Tag Archives: revival

Christian Life, ,

SHOULD WE PRAY FOR REVIVAL?

“The word “revival” is from the Hebrew word chayah and means “to bring back to life,” to “restore to consciousness,” or to “restore to a previous condition.” As stated in the Bible, it means a restoration, rejuvenation, or renewal of interest after spiritual neglect, oblivion, or obscurity.” 09 Jan 2018

There are many references to and prayers for revival in the Psalms and Prophets, eg,

“Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?”

Psalms 85:6 NLT

‘Zion will be restored by justice; those who repent will be revived by righteousness.”

Isaiah 1:27 NLT

but we must remember 2 things:

1. The Israelites in the Old Testament were still dead in their sins and under the Law. Revival relates particularly to what is dead or dying. The Israelites, in the main, were still spiritually dead and it was then, therefore, legitimate to pray that God would revive them.

However, Isaiah’s prophecy quoted, above relates to new birth in the New Covenant.

We live under the New Covenant and must therefore be guided by the writings in the New Testament Scriptures.

2. God’s people are spiritually alive if they have been born again by God’s Spirit. We cannot ask God to make them alive if they are already alive.

“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 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.”

Ephesians 2:4-6 NLT

Let’s look at the writings of the Apostles in the New Testament. How did they pray for the church?

Paul based his prayers for the churches on who God is and what He has done for us in Jesus.

1. There is not a single prayer for revival in the New Testament.

The Apostle Paul in particular, ofter wrote about his  prayers for the churches.

2. Paul prayed for God’s people, that they would have spiritual wisdom and insight, enlightenment and understanding about what God had done for them in Jesus.

“Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him… “

Ephesians 1:15-19a NLT

3. Paul prayed that God’s people would know God’s love in all its dimensions.

“When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,  the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

Ephesians 3:14-19 NLT.

3.Paul prayed and encouraged God’s people to grow in love for one another.

“We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 NLT

4. Paul exhorted the people to continue to grow in their walk with the Lord.

“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”

Colossians 2:6-7 NLT

5. Paul encouraged the people to move on to maturity through the gifts and ministries of teaching, training and equipping.

“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”

Ephesians 4:11-13 NLT

A mature church is a group of people who are

A. Secure in the knowledge and understanding of who Jesus is and who they are in Him so that they can fully trust Him in every circumstance no matter what life throws at them.

B. Doing life together, caring for and serving one another out of, and expressing their love for Jesus by being givers and not takers.

We are mature, then, to the extent that we know God through Jesus and live out in our everyday lives the love and trust that we have in Him.

We express that love and trust by the way that we relate to one another through humility and mutual submission, honouring one another and meeting each other’s needs at our own expense.

Therefore, we all need teaching, correction, encouragement and fellowship to become a fully mature body in the body of Christ. According to Jesus, this is the greatest demonstration to the world of His life in us.” (Taken from my notes on   “Fully Mature”)

7. The Book of Hebrews is full of warnings about turning back to Jewish legalism or falling away through neglect or unbelief.

“So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak?”

Hebrews 2:1-3 NLT

“Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.”

Hebrews 3:12-14 NLT

“For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.”

Hebrews 6:4-6 NLT

7. Jesus (and Jude, His brother) taught His disciples how to live our Christian lives so that we never fall away.

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me… When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”

John 15:4, 10 NLT

“But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit,  and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love. Jude 1:20-21 NLT

This short note should help you to understand that God’s people who have been made alive by the Holy Spirit when they believed in Jesus, do not need revival. We need to grow in faith and obedience through prayer, exhortation, encouragement, warning, teaching, training and equipping.

We are in a partnership with the Holy Spirit who teaches us about Jesus, leads us into all truth, enlightens us through the Word, strengthens us to obey and matures us in our faith and love.

Therefore, true prayer in the New Covenant is not about praying for revival but praying that God’s people will grow in their understanding of who the Father is, what He has done for us through the Son, who the Holy Spirit is and what He does in us through our faith in Jesus so that, we can become mature in faith and love.

