The 2 SECRETS of REVIVAL - Andrew Strom.
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
I believe. I would welcome your feedback.
************************************************
The TWO SECRETS of Revival
-by Andrew Strom.
The two secrets of Revival that we are about to look at, have
very little to do with the "structural" problems of the church that
we have been discussing. They are FAR MORE important. In
fact, these two secrets are probably the most vital things that
we can discuss on this List right now.
If people have these two things happening, then there is little
else that I care about. It doesn't bother me if they have a "church
building" program and a Bible College and every other thing. If
they have these two things happening then these other issues
pale into insignificance. We need to realize that changing many of
the 'outward' things that we have been discussing would achieve
very little in itself. It is like re-arranging the "boxes" or the outward
shell. It is like trying to form a new wineskin but forgetting about
the 'new wine' that goes in it.
So it is high time that we talked about obtaining this NEW WINE
from God. That is what true Revival is all about.
Some of you will have read about these "2 Secrets" before. But
please read this article anyway, because I am going to be applying
them in a way that goes beyond what has been written in the past.
The two key questions that we will be covering in this article are:
(1) How do I get into a state of "Personal Revival", and (2) How
do we get from there into a state of "Corporate Revival"?
As many of you know, I have been studying Revival history now
for many years. I have looked at Revivals from recent decades and
Revivals from centuries ago. And after all this research, I have
found that the secrets of Revival seem to boil down to 2 main things.
These things are: (1) Extremely deep REPENTANCE, and
(2) A kind of "wrestling, agonizing" prayer - crying to God for the
"OUTPOURING" of His Holy Spirit.
These two things have been the secrets to countless Revivals down
the ages - and I fully believe they will be so again. That is why there
is NOTHING more important that we need to be discussing right now.
Actually EXPERIENCING Deep Repentance:
You have probably heard of Frank Bartleman's statement from the
'Azusa Street' Revival: "I received from God early in 1905 the
following keynote to revival: 'The DEPTH of revival will be determined
exactly by the DEPTH of the spirit of REPENTANCE.' And this will
obtain for all people, at all times."
I can affirm that all history backs up Bartleman's words here. And I
can also tell you that if you want to get into a truly "Revived"state -
or a state of "personal Revival" - then DEEP Repentance is one of
the keys.
What we often find is that Christians have turned away from a lot
of the "obvious" sins, such as lying, stealing, adultery, etc. But
there are other things that they are aware of in their lives that are
not right. It is dealing with these "other things" that can be the key
to a far greater intimacy with God.
Do you know that God HATES all sin, and that when you get
close to God then your heart will HATE sin just like He does?
So let's get "practical" with this. Here is what you need to do to
deal with these things at a DEEP level: Firstly, get off by yourself
with God. You need a couple of hours or more in a quiet place
alone with Him. Secondly, ask and plead with God to "shine His
light" into your heart. -To show you any unclean thing, whether
it be unforgiveness, lust, speaking against people behind their
backs, holding grudges, little "white" lies, etc. Ask God to show
you how HE FEELS about sin. Ask Him to shine His light deep
inside you and show you things that you need to confess and
renounce and ask forgiveness for. In some cases, you may need
to go to a brother or sister and apologize to them or even make
restitution. Make sure the repentance goes to the DEEPEST
LEVEL possible. Confess each sin specifically to God, turn from
it and ask God to cleanse you. With a lot of people it is these
so-called "MINOR" SINS that are holding them back.
Here is one last quote on this subject from Evan Roberts of the
Welsh Revival: "First, is there any sin in your past with which you
have not honestly dealt,- not confessed to God? On your knees at
once. Your past must be put away and cleansed. Second, is there
anything in your life that is doubtful - anything you cannot decide
whether it is good or evil? Away with it. There must not be a trace
of a cloud between you and God. Have you forgiven everybody -
EVERYBODY? If not, don't expect forgiveness for your sins..."
