong to man put right.

 2.   Every doubtful thing in the life must be put away.

 3.   There must be prompt obedience to the Holy Spirit.

 4.   There must be public confession of Christ.3

We live in serious times. We need to cry out fervently to God, asking Him to revive His church worldwide. We need to be in intensive prayer, asking God to move in our cities and nations. Studying the characteristics of revival will help us prepare both personally and corporately for a great move of God in His church. Understanding the deep need to prepare our own hearts for revival and learning how to cooperate with God as He pours into the earth will keep us from hindering the move of God as it comes."

The four pieces of revival can be summarized as being right with God and setting things right with man. I like the definition of revival. Yes, who would not want to see the church whole and made alive so that she would be radient and draw many people to Christ. I totally see that the church is sick today and very weak. I mean even when I attend a megachurch with ten thousand, and worship is full of loud music, that does not determine spiritual vitality. It is the state of people’s hearts. We can have ten thousand gather for a rock concert but it does not mean people are close to God. Sadly, in the church I attend, I see no evidence of spiritual vitality. People don’t like to pray and are indifferent to spending time in the word. There is no confession of sin or hunger for God. Yes, I see more and more that the church is dying today and we need revival.

"Spiritual Preparation. Unity and prayer are two key elements needed for revival. We must pay this price of spiritual preparation. Revival will not come without a hunger and thirst for God that brings intense prayer. There must be a longing to see Him manifest and for His glory. We cannot be indifferent or apathetic but must rend our hearts with the cries that are born by the yearnings in God's heart.

Forty days after Jesus ascended to heaven, His followers obediently prepared for spiritual revival: "They all joined together constantly in prayer" (Acts 1:14).

Conviction of Sin. In true revival, people are seized by an overwhelming conviction of sin. Even the smallest sin seems big. Sin is not taken lightly, and God deals with both the saved and the lost. Revival is intensely personal; God convicts you of personal sin, and your soul is in the agonizing grip of a holy God. Often there is weeping because of the awful conviction of sin. In one revival, the hearers were holding themselves up against the sides of the pews because they felt as if they were sliding into the pit.

The writer of Acts tells us about that first revival crowd, "They were cut to the heart" (Acts 2:37).

God-Consciousness. In revival, there is a consciousness of God, an awareness of His holiness and power. People caught up in revival know without a doubt that God is there. They feel a divine magnetism toward His presence. Evangelist Winkie Pratney reminds us, "There was nothing humanly speaking, to account for what happened. Quite suddenly, upon one and another came an overwhelming sense of the reality and awfulness of His Presence and of eternal things. Life, death and eternity seemed suddenly laid bare."4

On the day of Pentecost, "everyone was filled with awe" (Acts 2:43).

May God prepare each of us to pay the price for revival — the price of fervent prayer and allowing Him to work deeply in our lives. Let us ask Him to make us conscious of His presence and learn to abide in Him moment by moment. Pray that He will convict us of even the smallest sin in our lives. Press on in prayer and

God consciousness Is something I have prayed for months. Right now, God seems so silent. I don’t see or feel Him. Back in grad school, I sensed His nearness and power often. I had courage and wisdom in doing things I would never be able to do apart from Him. Now, I feel weak, afraid, and discouraged most of the time. I don’t see God’s power and certainly not His healing. I long to see God heal me completely and to see God heal the multitudes. I have an assignment for seminary that asks if we think the Holy Spirit still heals today because the position of our textbook is saying that the healing gift ended when the apostles finished writing the NT. Many of my classmates think healing exists today while I am undecided.

   

"God must prepare us, His church, personally and corporately for the self-sacrifice that revival entails. May we not draw back but prepare to lay hold of this glorious end-time outpouring of God with all our hearts as the radiant bride of Christ who is willing to sacrifice all so that people might be saved."

Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, 0 Lord, and grant us your salvation. -Psalm 85:6-7

"Let's look at the way God works supernaturally in revival.

Spontaneous and Unexpected Working. The Welsh Revival came dramatically in November 1904 on the exact day in both the north and the south of the country. There were no special organizations, meetings, or preaching involved when the Welsh Revival started. It started suddenly and spontaneously.

Luke described the sudden revival that swept Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost: "And suddenly there came" (Acts 2:2, nasb).

Supernatural Manifestations. God can do in a moment what human strivings can never achieve. It is God's divine supernatural work and not man's. In one revival in 1859, there were sudden, supernatural, and extraordinary manifestations. Pratney describes for us, "They were still taken by surprise, so sudden, so powerful and extraordinary were the manifestations of the Spirit's Presence. . . . About one thousand people were suddenly, sensibly and powerfully impressed and awakened."6

Luke reminds us of the origin of the Pentecost revival: "There came from heaven" (Acts 2:2, nasb).

