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7 Days to Awakening

A Weeklong Devotional Prayer Guide

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Day 1: Revival Praying

A Word from God

If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my

face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14). Our only responsibility is the IF part, humbling ourselves, praying, seeking His face, and turning from sin, and the THEN part is all His – hearing, forgiving, cleansing, and healing.

Words of Explanation

What is revival? Revival is defined in Revelation 2:4-5 – Return to your first love which you have left. Revival is God getting me where I need to be so He can do what He wants to do. Revival is God’s people getting right with Him Revival is when God moves in power in His people, to bring them back to life from hard hearts, indifference, backsliding, and spiritual harlotry, to renew their first marriage vows to Jesus only. Revival is a name we invented to explain what ought to be the normal Christian life. Revival is God’s answer to His people’s desperate pleas that we are powerless to revive ourselves or others. Revival praying involves brokenness and humility, and the confession of my personal sins and the sins of the church and the country that have separated us from God. Revival is Biblical. Revival is birthed in prayer and holiness, and it will continue until the prayer and holiness which birthed it is neglected in favor of the arm of flesh of man.

How do you get revival fire started? Get a few hot coals together!

What is spiritual awakening? When God so works in His people that we get contagious, and the world notices the Reviving One in action in love and in power in our lives, so that they want to rub lives with us to catch what we have – When God’s humbled, purified, Spirit-empowered church so lives the presence and priorities of God that the world takes notice – When God’s people get so on fire, that unbelieving family and the world of lost people around us want to come see where the fire is – When revived believers repent of their sins in the holy presence of God, Make right what is wrong in the power of God, give priority to the purposes of God in prayer, testify of a passion for God by their revived lives living out His reviving Life.

What is evangelism? Evangelism is the overflow, the results, when the revived church goes into the world by the Spirit of power, who opens blind eyes so that those in darkness come to the light of Jesus Christ, when He is lifted up. Revival results in evangelism. Unchurched people get saved in a mighty move of God. In the atmosphere of prayer, purification, and praise, God moves to redeem the lost world so that entire geographic areas are swept into the kingdom. If the harvest is His, then pray to the Lord of the Harvest as the Greatest Commission of all.

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What revival is not

• not goose bumps – not how high we jump, but how straight we walk • not calling down fire on those who don’t hear. Jesus rebuked that (Luke 9:55) • not just asking, but hearing from God. You are only as revived as you are a good

listener. Give God time to speak. “Hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” Do spiritual calisthenics: listen, and pray, and listen, and obey.

• not inexpensive: yes it’s free, but it costs dearly Religion does not cost anything, but revival costs you everything. What have you got to lose? your sin, your pride, your reputation, your flesh, your powerlessness!

How does Jesus deal with us? Individually, one person at a time.

Fix your eyes on Jesus Fix your eyes on YOU – not on sin in somebody else.

God wants to revive your church, and He will do it one person at a time. He will call His individual people whom He knows by name to repentance, to a new beginning of holiness, to a new beginning of first love, to a new beginning of obedience.

Prayer for revival is only as powerful as: 1. Your love for God 2. Your hatred of sin 3. Your surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit

Lord, search me. Anybody who is willing to pray that prayer will have personal revival, regardless of what anybody else does.

4. Your desperation for the glory of God at all costs, desperation to see your live and your church changed or die. God will not share His glory with those who come to use Him to make a religious reputation for themselves.

Why don’t we have revival?

1. Ignorance – My people perish for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). 2. We are content to live without it. The church has no vision for revival. Where there is

no vision, the people perish (Pro. 29:18). 3. Unwilling to pay the price to meet the conditions -- of humbling, praying, seeking

God’s face, and turning from sin. Prayer Portions © 1991, 1992, 1995, Sylvia Gunter, The Father’s Business, P.O. Box 380333, Birmingham, AL 35238, www.thefathersbusiness.com, email: fathersbiz@cs.com. pages 333-334.

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Day 2: Revival Prayer Many believers yearn for revival – the sovereign intervention of the power of God

that cannot be explained in terms of the talents and energies of people. The world has yet to see what God will do in this generation when His people take seriously the cry of revival. Pray this way:

Heavenly Father, we surrender ourselves to our Lord Jesus. We seek your face for a

transforming vision of Your enthroned majesty and holiness. Come, Holy Spirit, and give us fresh revelation of the glory of our heavenly Father and of Jesus our Savior and Lord.

