Your passionate, powerful, privilege

You are not letting your passionate, powerful, privilege go to waste are you? Please stay tuned for a minute and I will explain this question. In this brief space we will review Jesus’ passion and power in prayer. It should whet your appetite for private and public prayer participation which will in turn have a similar effect on your friends.

Jesus’ private prayer practices and his answers caused his disciples to ask their great teacher for a lesson in prayer. His pattern covered the basics so thoroughly that many millions have memorized his prayer pattern. Fewer have studied and benefited from his personal prayer in John 17, asking the Father to unite us by his Spirit as an insider, and for us to publicly wear his badge of love which identifies us as his disciples. His prayer prepared obedient disciples for Pentecost and subsequent revival and evangelism.

Jesus’ unmistakable passion for his Father’s house of prayer for all nations fuels my own passion for prayer. He did not hesitate to cleanse the house of prayer from abuses, so that it could be redeemed for kingdom uses.  How many churches do you know in McKinney that open their doors daily to host regular corporate prayer, demonstrating prayer is their foundational, first priority? I am aware of one. There is a lot of room in McKinney for regular, creative, praise and thanksgiving-based prayer venues.

Personal, public, and persistent prayers of God’s people are desperately needed in our community and world today. Your prayers will be much more enjoyable and effective when they are praise- based, Bible- fed, and Spirit- led.  Since the Word of God IS the Sword of the Spirit, lets’ read, meditate, and pray some of God’s prayers, patterns, and principles recorded in His Word!  These, including giving Him thanks, are sure fire ways of praying in His will. 

All types of prayer are beneficial as illustrated in the famous ACTS acronym: Adoration; Confession; Thanksgiving; Supplication.  We have the privilege to join the 2 greatest intercessors of the Godhead; Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  “Who will say they are not right? Jesus Christ died. Yes, he was raised from death. He is at the right side of God. And he talks (intercedes) to God for us.”  Romans 8:34 “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Heb. 7:25  “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”  Rom. 8:26

As we close our thoughts together, let’s review some attitudes of prayer that attract the Holy Spirit.  These include: humility, servanthood, brokenness, honesty, holiness, desperation, hunger and thirst for God, and vulnerability.  As you allow God to work such qualities in and through your life, perhaps you will rise to seek or start a prayer venue as a leader or follower to serve, inspire, and equip other body members in experiencing the vulnerability James instructs:   ^“Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.”   James 5:16

Catalyst

So just what is a catalyst? Chemistry students will likely think of a substance that brings about a chemical reaction. But another definition is, a person or thing that precipitates an event. Have you ever experienced a person enter into a room full of hostile and hateful people and seen them thaw out, smile, and enjoy a new atmosphere for a while? This reminds me of a report from the earlier Welsh revival. The revival so vividly transformed the vocabulary of the coal miners, that they had to retrain the mules to understand their new commands.

When a movement sweeps in and overnight changes what comes out of the mouth of a salty coal miner, this is an unmistakable work of God. If you doubt that, just how successful have you been in controlling your own mouth?

But this introduction merely sets the stage for a difficult question. What precedents might have led up to such a sweeping revival that is impossible for men to orchestrate? So in our considerations today of possible factors that have preceded revival, we now ask, “what might be considered a catalyst for revival?” From our beginning definition I’d like to propose that we are looking for a person or thing that precipitates an event. I am going to suggest that a revival catalyst is a person whom God uses through persistent prayer and godly attitudes and attributes to precipitate revival that only God can bring about. What might that list of qualities include?

Listed below are several attributes that seem to capture God’s attention as he looks us all over to find a heart that he can trust.

• Humility
• Brokenness over personal, regional, and national sin
• Hunger and thirst for God
• Obedience, as a way of responding to God’s love
• Keeping our word, especially when it hurts
• Patience and endurance, especially in prayers of humility, repentance, adoration, & intercession
• Integrity
• Holiness
• Passion (Hot; NOT lukewarm)
• Respect, Honor, “Fear,” Worship of God
• Desperation

Please respond in two ways: 1-let me know what qualities are missing; 2- join me in praying for revival beginning with us and moving outward throughout God’s sphere of influence.

For inspiration I have two suggestions: 1-go next week to see the movie War Room; 2- read up on the Moravians who gave up their bickering, gripes, and hostilities for unquenchable round-the-clock prayer that promoted John 17 unity and whetted the appetite for thousands to love and serve God!

“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34.18)

Once there was a man, and he had a broken heart. He heard God was coming to dinner. So he gathered the shards of his scattered heart and taped them together. He hoped the adhesive would hold.

After all, when God comes to dinner, you have to put yourself together (at least he thought).

The man made it through the greeting and the first course. He made it halfway through the second. But it was too much to hide. The man’s hobbled heart wasn’t holding.

So he said, “I have something to tell you. My heart is broken, see.” And he placed the pieces on the table. “You can leave if you want to.”

God placed his hand on the broken pieces and said, “I knew it was broken. That’s why I came.”

The man began to cry. “But God,” the man said, “Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because,” God said, “you needed to tell me first. That’s how the healing begins.”

And the man began to heal.

Give your broken pieces to God so he can heal you. Lay them out; don’t be ashamed. It’s for healing that he comes near, so he can put the pieces together.

Let’s pray: “God, your word says you’re close to the brokenhearted. I give you my shards and my pieces and ask you to make something beautiful from them.”