February 22nd, 2023
The Upward Look, by Jon Forrest
TRUE REVIVAL COULD COME
The following article written in bold and italics comes from The Power of Prayer and the Prayer of Power by RA Tory…
The first recorded revival in Christian history happened from a prayer meeting that took place with a handful of disciples in the upper room (Acts 1:14). The result of that prayer meeting was that they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them (Acts 2:4).
The 2nd great revival happens 3 chapters later in Acts 4:23, 24 after the release of Peter and John from prison for preaching about Jesus, they report back to the believers immediately raise their voices in prayer (Acts 4:24) the result that took place was that the room shook and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preach the word of God with boldness.
Every true revival from that day to this has had its earthly origin in prayer.
The main reason why many people remain superficial in their character and that much renewal in the church is not developing is because we have depended upon our own strength and put our faith in ministry programs and so very little of our energy is focused upon God’s power that is sought and obtained by earnest, persistent, believing prayer that will not take no for an answer.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Most of you who deal with FaceBook and some news articles have heard about the incredible happenings at the seminary and university in Kentucky called Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. There is also a University attached to the divinity school. A couple of weeks ago, what has been dubbed, “The Asbury Revival” took off from a regularly scheduled chapel service. In this service numerous students stood and gave testimonies of repentance and surrender to God. It built to the point that it developed into a continuous and spontaneous time of worship, prayer and testimony. Day after day it continued all day long and into the night. What began as one scheduled chapel service extended into two weeks. However, a week prior to the outbreak, there was a massive prayer effort called The Collegiate Day of Prayer that was closely tied to this phenomenon. The revivals mentioned by Tory in the quotation above were each a direct result of the power of prayer.
God has always heard the cries of His people. When you look at the Old Testament events in the history of his people, the Israelites, every time they cried out to God in prayer and repentance, God responded with some form of deliverance and revival.
Friends, it is time for the people of God; the followers of Christ; the church to cry out to God for his intervention! We live in a world that has wandered far away from God. Even many who claim to belong to God have moved away from commitment to Jesus Christ, His teachings and His church. Whenever the people of God have wandered from their faithfulness to Him there has been disaster. Our world is moving into a disastrous phase of sinful behavior. Wrong is called right and right is called wrong. God has become optional and so has his church to people who claim to follow Christ.
It is never wrong to plan for revival! It is never wrong to pray for God’s transforming power. On April 12 through 16 First Christian Church will begin what we call a Revival Meeting. It is not intended to be just an event. If we want real revival to come, we must make it a serious matter of prayer and personal reflection. Pray for our evangelist, Jim Forrest and for our church leadership from the pastors to the elders to the deacons to the musicians, to the members, to the regular attenders, to people who don’t even know about our church family. Pray that God will lead us to repentance and to making Jesus Christ the priority of our lives. Pray that we will put away our idols of money, entertainment, sports, tv, pleasure and everything that distracts us from following Christ with our whole hearts.
This Sunday I will share a message from our series Mission Possible titled The Power Behind the Mission and based on the powerful prayer meeting in Acts 4:23-31. Join us in this service and in the effort to call for God to bring revival into our midst. Wouldn’t it be awesome if God did a work in us that we never anticipated? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if REVIVAL, TRUE REVIVAL broke out in such a powerful way that no one could explain it or control it? Pray Now for Revival.
Praying with you,
Jon
TRUE REVIVAL COULD COME
The following article written in bold and italics comes from The Power of Prayer and the Prayer of Power by RA Tory…
The first recorded revival in Christian history happened from a prayer meeting that took place with a handful of disciples in the upper room (Acts 1:14). The result of that prayer meeting was that they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them (Acts 2:4).
The 2nd great revival happens 3 chapters later in Acts 4:23, 24 after the release of Peter and John from prison for preaching about Jesus, they report back to the believers immediately raise their voices in prayer (Acts 4:24) the result that took place was that the room shook and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preach the word of God with boldness.
Every true revival from that day to this has had its earthly origin in prayer.
The main reason why many people remain superficial in their character and that much renewal in the church is not developing is because we have depended upon our own strength and put our faith in ministry programs and so very little of our energy is focused upon God’s power that is sought and obtained by earnest, persistent, believing prayer that will not take no for an answer.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Most of you who deal with FaceBook and some news articles have heard about the incredible happenings at the seminary and university in Kentucky called Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. There is also a University attached to the divinity school. A couple of weeks ago, what has been dubbed, “The Asbury Revival” took off from a regularly scheduled chapel service. In this service numerous students stood and gave testimonies of repentance and surrender to God. It built to the point that it developed into a continuous and spontaneous time of worship, prayer and testimony. Day after day it continued all day long and into the night. What began as one scheduled chapel service extended into two weeks. However, a week prior to the outbreak, there was a massive prayer effort called The Collegiate Day of Prayer that was closely tied to this phenomenon. The revivals mentioned by Tory in the quotation above were each a direct result of the power of prayer.
God has always heard the cries of His people. When you look at the Old Testament events in the history of his people, the Israelites, every time they cried out to God in prayer and repentance, God responded with some form of deliverance and revival.
Friends, it is time for the people of God; the followers of Christ; the church to cry out to God for his intervention! We live in a world that has wandered far away from God. Even many who claim to belong to God have moved away from commitment to Jesus Christ, His teachings and His church. Whenever the people of God have wandered from their faithfulness to Him there has been disaster. Our world is moving into a disastrous phase of sinful behavior. Wrong is called right and right is called wrong. God has become optional and so has his church to people who claim to follow Christ.
It is never wrong to plan for revival! It is never wrong to pray for God’s transforming power. On April 12 through 16 First Christian Church will begin what we call a Revival Meeting. It is not intended to be just an event. If we want real revival to come, we must make it a serious matter of prayer and personal reflection. Pray for our evangelist, Jim Forrest and for our church leadership from the pastors to the elders to the deacons to the musicians, to the members, to the regular attenders, to people who don’t even know about our church family. Pray that God will lead us to repentance and to making Jesus Christ the priority of our lives. Pray that we will put away our idols of money, entertainment, sports, tv, pleasure and everything that distracts us from following Christ with our whole hearts.
This Sunday I will share a message from our series Mission Possible titled The Power Behind the Mission and based on the powerful prayer meeting in Acts 4:23-31. Join us in this service and in the effort to call for God to bring revival into our midst. Wouldn’t it be awesome if God did a work in us that we never anticipated? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if REVIVAL, TRUE REVIVAL broke out in such a powerful way that no one could explain it or control it? Pray Now for Revival.
Praying with you,
Jon
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