Lord, we cry out for You to set the captives free, and glorify Your name in Your church.

Start with us to work continuous personal revival in us. Help us forsake our sins and turn from our wicked ways by Your enabling grace and power. Increase our hunger and thirst for righteousness, and let us seek Jesus only in complete devotion to Him. Enable us by Your Holy Spirit to love You, keep your commandments, take up our cross and follow You, and love others and You love them. We count ourselves dead to the sins of the flesh and alive to the life of Christ Jesus in us. We choose with our minds, wills, and emotions to obey You instantly and joyfully in all things. We renounce the values of this world that are at odds with You. We choose to turn aside from everything unsanctified men set their hearts on. We have decided to follow Jesus, the cross before us, the world behind us, no turning back.

Forgive us in Your church for trying to achieve in the flesh what only You can do in the

Spirit. Forgive our carnal plans, programs, and methods. Purge from us the lusts of the mind, the lusts of the flesh, and the pride of life. Purify our hearts and prepare us to experience all the reality and glory of Your person and presence.

Come quickly; invade our complacency. We are not satisfied with lifeless religion or dead

words. Our highest satisfaction is simply Jesus. We want all of You. We give our lives entirely to You in faith. Control us by Your Spirit, so that we can please you in all your will. Pour out to us the blessings of knowing You in Your fullness. Fix our eyes and our affections on You. Give Your church an insatiable heart for You and You alone.

Father, revive our hearts in holiness, faith, and humility. As we love you more dearly and

You from Your holy character in us, help us to faithfully minister the life of Christ to others in deeds of mercy and grace. Make our lives a sweet sacrifice to You.

The blood of Jesus is sufficient for our family, our church, our city, our state, and our

country. Break down all our separations that hinder Your out-pouring in reviving power. Unify all God-seekers, for we are all one in You. Draw us together for Jesus’ sake, breaking down dividing walls. Build us together into a living church. Keep us continually centered on the heart of our Father, the holy Person of our Savior, and the blessed Promise of the Holy Spirit. Our

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deepest hearts’ prayer is “Kingdom of God, come! Will of God, be done!” We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Living in His Presence © 2000, Sylvia Gunter, The Father’s Business, P.O. Box 380333, Birmingham, AL 35238, www.thefathersbusiness.com, email: fathersbiz@cs.com. page 178.

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Day 3: Heart Searching for Personal Revival and Spiritual Warfare

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24 Many Christians do not have a conscious sense of the presence of God. The problem is often tolerated sin. God is light and in Him is no darkness, so believers are admonished to walk in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:5-10). God says that His eyes are too pure to look on sin. Psalm 24:3-4 tells how to get closer to God: “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in hi holy place? He who has clean hand and a pure heart, who does not lift us his soul to an idol, or swear by what is false.” Confession of sin restores broken fellowship with the Father and is necessary for revival among His people. Prayerfully let God ask you these heart-searching questions. Answer Him honestly. Every “yes” answer identifies sin in your life. When you are convicted of sin, confess it at once. If the sin is against someone else, be willing to make it right at your first opportunity. Then you can claim cleansing and forgiveness. “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (Pro. 28:13, 1 John 1:9).

This is so important! This is absolutely vital before moving out in spiritual warfare.

Purity precedes power.

1. Matthew 6:12, 14-15, Mat. 5:23-24, 1 John 4:7-12, Eph. 4:31-32, Heb. 10:30, 12:14-15 • Is there anyone against whom you hold a grudge? • Is there anyone you have not forgiven? • Is there anyone you hate? • Is there anyone you do not love? • Are there misunderstandings that you are unwilling to forget? • Is there any person against whom you are harboring bitterness, resentment, or jealousy? • Is there anyone you dislike to hear praised or well spoken of? • Do you allow anything to justify a wrong attitude toward another? • Is there anybody you are unwilling to “prefer” over yourself?

2. Matthew 6:33, 19-21, 24; 1 Tim. 6:6-11, Heb 13:5 • Is there anything in which you have failed to put God first? • Have your decisions been made after your own wisdom and desires, rather than seeking

and following God’s will? • Do any of the following in any way interfere with your surrender and service to God:

ambition, pleasures, loved ones, friendships, desire for recognition, money, your own plans?

