1 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:12,240 We welcome you to the We Are Zion sermon podcast. 2 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:15,080 We are a church based out of Chennai, India. 3 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:18,840 We are thrilled that you tuned in today and hope that you will 4 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:22,360 be refreshed, revived, and energized by what you hear. 5 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:26,160 Our desire is that you will live life with a renewed sense of 6 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:29,720 purpose that stems from a vibrant faith in Jesus. 7 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:35,560 The year 2025 is 1 where we will be positioned by God to possess 8 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:38,960 our promise. We begin a new sermon series 9 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:42,960 called A Recipe for Revival when we look at different instances 10 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:46,520 in the Bible where God poured His spirit out on His people 11 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:49,560 leading to reformation and restoration. 12 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:53,880 We hope that through this series, God will fill you with a 13 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:57,640 holy fire so that you are blazing for Christ in a Dark 14 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,720 World. So Church, even as you just 15 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:04,280 watched, we are heading into a season of revival. 16 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,480 We believe that God is going to do great things. 17 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,200 He's already begun doing great things on the earth. 18 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:14,760 And so our series for the next 7 weeks is called A Recipe for 19 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:16,600 Revival. And we're going to be looking at 20 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:20,400 different revivals from the Bible that was facilitated by 21 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,880 the Holy Spirit but used ordinary men and women like you 22 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:25,960 and me. And we're going to look at how 23 00:01:25,960 --> 00:01:29,320 God is going to do something on the earth in this time that we 24 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:31,440 live in. And he's going to bring about 25 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:35,960 such a change, such an overhaul that is going to blow our minds. 26 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:38,720 And there are certain things when I was just reading on the 27 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:40,880 revivals of the past, there have been revivals that have been 28 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:44,280 happening over thousands of years around the globe. 29 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,480 When the Holy Spirit was poured out over congregations, over 30 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:50,400 people, over communities, and things changed. 31 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:52,520 Signs, wonders and miracles broke out. 32 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:54,360 There was a powerful move of God. 33 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:57,160 There was, there was such a change in people's attitude 34 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:00,560 towards God, a fresh fear of God fell on them, but there was 35 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:04,280 always a common ignition point. And that's what we're going to 36 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:06,000 be looking at over the next few weeks. 37 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:08,720 And you know, for us as a church, we believe God is 38 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,240 bringing in a revival fire. We believe that God is going to 39 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:15,360 put, you know, the fire that the tongues of fire that came and 40 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,960 rested on the people in the upper room in Acts chapter 2. 41 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:22,560 We believe that that fire is accessible to each of us, that 42 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:27,240 our God who is a consuming fire, longs to fill us up with the 43 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:32,160 fire from heaven, a holy fire. And so we believe that we're 44 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:36,240 going to be in a season of of refreshing of a revival fire 45 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:38,840 being birthed in US. You know, when I was reading up 46 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,160 a bit about how fire actually comes about, right? 47 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:44,520 There's a three-part combo for the perfect fire. 48 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:46,880 They say 1 is oxygen, then there's the fuel and then 49 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:50,560 there's heat, right? And so I believe that even in 50 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:54,560 the in a spiritual realm, there is so many elements that 51 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:58,240 actually create that fire. But the truth is this, OK, the 52 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:03,040 truth is this fire, the fire of God is from God entirely, but it 53 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:07,560 requires willing sacrifices, those of us who know him to lay 54 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,240 ourselves before him and say, here I am, Lord, send me, here I 55 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:12,600 am, Lord, fill me. It requires that. 56 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:16,000 And I believe that the component of the oxygen is actually the 57 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,160 breath of God. When God breathes upon us, when 58 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:23,440 he, when he actually speaks over us, I believe that that fire 59 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:26,800 just, you know, moves from being an ember to a full-fledged 60 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:29,320 flame. And it's so important because I 61 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:31,760 feel like we know in conversation with a lot of 62 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,160 people, you know, people at church, people outside 63 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:39,000 believers, we notice an overall dimming of the flame. 64 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:42,320 There are very few who are still on fire for God, for his 65 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,040 Kingdom, for a hurting world majority. 66 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:47,440 Because of the stuff that has happened even in the last four 67 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:50,640 months, the kind of heaviness and the struggles we've had, it 68 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,840 is easy to come to a place of let me just live for myself. 69 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:55,800 Let me just concentrate on my family. 70 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,120 Let me just do the things that make me feel comfortable and 71 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:01,560 safe. It is so easy to go into this 72 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:05,760 place of just comfortable, laid back spirituality, which is 73 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,280 actually no spirituality at all because like we saw Jesus, God 74 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:11,960 us to daily take up our cross and follow him. 75 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:15,960 So it is a sacrificial life. It is one that requires us to 76 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:18,959 lay down things. But how do we do it unless the 77 00:04:18,959 --> 00:04:22,920 Spirit of God enables us? And when he does that, when he 78 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:28,640 does that, I find that even the the most dim embers come alive. 79 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:32,200 Right when you look at the the Tabernacle in the wilderness, 80 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:35,680 right in the wilderness season in the Exodus, we see how the 81 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:39,520 Tabernacle was set up and they needed to be these lamps and the 82 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,320 lamp had to be kept burning throughout night and day. 83 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:46,360 It could never go out. And the priest's job was to trim 84 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,360 the Wicks, feed it oil, and make sure it was a flame. 85 00:04:49,840 --> 00:04:52,880 Leviticus chapter 6, verse 13 says the fire must be kept 86 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:54,960 burning on the altar continuously. 87 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:57,960 It must not go out. When we look at the New 88 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:02,120 Testament, Jesus is calling us into a place where we are a city 89 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:05,480 on a hill, a lamp that is kept on a high place so that everyone 90 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,320 can see. Now this lamp, as we all know, 91 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:12,440 with wind, with storms, with, with being hidden, sometimes 92 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:15,240 just goes out. And maybe you are in this place 93 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:17,560 of saying, you know what? My fire for God has dimmed 94 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,320 because God allowed all these things to happen to me because I 95 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:22,600 went through these hardships because of this sickness. 96 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:27,440 And maybe you feel completely rightfully allowed to have this 97 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:29,760 flame go dim. But I want to encourage you that 98 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:33,040 we are the royal priesthood or chosen generation of people 99 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:35,720 selected by God, who have been taken out of the Kingdom of 100 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:37,720 darkness and placed in the Kingdom of light. 101 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:41,840 Our job is to burn bright. Our job is to make sure that the 102 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:44,560 lamp never dims. Our job is to make sure it 103 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:47,280 doesn't go out. Yes, the storms are real. 104 00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:50,160 Yes, the rain fell hard. Yes, the floods came. 105 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:54,360 But if you made it with a flame still flickering, there you are. 106 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:56,520 OK. And I want to encourage you 107 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:01,760 today that revival happens when we open ourselves up to the move 108 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:04,920 of God, when we are hungry and passionate for more of Him. 109 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:07,320 I want to ask you a very personal question. 