Friday 12 August 2016

Praying for Revival. ~ Ganeida

Technically revival is to impart new life to that which is almost dead.  In this sense you can only impart new life to that which once had life.  Thus you cannot revive a car that has no engine for example but you can revive a dying fire or a drowning man. 

Spiritual  Revival, in its truest sense, begins with the church because true revival is when God comes down & that becomes inevitable when God’s people get right with God.  This is not at all the same thing as the salvation of souls that have never been awake to the things of the Spirit.  However I believe the 2 things go hand in hand.  We are never going to see the great harvest of souls we envisage without the manifest presence of God in our midst because God is the One who gives life ~ & we are not going to have the fullness of God’s presence so long as we are not completely right with Him.

Oh, that you [Almighty God] would rend the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might shake at your presence. (Isa. 64:1)

When God comes down, things happen!  They happened at Pentecost.  God came down & the Holy Spirit flooded the city of Jerusalem.  Courage replaced fear; Humility replaced arrogance & 3 000 came under the conviction of the Holy Spirit when Peter preached.

Malachi 3:6 says: For I am the Lord, I change not…Don’t ever let anyone try to convince you that God is not the same yesterday, today & forever. Hebrews 13:8 says He is, therefore if we seek the face of God we have every right to expect that He will show up & great things, marvellous things, will take place just as the scriptures tell us they do. However the temptation is to seek what God can do for us rather than seeking God for Himself alone.  I, like many of you, have friends & family who do not yet know the Lord & I desperately want to see them come into the Kingdom but the scripture is clear:  Seek ye first the kingdom of God & His righteousness & all these things shall be added unto you. [Matthew 6:33]

So the First part of positioning ourselves correctly to receive the manifestation of God’s presence is holiness,  our understanding that having been called out of the Kingdom of Darkness into His glorious light we have been sanctified, set apart, reserved for God’s particular call & use of our lives for His purposes & none other. We have taught & taught on holiness because without it no~one can see God.[Hebrews 12:14]

The 2nd thing is absolute Truth.
“For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth."  It matters to God who we think He is.  So much so that when the king of Assyria resettled the land of Samaria with foreigners after the Israelites went into exile the people complained they were being attacked by lions because they did not know how to worship the God of Israel correctly. 27 The king of Assyria then commanded, “Send one of the exiled priests back to Samaria. Let him live there and teach the new residents the religious customs of the God of the land.” 28 So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria returned to Bethel and taught the new residents how to worship the Lord. 2Kings 17:27 

Yet in Jesus time we find the Samaritans still had a muddled understanding of God John 4:22 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.

Holiness & Truth are important when it comes to praying for the salvation of others. Firstly we need to understand the truth of our position as a beloved child of God.

Ephesians 2:6 says: For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.

Understand again that we are Christ’s body; He is the head.  The head & the body are one.  If we died to this life, our real life is hidden with Christ in God. [Colossians 3:5]Where is Christ?  Seated at the right hand of the Father. The right hand is the position of authority & rulership Romans5:17 says; For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

Understand that we are to come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:16

Never is there greater need than when we approach the Throne of Grace on the behalf of others & their salvation.  We remember the basic principles of prayer: to ask in Jesus name; to pray in faith; to obey.  We pray with expectation knowing that whatever we ask for in Jesus name will be done! John 14:13

We know the Lord’s will in this matter & that should give us great confidence when we approach the Father.
The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 2Peter 3:9

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 1 Timothy 2:1

Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. Romans 10:1

When we undertake this work of striving for the souls of others we are closest to the heart of God for as David Livingstone said:
“God had only one Son and he made that Son a missionary.”

Let us understand once & for all that Christ was sent with just one mission ~ to save the lost. You don’t need to leave your house, your family or your country to be a missionary but you do need to do 2 things: get down on your knees & pray for the salvation of others & open your mouth to proclaim the good news to others.

We have Jesus example to guide & encourage us.  We have His example of teaching, preaching & healing but because we know the end of the story we tend to forget that Jesus laboured for His harvest in a very human way & you could not in all honesty say it was a resounding success. He preached to thousands.  He taught in the synagogue continually.  He performed miracles & healings.  He trained disciples to carry on His work but at the end of the day He was to be found weeping over Jerusalem. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God's messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me. Luke 13:34 In the end not even his disciples stood with Him. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message…John 13:16

I do not say this to discourage you. Rather you need Jesus vision. Isaiah 53:11 Of the labour of his soul he seeth -- he is satisfied,
The context is the cross. What Jesus sees is the salvation of the many He has come to redeem & He is satisfied. The Hebrew translated satisfied is  śâba‛ & it means to be completely sated.     So we are not to be discouraged.  When Jesus hung on that cross outside Jerusalem & suffered to bring us home to the Father He saw you & I coming into His Kingdom ~ & in our wake He saw all those we are labouring for now & has prepared us for this labour blessing us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.[Eph1:3]&  By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. 2 Peter 1:3

That should greatly encourage us.  God Himself has prepared us for this time & has given us everything we need to bring in His harvest.  What’s more the gifts & callings of God are irrevocable! [Romans 11:29] What He has given He is not going to ask for back.

Now it may seem to you that I have not talked very much about praying for revival. This is not true.  We sometimes speak of a *bronze ceiling* in prayer, that state in which it seems our prayers bounce back to us unheard & unanswered & we experience no victory in our Christian walk. Disobedience & a lack of faith will commonly produce such an experience so it is important that we understand how to be effective in our prayers, praying from our position of authority as the sons & daughters of the Most High.

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. [Eph 6:12]

Now I want to point out that heavenly is epouranios in the Greek & is referring to the upper regions of the air. So between us & the 3rd heaven where God dwells there is a raging spiritual battle happening that we can’t actually see. This battle can hinder our prayers & it is one reason why we are told to walk by faith.  If we are right with God He always hears us & hurries to answer but His answers have to come through the minefield of the heavenlies so it is important we stand in faith; that we stay in faith; that we continue to believe because   faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews11:1

So to pray for the salvation of others is to partner with the Holy Spirit to accomplish the will & purpose of the Father.  We cannot pray amiss when we pray for another’s salvation because we have the Father’s word that He does not desire that any should perish. We have His command to pray for all people.  We have His promise that we have been given all we need to accomplish this task.

And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. 1 John 5:15


We have Jesus example to guide us.  Go thou & do likewise!

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