• Do you fear any person or anything more than God? 3. John 13:35, 1 Cor. 3:1-3, Pro. 14:30, 6:16-19; Rom. 14:10, Jam. 3:13-17, 1 Peter 4:8

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• Are you secretly pleased over the misfortunes of another? • Are you secretly annoyed over the accomplishments or advancements of another? • Are you guilty of any contention, strife, or jealousy? • Do you quarrel, argue, or engage in heated discussions? • Are you a partaker in any divisions? • Are there people whom you deliberately slight?

4. Acts 20:35, Mal 3:10, 2 Cor. 9:6-8, Luke 6:38, Phi. 4:19 • Have you robbed God by withholding His due of time, talents, and money?

5. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Gal 6:7-8, Pro. 23:21, Rom. 16:18, Phi. 3:18-19 • Are you in any way careless with your body? • Do you fail to care for it as the temple of the Holy Spirit? • Are you guilty of overeating or intemperance in drinking? • Do you have any habits which defile your body?

6. 1 Corinthians 10:31, Gal. 2:20, Phi. 1:21, 2:5; Titus 3:5, Pro. 3:5-6 • Do you take the credit for anything good about you, rather than give all the glory to God? • Do you talk mostly of what you have done rather than of what Christ has done? • Are your statements mostly about “I”? • Are your feelings easily hurt? • Have you made a pretense of being something you are not? • Do you ever feel you are not given enough notice or that your opinion does not matter?

7. Ephesians 3:20, Phi. 4:13, 2 Tim. 1:7-8 • Are you self-conscious rather than Christ-conscious? • Do you allow feelings of inferiority?

8. Ephesians 4:28, Pro. 20:13, 15:27, 5:21, 14:23, Rom. 13:8 • Do you underpay? • Do you do as little as possible in your work? • Have you been careless in the payment of your debts? • Have you sought to evade the payment of debts? • Do you waste time? • Do you waste time for others? • Do you cheat? • Do you steal?

9. Ephesians 4:31-32, 4:26, Phi 2:14 • Do you complain? • Do you find fault? • Do you have a critical attitude toward any person or thing? • Are you irritable or cranky? • Do you get angry, and remain so? • Do you ever carry hidden anger? • Do you become impatient with others? • Are you ever harsh or unkind?

10. Ephesians 5:15-16, Phi. 4:8, James 1:15 • Do you listen to unwholesome radio or TV programs?

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• Do you read unworthy magazines or books? • Do you partake of worldly amusements? • Do you find it necessary to seek satisfaction from any questionable source? • Are you doing anything that shows you are not satisfied in the Lord Jesus?

11. Ephesians 5:20, Phi. 4:6, 1 Peter 5:7, Col. 3:17, Heb. 13:6, 1 Thes. 5:18 • Have you neglected to thank Him for all things, the seemingly bad as well as the good? • Have you virtually called God a liar by doubting His word? • Do you worry? • Is your spiritual temperature based on your feelings instead of on the facts of God’s

word? 12. Philippians 1:21, Col. 3:13, Heb. 12:1-2, 2 Tim. 2:4

• Are you preoccupied with the cares of this life? 13. Philippians 2:14, Gal. 6:2, James 3:2-12

• Do you ever by word or deed seek to hurt someone? • Do you gossip or enjoy hearing it, or tacitly condone it by keeping silent? • Do you speak unkindly concerning people when they are not present? • Do you carry prejudice against true Christians because they are of a group different from

yours, or because they do not see everything exactly like you do? 14. Philippians 4:4, Pro. 9:10, 16:3, 1 Cor. 10:10-11, Col. 3:15, 1 Thes. 5:24

• Are you bitter toward God? • Have you complained against Him in any way? • Have you been dissatisfied with His provision for you? • Have you neglected to seek to please God in all things? • Are you unwilling to obey God fully? • Do you have any reservations as to what you would or would not do concerning anything

that might be His will? • Have you disobeyed some direct leading from Him or been slothful in doing what He

said? 15. Mat. 12:36-37, Col. 3:9-10, James 3:2-6

• Do you engage in empty, unprofitable conversation? • Do you ever lie? • Do you exaggerate or embellish? • Do you cheat? • Do you steal? • Do you make careless vows?

16. 2 Timothy 2:22, Col. 3:5-6, Mat. 5:28-29, 1 Pet 2:11, 1 john 2:15-17 • Do you have any personal habits that are not pure? • Do you allow impure thoughts about sex to stay in your mind? • Do you read that which is impure or suggests unholy things? • Do you indulge in any unclean entertainment? • Are you guilty of the lustful look? • Are you guilty of emotional adultery?

