21 DAYS OF PRAYER & FASTING FROM MONDAY 1ST TO SUNDAY 21ST OF JULY 2024
THEME “END-TIME REVIVAL”
SCRIPTURE TEXT: Hosea 6:2 “After two days will He revive us: in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight.”
(Special Note: This Blog has to be posted in two parts due to the size limites so click on the link at bottom to easily click onto Part 2)
Praise God Precious Saints,
Now many of you have been faithfully praying for this ministry and our most recent successful missions to the Philippines and Indonesia. So, I just wanted to thank you all for your ongoing prayer support, as we continue to spark and ignite the fires of revival within the remnant’s hearts in nations who hunger and thirst for more of the Lord.
As You know the Lord is about to do something on the earth that is unprecedent through His Holy Spirit and we are just a prophetic ministry warning people to be ready for this outpouring and calling to prepare for His soon snatching away of the bride of Christ. Therefore, I want us to PRESS INTO THE Lord for 21 days starting on the first day of July 2024. The harvest is ready to reap, and we must pray to the Father for more labourers to come into support and bring in the end-time harvest.
According to Scripture and by my personal experience I am convinced that when God’s people set aside time to pray and fast with a proper Biblical motive-seeking God’s face and not His hand-alone with a broken, repentant, and contrite spirit, God will hear from heaven and heal our lives, our families, our churches, our communities, our nation, and world. Prayer and fasting combined with deep hunger for God can bring about revival that will manifest change in the direction of our families, nations, the globe, and the fulfillment of the Great Commission. The awesome power can be released through you, as you pray through the enabling of the Holy Spirit. God desires to bring revival to those who truly hunger and thirst for change and more of God. This specific prayer and fasting program is designed to bring an awaken to you and your homes mostly. Ephesians 5:14 “Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”
The goal of that revival we are also praying for is for God’s glory to be revealed to a watching world that needs to know Him within this time of uncertainty. When large numbers or high percentages of people are transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, spiritual awakening is the result. Families and Communities change. Cities change. And yes, nations can change. Revival however in this case has an opportunity of starting within your homes.
Spiritual awakening is what we need in our nations, but revival of God’s people is a spiritual prerequisite. Each day in this prayer guide, you will read one whole chapter of the Gospel of John and then reflect on that chapter as an individual, family, or church. Then you will read each day’s thoughts for revival for the day, and I pray they will challenge and encourage you to desire God more and more.
During the 21 days, we will believe God for revival, miracles, and breakthrough in our spiritual lives. Whether this is your first time fasting or you have done these many times, the result is always a closer connection with God and a stronger church family.
We are living at a time that the family unit is being under attack to the highest degree since the beginning of time. Satan knows that family is important to God, as it reflects the triune Godhead. In Genesis chapter three we see when Satan deceived Eve in the garden, he caused mankind to fall in the home, as the garden of Eden was the home of Adam & Eve.
It is in the home that we sin more than perhaps anywhere else, and it is to the home that revival first needs to come. Revival is desperately needed in the church -- in the country -- in the world, but a revived church with unrevived homes would be sheer hypocrisy. It is the hardest place, the costliest, but the most necessary place to begin.
It is God’s desire for you to have strong families built up and grounded strong in faith, that will be separate from this world and all its trappings. When the Israelites were coming out of Egypt on their way to the promised land, they would camp and when they saw the glory cloud descend upon the tent of meeting, each family would stand at the door of their tent and worship God in one accord.
Exodus 33:9-10 “As Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and remain at the entrance, and the LORD would speak with Moses. 10 When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they would stand up and worship, each one at the entrance to his tent.”
How much more does God desire for families to be unified by the bond of His Spirit, that they also may worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Therefore, I would like to encourage all those that are wanting to go to a deeper level in the Lord and that desire their families to be revived to join in this Month of July for the next three weeks praying for a revival of God’s presence and work in your own life’s, our families and church.
THE 21 DAY FASTING PROGRAM
This is an event anybody can partake of anywhere around the world within your church groups and home, with the main purpose of getting families to repent and turn back to God with the help of prayer according to 2 Chronicles 7:14 “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 will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
This time of fasting and prayer allows us as to prioritise our relationships with the Lord as individuals and families of those that wish to participate during this time. The 21 days of prayer consists of abstaining from food in a variety of five different options as outlines below. It also will include of abstaining from all forms of worldly TV, MUSIC, GAMES, MEDIA SOCIAL MEDIA (NONE-CHRISTIAN) etc. Remember the five wise virgins kept their oil full by spending time with the Lord and preparing for the coming of the bridegroom. How much more should we also prepare as wise virgins, waiting for the rapture of the remnant church.
Now you may watch Christian materials during this time as an individual or family, but for those in families doing this with your children, then this is also to break many of the bad habits (I pad, Cartoons, Music etc) that are keeping them away from prayer that the Lord may open their spiritual eyes to be revived and see visions and dreams according to Joel 2:28.
Though we are on different timelines, I encourage you to just follow the dates for your respective countries along with your time.
Date: Monday 1st of July to Sunday 21st of July 2024
What am I required to fast from?
We want to leave this decision ultimately up to you. See we do not have any mandatory church-wide requirements for how you fast, but here are a few ideas to help you and your families and friends out with:
Prayer Type:
Prayer Instructions: Each Day you will be required to read one Chapter of the book of John and then discuss this chapter as a family according to “THINGS TO PONDER” for each day. You also will reflect on the Revival thoughts for the day and pray according to the Holy spirits leading.