SHOULD WE PRAY FOR REVIVAL?

Apologetics, ,

SHOULD WE PRAY FOR REVIVAL?

“The word “revival” is from the Hebrew word chayah and means “to bring back to life,” to “restore to consciousness,” or to “restore to a previous condition.” As stated in the Bible, it means a restoration, rejuvenation, or renewal of interest after spiritual neglect, oblivion, or obscurity.” 09 Jan 2018

There are many references to and prayers for revival in the Psalms and Prophets, eg,

“Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?”
Psalms 85:6 NLT

‘Zion will be restored by justice; those who repent will be revived by righteousness.”
Isaiah 1:27 NLT

but we must remember 2 things:

1. The Israelites in the Old Testament were still dead in their sins and under the Law. Revival relates particularly to what is dead or dying. The Israelites, in the main, were still spiritually dead and it was then, therefore, legitimate to pray that God would revive them.

However, Isaiah’s prophecy above relates to new birth in the New Covenant.

We live under the New Covenant and must therefore be guided by the writings in the New Testament Scriptures.

2. God’s people are spiritually alive if they have been born again by God’s Spirit. We cannot ask God to make them alive if they are already alive.

“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 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.”
Ephesians 2:4‭-‬6 NLT

Let’s look at the writings of the Apostles in the New Testament. How did they pray for the church?

Paul based his prayers for the churches on who God is and what He has done for us in Jesus.

1. There is not a single prayer for revival in the New Testament.

The Apostle Paul in particular, often recorded his  prayers for the churches.

2. Paul prayed for God’s people, that they would have spiritual wisdom and insight, enlightenment and understanding about what God had done for them in Jesus.

“Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him… “
Ephesians 1:15-19a NLT

3. Paul prayed that God’s people would know God’s love in all the fulness of its dimensions.

“When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,  the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”
Ephesians 3:14‭-‬19 NLT.

3.Paul prayed and encouraged God’s people to grow in love for one another.

“We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Thessalonians 1:2‭-‬3 NLT

4. Paul exhorted the people to continue to grow in their walk with the Lord.

“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”
Colossians 2:6‭-‬7 NLT

5. Paul encouraged the people to move on to maturity through the gifts and ministries of teaching, training and equipping.

“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”
Ephesians 4:11‭-‬13 NLT

A mature church is a group of people who are

A. Secure in the knowledge and understanding of who Jesus is and who they are in Him so that they can fully trust Him in every circumstance no matter what life throws at them.

B. Doing life together, caring for and serving one another out of, and expressing their love for Jesus by being givers and not takers.

We are mature, then, to the extent that we know God through Jesus and live out in our everyday lives the love and trust that we have in Him.

We express that love and trust by the way that we relate to one another through humility and mutual submission, honouring one another and meeting each other’s needs at our own expense.

Therefore, we all need teaching, correction, encouragement and fellowship to become a fully mature body in the body of Christ. According to Jesus, this is the greatest demonstration to the world of His life in us.” (Taken from my notes on   “Fully Mature”)

7. The Book of Hebrews is full of warnings about turning back to Jewish legalism or falling away through neglect or unbelief.

“So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak?”
Hebrews 2:1‭-‬3 NLT

“Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.”
Hebrews 3:12‭-‬14 NLT

“For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.”
Hebrews 6:4‭-‬6 NLT

8. Jesus (and Jude, His brother) taught His disciples how to live our Christian lives so that we never fall away.

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me… When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”
John 15:4‭, ‬10 NLT

“But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit,  and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.c
Jude 1:20‭-‬21 NLT

This short note should help you to understand that God’s people who have been made alive by the Holy Spirit when they believed in Jesus, do not need revival. We need to grow in faith and obedience through prayer, exhortation, encouragement, warning, teaching, training and equipping.

We are in a partnership with the Holy Spirit who teaches us about Jesus, leads us into all truth, enlightens us through the Word, strengthens us to obey and matures us in our faith and love.

