Christians often mourn the decline of our influence in culture. These days followers of Christ seem like they are on the defensive against the ever pressing, ever growing force of secularism. Why do surveys show the increasing growth of people who claim no religious affiliation? Why does the church see a rising exodus of young people from their membership rolls? It seems that there is a missing force in Christianity today-one that energized the early Christians as their mission spread and their influence grew in the early centuries of the church’s expansion into the Greco-Roman world. The missing force can be found in Christ’s final command to his followers to disciple all nations (Matthew 28:18-20).
Christians have lost their influence in the nations because we are no longer committed to discipling the nations. A disciple can simply be defined as a person who has decided that following Jesus Christ takes precedence over everything else. Or, put another way, a disciple is one who has submitted all of their lives under the rule of Christ for the advancement of His kingdom. This is our mission statement both for individual believers and the corporate church. Christ has placed us in our homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces to fulfill the mission to disciple all people. To accomplish this mission we will need an intentional, clear strategy for how to teach others to bring their life under the rule of Christ. That is the focus of this course as we call believers and churches back to our primary responsibility of being and making kingdom-focused disciples.
Well, maybe we need to look inward to make a difference outward.
Within the heart of each of us is longing for new season of spiritual refreshing...sort of a personal revival maybe and God has given us His recipe for a revival in our hearts and He has it written in 2 Chronicles 7:14. (read from bible) And if we follow it and put it to practice it will result in a spirit, renewing us and enabling us to soar to spiritual places some of us have never known. So what's in this recipe?
God's Desire, "IF" my people". How long do you think God has been waiting, longing and willing to send a new spirit of revival to His people? Yet, He does not want to overrule our own free will He, Himself give us. Now in the real sense of things revival is always the sovereign work of our Almighty God and it's also conditional. The bible says "IF"...if My people...certain conditions have to be met before certain results will happen. God longs to send revival to us and it's not a miracle. It's simply God's promised response to condition met.
God's Design, if "MY" people. Revival is conditional of God's own people and His invitation is right there in front of us...if "MY" people. The story of any revival in history begins when God's people become convicted of neglect and begins cry out to the Throne of God for a fresh wind of His Spirit. Reading the history of revivals reveals that they often start with one man or woman who becomes desperate for what the psalmist called "fresh oil" in Psalm 92:10. God's problem today is not the lost, but His own people. Many will point at the decay of culture as being decline of our moral fabric, influence of secular and downright godless factors all around us. God, however reveals the issue is not them...it's us. Jesus said gives a reminder of this in Matthew 7:3-5 (bible).
God's Demand, "humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways". The demand calls first for His people to "HUMBLE THEMSELVES" to recognize and confess their need to seek Him in all things. The second is He calls for His people to pray, but not mere repetitive simple prayer...He wants an earnest calling out to Him from the depths of the heart and soul. History also shows that true revival has been born and cradled in the place of prayer. Think about what we read of the early church in Acts 4:31. (bible) Next God demands that we "seek "HIS" face"...what did He say to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 29:13? (bible) If believers today spent as much time seeking His face as they do His hand we'd be in the midst of a revival to rival the earlier verse from Acts. The problem may be that we spend to much time praying for something from His hand in the way of material or physical needs or worse just wants, while we spent little time seeking Him...seeking His face. God's demand includes turning away from our "wicked ways". Sin that is unconfessed thus unforgiven is THE greatest obstacle to revival. In Proverbs 28:13 (bible) Solomon tells us not only are we to confess our sins but we must also forsake them.
This is the type of prayer needed...a begging, pleading prayer. In the position of travail because we're trying to give birth to a miracle.
(1 Kings 18...41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. 43 And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. 44 And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’” 45 And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. 46 And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.)
And finally we get to God's delight. "I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land". God's delight is to forgive and cleanse us of our sin. Why? So that we might receive all that the cross of Christ involves, so that as far as we might be personally concerned, His death would not have been in vain. God delights more in healing our hearts and homes than it seems we do at times. He is willing, waiting and longing to be faithful and fulfill His promise...we just have to get the ingredients correct before He will.
Let's study and meditate on the fact personal revival, while it's God's work, it's also conditional. God has given us His personal recipe for personal revival and our part is not that hard...it simply call for us to follow directions.
Lord, we humbly ask, that you send Revival to all the nations of the Earth. Lord, send your power to the North, South, East and West. Let your people submit to your Name. Let your people rally together, from every part of the Earth, to call upon Your Name