110 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:12,560 What is your opinion of God? Four months past, what have you 111 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:14,800 been thinking of God? Have you been like God enough? 112 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:17,800 I'm good with what we have this, this relationship, this is 113 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:19,720 enough? Or have you come to a place of 114 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,040 saying, God, I need more of you. I need more discernment, I need 115 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,400 more insight, I need wisdom. I need to lead by revelation, 116 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:31,440 more of you, God. What has your stance been when 117 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:34,840 you read about the the revival movements in the past hundred 118 00:06:34,840 --> 00:06:36,880 years or so? It's very interesting. 119 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:41,400 The common ignition point for most was a deep hunger for God. 120 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:44,040 It was saying, God, we want more of you. 121 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:46,120 We are not content with what we have. 122 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:49,640 It also came from a place of deep humility and deep 123 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:53,560 repentance of saying, God, I know I'm so sinful, I don't 124 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:56,960 deserve more of you, but yet I know through Jesus I have access 125 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,080 to you and I want more of you. And so these were the common 126 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:02,240 ignition points of these revivals. 127 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:04,880 I was reading recently about the Asbury revival. 128 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:08,040 It just happened when there was a college Chapel. 129 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:10,800 They'd LED worship. They had the word. 130 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,000 The pastor LED in a short devotion. 131 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:16,560 He just talked about being of humility and repentance, LED 132 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:18,440 them in a prayer, moved off stage. 133 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:19,920 The Spirit of God just took over. 134 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:25,440 Young people walked in hours and hours, days on end, just coming 135 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:29,520 there, falling before God and saying here we are, forgive us. 136 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:33,480 The air of repentance and humility was so strong that 137 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:35,720 nothing other than a revival could have happened. 138 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:38,920 And yet, sometimes we think a revival has to look a certain 139 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,240 way, sound a certain way. I'm believing that revival 140 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:46,000 starts in the hearts of each of us before it starts spreading to 141 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:48,600 others. Like a flame that needs a bit of 142 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:51,360 fresh breath on it. Our flames are going to increase 143 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:53,960 in size and eventually it's going to spread into the 144 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,400 different places we walk into. That is what our belief is. 145 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:02,120 That is what we're trusting for. And so I really believe that God 146 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:03,960 is going to shift things in the season. 147 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:06,320 God is going to move it from complacency. 148 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,800 The complacent Christian, the selfish Christian, the one who's 149 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:12,120 self obsessed, the one who thinks, you know what? 150 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,040 I have a fire in my belly for my work, for my job, for my 151 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,600 business, for my child, for myself, for my marriage. 152 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:22,400 He's going to move that fire further up from your belly to 153 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,840 your heart so that your heart is burning for Jesus. 154 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:29,600 And when it's burning for Jesus, it'll start burning for his 155 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:32,640 Kingdom, and then it'll start burning for the world that 156 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:34,919 you're placed in and the things that you must do, you were 157 00:08:34,919 --> 00:08:37,919 created to do, to bring heaven to earth. 158 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:39,640 That's how this is going to work. 159 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:43,080 So I want to ask you, do you want to check yourself out right 160 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:45,360 now? You could or you could sign up. 161 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:47,840 You could say I'm all in, I'm all in. 162 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:52,120 We're starting to see these trends come up where people want 163 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:55,360 the best for themselves, the best house, the best car. 164 00:08:55,560 --> 00:08:58,480 They want the best experiences for their children, the best 165 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:02,760 sports coach, the best experiences, the best travel. 166 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:05,600 Do you want the best of God for yourself? 167 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:08,120 Do you want your children to experience God and all His 168 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:12,440 greatness and His glory? It will require a revival 169 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:14,640 because it cannot happen on our own. 170 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:17,920 We can hunger for it, but it's the Holy Spirit who meets us at 171 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:20,440 that place of hunger. It is the Holy Spirit who will 172 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:25,400 do His work in US. I love this quote that Pastor 173 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:30,000 Ruben Pradhan, he was part of a revival in 2009 which happened 174 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,040 in the northeast part of our country and when they asked him 175 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:35,800 what happened, why did the revival decline after a year or 176 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:39,600 so, he replied Although the revival made a huge impact on 177 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:42,880 the churches, it wasn't visible enough in the various strata of 178 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:44,920 society. Towards the end of the revival, 179 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:48,520 man made traditions, rules and regulations began to creep in 180 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:51,400 and children and youth were discouraged from going to these 181 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:54,520 revival meetings because their studies were being neglected. 182 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:58,520 Eventually I believe the Holy Spirit was quenched and the move 183 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:02,800 of God came to a stop, although some embers still seem to spark 184 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:06,120 here and there. Maybe you are saying I'm just an 185 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:09,160 ember right now. I have this, this small little 186 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:11,840 passion to know God more, to maybe tell someone about him. 187 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:16,160 We are going to believe that in these seven weeks, God is going 188 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:20,040 to breathe a fresh breath upon that ember, making it into a 189 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:22,400 roaring flame. We're going to believe that that 190 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:24,440 flame will be visible for miles away. 191 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:27,600 We're going to believe that when you sit on meetings, on calls, 192 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:31,040 with your business partners, with your bosses, that that fire 193 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:33,680 is going to spread across oceans. 194 00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:36,360 That's what we're believing for. That's the kind of revival we're 195 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:38,240 looking for. And today we're going to be 196 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,480 specifically looking at the revival that Elijah brought 197 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:49,080 about on Mount Carmel, right? He faced off 850 false prophets. 198 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:52,120 These are prophets of Baal and Ashtarith. 199 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:55,440 And these guys come up there, they're invited by Ahab, whose 200 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:58,880 wife hosts them regularly. And Elijah challenges them 201 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:01,600 literally to a duel. He says, come up here. 202 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:03,800 We prove to the people who's the real God. 203 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:06,680 And if you have to understand, these people of the land, the 204 00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:10,840 Israelites were being led by a king who had no convictions 205 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,400 whatever whatsoever. He was on the fence permanently. 206 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:16,000 He he worshipped a bit of the living God. 207 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:19,160 And then he also caved into his wife's demon gods. 208 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:22,440 He was married to a woman who came from the land of Sidon, 209 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:26,920 whose name was Jezebel. And she had this penchant for 210 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:30,400 for idolatry. She persecuted the innocent. 