Food Fast
When we choose not to eat or not to eat certain foods, we allow our physical bodies to hunger and to bring our desires into alignment with our spiritual need for God. There is a clarity in hearing from the Lord which comes when we fast and pray; making a small sacrifice to give up a “pleasure” or comfort to increase your spiritual sight and vision.
We are providing the following options for you to consider:
1. FOOD FAST
You fast from all foods from 6am-6pm each day with fluids allowed.
2. SKIP ONE MEAL A DAY
You can just skip one meal a day.
3. PARTIAL FAST
You choose to eliminate certain things i.e. fizzy drinks; sweets/chocolates, bread, no red meat etc, but the rest of your diet remains mainly the same
4. FRUIT AND VEG
Eat fruit during the day, with liquids (tea/limited coffee, herbal drinks, and water) with a veg meal in the evenings
5. LIQUID FAST
Liquids only during day and veg meal for dinner
Drink water and herbal drinks during the day with a veg meal in the evenings.
Please consult your doctor if there are any medical concerns before you commence the fast.
Media Fast
As already mentioned above during this time we encourage you to turn off the TV, yes, I would encourage all to abstain from all forms of worldly TV, MUSIC, GAMES, MEDIA SOCIAL MEDIA etc. Now you may watch Christian materials during this time as an individual or family, but for those in families doing this with your children this is a good opportunity to break many of the bad habits that are keeping them away from prayer that the Lord may open their spiritual eyes to be revived and see visions and dreams according to Joel 2:28. When we do this, we create more time when we can read our Bible, pray, worship and hear from God.
Search your heart in deciding what type of food fast you want to do. If you have never fasted, maybe start off with a partial fast and progress to a fruit and veg option for the last 14 days.
Remember, the most important consideration in fasting is your motive. Why are you fasting?
What will we be praying about?
We are placing the Lord as priority in our lives to bring about the breakthroughs, the new, the renewal and the revival; in us and the global body of Christ. It is time to move Forward into God destiny for each of our lives.
Check each day for the next day’s prayer themes & scriptures so you may follow together.
We are trusting the Lord that this time of fasting and prayer will release a passion for His name within us – to cut off what belongs to a past season, to receive renewed hope and vision for our lives/ministries, to be conduits for signs, wonders, and miracles and to fulfill the mandate of sharing the gospel to the ends of the earth!
During this time of fasting, be intentional about your priorities. Set aside ample time to be alone with the Lord. The more time you spend with God, the more meaningful your fast will be.
If you need an overview or suggestions on what you can do to make the most of the fast in terms of having a daily routine, use the below points:
Morning:
Begin your day in praise and worship
Read and meditate on God’s Word
Invite Holy Spirit to work in you
Noon:
Take a short prayer walk
Spend time in intercessory prayer for the theme of the day
Evening:
Make time for an unhurried time of “seeking God’s face”
If others are fasting with you, meet for prayer and read one Chapter of the book of John and then discuss this chapter, as a family according to “THINGS TO PONDER” for each day. You also will reflect on the Revival thoughts for the day and pray according to the Holy spirits leading.
Avoid television or any other distraction that may affect your spiritual focus
When possible, begin and end each day with your spouse, family, or friend for a brief time of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord.
Please let us know you will be fasting & praying with us, by commenting on the blog. If you have not already downloaded the app to receive updated posts on our blog to stay up to date!
PRACTICAL TIPS FOR FASTING:
1. Avoid medical and even natural herbal drugs. However, if you are under medication, these should only be withdrawn upon the advice of your doctor, or you could try just skipping one meal a day allowing you to still take medication.
2. Limit your physical activity and exercise. If you have a workout routine, adjust it accordingly.
3. Rest as much as you can if needed be.
4. Maintain an attitude of prayer throughout the day. Intercede for your family, pastors, church, nation, missionaries & world missions, etc.
5. Drink plenty of clean water if you are joining the water fast.
6. As your body adjusts, be prepared for temporary bouts of physical weakness as well as a greater likelihood of impatience, irritability, and anxiety.
FASTING BRINGS REVIVAL:
“. . . in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.” Daniel 9:2,3
Fasting helps us prevail in prayer and intercession. Daniel understood that Israel was headed for destruction. He also knew that in times like these, there is only one recourse—intercession through praying and fasting. Throughout human history, God has brought revival and delivered nations from destruction in response to prayer and fasting.
FASTING IS AN ACT OF HUMILITY AND CONSECRATION:
“. . . I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting . . .” Psalm 35:13
Humility results in the grace of God (James 4:6). When we humble ourselves in prayer, we have instant access to the heart of God. As we deny ourselves as an act of consecration, we are better able to exercise self-control over our emotions and desires.
SPIRITUAL CLEANSING & SPIRITUAL EYES OPENED:
Fasting can be done for one meal, one day, one month or for however long God leads. It depends on how the Holy Spirit speaks to us. Shorter fasts are easier to endure until we have built up our “spiritual muscles”. A three day fast is most beneficial as a spiritual cleansing. An example of this is Paul’s being thrust into his fast upon conversion. After the three days of cleansing, he received the Holy Spirit and his eyesight when Ananias laid hands on him (Acts 9:17-18). We also can be spiritually cleansed by fasting so that we receive more of the Lord’s Spirit and have our spiritual eyes opened to new dimensions. A three day fast is also especially helpful in breaking any addictive habits.
These then are two reasons for fasting: We receive spiritual cleansing, and our spiritual eyes are opened, and we also obtain victory over the devil. When Jesus encountered Satan, He was able to overcome Him because His fasting had given Him spiritual strength. Isaiah 58:6 also gives us light on this purpose of fasting: “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” Many people believe that fasting is to move the hand of God, when, it is to make Satan turn loose of the things he is holding.