Therefore, true prayer in the New Covenant is not about praying for revival but praying that God’s people will grow in their understanding of who the Father is, what He has done for us through the Son, who the Holy Spirit is and what He does in us through our faith in Jesus so that, we can become mature in faith and love.










A Callous Cop-out

Christian Life, , , , ,

A CALLOUS COP-OUT

I call passionate prayers for revival a callous cop-out! I guess that shakes you! Let’s start at the beginning.

The ancient Hebrew concept of life was a journey. The children of Israel’s journey from Egypt through the wilderness to the Promised Land was often used in the Bible as a picture of our journey through life. It was a dangerous journey through unknown territory. In order to reach their destination, they had to follow the instructions God gave them – the so-called Ten Commandments which were not commandments but directions for the journey.

Without landmarks to guide them, it was easy for them to wander from the path and get lost, taking them away from the source of food and water God provided to sustain them until they reached their destination. The concept of “righteousness” for the ancient Hebrew was to stay on the path, and “unrighteousness” was to stray from the path, get lost and die in the desert.

The ”landmarks” on the way that would show them that they were on the right track were those opportunities to do the right thing. When they followed God’s instructions regarding their relationship with Him and with one another, they would be on the right path, going in the right direction which would take them to Zion – their final destination. If they disobeyed His instructions – contained in His Torah (the five books of Moses), they were lost, in darkness and needed to “repent” or “return” to the path in order to reach the Promised Land.

Repentance was not an emotional response when their disobedience was exposed but a decision to return to God’s way so that they could follow His path and reach their destination.

What has this got to do with revival? The Bible is, among other things, a “GPS” which shows us the way to the Father. He is our ultimate destination. He sent His Son not only to show us the way but to be the Way by which we come to the Father. Jesus promised that, if we follow Him, we will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.

The Bible speaks of God’s Word as light.

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path (Psa. 119:105).

When we walk in obedience to God’s Word, we are on the path, walking in the light and following the directions which will take us to our destination.

What has all this got to do with revival? Life is a steady walk on the path towards God, not a series of spectacular emotional and spiritual spurts with periods of cold-heartedness and lethargy in between out of which God has to shake us by sending His Spirit to wake us up and get us going again.

Our attention on and prayers for revival have spawned many erroneous ideas. This is not to say that revival is not of God. It is to say that revival is not God’s “Plan A” for His people. If we follow the path of the great revivals in the Old Testament, they happened when f the fellowship of God’s people with Him was at its lowest ebb, and the effects of revival were short-lived. His people were often more in a state of apostasy than walking in obedience to God and in fellowship with one another because they refused to stay on the path, following the way of the pagans around them rather than God’s way.

Praying for revival is a cop-out because it transfers responsibility for our spiritual health from ourselves to God. Instead of returning from our disobedient ways to God’s path – following Jesus who is the Way and walking in the light of God’s Word, we continue in our disobedience, praying and waiting for God to do for us what He told us to do – repent, i.e., return to the way of trust and obedience.

God has done everything for us that He will ever do – He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1); He has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Pet. 1); He has given us His Spirit to change our hearts, fill us, lead us and empower us to obey Him.  He can and will do nothing more to provide directions for the way and the power to live in fellowship with Him.

Consider these verses:

When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people. if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land (2 Chron. 7;13-14).

Did you notice that I included verse 13 in the quote? How often we interpret hardships in our lives as punishment for sin or God’s indifference to our suffering! Have you ever considered that God is trying to get your attention because He wants you to return to His way? Waiting for Him the “revive” you or to revive your church or your land, is not the answer. God calls you to return.

Nature abhors a vacuum. Air or water fills every empty space and will flow into every space where there is a vacuum. God’s presence is just like that. The Bible declares that He fills heaven and earth. Sin in our lives occupies what belongs to God. When sin is forsaken, He will fill that empty space with Himself with no need for us to beg and plead for His presence.

We do not need revival to heal our hearts, our churches and our land. We need to return to God Word and God’s ways. He always responds to those who make room for Him by getting rid of sin. When we return to Him, He will hear, forgive and heal. Guaranteed!

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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