211 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:34,920 She she was wickedness Incarnate because of the demon gods she 212 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:39,240 sacrificed too. And so Ahab was in this love 213 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,400 relationship with a woman who had brought this whole system to 214 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:44,680 ruin. Israel was in shambles. 215 00:11:44,680 --> 00:11:47,800 Apostasy, you know, a prostitution, temple 216 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:49,320 prostitution had been brought in. 217 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:53,400 All kinds of immorality had crept in, all because of the 218 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:57,640 rulers being in such a bad position and that's when Elijah 219 00:11:57,640 --> 00:11:59,600 came in. Elijah's ministry was such a 220 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:02,600 powerful one. I love 1 Kings chapter 17 was 221 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:05,200 one and one line. It describes who Elijah was. 222 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:09,120 It says now Elijah the Tishbite from Tishbi in Gilead said to 223 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:12,720 Ahab, as the Lord, the God of Israel lives whom I serve, there 224 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:16,680 will be neither do nor reign in the next few years except at my 225 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:19,400 word. Elijah was a prophet. 226 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:22,360 He heard from God and he communicated what God gave him. 227 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,840 Lot of times he made certain declarations which there's no 228 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:30,560 direct implication that God asked him to say it, but he and 229 00:12:30,560 --> 00:12:34,840 faith made those declarations and God reinforced it, right? 230 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:37,280 It's such a powerful problem. He was as human as we are. 231 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:40,120 He went through a season of severe depression. 232 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:43,000 Like literally he, he had just won this huge battle. 233 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,640 And yet when he gets threatened by Jezebel, he runs and hides, 234 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:49,080 much like us. He declared things that God 235 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:51,040 directed him to say and it happened. 236 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:54,240 God would say go and tell Ahab Rain's coming. 237 00:12:54,240 --> 00:12:56,680 He would go and do it and eventually God would come 238 00:12:56,680 --> 00:13:02,000 through for him. He was a much needed pain in the 239 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,240 behind of Ahab and Jezebel. Ahab and Jezebel, if they didn't 240 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:07,400 have an Elijah would have just gone off the rails. 241 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:12,280 But Elijah brought truth to them, brought heaven's truth to 242 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:14,200 them. And I want to read a passage of 243 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:16,680 Scripture, 1 Kings chapter 18 if you could turn to it. 244 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:21,560 Verses 20 to 30 it says so. Ahab sent word throughout all 245 00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:24,560 Israel and assemble the prophets on Mount Carmel. 246 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:27,680 Elijah went before the people and said, how long will you 247 00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:31,560 waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him, 248 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,120 but if Baal is God, follow him. But the people said nothing. 249 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:38,640 Then Elijah said to them, I am the only one of the Lord's 250 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:42,200 prophets left. But Baal has 450 prophets. 251 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:46,200 Get 2 bulls for us. Let Baal's prophets choose one 252 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,800 for themselves and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the 253 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:53,400 wood, but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull 254 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:56,040 and put it on the wood, but not set fire to it. 255 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:59,000 Then you call in the name of your God, and I will call on the 256 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:03,440 name of the Lord, the God who answers by fire, He is God. 257 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:06,120 Then all the people said, what you say is good. 258 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:10,040 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose one of the bulls 259 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:13,880 and prepare it first, since there are so many of you, call 260 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:16,440 on the name of your God, but do not light the fire. 261 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:18,920 So they took the bull given them and prepared it. 262 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:21,880 Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. 263 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:25,440 Baal answered as they shouted, but there was no response. 264 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:29,040 No one answered and they danced around the altar they had made. 265 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:31,160 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. 266 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:34,720 Shout louder, he said. Surely he is a God. 267 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:37,680 Perhaps he was deep in thought or busy or travelling. 268 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:39,920 Maybe he's sleeping and must be awakened. 269 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:43,800 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords 270 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:47,800 and Spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 271 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:52,200 Midday passed and they continued their frantic prophesying until 272 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:54,240 the time for the evening sacrifice. 273 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:58,720 But there was no response. No one answered, no one paid 274 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:01,080 attention. Then Elijah said to all the 275 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:04,280 people, Come here to me. They came to him, and he 276 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:08,400 repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. 277 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:14,600 You look at this passage and you see a land that is ripe for 278 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:16,720 revival. How do you know that a place or 279 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:18,760 a person or a thing needs revival? 280 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:24,360 2 signs that a place or a person or a situation needs revival. 281 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:26,720 First thing is you're on the fence with God. 282 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:30,160 You're on the fence. What does that mean? 283 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:33,640 You have not picked a side. You're in the world and off it 284 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:36,320 where we are clearly said to be in the world, but not of it. 285 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:39,320 When you when you can't, you're not able to pick between the 286 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:41,000 Kingdom of light and the Kingdom of darkness. 287 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:42,640 You want the best of both worlds. 288 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:46,480 And here he says, why are you limping between two opinions? 289 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:49,600 Why are you wavering and message it says why are you on the 290 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:52,160 fence? Why are you on the fence? 291 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:56,360 Make up your mind is that you? I want to ask you, is that you? 292 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:03,000 The Kingdom of the earth beckons with its baubles, with its 293 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:06,600 lustful desires, with the pride of life and all these things 294 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:09,600 that are dragging us down. But then the Kingdom of light 295 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:14,760 beckons us with its its promise of abundance, its promise of 296 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:18,080 godliness and contentment being the greatest gains of our life. 297 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:20,200 And it's so hard to choose sometimes. 298 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:23,600 But I want to ask you, you can't be on the fence forever. 299 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:29,240 How about choosing a site? How do you know you need 300 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:31,720 revival? If you're on the fence, If you 301 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:36,280 say, well, I love Jesus, but I need this as well. 302 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:39,000 I love God. I know what he expects of me, 303 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:41,720 but this particular relationship is important to me. 304 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:44,000 This way of life is important to me. 305 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,520 I can't help but like God understands I'm human, on the 306 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:51,320 fence, on the fence. That's a sign that you and I 307 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,480 need revival because it's so interesting. 308 00:16:55,280 --> 00:17:00,520 There are so many other no gods, money, fame, sex, religion, so 309 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:04,960 many of these things call us and beckon us to a prosperity that 310 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:07,240 seems long lasting, but it isn't. 311 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:11,160 But Jesus is calling us to eternity and he's saying I will 312 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:14,400 give you a full life. Now, should you choose the 313 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:17,560 narrow way, right? And so which side will you 314 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:19,000 choose? The narrow way or the the 315 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,200 Broadway? Will you choose the way of the 316 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:25,599 cross or the way of the world? Will you choose Jesus or will 317 00:17:25,599 --> 00:17:28,160 you choose the enemy side? Because there is no 318 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:32,000 Demilitarized Zone, Everything is marked in black and white. 