BREAKING STRONGHOLDS & BUILDING FAITH:
Fasting looses the bands of wickedness. When Jesus discussed the keys to the kingdom, He told us to bind and loose. When we fast, we loose the bands of wickedness, undo the heavy burdens, set the oppressed free, and break every yoke of the enemy. Fasting is an important key to getting the victory over hard situations that do not seem to respond to normal prayer.
Fasting builds our faith. In fact, this is what Jesus meant when he spoke to the disciples in Matthew 17:21 in answer to why they were not able to cast a demon out of a child. He said, “However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” He was telling them if they wanted their faith to be at such a level as to be able to cast out demons, then they must fast and pray for their faith to increase.
Fasting also makes it easier for us to hear the voice of the Lord. We find an account of this in Acts 13:2 “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
While fasting, the Holy Spirit spoke to them and gave them direction. We too can be directed by the Lord if we seek Him through prayer and fasting.
When we deny our natural cravings, our spiritual antennas become more attuned. We become more sensitive to His voice as we divest ourselves of worldly distractions. We are better able to focus on God and submit to His will. This opens the door for more of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Fasting and mourning are strongly associated in the Bible. Two examples of this are found in Ezra and Nehemiah.
Ezra 10:6: “Then Ezra rose up from before the house of God and went into the chamber of Jehohanan the son of Eliashib: and when he came thither, he did eat no bread, nor drink water: for he mourned because of the transgression of them that had been carried away.”
Nehemiah 1:4: “And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven.”
From these Scriptures, we see that fasting and travail (a prayer burden from the Lord that brings crying and tears) were combined. Both men were fasting for the repentance of God’s people. How we need this same kind of intercession today. Here were men so burdened for the sins of their people that they fasted, travailed, and prayed.
PRAYING FOR FORGIVENESS
“There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-5)
Day 1 the 1st of July 2024: PLEASE FIRST READ THE WHOLE OF JOHN CHAPTER 1
(Read Either as an individual, family or church and then read the questions that you can reflect and discuss, as well as read the Revival thoughts for each day)
THINGS TO PONDER:
What's in a name? Sometimes quite a bit. In these different names for Jesus, we see Him as a Lamb (What were lambs used for in Jewish tradition?) and a King. We also see Him as the Son of God and the Son of Man ("the Word became flesh"). He is our teacher, and He is our Savior.
Why not start a list of the names and descriptive words used for Jesus that you find in this chapter of John? We've given you some names here, but there are more you can add.
REVIVAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY: The hopelessness of the prisoners led to unbridled violence. I heard of a testimony of a young man in bible college within South Africa that ministered in one of the worst youths prisons many years ago and He ministered despite of being very fearful of those that were forced to attend his ministerial visit. The hardest of criminal youth was there. See even the Warden of the prison realized the only lasting change would have to be a moral reformation that starts in the heart from the gospel, so that is why he asked the bible college dean to come to talk to the young people. After the young bible college student ministered the Prisoners came to Christ and soon began to share their faith with others. A reformation was underway. The young men began to grow spiritually and gain victory over sinful behaviours, by praying and ready scripture daily with all completely changing and being released back into society never to be the same. They began to reflect Christlikeness in their actions and behaviours. They shared this good news and hope, and new life began to spread, and a spiritual awakening took place. Do you believe the God who had transformed these young youth could transform your family, your community? That is what we are seeking and praying for.
Let us pray saints:
1. Pray that God will increase your faith to believe that the change He can bring to an Ephesus in Paul’s day and to a youth prison in our day will begin to transform your family and community as people come to faith in Christ.
2. Ask God what He wants you to do over the course of the next three weeks to apply what He has revealed. What actions will you take?
3. Pray for an alertness and an awakening from spiritual slumber, and a grafting in of the saints into the Body.
4. Declare readiness over God’s people for radical change!
5. Decree that lives are being characterised by an increasing hunger for a new move of God.
6. Begin to petition God that whatever is needed to get your family saved that the Lord would remove every obstacle from you and your family serving the Lord in Jesus Mighty Name!
7. Declare that every area of your life will begin to manifest the blessings and evidence of open heavens as the Lord tarries in the Name of Jesus.
8. Invite God to use you – seek out every opportunity to pray for others to bring glory to the Lord – decree that signs, wonders and miracles will follow us
9. O Lord, by your mercy count me worthy to escape your wrath and judgement coming upon this world in these last days and to stand worthy before you to be raptured.
Day 2 the 2nd of July 2024: READ THE WHOLE OF JOHN CHAPTER 2
(Read Either as an individual, family or church and then read the questions that you can reflect and discuss as well as read the Revival thoughts for each day)
THINGS TO PONDER:
Now here is a memorable story: Jesus turns water into wine. But has it ever struck you as kind of an odd miracle? I mean, Jesus is known for healing the sick and the lame and for driving out demons. But did He really get his start performing "social miracles" like this? It is a bit like watching a Before They Were Stars special.
So, why is this story important? That is a good question, but there is a danger to avoid in answering it. Be careful how much you read into the specifics of any Bible story. If you wanted to, you could launch an in-depth study of how the word "water," for instance, is used in the Bible. What was wine like in Jesus' day? The word "bridegroom" comes up elsewhere in Scripture--in Revelation Jesus is seen as the bridegroom of the Church. Is that important here?
These are interesting questions, but the Bible tells us quite plainly why this story is here. "This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him" (John 2:11). This miracle was done for the disciple's benefit.
