Revival Preparations

Psalm 85:6 - "Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?"
Why wouldn't God want to send revival to His people? The answer is, He does! However, our sinfulness hinders Him from doing that! It isn't His fault that He doesn't send revival! It is ours! Here are the notes I took (to heart) as my DH preached this morning as he gave the congregation 7 reasons why God doesn't send revival. I hope this hits home to you like it did to me!

1. Uncommitted Christian living is why God does not send revival.
Proverbs 3:5, 6 - "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understand. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
Until we die to self and wholly live for Him, God will not send revival! How many times do I make my considerations/choices without even consulting God first? Way too many times I make my plans without even talking to my LORD about it!

2. Unbent knees is why God does not send revival.
2 Chronicles 7:14 - "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
Did you notice the conditional statement in this verse...if.....then. We have to act before God will heal us. God is talking to His people, not the devil's. Dead people cannot be revived! Only the living can be revived! And IF we, that are alive in Christ, will humble ourselves before God (and confess our sins), pray, seek His face, AND turn from our wicked, sinful, uncommitted ways.....THEN He will hear our prayer, forgive our sin, and heal us! My friend, that would be true REVIVAL!

3. Unread Bibles is why God does not send revival.
2 Peter 1:19 - " We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:"
God's Word is TRUTH! We can be sure in God's Word! More people than ever own a Bible, and yet the Bible is the unread best seller! We will answer for our apathy toward God's Word! It has the answers for the problems of life. It has the answer to the reason for life. God's Word has the answer.....period! It is told of a little girl whose family was getting ready for revival and she could say the word just right. She was calling it "ReBible." Oh, how true! We need to get back to God's Word!

4. Unconfessed sin is why God does not send revival.
Proverbs 28:13 - "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."
Why is it that as kids we always think that our parents won't find out about what we've done? It is true that moms have eyes in the back of their heads, you know! The sad part about this is that we don't grow out of trying to get by without our Parent finding out, even as adults! Why is that? I think it basically is because we don't really believe that God is Who He is, the Sovereign, Holy, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient (all knowing) God of the universe! Sin separates us from God! God cannot look on sin! If we have unconfessed sin, He cannot give us revival! And until we agree with God about our sin, He won't give revival. After all, confession is agreeing with God about how awful our sin is.

5. An unforgiving spirit is why God does not send revival.
Ephesians 4:32 - "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
Matthew 6:14 - "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:"
How can we expect God to forgive us if we won't forgive one another? How hypocritical is that?

6. Unpaid tithes is why God does not send revival.
Malachi 3:10 - "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."
DH said that it has been said (I don't know who he was quoting) that people, annually, spend more money for dog food than they give to church. No wonder our economy is in the shape it is in! The dogs are getting fat and the churches are going under! This verse is almost like God is saying, I double dog dare you to try and outgive me! No pun intended!

7. Unbroken hearts is why God does not send revival.
Romans 9:2, 3 - "That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:"
Paul wished he could give up his own salvation if the Jews would be saved. We need to have a heart for the unsaved. We need to be brokenhearted about sin. We need to intercede for sinners and then go and tell them about the gospel. We go to church faithfully every week, but we leave our Christianity within the 4 walls of the church! We need to take our Christianity to the world! It is very sad to think that some people were going to leave our church before we came because there was no visitation program. And yet, where are those people when we meet on Saturday for visitation? Makes you wonder!

I hope that these points spoke to you, or made you think, at least, the way they did me!
Are you committed to Christ?
Do you pray regularly?
Do you read your Bible every day?
Do you confess sin every day?
Do you forgive others as you have been forgiven?
Do you pay your title?
Do you care about the lost world?

Have a blessed week! Pray for us as we begin Revival services on Wednesday with Bob Jones.