319 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:35,360 For too long we're thinking, you know what, I can be in the 320 00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:39,560 shadowy light part. No, I can be in the diffused 321 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:41,680 light region. You're either in the Kingdom of 322 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:43,360 light or you're in the Kingdom of darkness. 323 00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:45,840 The beautiful thing, as the apostle Peter writes, is you 324 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:48,880 have been rescued from the Kingdom of darkness and brought 325 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:53,240 into the Kingdom of light. You don't get to be on the wall. 326 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:57,480 As we mature, our position has to be very clear. 327 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:01,080 We're living in times where people are longing for us to 328 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:05,160 make that complacent choice, to compromise on things that fit 329 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:08,040 their itching ears so that you know we fit in with them. 330 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:11,560 But Jesus is calling us to a life that is set apart and 331 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:14,480 consecrated for him, one that is holy and righteous. 332 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:19,320 He says in Matthew chapter 6 verse 24, he says you can't 333 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:22,920 worship 2 gods at once. Loving one God, you'll end up 334 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,000 hating the other. Adoration of 1 feeds contempt 335 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:28,520 for the other. You can't worship God and money 336 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:30,240 both. Let's replace it with all the 337 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:33,760 other things. You can't worship God and sex as 338 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:37,360 well. You can't worship God and your 339 00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:40,360 ego. All of these tend to take our 340 00:18:40,360 --> 00:18:42,440 own spaces up the altar in our lives. 341 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:45,840 Seems crowded because as Jesus plus all these other things that 342 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:51,600 I need, wealth, networks, fame, fortune. 343 00:18:52,120 --> 00:18:57,360 What are the things that are occupying substitutionary gods 344 00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:00,240 in your life? You can't be on the fence for 345 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:02,200 long. If you are on the fence, it's a 346 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:04,400 surefire way of knowing you need revival. 347 00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:07,760 The second symptom of needing a revival, if you look at that 348 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,400 passage, was living an unaltered life. 349 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:13,360 What does that mean? Living unaltered? 350 00:19:13,360 --> 00:19:17,040 Meaning in this situation, the altar of God was broken down 351 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:20,320 there. There was literally a broken 352 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:23,120 down semblance of an altar, but it was no longer being used. 353 00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:26,640 It was obviously in disrepair. And the problem is, many of us 354 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:29,320 are living unaltered because the minute we come to Jesus, our 355 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:31,760 life changes. Let's not kid ourselves, it 356 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:34,600 should change. Transformation looks like that. 357 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,960 But many of us choose Jesus and live an unaltered life because 358 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:41,080 there is no altar to the one true King in our hearts. 359 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:44,320 Like I said, we have all these other things. 360 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:47,520 We're on the fence and our life hasn't transformed. 361 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:51,840 We're still indulging in the things that we used to, except 362 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:55,640 that now we have we say we have Jesus seal of approval on us. 363 00:19:56,640 --> 00:20:00,000 But how does that work here? It was very clear. 364 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,520 It says that Elijah said to the people, come here to me. 365 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:06,760 They came, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had 366 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:09,760 been torn. This is a high place. 367 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:13,000 Mount Carmel was a high place and actually speaking these high 368 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:16,600 places were not allowed. But a lot of kings didn't pull 369 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:19,320 down the high places. God didn't punish them for it. 370 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:22,720 But the high places were not the allowed places to offer these 371 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:24,480 sacrifices. Jerusalem, the temple of 372 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:26,800 Jerusalem was the place where it was supposed to. 373 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:31,040 Elijah is making an exception because of his a close communion 374 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:32,560 with God. He knew he could do this. 375 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:35,680 He was actually bringing the people to something relatively 376 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,240 familiar because the high places was where a lot of idolatry and 377 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:43,560 and paganism was happening. He brings them there and shows 378 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:47,760 them the broken down altar which is symbolic of a need for a 379 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:51,360 restoration. I want to ask you, what does the 380 00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:55,320 altar of your life look like? When I talk about an altar, I'm 381 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,240 not talking about an actual altar made of stone or brick or 382 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:01,240 wood. No, I'm asking you what is your 383 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:04,680 personal prayer and worship and those other spiritual 384 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:06,680 disciplines that should be under guarding your life? 385 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,000 How does it look? Is it as regular as it was in 386 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:11,920 the early days of your finding Jesus? 387 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:16,120 Is Thanksgiving something that you know is permeated into your 388 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:19,840 everyday? It is important to understand 389 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:23,160 that an altar is actually a point of connection between God 390 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:25,520 and man. It is where heaven invades 391 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:30,080 earth, right? And an altar requires us to move 392 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:33,080 here and focus on the one we worship. 393 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:36,520 So if you're living unaltered, it means the altars of your life 394 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:40,280 are broken down, and God is calling us into a place of 395 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:42,960 rebuilding those altars. So what do we need to do? 396 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:46,040 We know the symptoms now, and I'm guessing that most of you 397 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:47,720 fell under one of the categories, right? 398 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:52,440 I know I did, but I'm coming to 1 Kings chapter 18 versus 30 to 399 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,120 39 to understand what the solution is because there's no 400 00:21:55,120 --> 00:21:58,120 use knowing the the signs of a problem unless we have a 401 00:21:58,120 --> 00:22:00,520 solution, right? And this is where the solution 402 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:03,880 comes one Kings chapter 18 versus 30 to 39. 403 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:07,880 Then Elijah said to all the people, come near to me. 404 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,560 So all the people came near to him and he repaired the altar of 405 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:15,440 the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took 12 Stones 406 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:18,720 according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob to 407 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,240 whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, Israel shall be 408 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:23,640 your name. Then with the stones he built an 409 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:26,560 altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench around the 410 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:29,080 altar large enough to hold 2 seers of seed. 411 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:33,000 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces and laid 412 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:37,080 it on the wood and said, fill 4 water pots with water and poured 413 00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:39,640 it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. 414 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:43,360 Then he said, do it a second time and they did it a second 415 00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:44,800 time. And he said do it a third time 416 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:47,960 and he did it a third time. So the water ran all around the 417 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:50,200 altar and he also filled the trench with water. 418 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:53,400 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening 419 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:57,080 sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came here and said, Lord 420 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:01,000 God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day 421 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:05,040 that you are God and Israel, and I am your servant, and that I 422 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:06,760 have done all these things at Your word. 423 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:10,280 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that these people may know that you 424 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,440 are the Lord God, and that you have turned their hearts back to 425 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:16,720 You again. Then the fire of the Lord fell 426 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:20,640 and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and 427 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,760 the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 428 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:28,200 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and 429 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,960 they said, the Lord he is God, the Lord he is God. 430 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:35,880 This is the the recipe for a revival. 