17. Hebrews 10:25, 2 Tim. 3:16-17, Heb. 4:12, 1 Thes. 5:17, 19; Eph 4:30

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• Do you stay away from the meetings of preaching the gospel? • Do you neglect or give little time to daily personal prayer? • Do you neglect God’s word? • Do you find the Bible and prayer uninteresting? • Do you quench the Holy Spirit?

18. Hebrews 13:17, 1 Pet. 2:16-17, 5:5-6 • Are you reluctant to submit to leaders at church? • Do you have a stubborn or unteachable spirit? • Do you insist on having your own way? • Do you defend your rights? • Are you lazy?

19. James 4:11 Mat. 7:1-2, Rom. 14:10-13, Rom. 2:1 • Have you dishonored God and hindered His work by criticizing His servants? • Have you failed to pray regularly for your spiritual leaders? • Do you find it hard to be corrected? • Is there rebellion toward one who wants to restore you? • Are you more concerned about what people will think than what will be pleasing to God?

20. James 1:27, 1 Cor. 10:23-24, 1 Pet. 1:15-17, Col. 3:17 • Have you become influenced by the world? • Is your manner of dress pleasing to God? • Do you spend beyond what is pleasing to God on anything? • Do you neglect to pray about things you buy?

21. James 4:6, Phi. 3:12-14, Pro. 3:7, 16-18, 26:12; Luke 18:9-14 • Do you feel that you are doing quite well as a Christian? • Do you feel that you are doing better than others as a Christian?

Don’t make any excuse for sin in your life. When you agree with God about your sins, that

is confession. When you hate the sin enough to turn from it, that is true repentance, IF you have been honest in dealing with your sins, you are ready for God’s cleansing. Remember these three things:

1. If the sin is against God, confess it to God, and make things right with Him. Be sure to be specific in naming your sin, like “I have not put you first in my plans.”

2. If the sin is against another person, confess it to God, and make things right with the other person, like “I lied to my friend yesterday, I ask your forgiveness, and I will ask theirs, too.”

3. If there is full confession and repentance, there will be full cleansing.

No matter what others do, or don’t do, obey God completely, in so far as you can. “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the [presence of the] Lord” (Acts 3:19). The joy of the Lord will follow. Then

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there can be testimony and prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit. Revival will follow, beginning with you. Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him, and in whose spirit is no deceit. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” – and you forgave the guilt of my sin (Psalm 32:1-2, 5).

This is not original with me. I have seen it attributed to missionaries in Asia, a church in North Phoenix, Jack Taylor’s book, Life’s Limitless Reach, and Back to the Bible

Prayer Portions © 1991, 1992, 1995, Sylvia Gunter, The Father’s Business, P.O. Box 380333, Birmingham, AL 35238, www.thefathersbusiness.com, email: fathersbiz@cs.com. pages 97-100.

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Day 4: Way Of Revival Prayer ACTS – How to live in Acts Chapter 29 … “The Lord Jesus Christ unhindered” A Adoration of awesome God who is all – praise and thanksgiving C Confession and cleansing T The Cross S Supplication, seek God’s will God’s way A Worship If my people who are called by my name …

Worship Him because He is worthy of all praise • Passion for God • Passion for praise • Passion for the word of God • Passion for the reputation of Jesus • Passion for love • Passion to finish the race

• Passion for seeking God’s face • Passion for prayer • Passion for holiness • Passion for grace • Passion for truth

• Passion for the whole body of Christ – identifying with all God’s children • Passion for the Powerful One to come in power – It takes time (Luke 24:49).

C Confession and cleansing will humble themselves, turn from their wicked ways …

Search me, O God. Psalm 139:23

1. Repent of sins which hinder. Confess your sin, bring it to the cross for the blood of Jesus to cover it (Acts 3:26, 3:19, Psa. 24:3-4, 25:11, 32:5, 66:18-20; Isa. 35:8). Personal sin:

God will not be mocked, He will not ignore your personal sin (Isa. 59:1-2). Is your heart broken over your own sins? Confession simply means agreeing with God. Pray: God, everywhere we have different opinions, change my mind to agree with you. Isaiah came to this after one glimpse of the glory of God (Isa 6). No matter what others do or don’t do, leave nothing undone on your part. God has Zero-Tolerance of sin. Leave nothing between your soul and your Savior. Full confession brings full cleansing (1 John 1:9).