A lot of bad theology comes from reading too deeply into the words of the Bible. But God has not made the truth hard to find. You just must accept it when you see it.
REVIVAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY: When churches conduct “revival” services, they frequently see many people place their faith in Christ. Consequently, many thinks of revival as evangelistic services. But revival is what God accomplishes with His people when they return to Him. Revival comes when God restores life and vitality to His people. Revival is evident when His power and presence is made know in an individual, family, and community. When genuine revival comes to God’s people, God’s activity becomes the talk of the individual, family and town. When John the Baptist preached a message of repentance, he required “fruits of repentance.” I asked, “What is the fruit of repentance for prayerlessness?” …Prayer!
So as an individual or family let us pray to surrender our Life and apathy for a revived heart set ablaze for the Lord, so that people will start to come to faith in Christ!
Let us pray saints:
1. Pray that God will reveal His requirements for genuine revival in your life, family, church and community. Ask God to start that revival in your own heart and life.
Extra Prayer Points:
That God would forgive our sins – recognising that every disaster reminds us of our need to repent.
That God would show mercy on us for our complacency – for believing in our own self-sufficiency and the ability to protect ourselves.
That God would forgive our carelessness – for when we have mistreated the bodies and gifts, he has given us and left ourselves vulnerable to illnesses.
That God would forgive us for when we have loved money or comfort more than loving God or our neighbours.
That God would forgive us for when we fear sickness or death more than him.
That God would show mercy on us when we lose perspective by failing to help all those who die daily worldwide through abortion, euthanasia, persecution, and other threats to human life.
2. Ask God what He wants you to do today to apply what He has revealed. What actions will you take?
3. Holy Spirit that prepares the bride ready for You O Lord, Jesus. Prepare me to be ready for the rapture.
4. Lord, we pray for the people around us who do not realize You are coming soon and first are coming to snatch away Your bride, so please awaken their hearts in Jesus Mighty Name!
5. Please show us the things in our lives that are not surrendered to You to make us rapture ready. We give these things to You and ask You to change our hearts.
6. Please continue to shape our characters and prepare us for Your coming in Jesus Mighty Name!
Day 3 the 3rd of July 2024: READ THE WHOLE OF JOHN CHAPTER 3
(Read Either as an individual, family or church and then read the questions that you can reflect and discuss as well as read the Revival thoughts for each day)
THINGS TO PONDER:
Two worlds. The world of God and the world of humans. At the beginning of this chapter, they seem utterly separate and unique. Nicodemus says that Jesus must be from God because of the things He does. Jesus counters by saying you cannot really know about God's Kingdom unless you've been born again. Impossible, right? The barrier between the worlds stands, but not if someone breaks through.
"No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man" (John 3:13). Jesus broke that barrier. Jesus, God the Son, became Jesus, God in the flesh, the Son of Man. But He did not come for a sightseeing trip. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3:14-15).
There is a way for us with fleshly human bodies to live forever, to break through into the world of God. And that is by believing in Jesus. This is such an important concept that the next three verses state this truth in three different ways, and then once more in verse 36. The way to be born again, to be born into the Kingdom of God is clear: "whoever believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3:15).
REVIVAL HISTORY THOUGHTS FOR TODAY:
(Today we shall look back at history at the Moravian Church)
1727 – August: Herrnhut, Saxony (Nicholas Zinzendorf)
No one present could tell exactly what happened on the Wednesday morning of the specially called Communion service. The glory of the Lord came upon them so powerfully that they hardly knew if they were on earth or in heaven. The Spirit of God moved powerfully on those three hundred refugees in Saxony in 1727. One of their historians wrote:
[Church history] abounds in records of special outpourings of the Holy Ghost, and verily the thirteenth of August, 1727, was a day of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We saw the hand of God and his wonders, and we were all under the cloud of our fathers baptized with their Spirit. The Holy Ghost came upon us and in those days great signs and wonders took place in our midst. From that time scarcely a day passed but what we beheld his almighty workings amongst us. A great hunger after the Word of God took possession of us so that we had to have three services every day, at 5.0 and 7.30 a.m. and 9.0 p.m. Every one desired above everything else that the Holy Spirit might have full control. Self love and self will, as well as all disobedience, disappeared and an overwhelming flood of grace swept us all out into the great ocean of Divine Love.
Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700-1760), the benefactor and 27-year-old leader of that community, gave this account at a meeting in London in 1752:
We needed to come to the Communion with a sense of the loving nearness of the Saviour. This was the great comfort which has made this day a generation ago to be a festival, because on this day twenty-seven years ago the Congregation of Herrnhut, assembled for communion (at the Berthelsdorf church) were all dissatisfied with themselves. They had quit judging each other because they had become convinced, each one, of his lack of worth in the sight of God and each felt himself at this Communion to be in view of the noble countenance of the Saviour. …
In this view of the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, their hearts told them that he would be their patron and their priest who was at once changing their tears into oil of gladness and their misery into happiness. This prisoned, tortured or banished from their homeland. This group had fled for refuge to Germany where the young Christian nobleman, Count Zinzendorf, offered them asylum on his estates in Saxony. They named their new home Herrnhut, ‘the Lord’s Watch’. From there, after their baptism of fire, they became pioneering evangelists and missionaries.
Fifty years before the beginning of modern missions with William Carey, the Moravian Church had sent out over 100 missionaries. Their English missionary magazine, Periodical Accounts, inspired Carey. He threw a copy of the paper on a table at a Baptist meeting, saying, “See what the Moravians have done! Cannot we follow their example and in obedience to our Heavenly Master go out into the world, and preach the Gospel to the heathen?”