431 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:40,320 There was fire which fell from heaven, convincing the people 432 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:44,320 that Elijah was a spokesman for God himself, the living God. 433 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:47,000 Hours on end. Bal never responded. 434 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:50,480 A living God should respond. Our God, the living God 435 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:53,240 responded with fire. And the interesting thing is it 436 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:57,040 required something from Elijah. It was not the people. 437 00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,600 Elijah responded, he did three things. 438 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:03,640 And I believe that these three things are very important for us 439 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:09,000 to actually wait on God for this revival, for us to ask Him. 440 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:11,120 Lord, put your fire on me. Put your fire in me. 441 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:14,000 And the three things that is the first thing is we need to 442 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,600 rebuild our altars to Christ alone. 443 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:20,800 Like I explained this altar here was it was broken down. 444 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:24,400 So he actually arranged 12 Stones and then he laid the 445 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:26,960 sacrifice on it. When we look at Exodus chapter 446 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:31,720 20, verses 22 to 26, it talks about the actual making of an 447 00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:33,320 altar. And I want to just read it says 448 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:37,000 here verse 24, an altar of earth you shall make for me, and you 449 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:40,280 shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace 450 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:43,280 offerings, your sheep and your oxen in every place where I 451 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:45,480 record my name. I will come to you and I will 452 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:47,760 bless you. If you make me an altar of 453 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:51,320 stone, You shall not built it of built it of hewn stone, for if 454 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:54,360 you use your tool on it, you have profaned it, nor shall you 455 00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:57,520 go up by steps to my altar that your nakedness may not be 456 00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:00,680 exposed on it. It's very interesting that an 457 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:04,000 altar is representative of the object of our worship. 458 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:07,760 So I want you to first of all, understand you don't need an 459 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,240 altar to be built at home. You don't need to create a 460 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:14,720 specific niche place for that altar, but it's a position and 461 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:18,720 posture of your heart wherein you're saying God here I am, I 462 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:21,560 am focused on you. The reason why Abraham, Isaac 463 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:25,320 and Jacob built altars as early as they didn't even Noah built 464 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:29,400 an altar was because it focused their attentions on the one who 465 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:31,480 had saved them, the one who had called them. 466 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:35,480 It brought them into sharp focus as the one as to the one who 467 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:38,360 needed worshipping. If there was no altar in a 468 00:25:38,360 --> 00:25:41,560 multi, in a polytheistic culture, it's very easy to get 469 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:43,200 distracted. Now we live in such a time. 470 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:45,920 I have experienced time during worship. 471 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:49,680 Instead of closing my eyes and actually worshipping God, I'm 472 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:52,800 looking around. I'm observing others. 473 00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:56,280 My mind wanders. I start to think about my week. 474 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:57,720 I start to think of the week ahead. 475 00:25:57,880 --> 00:25:59,800 I start to think of all the things I have not done. 476 00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:02,080 I start to think of the things people said. 477 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:07,240 And before long, on the altar of my life, I am no longer the 478 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:10,440 sacrifice. My focus is no longer Jesus. 10 479 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:14,680 other things are sitting on that altar, and God is calling me to 480 00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:17,120 focus on the object of my worship. 481 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,280 It's important to know when my altars are broken down, it means 482 00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:23,800 that I have put the wrong things on the altar many times. 483 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:25,680 I have. We have worshipped our spouse, 484 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:29,280 We have worshipped our children, our friendships, religion, the 485 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:32,080 things that drive us, our passions, our careers, our 486 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:36,360 dreams, our ambitions. And somehow Jesus doesn't have 487 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:39,000 the prime focus through my altar. 488 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:43,920 When God is calling us back, it is representative of the 489 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:47,520 worship. Who receives my worship, who 490 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,200 receives the praise, who receives the glory. 491 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:56,200 Up until recently, I had a a simple method of just connecting 492 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,760 with God, which is I would go to a particular place in my in my 493 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,520 home and would connect with God through worship. 494 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,560 And I'm a dancer, so I worship with dance with flags. 495 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:10,280 As the summer in Chennai started, I found that it was 496 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:12,440 just too hot to do anything outdoors. 497 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:15,800 So what I would do is just completely cut that part of my 498 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,040 life out. I would spend the evenings 499 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:24,400 indoors with the AC on right. And I found that this vital bit 500 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:27,480 of connection was missing. I found it harder to pray. 501 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:32,280 I found it harder to worship. I realized that my altar, I had 502 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:36,720 torn it down to choose comfort, to choose what worked for me 503 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:40,440 because oh, it was summer season and the Lord reminded me and 504 00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:42,560 said, who is the object of your worship? 505 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:44,600 It feels like on your altar is comfort. 506 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:48,800 Would you worship me even if sweat was streaming down your 507 00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:52,520 back? Would you worship me even if the 508 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:55,760 climate and the temperature soars to the high 30s? 509 00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:59,560 Would you still choose me? Was the question he asked me. 510 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:03,440 And I, I believe each of us have chosen something instead of 511 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:07,560 Jesus because the truth is this. The fire of God cannot fall on 512 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:11,040 an empty altar. On the altar is our sacrifice 513 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:15,040 and the sacrifice is ourselves saying, Lord, here I am, fill 514 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:16,880 me, use me, do with me as you will. 515 00:28:17,120 --> 00:28:20,480 But many times when the altar is misplaced, when it's, it's 516 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:24,360 serving my own agenda, there is no sacrifice there. 517 00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:26,600 It's all about my comfort. I'm protecting myself. 518 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:30,240 I'm safeguarding myself. The altar is empty and a fire 519 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:32,400 cannot fall on an altar that is empty. 520 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,880 I love what the Passion translation talks about. 521 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:39,360 Psalm chapter 5, verse 3. In the Passion translation it 522 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:43,360 says at each and every sunrise you will hear my voice as I 523 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:45,280 prepare my sacrifice of prayer to you. 524 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:48,560 Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on the altar 525 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:51,720 and wait for your fire to fall upon my heart. 526 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:57,560 Every day, unless the altar is prepared and my worship is tuned 527 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:02,600 to Jesus alone, there's a huge propensity that I have not laid 528 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:06,440 the pieces of my life on that altar because I'm so busy 529 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:08,320 safeguarding and keeping it for myself. 