Corporate sin: of the entire people (Dan. 9, Ezra 9, Neh. 9)

2. Repent of idolatry. Search me, O God! Purify my heart of the idol of self. I choose humbling, holiness, instant joyous complete obedience, fresh surrender. I am willing to pay the price. Revival is renewed radical surrender. Every sin comes out of self on the throne. “I am my own god.” Shaking has just begun, and God will leave nothing untouched (Heb. 12:25-28).

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T The Cross and pray … 1. Refer everything to the cross: Restore that which is broken

a. God’s laws bring the words of my mouth and meditations of the heart to the cross for Him to redeem (Psa. 19:14).

b. Relationships Are you an accuser or an encourager? Do you take sides with the unholy spirit or the Holy Spirit? Do you take sides with the curser or the Blesser?

2. Refer the devil to the cross. Don’t debate him. Remind Him He is defeated.

• Take your place of humility armored in Jesus. • Take your position with Christ and state your authority in His strong name. • Indentify strongholds and bind the enemy. • Attach with the sword of the Spirit. • Declare the victory of Calvary by the blood of the Lamb. • Press in and persevere until God is glorified, because He has already won.

S Seek God’s Will God’s Way and seek my face… Show me your glory – bottom line prayer in the Bible (John 12:28).

1. Men: Receive your role as priest in your home. Like Joshua, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. We will be revived.

2. Women: Receive your role as priest. Bless the Lord, bless your husband. Build him up.

Practice the presence of God in your temple, that everything in His temple says, “Glory” (Psa. 29:11). Be in continual conversation with God, continually on speaking terms with Him, continually on praying ground for others. The secret of continuous revival is this: all of life is lived as a worship offering to Him, every task by Him, for Him, through Him, and to Him (Rom. 12:36). Choose to make your heart His resting place, where He can arise to His rest and be enthroned in peace in your days. Stay on praying ground, reading to hear His prayer burdens.

Because IF my people will … then I will … says the Lord. Pray – not take prayer requests. Pray for a baptism of brokenness. Pray for the lost by name. Pray for the lukewarm by name. Pray for a power-filled church. Pray aggressively about Satan’s strongholds. Revival, spiritual awakening, and evangelism are in the praying hands of the church. So do your spiritual calisthenics: I listen, and I pray. I listen, and I obey.

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Watchman, how far gone is the night? Arise, shine: for your light has come. The glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples, but the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear to you. My soul waits for the Lord, more than the watchmen for the morning; hope in the Lord, for with Him is lovingkindness and abundant redemption (Isa. 29:11, 60:1-23; Psa. 130:6).

Prayer Portions © 1991, 1992, 1995, Sylvia Gunter, The Father’s Business, P.O. Box 380333, Birmingham, AL 35238, www.thefathersbusiness.com, email: fathersbiz@cs.com. pages 335-336.

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Day 5: Quiet Time of Confession

I. Conviction and confession Get Honest with God. Will you walk with Him? How can two walk together unless they

be agreed (Amos 3:3)? Will you let God change you on every issue where you have not been pleasing to Him? Will you lay aside every burden and sin to run toward Jesus (Heb. 12:1-2)? Open your Bible to Ephesians 4-6, Colossians 3, Hebrews 12—13, or Matthew 5-7. Read until God stops you!

II. Repentance and cleansing

Pray, “Lord Jesus, the sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite spirit, and a contrite heart You will not despise. Give me courage to judge my own self and flesh and sin, to take sides with You against them, so that I can come boldly to Your throne of grace with no condemnation.” In light of His holiness, like Isaiah, humbly say, “Woe is me, I am undone.” Then receive the cleansing coal of God’s holy fire that refines, purifies, and burns away the dross. Sing the hymn “Nothing But the Blood of Jesus.”

III. Surrender

God has the right of possession of your entire life, if you are His. Absolutely lay all on the altar. Surrender the most important person, possession, position, dream, place, or anything in your life for God to break, melt, mold, and fill with Himself afresh. I love a golden-oldie hymn, “Nothing between my soul and the Savior, so that His blessed face may be seen. Nothing preventing the least of His Favor. Keep the way clear! Let nothing between!” Jesus rejoices over your abandonment to Him (Zep. 3:17). Ask Him to let you enter into His joy over you. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. Sing to Him, “Jesus Keep Me Near The Cross.”