That missionary zeal began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Zinzendorf observed: “The Saviour permitted to come upon us a Spirit of whom we had hitherto not had any experience or knowledge. … Hitherto we had been the leaders and helpers. Now the Holy Spirit himself took full control of everything and everybody.”
Converted in early childhood, at four years of age Zinzendorf composed and signed a covenant: “Dear Saviour, be mine, and I will be Thine.” His life motto was, “Jesus only”.
Zinzendorf learned the secret of prevailing prayer. He actively established prayer groups as a teenager, and on finishing college at Halle at sixteen he gave Professor Francke a list of seven praying societies he had established.
The disgruntled community at Herrnhut early in 1727 criticized one another. Heated controversies threatened to disrupt the community. The majority belonged to the ancient Moravian Church of the brethren. Other believers attracted to Herrnhut included Lutherans, Reformed, and Anabaptists. They argued about predestination, holiness, and baptism.
Zinzendorf, pleaded for unity, love and repentance. At Herrnhut, Zinzendorf visited all the adult members of the deeply divided community. He drew up a covenant calling upon them to seek out and emphasize the points in which they agreed rather than stressing their differences.
On 12 May, 1727, they all signed the ‘Brotherly Covenant’ dedicating their lives, as Zinzendorf had dedicated his, to the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Moravian revival of 1727 was preceded and then sustained by extraordinary personal and communal, united prayer. A spirit of grace, unity, and supplications grew among them.
On 16 July Zinzendorf poured out his soul in a prayer accompanied with a flood of tears. This prayer produced an extraordinary effect. The whole community began praying as never before.
On 22 July many of the community covenanted together on their own accord to meet often to pour out their hearts in prayers and hymns.
On 5 August Zinzendorf spent the whole night in prayer with about twelve or fourteen others following a large meeting for prayer at midnight where great emotion prevailed.
On Sunday, 10 August, Pastor Johann Rothe, a Pietist friend of Zinzendorf and minister of the Berthelsdorf parish church, was overwhelmed by the Spirit about noon. He sank down into the dust before God. So did the whole congregation. They continued till midnight in prayer and singing, weeping and praying.
On Wednesday, 13 August, the Holy Spirit was poured out on them all at the specially arranged communion service in the Berthelsdorf church. Their prayers were answered in ways far beyond anyone’s expectations. Many of them decided to set aside certain times for continued earnest prayer.
On Tuesday 26 August, twenty-four men and twenty-four women covenanted together to continue praying in intervals of one hour each, day and night, each hour allocated by lots to different people.
On Wednesday, 27 August, this new regulation began. Others joined the intercessors and the number involved increased to seventy-seven. They all carefully observed the hour which had been appointed for them. The intercessors had a weekly meeting where prayer needs were given to them.
The children began a similar plan among themselves. Those who heard their infant supplications were deeply moved. The children’s prayers and supplications had a powerful effect on the whole community.
That astonishing prayer meeting beginning in 1727 lasted a century. Known as the Hourly Intercession, it involved relays of men and women in prayer without ceasing made to God. That prayer also led to action, especially evangelism. More than 100 missionaries left that village community in the next twenty-five years, all constantly supported in prayer.
One result of their baptism in the Holy Spirit was a joyful assurance of their pardon and salvation. This made a strong impact on people in many countries, including the Wesleys. Their prayers and witness profoundly affected the eighteenth-century evangelical awakening.
Let us look at the steps and connection between revival and spiritual awakening. When God disciplines us and we repent and return to Him, He revives us. He then can work through us to draw others to faith in Jesus.
Step 1: God is on mission to redeem a lost world. God calls His people into a relationship with Himself and He accomplishes His work through them.
Step 2: God’s people tend to depart from Him, turning to substitutes for His presence, purposes, and ways.
Step 3: God disciplines His people out of His love for them.
Step 4: God’s people cry out to Him for help.
Step 5: God calls His people to repent and return to Him or perish.
Step 6: God revives His repentant people by restoring them to a right relationship with Himself.
Step 7: God exalts His Son Jesus in His people and draws the lost to saving faith in Him.
Let us Pray:
1. Ask God to reveal where you are and where your family and church is in this pattern. Have you departed? Are you being disciplined? Are you crying out for help? Do you need to repent and return to Him? Are you ready to be used by God to draw others to new life in Christ?
2. Ask God what He wants you to do today to apply what He has revealed. What actions will you take to be of maximum usefulness to His kingdom?
3. Lord, draw close to people who are afraid of Your snatching away, so they will not endure your wrath to come before Your second coming. May they surrender their lives to You in Jesus Mighty Name!
4. Please use each of us to tell others the good news of Your soon snatching away in the clouds in Jesus Mighty Name!
5. Father, please give us a heightened sense of urgency in our work for You. Let us live with daily hope that Jesus is coming soon to take His bride to the wedding feast of the Lamb.
6. Lord, bless the work of each person participating worldwide. Strengthen them to continue to the works of Christ Jesus in their daily life’s.
Day 4 the 4th of July 2024: READ THE WHOLE OF JOHN CHAPTER 4
(Read Either as an individual, family or church and then read the questions that you can reflect and discuss as well as read the Revival thoughts for each day)
THINGS TO PONDER:
Chapter 4 of John contains the well-known and much-loved story of the woman at the well. But as you read the chapter today, do not skim it. Force yourself to take in every word. Ask God to help you see this amazing passage of Scripture with fresh eyes.
In the last chapter, we saw a theme begin--the theme of a new spiritual life, of being born again into an everlasting life through belief in Jesus. In this chapter, we find that spiritual lives, like physical lives, need nourishment.