Divine Drawing. There is a divine consciousness in revival, a divine drawing from God. Winkie Pratney again helps us understand this process:

As one man was praying, all present became aware that the prayer was heard and that the Spirit of God was being poured out on the village. They left their house to discover the villagers also were leaving their cottages and making their way, as though drawn by some unseen force, to one point in the village. There they assembled and waited. When Duncan Campbell commenced to preach, the word took immediate effect. In a few days, the small community had been swept by the Spirit of God and many souls truly converted.7

Luke reminds us that what began in a private gathering soon captured the attention of a city: "When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment" (Acts 2:6).

Will your testimony of love toward Jesus and your fervent prayer spark the end-times revival? Or will it be all of us together testifying to our love for God and earnestly praying in unity that will prepare the way for God to spread the supernatural flame that will touch the world?

On an unexpectedly cold day, I had to start a fire in our wood- stove to keep warm. The big logs wouldn't catch fire, but it was the tiny twigs broken together that seemed to catch hold of the match's flame. Quickly the fire blazed. Let us each realize that we must be broken, united in prayer, and bent on God's glory alone to be prepared for the release of the fire of God and His supernatural workings. May God personally touch each of us so that we might be the twigs broken together in prayer before Him. Let us do our part, and our Sovereign God will do His in His own timing and way."

I like the part that talks about suddenly. Revival comes suddenly. It is unexpected because God is unexpected. We try to put God into some formula and He does not work that way. God comes upon a church and community suddenly and with an overwhelming sense of His presence. I want to see an end times revival happen in our time. Many think it is close. Right now in the midst of this election month, our country is a bit of a mess. Could this be a possible time of God’s visitation. I sure hope so.

"Revival is divine intervention in the normal course of spiritual things. It is God revealing Himself to man in awful holiness and irresistible power. It is such a manifest working of God that human personalities are overshadowed, and human programs abandoned. It is man retiring into the background because God has taken the field. It is the Lord making bare His holy arm and working in extraordinary power on saint and sinner. - Winkie Pratney, "The Nature of Revival"

Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in. every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God's salvation. -Luke 3:4-6

We are right now living in desperate days. The church in many parts of the world needs revival, and God wants to use each one of us to prepare the way for His moving. It is truly time to cry out to the Lord. The valleys of defeat must be filled, the mountains of disbelief must be leveled, the crooked places of dishonesty must be straightened, and the rough places of disobedience must be made smooth. Almost twenty-five years ago, I wrote in my personal newsletter the following paragraph, and I find that today I must still ask myself the same questions.

"Am I desperate enough for revival?" "Do I realize the desperate condition of my country?" And if I trust in religious organization, material wealth, popular preaching, shallow evangelistic crusades, there will never be revival. But when confidence in my flesh is smashed and I realize my desperate wretchedness and emptiness before God, then and only then will God break through. "Lord, make me ready for revival. Revive me." I challenge you to join me in prayer for revival for our lives and for the nations. I call for prayer that is strong, prevailing, and believing and that takes all that we are and have. God Himself will motivate us to pray these prayers that have extraordinary consequences if we are only willing, willing to pay the price. Pray that God may fill us all with the very passion of Christ and with the power and persistence of the Holy Spirit."

"How do we personally prepare for revival? Andrew Murray encourages us:

The coming revival must begin with a great prayer revival. It is in the closet, with the door shut, that the sound of abundant revival will be first heard. An increase in the secret prayer of ministers and members will be the sure herald of blessing.8

Prepare Yourself in the Way of Blessing Through Intensive Prayer. Pray with all your heart, asking God to enlarge your prayer and worship life. Make time for God, and practice fasting. Remember God's words, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray . . ." (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Be Serious About Personal Revival. Instead of watching TV, pray. Don't get caught up in the ways of the world. Lay aside those worldly pursuits. The rest of 2 Chronicles 7:14 reads, "and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

Become Dissatisfied with Sin, and Ask God to Convict Your Heart. Be sensitive to His conviction.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)

Revival begins with us. It is all of us individually getting our lives straight and turning from the crooked paths. Just as we experienced personal conviction on our ship when we were bobbing up and down outside of New Zealand, God is dealing with His church. Take seriously the need for personal revival. Take seriously the need for prayer."

Prayer:

Father, I am hungry tonight and it is not just the hunger of fasting for four days, but a hunger for more of You. I want to see revival in me and in my church and city. Our city and nation is a mess. We are an unclean people that have gone our own way. I am an unclean man and my thoughts are not towards the common good. I think of how I can accumulate wealth and my heart is not focused singly on You. I see my deep need for You moment by moment for I am a sinful man. I hunger for Your presence and power to heal and bring hope to me and my community. I have so many doubts because I have not seen Your healing power in my life. I pray in the awesome name of Jesus that You bring healing to my body that my unbelieving mom and brother will see Your power to heal and be touched with an overwhelming sense of Your presence and power. I long to personally see the sudden manifestation of Your glory and strength to do the impossible in healing intervention. I want to believe the promises of Your word especially those promises of healing. Lord Jesus, You healed all who came to You and so I come to You tonight for healing.