IV. Thanksgiving

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. I wash my hands in innocence, and go about Your altar, O Lord, proclaiming aloud Your praise and telling of all Your wonderful deeds” (1 John 1:9, John 8:36, Rom. 8:1, Psa. 26:6-7). Pray: Thank You, loving Father, for seeing me through the blood of Your perfect Sacrifice for my sin. Holy Spirit, fill Your empty cleansed vessel. I receive you in all Your fullness.

V. Love letter

Love Him much, for those who have been forgiven much love much (Luke 7:47). Love Him for who He is. Let Him love you in intimate fellowship as you let Him tell you how He sees you. Rejoice in who you are in Christ. Bask in His love. Receive love from Him.

Prayer Portions © 1991, 1992, 1995, Sylvia Gunter, The Father’s Business, P.O. Box 380333, Birmingham, AL 35238, www.thefathersbusiness.com, email: fathersbiz@cs.com. page 74.

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Day 6: Preparing The Way Of Revival

A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness. Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight” (Isa. 40:3)

Pray that: 1. Each of us will prepare the way of the Lord in our own hearts, the highway of holiness, the way of purification, praise, and prayer (Mat. 3:2-3, Isa. 40:3-5) 2. God will stir up holy discontent with things-as-they-are, with business-as-usual, and we will deeply desire to go on with Him and to see His glory (Exo. 33:18) 3. God will open our eyes as He reveals Himself in new dimensions of holiness and power, that we will ask for it and expect it, and that He will do it (Isa. 6:3, 5b, 8). Also pray that God will tune our ears to hear His voice, to be still and wait before Him to know His gentlest whisper, and to allow His word to speak to us morning by morning (Psa. 46:10, Isa. 50:4). 4. We will humble ourselves before God with confession of sin, repent, and be quick to hate sin as God hates it and to forsake it, desiring to be clean, usable vessel for him (Jam. 4:8-10). 5. God will give us a new eagerness to be what he wants us to be so that He can do what He wants to do through us, to break, mold, make, and conform us into the image of Christ (Mat. 5:6, 2 Cor. 3:18). 6. We will utterly submit to Jesus Christ, Lord of all of life and live under the control of the Holy Spirit moment by moment receive His filling in every area of our lives (Eph. 5 18-19). Also pray that we will obey instantly all the promptings, commands, and desires of Jesus by the Spirit to the glory of the Father (1 Sam. 15:22-23). 7. God will teach us to be a joyful, celebrating, thankful, praising, worshipping, people, as we respond to the love of our Father (Psa. 100:4-5, Eph. 3:16-19). 8. God will write urgency on our hearts in the light of eternity, and we will see the world around us as lost and dying and will let it break our hearts as it does His heart (Ecc. 3:11a, 2 Pet. 3:9) 9. God will orchestrate prayer agreement beyond our personal daily prayers, and we will come together as a people in corporate worship and intercession at His throne of grace (Heb. 4:16). Also pray that we will devote ourselves extraordinarily to prayer until God visits us in a way unmistakable that the only explanation is God (Col. 4:2, Acts 6:4) 10. We will not program God or limit Him. We will trust Him, His timing, His methods, His leadership to work in ways beyond anything we could think or plan (Eph. 3:20-21).

OH, GOD, REVIVE US!

Prayer Portions © 1991, 1992, 1995, Sylvia Gunter, The Father’s Business, P.O. Box 380333, Birmingham, AL 35238, www.thefathersbusiness.com, email: fathersbiz@cs.com. page 84.

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Day 7: Desperation For Revival

Are you Desperate to See the Glory of God?