Jesus begins by discussing spiritual thirsts. He says that a person only needs to ask Him, and He will give water that will drive away thirst forever. The woman asking for this water does not quite get it. So, Jesus drives the point home by asking that she go bring her husband to Him. The woman had a spiritual thirst for a relationship but after five husbands, she was still thirsty. That is the thirst Jesus wants to quench--the thirst for a deep, meaningful relationship.
Jesus talks later to His disciples about spiritual hunger that is satisfied through doing the will of God. There are many people who have yet to hear about God, many opportunities yet for the spiritually hungry to be filled. Is your spirit being nourished today?
REVIVAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY: This story about Jesus’ encounter with the Woman at the Well is a powerful story of the change Jesus can make in a community in a very short period. Think about this woman. How long had she known Jesus before she began to tell her whole town about Him? What training had she received? This woman got a taste of “Living Water” and her life was changed. The Living Water bubbled up out of her life and became evident to those who heard her story. Like Andrew and Philip (Day 14), she immediately had to go tell others and bring them to meet Jesus for themselves. When many in the town believed in Jesus Christ, they had an experience of their own not just the words of another.
What have you experienced in your encounter with Jesus Christ that has changed your life? What is your testimony? Today, I want you to think about your “town.” Who are the people who need to hear your testimony?
Let us pray saints:
1. Ask God to reveal the people in your “town” who may already be prepared to respond when they hear your story. Would they be people in your home, neighbourhood, school, workplace, or gym? Or is your “town” the people who knew you in your “before Christ” days? Ask God for the boldness to share your story with your town. Describe or name the people God places on your mind and heart.
2. Ask God what He wants you to do today to apply what He has revealed. What actions will you take?
3. Pray today by name for a person who has yet to believe in Christ as Saviour.
4. Lord, we pray for each person on our individual prayer lists. May they see their need and open their hearts to the Holy Spirit.
5. Lord, thank You for Your promise: “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
6. Thank You that You have people in every city who are hopefully looking to heaven and awaiting your return and snatching away in the rapture.
7. Whatever thing is in my life that will hinder me from rapture holy Spirit of God reveal them to me and deliver me today. Holy Spirit You that prepare the bride ready, prepare me ready for the rapture of the saints. I pray God will answer our prayers by His mercy in Jesus Mighty Name!
Day 5 the 5th of July 2024: READ THE WHOLE OF JOHN CHAPTER 5
(Read Either as an individual, family or church and then read the questions that you can reflect and discuss as well as read the Revival thoughts for each day)
THINGS TO PONDER:
As you read through chapter 5 of John today, are you a little bit startled? Is your perception of Jesus shaken up a little bit? Do you see the stark contrast between who Jesus says He is and how people today describe Him?
Any unbiased historical scholar will admit that, yes, Jesus really did live 2,000 years ago; there is enough references to Him outside of the Bible to prove that. They will even admit that Jesus was an influential teacher. He had a lot of good ideas and at the very least, Jesus deserves a spot among the other great moral teachers’ humanity has seen. The scholars will say that Jesus was a wise, compassionate man who wanted to make the world a better place. But God? Not a chance!
That is why John chapter five is so startling. Read through and count the number of times Jesus identifies Himself with God the Father. "The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise" (John 5:19). The point is, when a person makes a claim like this, you either believe that person or you dismiss them as being crazy. You do not patronize them by saying, "Well, he has few good ideas, but he's a bit touched in the head, if you know what I mean!" Either Jesus was God, or He was a madman on the loose. Who do you say He is?
REVIVAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY:
1904 – October: Loughor, Wales (Evan Roberts)
Religious and church life had reached a low point in Wales in 1904. Church attendance was low and apathy and sinful behaviour were high. Many were praying for revival. A young man, Evan Roberts, had been praying for 13 years. Sensing God’s call to vocational ministry, he left working in the coal mines to go to school.
He sensed God gave him a message to share with his home church. On a Monday night, he shared a four-point message with 17 young people, and all responded with a desire to obey. They met the next night with more responding and attendance began to grow nightly. As Christians got right with God and others, God began to convict unbelievers of sin and many began turning to faith in Christ. In six months over 100,000 had professed faith in Christ.
Because so many people’s lives were being changed, the society changed as well. Crime decreased so much that judges and policemen had little to do. Taverns went out of business because of the decline in drinking alcohol. That affected family life for the good. Even the animals in the coal mines had to be retrained because of the clean language of the converted miners.
Read Evan’s four points and consider what changes you would need to make to apply these in your life.
1. You must put away any unconfessed sin.
2. You must put away any doubtful habit.
3. You must obey the Holy Spirit promptly.
4. You must confess Christ publicly.
Roberts believed that a baptism in the Spirit was the essence of revival and that the primary condition of revival is that individuals should experience such a baptism in the Spirit. By the weekend the church was packed. Roberts spoke to a crowded church on Saturday night on ‘Be filled with the Spirit’. An after-meeting with Roberts followed Sunday night service at Libanus Chapel, Gorseinon. Evan Roberts described the response on the Sunday evening, 6 November, when by midnight the congregation was overwhelmed with tears.
Then the people came down from the gallery and sat close to one another. “Now,” said I, “we must believe that the Spirit will come; not think He will come; not hope He will come; but firmly believe that He will come.” Then I read the promises of God, and pointed out how definite they were. (Remember, I a.m. doing all under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and praise be to Him.) After this, the Spirit said that everyone was to pray. Pray now, not confess, not sing, not give experience, but pray and believe, and wait. And this is the prayer, “Send the Spirit now, for Jesus Christ’s sake.”