This issue of TRULY forgiving those who have hurt you can be a
big one. It is important to be BRUTALLY HONEST with yourself.
Is there still "bad feeling" deep inside you towards certain people?
Is there a trace of bitterness when you speak about that person?
We all need to get before God and repent and RENOUNCE all
unforgiveness from deep within us. Going through this whole
"deep repentance" process is the first key to personal Revival.
Key # 2 - "Wrestling, Agonizing" PRAYER:
When you study history, you soon notice that there is a specific
type of prayer that you see in Revivals again and again. When I
first began to study past moves of God I quickly realized this,
because I came across it so often. This special type of prayer is
an ESSENTIAL ingredient of Revival.
The old Revivalists used to speak of having the "spirit of prayer".
They spoke of weeping, agonizing, pleading, wrestling, 'travailing'
in prayer. The whole reason that these Revival preachers were
so anointed and saturated with the presence of God was because
they had truly broken through, right into His very throneroom in
prayer, and had spent much time communing with Him there.
This type of praying has always been one of the most important
keys to true Revival.
Charles Finney said, "Unless I had the spirit of prayer I could do
nothing... I found myself unable to preach with power and efficiency,
or to win souls..." George Whitefield said: "Whole days and WEEKS
have I spent prostrate on the ground in silent or vocal prayer..."
Frank Bartleman wrote: "At night I could scarcely sleep for the spirit
of prayer... Prayer literally consumed me." And D.M. McIntyre
wrote: "Before the great revival in Gallneukirchen broke out, Martin
Boos spent hours and days and often nights in lonely agonies of
intercession. Afterwards, when he preached, his words were as
flame, and the hearts of the people as grass."
As history shows, the church can only expect true Revival when a
remnant of God's people get DESPERATE - desperate about the
backslidden state of the church, desperate about the lukewarmness
within them and all around them, desperate about sin and
compromise, desperate about the fact that God is not GLORIFIED,
that He is not truly LORD of His church, that His words are mocked
and largely seen as irrelevant by a dying world. Revival will come
when God's people truly humble themselves, when they replace
their "positive imaging" ('Rise up, you people of power", etc), with
the reality of James' lament: "Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep:
let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up"
(Ja 4:9-10).
As was said of Evan Roberts: "He would break down, crying bitterly
for God to bend them, in an agony of prayer, the tears coursing
down his cheeks, with his whole frame writhing." And John Wesley
asked: "Have you any days of fasting and prayer? Storm the throne
of grace and persevere therein, and mercy will come down."
Brothers, sisters, we need to get DESPERATE in our praying!
HOW to "Wrestle" in Prayer
Now, it is very important to realize that this type of prayer is not
just for "special" people or leaders. It is absolutely one of the keys
to "personal Revival" for every one of us. The Bible makes it very
clear that the "effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man" is
available to us all.
And history shows that "wrestling Revival prayer" can actually
be TAUGHT to Christians. This comes through loud and clear in
the book 'Anointed for Burial', which is Todd and DeAnn Burke's
account of the mighty Revival in Cambodia in the 1970's. It
occurred when God had already been moving there for some
time. Todd wrote: "Referring to Genesis 32, I told them how Jacob
WRESTLED with the Lord until He blessed him. 'If we expect
power and blessing from the Lord, we are going to have to be
willing to wrestle with Him in prayer and fasting, in self-denial, in
taking up our cross,' I said. Then I shared with them from a
devotional book by Hudson Taylor, "An easy-going, non-self-
denying life will never be one of power." With that, everyone
began to wrestle in prayer, and before long, the blessing came."
When these people broke up into prayer groups and began to
"wrestle" with God in prayer as Todd had taught them, the result
was actual "OUTPOURINGS" of the Holy Spirit. (ie. The Holy Spirit
descending upon whole groups of Christians just like in Acts, with
incredibly powerful results). It was an amazing time.