530 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:13,440 But God is calling us to a place of laying it on that altar to 531 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:17,880 rebuild the altar, to position myself to worship him. 532 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,600 So often we're so, you know, direct. 533 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:24,720 We're so transactional. Anytime we sit down to pray, be 534 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:26,600 like God. These are the things I need. 535 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:28,880 Sometimes we even start by saying Lord, you already know 536 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:30,720 what I need, so I'm just going to worship you. 537 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:33,240 But in 5 minutes, we're back to asking Him for the things that 538 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:36,440 we want. While it's not bad to us, He is 539 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:38,120 our Father. We can ask Him for anything. 540 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:41,800 I believe that when we rebuild the altar in our lives as 541 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:46,000 families, as individuals, we are saying God, we choose to focus 542 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:50,480 on you in the season. An altar takes the focus of our 543 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:52,840 situation. It takes it back to God. 544 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:57,360 An altar takes the heat of my the other parts of my life and 545 00:29:57,360 --> 00:29:59,680 allows me to focus on who I worship. 546 00:29:59,920 --> 00:30:03,200 And I love that these altars were slightly elevated so that 547 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:05,680 when you looked at it, when you worshiped, you know, when you 548 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:10,120 worshiped God through it, you had to look up so you couldn't 549 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:12,160 be so caught up with what was happening down here. 550 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:15,560 You had to lift your eyes like the psalmist says, I lift up my 551 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:17,160 eyes. Where does my help come from? 552 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:22,200 The altar enables us to lift our eyes and place it on the one 553 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:25,880 that really matters. The second thing, the second 554 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:28,520 remedy. The first thing is we need to 555 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:31,640 rebuild the altars of our life. The second thing is that we have 556 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:35,160 to soak our life in the water of God's world. 557 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:41,840 If you noticed, Elijah did this very anti science thing where he 558 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:45,600 said we're waiting for fire from God, but he drenched the place 559 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:49,680 in gallons of water. It was like he was setting God 560 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:52,440 up for a miracle. He was setting the scene for 561 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:55,680 something supernatural because we know that anything that is so 562 00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:59,440 drenched with water, soaked and running with water cannot be 563 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:01,720 flammable. There is no possibility. 564 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:04,600 And yet he was saying, God, you can do anything. 565 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:08,600 Prove to these people that you will work against nature, and 566 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:11,000 that's what God did. Isn't that amazing? 567 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,680 In Ephesians chapter 5, verses 25 to 26, I'm reading from the 568 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:17,680 Passion translation, it says and to the husbands, you are to 569 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:20,640 demonstrate love for your wives with the same tender devotion 570 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:23,200 that Christ demonstrated to us his bride. 571 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:27,760 For He died for us, sacrificing himself to make us holy and 572 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:32,520 pure, cleansing us through the showering of the pure water of 573 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:38,960 the Word of God, showering us with the pure water of the Word 574 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:41,760 of God. In other translations it says by 575 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:48,160 the washing of the word. If you and I choose to look at 576 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:52,680 the Word of God as optional, this revival fire will not 577 00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:57,000 actually take root, will not actually pick up because the the 578 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:01,880 Word of God is so powerful. It is living, it is active, it 579 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:04,880 is dividing our motives, our hearts, our agendas. 580 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:06,600 It's revealing the things of our heart. 581 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:09,520 It is moving to actually convict us. 582 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:13,920 When I'm soaked in it, it is doing its work. 583 00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:17,760 It is purifying me so that when the fire of God falls, it 584 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:22,120 doesn't consume me, but it only fills me many times. 585 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:25,280 Many of us are not living in the wholeness of God's Word. 586 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:29,400 We are not soaking in it. It's just like this side piece. 587 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:31,960 It's just there. I have a Bible, I have my you 588 00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:33,560 version. I look at the worst of the day. 589 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:36,640 I'm good. But God is saying you need to be 590 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:39,760 soaked in the Word of God. What does soaking look like? 591 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:44,200 Reading it, meditating on it, knowing it. 592 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:46,720 If you have to put up worst, 'cause you have to put the 593 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:49,920 scripture up on your, on your home screen, whatever it is, 594 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:54,760 when He gives you a word that you would cling onto it and use 595 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:57,520 it for the weapon that it is, because it is the only weapon in 596 00:32:57,520 --> 00:32:59,480 our arsenal which is an offensive weapon. 597 00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:02,600 Everything else is passive. It holds us, it protects us, but 598 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:04,680 the Word of God goes against the enemy. 599 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:09,880 And I believe God is calling us to use the Rhema word, the word 600 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:15,640 that is revealed to us for what it's worth, but it will not give 601 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:18,680 room for a revival unless you and I are soaked in it. 602 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:22,600 Because as we are soaked in it, the word begins to work in US. 603 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:26,640 Every season of my life, God has given me a different scripture, 604 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:29,880 something different to actually note down and study. 605 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:33,280 And off late because I'm more intentional about noting down 606 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:36,400 what He's showing me. As I noted down, actually read 607 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:40,280 these scriptures every day just to remind myself of the season. 608 00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:43,680 I mean, because sometimes it feels like a crushing season. 609 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:46,880 And unless you have the word of God to cover you and protect you 610 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:49,640 and cocoon you, you'll be devastated. 611 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,000 The season will shake you and rattle you. 612 00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:54,680 So it's important that the Word of God is something you're 613 00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:58,240 soaked in through the day, all day, every day, so that when the 614 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:02,080 revival fire comes, you're not left standing there like ash, 615 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:07,280 but you're glowing a flame and ready for the purposes of God in 616 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:08,880 your life. So that's the second thing, 617 00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:13,560 being soaked in God's Word, being soaked in God's word, the 618 00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:16,639 third thing I believe that remedy for us to actually 619 00:34:16,639 --> 00:34:21,639 experience this revival fire, to actually, you know, experience a 620 00:34:21,639 --> 00:34:25,960 rehydration so to speak, of our spirit man of our soul is to 621 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:29,719 pray fervently. It's easy to just pray. 622 00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:32,800 Many people have learnt that it's just a conversation, it's 623 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:34,840 OK. But do you pray fervently? 624 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:39,800 What is praying fervently mean? What does it mean to ardently 625 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:42,960 pray until something happens? What does it look like? 626 00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:46,239 James chapter 5, verses 16 to 18 says this. 627 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:50,639 The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 628 00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:53,760 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed 629 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:57,160 earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the 630 00:34:57,160 --> 00:34:59,040 land for three years and six months. 631 00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:02,120 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth 632 00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:05,320 produced its fruit. It's so interesting. 