Revival is no more and no less than returning whole-heartedly to your first love of Jesus. Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will obey me.” As you let God’s Spirit search your heart, this is a love test. The good thing about God’s tests is that He never lets you fail them. He keeps giving them to you until you pass. Obedience: --- Is Jesus Lord of all, nothing challenging His rule in any area? ---Do you desire holiness above all else? Do you fear the Lord? ---Do you deal with sin quickly, confessing to God and to others? ---Will you repent of and renounce often-confessed-but-not-forsaken sin that has a strong hold over you? ---Will you obey in the smallest detail, completely, instantly, joyously? ---Will you please God only and not seek to please people? ---Will you yield to Jesus your greatest love? ---Will you give up conformity to the world, even to the opinions of your best Christian friends? ---Will you be identified with all God’s children, if the cross of Jesus unites you? ---Will you go anywhere, do anything, with anybody, anytime that God asks? ---Is your answer, “Yes, Lord,” to everything He requires? Honesty and transparency: ---Will you let God search your motives? ---Will you be honest, transparent, open, vulnerable, and real before God and others? ---Will you acknowledge your true spiritual condition, your spiritual bankruptcy, unemployment, and destitution? ---Will you let God reveal your hypocrisy and renounce giving any impression of being better than you are? ---Are you willing to be seen failing? Will you redemptively share you failures? ---Are you dedicated to 100 percent of the truth 100 percent of the time? ---Are you willing to let your thoughts be read by all? ---Are you morally pure in thought and deed? Is there anything about you that you would not want to be shouted from the housetop? ---Are you unswervingly faithful to your spouse if you are married? Or to purity of your body as the temple of the Lord, if you are single? ---Will you sing songs of commitment (like “I Surrender All”) only if they are true, or choose immediately to let God make them true in your life? Self and pride: ---Is your entire life on open palms to God?

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---Will you give up all trace of self and pride? ---Will you choose total genuine humility, even when it means humiliation? ---Do you turn away from the adequacy of self-strength and soul-power? ---Will you repent from dead works? ---Will you be totally dependent on God alone? ---Will you surrender all rights? ---Will you give up your right to be right? ---Are you teachable? Be honest, are you teachable by anybody no matter how they look, what their level of education, their church label, gender, color, position, title, status? ---Will you submit yourself to and/or receive correction from anybody that God directs? ---Are you willing to be rejected? ---Are you willing to be misunderstood, to have no reputation without self-justification? ---Will you give up blaming others, making excuses, pointing fingers? ---Will you crucify your drive to control, so the Holy Spirit can control? ---Are you dedicated to edify others instead of put them down? ---Is there any Christian that you scorn or hold in disdain or mock? Forgiveness: ---Will you forgive everybody everything without exception? ---Have you sought to be reconciled with everybody you have offended and everybody who has offended you? ---Will you make restitution in every area of dishonesty or wronging another? ---Does everybody have a clean slate in your ledger with no keeping account of wrongs? Dependence: ---Will you put away confidence in anything you have trusted in according to the flesh? ---Will you trust, rest in God, wait on Him regardless? ---Are you grateful and thankful at heart, content in all things? ---Right now do you have total peace based on the formula “God plus zero equals peace?” Spiritual Desperation: ---Do you desire deeper intimacy with Jesus, more than any earthly intimacy? ---Are you desperate about your prayerlessness? ---Can God trust you to pray His powerful prayers for desperate people? ---Do you want power with God for His glory alone? ---Will you give up any ministry, any program, any group, any tradition if it adds to or subtracts from the simplicity of devotion to Jesus? ---Are you desperate about your lack of Bible reading? ---Will you let God give you tears? ---Will you count all things loss compared with Jesus? ---Will you give up worthless TV watching, worthless reading, idle conversation? ---Will you choose greater passion for God’s word than for the latest gossip, sports, the telephone, shopping, entertainment, even eating? ---Are you sick of using God, His name, His power, to validate your own ends?

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---Are you sick of head-knowledge and a cold heart? ---Could God entrust you with leadership in real revival? Could God entrust you with 1000, 100, even 10 spiritual babies for you to nurture to maturity? ---Are you sick of unbelief, doubt, discouragement, defeat, aimlessness? ---Will you stand steadfast in prayer, for years if necessary, to see God bring the harvest of His glory in revival and spiritual awakening?

In his new book, Francis Frangipane says, “The most essential commodity for stimulating revival is a tender, open heart before God. Is the door of your heart opened toward God? Can the Spirit of Jesus Christ come in and speak with you? Can you sense both His pleasure and displeasure? For us to become sensitive to divine realities we must live with the door of our hearts open. It is impossible to do the will of God otherwise. (page 19. Used by permission of Creation House, Lake Mary, Florida, from The House of the Lord by Francis Frangipane copyright 1991.)

Meditate on John 14:23-15:16, and let these words of Jesus sink deeply into your spirit. He wants you to live out His glory in the here and now. Commit to pray, “Show me Your glory,” until Jesus is revealed afresh to you and is formed in you. Prayer Portions © 1991, 1992, 1995, Sylvia Gunter, The Father’s Business, P.O. Box 380333, Birmingham, AL 35238, www.thefathersbusiness.com, email: fathersbiz@cs.com. pages 85-86.