The word of God is proven. He is a shield to those who trust in Him. Ps. 18:30 “When the DAY OF PENTECOST Had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1) In the above scripture, we saw how the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ were filled with Holy Spirit and they began to speak in new tongues as the Spirit of God gave them utterance. Revival means coming alive, coming fresh, coming strong, restoration, renewal. A revival in the body of Christ is restoration, a renewal, an awakening, a fresh inflow of life, a fresh love and power of God. Many people used to faint when their hope is not revived. A revived church is what we need always. A church without a revival is as cold as ice block and as hard as a rock. This is the church Jesus Christ told either to be hot or cold and not lukewarm. This church is the type we are today. With this kind of lukewarm or cold Christianity; the church will not be able to operate in her fulness. There will be no awakening in our society if the church (believers) are always crying instead of moving forward Exo. 14:9-15, 1 Sam. 30:1-4. If there is no revival the church will be tossed around by all kinds of doctrines / teachings: that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—,” Eph 4:14-15 . If there is no revival she will lose her ground which the Lord gave her for as the light and the salt of the earth “wherever you step the sole of your foot, you will possess it “ Joshua 1:3. If there is no revival the church will live a beggarly life from hand to mouth while the Lord said …“He will bless us until we have no rooms to keep it” Mal. 3:10, “12 The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow” Deut. 28:12. If there is no revival, the church will not be able to lift her head while the Lord is the lifter of the church’s head “But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head” Ps. 3:3. Though the church is ordained for greatness, if there is no revival she will end up in slavery while she was supposed to be the master. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you” Jn 15:16. When there is no spiritual awakening upon the believers; the church will not be able to fulfil her greatest mission and vision which is “becoming fruitful, multiply; fill the earth and subdue it...” Gen 1:28. When there is no revival the church will come and go with no evidence or manifestation of God’s power and glory in her. When there is no revival the church will believe in the report of the devil and not in God’s report. “But for whoever believes in the report of the Lord, the impossibilities will become possible”. (Isaiah 53:1-2). When there is no revival the church will warm herself to the fire of her enemies and not to the fire of God. (She will like and cherish the company of unbelievers.) “Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” 1 Cor 15:33, Ps 1:1-4, Prov. 1:10). The church will speak as devil gives her utterance and no longer as being led by Holy Spirit. “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” Acts 2:4. The church will begin to run away from her enemies while she supposed to be pursuing and destroying her enemies. “I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them; Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed. I have wounded them, So that they could not rise; They have fallen under my feet. For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me”. Ps. 18:37-39. The church will begin to dance sing praises to men and not God. We may go on and on. You and I are the church which Jesus Christ which He said “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. We are His special people. The carrier and holders of revival. We are His chosen generation. We are the apple of His eyes. We are His messengers (Matthew 5:13-14, Jn 15:16, Jn 15:1-3, Zech 2:5-8). Hindrances to our revival. 1. Sin. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, It separates the creation from its creator. It reduces our ability to carefully serve and follow God. Sin is also a reproach. It makes us to lose the battles of life to the enemy. Anytime we remove our eyes from God, we will become like grasshoppers. Sin weakens our mind from meditating the word of God. Sin darken our eyes/minds from seeing the hope in which we called into. Sin makes our lives miserable. We must not depend on the revival of yesterday but rather let us seek the Lord everyday through prayers, fasting, bible study, spiritual songs with our whole hearts. Jer 29:13 We must seek God in faith; to lack faith is to doubt what God said He will do for you. A half-hearted man or double minded person cannot receive anything from God. “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavered is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. James 1:6-7. Let us pray in faith always. 2. Disunity. We need to agree and be in one mind with God. We must believe that what the Lord has said will surely come to pass. We need to gather ourselves (Spirit, soul and body) in agreement with God. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Ps.133 :1. We need to be at peace with our brethren. Holy Spirit does not stay wherever there is strife, hatred, envy, jealousy, gossiping and all kinds of evil. As children of God, we need to keep our hearts pure towards one another. Remember “if we regard (cherished, admire, embrace) iniquity in our hearts; the Lord will not hear us” Ps. 66:18. 3. Lack of determination/purpose: Many of us are not revived because we are not persistent in pushing for revival. This lack of determination has kept many believers’ spiritual lives dry. Be determined or purpose in heart “that no matter the cost, I will be revived in the name of Jesus Christ”. 4. Lack of patience: In Act 1:4 Jesus Christ commanded the disciples not to go anywhere or do anything until they receive the power of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:2, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting” (waiting as instructed, keeping record of what God has said and waiting for its manifestation) we need to wait for this revival in prayers and in word of God. Many children of God are busy running around with the plan of God in their lives wasting away. They are busy looking for confirmation on what God has said. They have carried their visions and dreams to where they were not supposed to go. They are no longer in the places where God placed them. Some are busy running after who is who. Church services has been turned to social gatherings where they talk and discuss who came and who did not come. Who is who has become the order of the day. Before you know what is going on, they lost their visions, dreams and callings. Do not go to witchdoctors so that you will start performing lying wonders, wait upon the true God who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God have mercy upon us, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. For revival to take place in our lives, we really need to go deeper into the word of God, go deeper in prayer, go deeper in fasting, go deeper in meditating of His word. We need not to be plastic Christians. God who promised to restore all the years the canker worms, caterpillars and palmerworms has eaten will restore all without fail Joel 2:28. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 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 will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place”. 2 Chron 7:13-15. After the revival, the disciples were not afraid to declare the word of God. They were not afraid to go where the Lord has commanded to go. Most of them were killed, beaten, threaten, yet they continued because the revelation of God is very open in their hearts. They understood everything that was happening to them. They weighed the spiritual gain than physical one. When we are revived, our land will be watered. Our crops will grow and become fruitful. Our spiritual lives will become giants. Our strength will be renewed. Our fears will become faith, our weakness will become strength. Our shame will be turned to glory. We will begin to pursue what has been pursuing us. We will rule in boldness and strength. We will no longer love our lives more than God. We will be ready for anything and the assurance of our salvation will be alive. We will mount up with wings like eagle and our hope will be renewed day by day Isa 43:29-31. Halleluiah. Let us allow this revival to take place in our lives so there will be testimonies all around. We will have full package of life when we are revived Jn 10:10. Brethren, let us desire this great plan God has for us. God bless us all. Prayer Points 1. O Lord, open my eyes to see the need for revival in my life, in the name of Jesus. 2. O Lord, revive my life, in the name of Jesus. 3. Every enemy of revival in my life, be exposed and be destroyed by fire, in the Name of Jesus Christ. 4. O Lord, revive any dry bone in my life, in the name of Jesus. 5. Holy Spirit, open my eyes to see the need of revival in my life. 6. Any anti-revival spirit in my environment, my life is not your candidate, die in the name of Jesus. 7. Let my prayer altar receive the fire of revival, in the name of Jesus. 8. Let every dry bone of my life receive the fire of revival, in the name of Jesus. 9. Any power specializing in quenching the fire of revival on my altar, die in the name of Jesus. 10. I receive the grace of God to wait upon God for revival, in the name of Jesus. 11. Let the fire of revival burn in GGDEM, in the name of Jesus. 12. Every enemy of revival in GGDEM, die in the name of Jesus. |