The people were sitting, and only closed their eyes. The prayer began with me. Then it went from seat-to-seat boys’ and girls’ young men and maidens. Some asking in silence, some aloud, some coldly, some with warmth, some formally, some in tears, some with difficulty, some adding to it, boys and girls, strong voices, then tender voices. Oh, wonderful! I never thought of such an effect. I felt the place beginning to be filled, and before the prayer had gone halfway through the chapel, I could hear some brother weeping, sobbing, and saying, “Oh, dear! dear! well! well! Oh, dear! dear!” On went the prayer, the feeling becoming more intense; the place being filled more and more (with the Spirit’s presence).”
Let us pray saints:
1. Pray for God to bring such conviction throughout your region that masses will put away sin and doubtful habits. Pray that God will guide and empower your witness and that of others.
2. Pray that so many people will come to faith in Christ that the society in your community will change for good as lives are changed for God’s glory.
3. Ask God what He wants you to do today to apply what He has revealed. What actions will you take?
4. I repent from all the sins that I was conceived with that has held me back in life and any sin that will hinder me from the day of the rapture. Father, forgive me in the name of Jesus Christ.
5. I repent totally from all the sins I committed, as a child that is unconfessed and will hinder me from entering the rapture. Father, forgive me in the name of Jesus Christ.
6. I repent totally from all the sin that I have committed while I was in primary, secondary, and higher institution that is unconfessed that could hinder me from heaven. Father, forgive me in the name of Jesus Christ.
7. I repent totally from all the unconfessed sins that I committed while I started working that will hinder me from rapture. Father, forgive me in the name of Jesus Christ.
Day 6 the 6th of July 2024: READ THE WHOLE OF JOHN CHAPTER 6
(Read Either as an individual, family or church and then read the questions that you can reflect and discuss as well as read the Revival thoughts for each day)
THINGS TO PONDER:
There are 71 verses in today's chapter, so make sure you set aside enough time to read through the whole thing. When you read through an entire passage of the Bible--even an entire book--in one setting, you will get a much clearer picture of what God is trying to teach you. In this chapter you will hear the familiar verse, "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35). By reading the rest of the chapter around that verse, you will find out exactly what Jesus meant.
Maybe you have read the chapter already and find yourself confused. You are not alone. Even those who heard Jesus that day had a hard time understanding what He meant. "When many of his disciples heard it, they said, 'This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?'" (John 6:60).
Use this opportunity to bring your questions to God. Ask Him, "What did you mean by this?" And then patiently wait for His reply. It may come as you read through the passage a second time or on your drive to the grocery store as you mull it over in your mind. Often though, your questions will be answered by God Himself in the pages of the Bible. And you will find them as you keep on reading.
REVIVAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY:
1904 – October: Loughor, Wales (Evan Roberts) Continued
The crowded Monday evening meeting went till 3 a.m. Meetings continued every night. The Cardiff newspaper The Western Mail published this report on Thursday 10 November, the first of many daily reports on the progress of the revival:
GREAT CROWDS OF PEOPLE DRAWN TO LOUGHOR
Congregation Stays till 2.30 in the Morning
“A remarkable religious revival is now taking place in Loughor. For some days a young man named Evan Roberts, a native of Loughor, has been causing great surprise at Moriah Chapel. The place has been besieged by dense crowds of people unable to obtain admission. Such excitement has prevailed that the road on which the chapel is situated has been lined with people from end to end. Roberts, who speaks in Welsh, opens his discourse by saying that he does not know what he is going to say but that when he is in communion with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will speak, and he will simply be the medium of His wisdom. The preacher soon after launches into a fervent and at times impassioned oration. His statements have had the most stirring effects upon his listeners. Many who have disbelieved Christianity for years are returning to the fold of their younger days. One night, so great was the enthusiasm invoked by the young revivalist that, after his sermon which lasted two hours, the vast congregation remained praying and singing until two-thirty in the morning. Shopkeepers are closing early to get a place in the chapel, and tin and steel workers throng the place in working clothes.”
Revival meetings began to multiply rapidly, the early ones in South Wales being led by Evan Roberts, Sydney Evans, Seth Joshua and Joseph Jenkins with teams of young people. Rev. R. B. Jones began a ten-day mission on Tuesday, 8 November in Rhos in North Wales during which revival broke out and rapidly spread through the north as well as the south.
Many of the 800 attending the Moriah meeting on Friday, 11 November were on their knees repenting for a long time. The Western Mail report of that meeting circulated widely in Wales and throughout the rest of Britain:
Instead of the set order of proceedings … everything was left to the spontaneous impulse of the moment … at 4.25 a.m., the gathering dispersed. But even at that hour, the people did not make their way home. When I left to walk back to Llanelly, I left dozens of them about the road discussing the chief subject of their lives. … I felt that this was no ordinary gathering.
Newspaper reports generated intense interest in the meetings. Crowds arrived in Loughor on Saturday 12 November filling the streets with wagons and carts. Shops emptied of food supplies. Roberts’ college roommate preached at one chapel and Roberts at the other on Saturday, both meetings lasting till after dawn Sunday. Hundreds of coalminers and tin plate workers were converted, filled with the Spirit, and radically transformed. Swearing, drunkenness, immorality and crime began to diminish.
From Sunday 13 November Evan Roberts and his teams conducted meetings by invitation, first at Aberdare and then throughout the towns and hamlets of Wales. He usually took a small team with him to pray, witness and sing. November 1904 saw revival spread throughout Wales. Newspapers described the crowded meetings. Churches and chapels sent statistics of conversions to the papers. By the end of January 1905, the papers had reported 70,000 converted in three months.
