The Spirit of Prayer in Revival

"feel revival in my spirit"

Message no. 3 in the series on “Revival. (Rom 8:22-27) preached by Senior Pastor Rev Fred David on Sunday 29 January, morning & evening worships.

INTRODUCTION:

Revival prayer if different from our daily prayers. We have to come to a new realization of our problem. Firstly that we do not fully understand the will of God as revealed in the Bible. Secondly, we have become so ignorant of the many promises and prophecies in the Bible that results, thirdly, in our inability of seeing God’s leading through the Holy Spirit. Revival prayer is praying what is deep in the heart of God. The prophet Jeremiah says, “You will seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart” (Jer 29:13) Paul as he writes to the Christians in Rome, he sees the whole creation groaning and in pain as if at childbirth. There is a spiritual darkness that must be broken if Revival is to come.

1. SEARCHING THE HEART:

If our prayers are to be effective that there needs to be perfect accord and harmony with God. Thus, our minds must be in tune with God. Our hearts must be aligned with the heart of God. Because in the heart of God is always the concern for man’s salvation. To know the heart of God is also to allow the Holy Spirit to penetrate deep into our own inner beings. This is where the spirit’s ministry of intercession lies. Our hearts must be exposed to the Holy Spirit for us to experience the magnitude of the spirit’s searching. It is then that the Lord begins to lay upon our hearts names and people that we need to pray for salvation. But always our motives must be pure and clear. Paul says that people must have hope in this world of darkness.

2. SHARPENING OF THE BELIEVER:

Revival is serious business. It requires, sacrifice, commitment and hard work. The church must be at the cutting edge of the Gospel. Thus we must sow on ground that is fertile. We must bring in the harvest when the time comes. It must be a hundred fold. Thus God will provide opportunities for us. The Spirit knows that we are weak and this reality must be confronted even as Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted. We must take these temptations as opportunities that God has put in our way to strengthen and prepare us for the coming revival. When revival comes it will bring with it all sorts of people, with all sorts of motives and with all sorts of expectations. The Church and God’s people must be ready to minister to them. So we are also to expect opposition as we wait for God to work. These times will bring frustration and disappointment. But it is in these times that we are called to pray more fervently The challenge is whether we will still be obedient and faithful to God. It may seem so ridiculous and silly to want to continue to trust God in these times. Look at Moses, having to go back to Egypt, Abraham to believe that Sarah would conceive, Jesus to choose the cross and Paul to surrender to be in chains. Yet it is they who have  impacted the world because of their obedience to God.

3. STEERING THE PRAYER HEAVENWARDS.

Prayers to be effective must go “heavenwards”  In Daniel Chapter 10, Daniel is in the midst of deep spiritual warfare. He calls on God for help but his prayers are only answered after 21 days. The Archangel Micheal explains that there is a war in the heavens. Prayers that will go heavenwards is when the Holy Spirit searches and pierces the depths of our hearts, then taking all our desires and turns them into prayers. Paul says that it is when our words and prayers  are inexpressible, the Holy Spirit prays for us, transforming them into recognizable,tangible and understandable prayers, giving them form and content. Revival prayers must always be truthful, drenched and filled with tears. No lies and no pretense, just the awesomeness of God that overwhelms us to tears for the lost soul, who is unrepentant. We are standing in the gap for this person that he will come to the saving knowledge of Christ. In the testing that takes place all that really matters, is that God’s will be done. We are again reminded in the Lord’s Prayer, “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”

CONCLUSION:

To see revival in our generation, the church must move to a new dimension of prayer. Where prayer is a daily encounter, seeing the release of power in our faith, ministries and  a powerful presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.