Jas 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Jas 4:9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Recently, the Lord spoke to our hearts about the conditions for true revival! The LORD showed us that revival starts with each one of us and revival is also corporate, which means all of us as a body of believers. Which means that revival will not happen if we are not on one accord. Today the LORD wanted me to share with you why true revival is important!
Because someone may not understand why there is a need for a revival in the Body of Christ or local communities of Christ. Someone may be saying, “Pastor, churches are growing and being established, and souls are being saved! This is the churches finest hour!” Let me ask you this? Have you read the book of Revelation chapter 2 and 3? There were seven churches and the LORD sent letters to those churches. Only two out of seven of those churches received no condemnation! These churches prophetically represent the churches past, present and future!
First of all when we talk about Revival, we need to know that Revival is not new. All throughout the Bible there have been revivals, reformations and restorations with the people of God. You can read about them in the book of 1 and 2 Kings with Elijah and Josiah, Ezra, Nehemiah, Psalms, Isaiah, Daniel and Joel.
Revival is important because it gives us a renewed sense of urgency concerning the Kingdom of God. It gives us a renewed and revived sense of urgency to be about the Fathers business, and it turns our hearts back to God, so that we may have the heart of God, the mind of Christ, and eyes to see what God sees.
The most important thing to remember is that revival is all about God. It is all about drawing near to him so that we can experience his presence, power and purpose that he predestined for us. When true revival happens, there will always be a refreshing of the people with the presence of God.
The reason why the people of God in the bible engaged in revival is because the Prophets, Priests and some Kings called them to remember who they were and the covenant promises that God purposed for them. Many times they would forget who they were and who they served. So God would raise up a prophet, priest or King who would speak the Words of God and lead people back to God. So what must we do in order to really see a true move of God and Holy Spirit revival to come into the lives of God’s people and the Church? There are certain requirements that must be met:
1. We must humble ourselves and pray.
2. There must be godly sorrow, heartfelt repentance and confession of sin.
3. We should pray for revival among churches in our community.
4. We should pray for a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
5. We should pray for those that have lost their way or backslidden.
6. There must be corresponding works.
Remember what James said to the Saints in James 4: 7-10
Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8 Draw nigh or near to God, and he will draw nigh or near to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Jas 4:9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
I know this is the holiday season and it is a season of joy, but let’s set things in order first! When we humble yourselves, submit ourselves to God, and draw near to him, he will draw near to us and lift us up.
True revival is when the Holy Spirit stirs our hearts to humility, prayer, fasting, seeking the Lords face, and turning from everything in our lives that would hinder our relationship with the Lord and spiritual growth!
Pastor Quinn.