FIRST, DETECTING THE ISSUE(S)

Is there a spiritual cause to our problems? Is the cause a lack of the Holy Spirit?

Our Lord Jesus invited us lovingly and insistently to ask for the Holy Ghost (Luke 11:9-13). (I hope) We understand that we should do this continually.

“They talk about Christ and about the Holy Spirit, yet receive no benefit. They do not surrender the soul to be guided and controlled by the divine agencies.” Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, (1898), p. 672

We have been praying for a revival for three days, today is the fourth! But our prayers must be followed by action, surrender, repentance. The Apostle James explained it plainly,

“Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss (according to the carnal mind, Rom. 8:5-7), that you may spend it on your pleasures.” James 4:2-3 NKJV

The problem begins with the lack of willingness to surrender. It continues with our prayers being stopped because we lack understanding on how to use it properly, since we want to spend it on our own pleasures. Third, we don’t want it enough, we don’t hunger it. Look to what the book Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, says,

“Why do we not hunger and thirst for the gift of the Spirit, since this is the means by which we are to receive power? Why do we not talk of it, pray for it, preach concerning it?” E.G. White, Testimonies for the Church Vol. 8, p. 22

There’s a need to talk about it, pray and preach it. But don’t you think that it is hard to speak about things you don’t know? It is like giving a review to a product you never used it! Revival calls for praxis – knowledge/theory becoming a reality!

BIBLICAL PRAXIS OF REVIVAL

It is good that we pray for revival, but we shouldn’t only pray for it, but rather – as Mark Finley says – it is “as we put into practice the biblical elements of revival.” (Mark A. Finley, Revive us again, p.25)

May I invite you to take the steps to personal revival? This will lead to a more powerful and fulfilled life.

To start with, [1] we want to analyze the problem. We want to do this thoroughly; otherwise there is the danger that we will consider a change neither necessary nor important. After that [2] we want to look at God’s solution, which offers us tremendous blessing; and finally, [3] how we can implement and experience this.

Our lack of the Holy Spirit doesn’t mean that everything we have done and are doing is in vain. There were and are many very good plans and programs. The Lord has surely blessed our human efforts. But how much greater the results and how much better the situation could be, when we would actually live or live more closely with the Holy Ghost – only God knows that.

It would have gone in this direction and would go in this direction in the future as Henry T. Blackaby expressed it:

“He (God) could do more in six months with a people that are devoted to Him, than we could do in sixty years without Him.” Henry T. Blackaby, Den Willen Gottes erkennen und tun (Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God), (Kassel, 2002), p.31

It is the question of immediately going the right way under God’s leadership and thus having much greater effectiveness (efficiency). That is the case when we are filled with the Holy Ghost.

QUESTIONS FOR MEDITATION & DEVOTION

1. What are the real problems concerning revival?

2. Considering the three things we lack to receive the Holy Spirit, [1] the lack of willingness to surrender, [2] the lack of understanding on how to use this power and [3] the lack of hunger for the Holy Spirit – which one is the hardest for you? What can you do today to start addressing this?

3. Grab a piece of paper or open a note in your phone to place in a period of six months for analyzing, looking at God’s solution and implementation of a plan to seek/ask/knock. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………