633 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,880 He was a man like us, which means he was ordinary like us, 634 00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:12,640 but he had the Spirit of God so powerfully at work in him that 635 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:15,880 when he prayed, God answered because he was praying in 636 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:19,520 alignment with God's will. He was not declaring things out 637 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:22,360 of the side of his mouth, things he just felt, but he was 638 00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:24,600 actually praying alongside God's will. 639 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:27,840 So God's will was happening and it's very interesting because 640 00:35:27,840 --> 00:35:32,200 when you're reading the whole passage of 1 Kings chapter 18, 641 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:35,800 when you come further down, it's talking about how he tells Ahab, 642 00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:38,680 go back to the city, take your chariot and go because rain is 643 00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:40,800 coming. There hasn't been rain for 3 1/2 644 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:43,480 years. The land is dry, crops have 645 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:47,640 died, livestock are struggling. People are looking for water. 646 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:52,240 And so God has said, tell Ahab to go, rain is coming, right? 647 00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:55,640 But the interesting thing about Elijah, which which surprised me 648 00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:58,480 and also spurred me on, was he knew rain was coming. 649 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:01,240 He knew that God is faithful to his word. 650 00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:05,160 But it says that he knelt down where he was, he put his face 651 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:09,560 between his knees like a woman in labour that the, the position 652 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:12,480 in those days for, for a woman to actually give birth was on 653 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,560 her knees on her, on her hands, right? 654 00:36:15,640 --> 00:36:19,440 And he's bent down and he's travailing in prayer. 655 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:23,640 He's fervently praying. Why should he pray for something 656 00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:26,400 that's promised? Why is he praying for something 657 00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:28,680 that he knew is going to come? If God said rain's coming, 658 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:31,760 rain's coming. But that's Elijah for you. 659 00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:36,640 He was a man of fervent prayer. You and I have promises that God 660 00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:38,880 has kept for us. I'm sure you're waiting on a 661 00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:42,840 promise for marriage, for a child, for that dream job, for 662 00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:45,080 that move to another country, whatever it is. 663 00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:49,960 But God is saying in the wait, in the interim, what you do in 664 00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:51,600 your prayer life is very important. 665 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,200 The word for prayer in this context, the Hebrew word, is 666 00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:59,000 tefila. Tefila, which means connecting 667 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,560 intimately and communicating your heart with God. 668 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:07,720 Prayer is not a monologue. Prayer is not just unloading 669 00:37:07,720 --> 00:37:09,200 something on God and walking away. 670 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:12,760 Prayer is communicating intimately with him, telling 671 00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:14,360 him, Lord, this is what is on my heart. 672 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:16,960 I know you promised this, but I'm going to wait. 673 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:19,000 Lord, what do you want to do in me while I wait? 674 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:21,720 Lord, what is coming? What should I be prepared for? 675 00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:24,880 And it's such a beautiful two way communication. 676 00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:28,280 If you don't know how to pray, you know what, just take the 677 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:30,120 Lord's Prayer. Pray that out. 678 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:33,520 You know, the theologian Dallas Willard says this of the Lord's 679 00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:36,760 Prayer. He said in our petition to 680 00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:39,000 deliver us from temptation and evil. 681 00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:44,000 That is a vote of no confidence in our abilities, which means 682 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:46,480 you and I are basically saying when we, when we pray these 683 00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:48,920 prayers say, Lord, let your will be done. 684 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:51,120 Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 685 00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:55,480 I'm basically saying I have no capacity, Lord, without you I am 686 00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:58,520 nothing. And that's when God moves in 687 00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:01,680 with all his power. In this story, when he is, he's 688 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:04,840 on his knees, he's praying. He sends his servant and says go 689 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:08,360 check if the rain clouds are coming. 7 times he goes, there's 690 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:13,640 no rain cloud. The 7th time a small cloud lifts 691 00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:17,000 off from above the sea and moves towards land and he knows his 692 00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:20,360 prayer is answered. What if when you are praying, 693 00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:24,400 you're still in the fifth cycle and God is saying don't give up, 694 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:29,760 pray, pray fervently because you never know when the breakthrough 695 00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:31,400 is about to come. Sometimes some of us are on the 696 00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:35,640 cusp of the breakthrough and the problem is sometimes we give up 697 00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:39,120 just a little bit too early. And I want to encourage you to 698 00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:42,640 pray till something happens. Still, there's an evidence of 699 00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:45,960 God more and for this revival fire to really burden us, we 700 00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:49,680 need to be praying fervently. It's a very interesting concept. 701 00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:53,200 I'm sure all pastors will agree. When we organise a gathering 702 00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:56,760 over food, everybody turns up. When you organise something for 703 00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:58,720 prayer, there are 10 faithful putana. 704 00:39:00,240 --> 00:39:02,560 This is a symptom of the times we live in. 705 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:04,480 If you don't pray, you're not going to see your revival. 706 00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:07,240 If you don't pray, you're not going to see a sustained change, 707 00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:09,000 change in the situation you're in. 708 00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:12,960 We want immediate results, but God is interested in eternity. 709 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:15,600 God is interested in generations to come. 710 00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:18,520 What are you doing in the interim? 711 00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:20,280 What are you doing with the promise? 712 00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:22,760 He said it will rain, but Elijah got on his knees. 713 00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:28,320 Elijah bent down and travailed in prayer, prevailed till God 714 00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:31,320 came through. Will you and I be caught being 715 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:36,040 so persistent in prayer? This is what Jesus talked about, 716 00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:38,800 about that persistent widow. She went to that judge who was 717 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:41,280 unrighteous and waited till she got her justice. 718 00:39:41,440 --> 00:39:45,520 He says how much more will your heavenly Father do for you, for 719 00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:48,720 those who wait on him? God is calling us into a season 720 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:52,480 of prevailing prayer, persistent prayer, fervent prayer, 721 00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:55,160 travailing prayer. That is what he's calling us 722 00:39:55,160 --> 00:39:57,000 for. So if you're saying, well, I 723 00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:58,440 haven't seen revival, I should probably. 724 00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:03,160 Maybe you're still on round 4? Maybe you're still in the early 725 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:08,360 stages of the travail. God is calling you to travail in 726 00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:10,960 prayer because even before something happens there in the 727 00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:14,840 supernatural realm, God is working in you through every 728 00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:16,640 prayer you pray. He's teaching you to listen. 729 00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:18,640 He's teaching you what His will is. 730 00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:21,760 He's teaching you how to intercede in alignment with His 731 00:40:21,760 --> 00:40:26,960 will for your life. Revival happens basically when 732 00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:29,680 heaven meets earth. And the only one who can 733 00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:32,120 facilitate this is the Holy Spirit. 734 00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:36,560 Revival requires that there's a rebuilding of broken down 735 00:40:36,560 --> 00:40:39,280 altars. It requires that we soak in 736 00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:42,040 God's Word and that we pray fervently. 737 00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:45,760 And that's how heaven comes to earth. 738 00:40:46,720 --> 00:40:50,520 You know, when Pastor Reuben Pradhan said that, you know, as 739 00:40:50,520 --> 00:40:53,360 to why the revival actually died on one particular line caught 740 00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:58,360 me, he said it was not visible enough in the various stratas of 741 00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:00,160 society. And you know, I wonder whether 742 00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:02,800 sometimes we limit revival to the church. 