Notice that these Christians were actually TAUGHT to "wrestle"
with God in this way. And they simply went and did it!
Early in the 1904 Welsh Revival, Evan Roberts taught the children
of Moriah to pray this simple prayer: "Send the Spirit to Moriah for
Jesus Christ's sake." Later, he developed this same concept for
his general meetings. -Because it was vital that people plead with
God to "send His Spirit" down upon them.
After all, this is exactly what Pentecost was all about. It was the
120 in the upper room, crying out to God for ten days, and then
God "sending His Spirit" like a mighty rushing wind, and filling
them to overflowing. In the past 50 years, there have been many
powerful Revivals in which God outpoured His Spirit in a similar
way. When God "outpours" His Spirit like this, it is far more than
a person simply being baptized in the Spirit. -It is a general "outpouring".
In fact, an "Outpouring of the Holy Spirit" is the essence of what
Revival truly is. And just like Pentecost, the result is that many
become FILLED with the Holy Spirit, and many others become
greatly CONVICTED of their sin. True Revival is the Glory of God
coming down. It is His Spirit being "POURED OUT" in a specific
place or upon a specific people. We need to 'wrestle' with God to
see such an outpouring occur in our day.
Now, before you can 'wrestle' with God in prayer, here is what you
need to do:
(1) Become DESPERATE to see God GLORIFIED in the earth;
(2) Cleanse your "hands" and your "heart" so that you can truly
enter into the throneroom of God;
(3) Plead with God to outpour His "spirit of prayer" upon you;
(4) Nurture His "fire" in your heart, so that you can 'agonize' in
prayer before Him.
(5) When you do pray, be very SPECIFIC in 'wrestling' with God
to outpour His Spirit upon YOURSELF or upon a specific group.
-We all need this fresh infilling.
If you can do these simple things, then TODAY is the day when
you can begin to "wrestle" with God in prayer. Do not delay. This
could be the key to seeing you transformed by "personal Revival"
and coming into a far deeper communion with God.
In Summary:
Having studied Revivals now for over 20 years, I am convinced
that the road to "personal Revival" is really the same as the road
to 'corporate Revival'. The major keys have always been "deep
repentance" and 'agonizing' prayer.
Our motives for seeking God must never be selfish ones. We
should be seeking Him for His own sake, not for what He can
"do for us". It is to see HIM GLORIFIED that we ask these things.
So, my friends, all I can do is urge you to get into a quiet place
and give yourself to heart-searching repentance and "agonizing"
prayer until you see a massive "BREAKTHROUGH" in your
Christian walk. We all need to be filled with His Spirit again and
again. Since I was 17 years old, I would attribute almost every
spiritual breakthrough in my life to these two 'Revival' secrets.
They have truly revolutionized my life.
So what about "Corporate" Revival - where God's Spirit is poured
out upon whole communities and cities? Well, what God will often
do is what He did at Pentecost. -He will take His "Revived" ones
and use them to bring Revival to others. In other words, if God can
find a GROUP of people who have gone through "personal Revival",
then He can use them to speak Truth and carry His anointing into
whole areas. -And to PRAY for further outpourings.
So what does God need to find in the earth today? Simply
GROUPS of "Revived" Christians who can begin to preach
repentance and pray for God's Spirit to be outpoured. It all
starts with people who have been "Revived".
As A.T. Pierson wrote, "From the day of Pentecost, there has been
not one great spiritual awakening in any land which has not begun
in a union of prayer, though only among two or three; no such
outward, upward movement has continued after such prayer
meetings declined."
If you are someone who decides to ACT on what you have read
today, then please write to me and let me know the results, my
friends? I know that these truths actually WORK in the real world
because I have experienced them myself. I pray that they will truly
revolutionize many lives. My email here is- prophetic@revivalschool.com
[As with all our articles, feel free to pass this around or post it
to other groups].
God bless you all!
Kindest regards in Christ,
Andrew Strom.