743 00:41:03,520 --> 00:41:07,640 But I believe God is saying each one of us in the body of Christ, 744 00:41:08,160 --> 00:41:11,760 each one of us, we as representatives in the real 745 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:13,280 world. You could be a businessman, you 746 00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:15,680 could be a school teacher, you could be a college lecturer. 747 00:41:16,720 --> 00:41:20,120 You could be an entrepreneur, you could be an IT specialist. 748 00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:23,040 You could be a doctor or a or a healthcare professional. 749 00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:26,760 You could be a student, you could be a homemaker. 750 00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:32,880 Whatever you are, when God fills you with his Spirit, you are a 751 00:41:32,880 --> 00:41:36,080 direct transmitter of that fire to others in your world. 752 00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:40,280 As a homemaker, you have access to the ones who come to help 753 00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:41,920 you. You have access to your 754 00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:45,160 neighbors. The fire has to spread and it 755 00:41:45,160 --> 00:41:48,960 spreads through each of you college students, but don't let 756 00:41:48,960 --> 00:41:52,200 the fire die down with you. Ask God, help me spread this 757 00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:54,920 Lord. That's how revival reaches the 758 00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:57,680 ends of the earth, because each of us are faithful carriers of 759 00:41:57,680 --> 00:42:00,760 the fire within us. The problem is I remember my 760 00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:03,400 college days. I didn't have a fire for God. 761 00:42:03,760 --> 00:42:06,320 To be very honest, I didn't have a fire. 762 00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:07,880 I had friends who had a fire for God. 763 00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:10,720 I remember the way they lived. I remember the way they carried 764 00:42:10,720 --> 00:42:13,160 themselves. They were a class apart. 765 00:42:13,960 --> 00:42:16,800 They lived in such a God honouring way that people took 766 00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:19,600 notice. They never cheated in exams. 767 00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:21,280 They were loving to all they met. 768 00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:23,640 They worshipped God with abandoned in our class 769 00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:26,920 assemblies. They were unashamed of Jesus and 770 00:42:26,920 --> 00:42:30,440 the fire in their hearts began to spread 1 by 1 to others. 771 00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:34,320 I for one didn't carry that fire. 772 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:37,400 A little too late that I realize I should have been a better 773 00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:40,440 witness for Jesus. But I can tell you this at the 774 00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:43,880 stage I'm at now. My desire is that the fire in me 775 00:42:44,360 --> 00:42:48,560 will pass to all I meet, to my house, help, to my neighbors, to 776 00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:52,440 church friends, to friends outside, to acquaintances, to 777 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:55,680 neighbors, wherever I go. God, you spread this fire. 778 00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:58,320 I can't do much. I can be the one God's asked me 779 00:42:58,320 --> 00:43:03,840 to be, but it's His job that makes others catch the fire of 780 00:43:03,840 --> 00:43:06,960 me. But my question to you is, will 781 00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:11,000 you allow God to fan into flame what is within you? 782 00:43:12,240 --> 00:43:15,280 The baby life has been so hard that you've allowed the flame to 783 00:43:15,280 --> 00:43:17,760 completely die down. It's OK, it's OK. 784 00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:22,160 Let God breathe afresh upon it. Maybe you've said I felt like I 785 00:43:22,160 --> 00:43:26,360 was on the altar, but I decided to protect myself. 786 00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:30,120 I've been through that as a pastor, as a pastor's wife. 787 00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:32,800 The times when you feel completely unsafe around people 788 00:43:32,800 --> 00:43:35,680 and you feel like God, I've exposed myself to people. 789 00:43:35,800 --> 00:43:37,520 I'm all up for grabs. What to do now? 790 00:43:37,720 --> 00:43:40,320 And God has said when you're on that altar, you're so safe. 791 00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:44,680 When you lay the pieces of your life on the altar, you're the 792 00:43:44,680 --> 00:43:49,040 safest because I've got you. And so I have personally seen 793 00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:51,200 the power of being soaked in God's word. 794 00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:53,920 It protects you like nothing else can. 795 00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:57,480 And I want to encourage you, don't go to a place of such self 796 00:43:57,480 --> 00:43:59,600 preservation that you don't allow God to work in. 797 00:43:59,600 --> 00:44:03,360 You go to a place of saying, I'm on this altar, God, here I am. 798 00:44:03,400 --> 00:44:06,000 Climb on that altar. Don't wrestle your way off it 799 00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:08,200 and say I'm here, my eyes are on you. 800 00:44:08,200 --> 00:44:11,720 I will worship you alone. Soak in His Word. 801 00:44:12,400 --> 00:44:15,120 Don't be content with reading it for 5 minutes and just going 802 00:44:15,120 --> 00:44:17,600 about your day. Allow the Word of God to 803 00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:19,880 resonate with you. If you're driving, put on the 804 00:44:19,880 --> 00:44:22,640 audio Bible. If you're in work, you finished 805 00:44:22,640 --> 00:44:24,000 work. Don't, don't listen to the Word 806 00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:26,240 of God during work. Concentrate on your work. 807 00:44:26,240 --> 00:44:30,560 But when you're driving back when you're heading home, read 808 00:44:30,560 --> 00:44:32,160 the Word. If you're a reader, read it. 809 00:44:32,160 --> 00:44:35,040 If you're a listener, listen. If you need to write down the 810 00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:38,360 scriptures that you remember to, do it, but allow yourself to 811 00:44:38,360 --> 00:44:42,000 soak in it so that the Rhema word is what you're soaked in. 812 00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:44,920 It is what carries you through the seasons of your life. 813 00:44:45,920 --> 00:44:50,760 And finally, pray fervently because the promise is real. 814 00:44:50,760 --> 00:44:54,440 He who has promised is faithful. But in the interim, we must 815 00:44:54,440 --> 00:44:56,800 travail till we see the promise come through. 816 00:44:57,280 --> 00:45:00,840 He brings it about. My job is to get on my knees and 817 00:45:00,840 --> 00:45:04,040 to wait in prayer. So even as we close, I want to 818 00:45:04,040 --> 00:45:08,000 just pray with you. And can I ask you to repeat what 819 00:45:08,000 --> 00:45:13,160 the psalmist prayed in Psalm 5 At each and every sunrise? 820 00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:18,200 Lord, you will hear my voice as I prepare my sacrifice of prayer 821 00:45:18,200 --> 00:45:22,440 for You. Every morning I will lay out the 822 00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:28,640 pieces of my life on the altar and wait for your fire to fall 823 00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:31,840 upon my heart. Father, we just make this our 824 00:45:31,840 --> 00:45:33,520 prayer. We pray that each one who has 825 00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:36,960 prayed this prayer will experience the fire of God in 826 00:45:36,960 --> 00:45:40,680 their heart, that their hearts will be ablaze with a passion 827 00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:44,240 for your name, a passion for your Kingdom, a passion for the 828 00:45:44,240 --> 00:45:47,200 world around them. God, I pray for those whose 829 00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:51,080 fires have gone out because of grief, because of hard seasons. 830 00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:54,680 Father, today we pray that a fresh fire will be lit in them. 831 00:45:55,720 --> 00:45:58,800 I pray for those whose flames are dangerously low because of 832 00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:01,600 apathy, because of the need for comfort, for safety. 833 00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:05,480 But God, today I pray they will say yes to you again and that 834 00:46:05,480 --> 00:46:07,960 the flame will burn brighter than ever before. 835 00:46:09,600 --> 00:46:13,800 Father, I pray for those who are on the fence, who have not taken 836 00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:17,680 a stand thus far. I pray today, Lord, today they 837 00:46:17,680 --> 00:46:20,320 will take a stand. Today they will choose you. 838 00:46:20,320 --> 00:46:22,440 Today they will choose the Kingdom of Light. 839 00:46:24,000 --> 00:46:28,400 Father, I pray for those whose altars have completely been 840 00:46:28,400 --> 00:46:32,280 demolished because of a lack of prayer, lack of worship, a lack 841 00:46:32,280 --> 00:46:34,400 of community. God, I pray in the name of Jesus 842 00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:39,480 they would rebuild it with your help, that they would encounter 843 00:46:39,480 --> 00:46:43,000 you on a daily basis. I pray for families, Lord, to to 844 00:46:43,000 --> 00:46:46,200 establish times of seeking your face together, worshipping you 845 00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:49,160 together. God, I pray for couples to 846 00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:51,760 reinstitute these times of prayer. 847 00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:56,880 We pray that you would be a wall of fire around your body, around 848 00:46:56,880 --> 00:47:02,000 your bright help us and keep us. In Jesus name we pray. 849 00:47:02,640 --> 00:47:03,680 Amen. Amen. 850 00:47:04,600 --> 00:47:06,880 Even as you get about your week, I just pray that you will 851 00:47:06,880 --> 00:47:10,360 experience God in the small and the big things and that you will 852 00:47:10,360 --> 00:47:13,800 anticipate revival. Maybe you've been really dull 853 00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:15,840 and down in your soul. I just believe that God is 854 00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:19,800 reviving you so that you will be a carrier of revival into every 855 00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:23,240 space that you go into. Remember that whoever finds 856 00:47:23,240 --> 00:47:25,400 Jesus finds life. God bless you. 857 00:47:27,040 --> 00:47:28,880 Thanks for listening to this message. 858 00:47:29,240 --> 00:47:32,720 We hope you were blessed to hear more messages like this. 859 00:47:33,120 --> 00:47:37,080 Make sure to subscribe and check out our podcast channel for past 860 00:47:37,080 --> 00:47:39,400 episodes. If you like what you are 861 00:47:39,400 --> 00:47:43,960 hearing, consider rating us, subscribing and even sharing it 862 00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:46,520 with friends. That would really help us. 863 00:47:47,240 --> 00:47:51,840 For more content from Via Zion and to connect with us, go to 864 00:47:51,840 --> 00:47:57,000 Via Zion dot in. Remember, whoever finds Jesus 865 00:47:57,200 --> 00:47:58,040 finds life.