As with other evangelists and ministers, Evan Roberts travelled the Welsh valleys, often never preaching but earnestly praying. In Neath he spent a week in prayer without leaving his rooms while the revival continued to pack the churches. Characteristics of the meetings were singing Welsh hymns in harmony for over an hour, the decline of the sermon, emphasis on baptism in the Spirit and the guidance of the Spirit, public repentance and the hymn, a half-sung, half spoken harmony ending in a hymn, or a cry of thanksgiving or repentance.
Churches filled. The revival spread. Meetings continued all day as well as each night, often late into the night or through to morning. Crowds were getting right with God and with one another in confession, repentance and restitution of wrongs done. People prayed fervently and worshipped God with great joy. Police had so little to do they joined the crowds in the churches, sometimes forming singing groups. The impact of the Spirit across the churches produced new levels of unity, joy, boldness, power to witness, changed lives, and enthusiasm explained as being “fervent in spirit” (Romans 12:11).
Roberts, prophetically gifted, was unusually sensitive to the responses in the congregation. Public criticism of Evan Roberts and some revival phenomena included the usual objections to enthusiasm or fanaticism, emotionalism and confusion. At age 27 he lacked maturity and theological balance and fell too easily into nervous exhaustion, as did other young leaders in the revival. More experienced ministers avoided these errors and contributed significantly to revival leadership. Defenders of revival phenomena pointed to thousands of changed lives and the spiritual zeal generated.
In 1904, when a revival was sweeping through Wales, two men from London visited Wales to witness the move of God. When they arrived at the railroad station in Wales, they asked the ticket agent where the revival was. The agent placed his hand over his heart and said, “Gentlemen, it is here, underneath my buttons.”
He was accurate. Revival begins personally when people are willing to confess their sins and repent of those specific sins.
Confession is agreeing with God, admitting it, calling sin what God calls it. Repentance is turning from the sin that you confessed. When a person is willing to do this, he/she is granted mercy and his/her fellowship with God is restored. A key to revival is to confess our sins and repent.
Let us pray saints:
1. Sometime during this day or night get alone with God and prayerfully seek Him.
2. Allow God to reveal any unconfessed sin. Confess, repent, and claim 1 John 1:9 — “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
3. I repent totally from all the sins that I committed in my marriage that will hinder me from heaven. Father, forgive me in the name of Jesus Christ.
4. I repent totally from all the sins that I committed after been born again that will hinder me from heaven and rapture. Father, forgive me in the name of Jesus Christ.
5. I repent totally from all the sins I committed as a worker or minister in the vineyard of God that will hinder me from the rapture. Father, forgive me in the name of Jesus Christ.
6. I repent totally from any of the sins that I am still committing till today. Father, forgive me in the name of Jesus Christ.
Day 7 the 7th of July 2024: READ THE WHOLE OF JOHN CHAPTER 7
(Read Either as an individual, family or church and then read the questions that you can reflect and discuss as well as read the Revival thoughts for each day)
THINGS TO PONDER:
An issue that was raised in chapter 5 comes back in today's chapter. In chapter 5 Jesus healed a lame man and told him to take up his mat and walk. But the Jews considered carrying a mat to be work, and since the healing happened on a Sabbath, this man who had not walked in 38 years was breaking the Law. Not only that, but because Jesus did the healing, and healing was considered work, Jesus also was breaking the Sabbath. It was this issue that the Jews in Jerusalem were raising.
The Jews who thought they were honouring God by condemning the act of healing on the Sabbath only showed how ignorant they really were of God. We make the same mistake today. We think we understand God and what He likes and does not like so we make a bunch of rules to keep people in line. Unfortunately, these rules can also keep people away from God. You can get to know what God really wants, though, by spending time in the Word. My prayer is that in this last week God has already shown you something you never knew about Him.
REVIVAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY:
(Today we shall look back at the 1st awakening in America)
1735 – January: New England, North America (Jonathan Edwards)
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), the preacher and scholar who later became a President of Princeton University, was a prominent leader in a revival movement which came to be called the Great Awakening as it spread through the communities of New England and the pioneering settlements in America. Converts to Christianity reached 50,000 out of a total of 250,000 colonists. Early in 1735, an unusually powerful move of God’s Spirit brought revival to Northampton, which then spread through New England in the north-east of America. Edwards noted that a great and earnest concern about the great things of religion and the eternal world, became universal in all parts of the town, and among persons of all degrees and all ages; the noise among the dry bones waxed louder and louder; all other talk but about spiritual and eternal things, was soon thrown by….
The minds of people were wonderfully taken off from the world; it was treated among us as a thing of very little consequence. They seemed to follow their worldly business, more as a part of their duty, than from any disposition they had to it….
And the work of conversion was carried on in a most astonishing manner and increased more and more; souls did as it were come by flocks to Jesus Christ. From day to day, for many months together, might be seen evident instances of sinners brought out of darkness into marvellous light … with a new song of praise to God in their mouths…
Our public assemblies were then beautiful: the congregation was alive in God’s service, every one earnestly intent on the public worship, every hearer eager to drink in the words of the minister as they came from his mouth; the assembly in general were, from time to time, in tears while the word was preached; some weeping with sorrow and distress, others with joy and love, others with pity and concern for the souls of their neighbours….
Those amongst us who had been formerly converted, were greatly enlivened, and renewed with fresh and extraordinary incomes of the Spirit of God; though some much more than others, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Many who before had laboured under difficulties about their own state, had now their doubts removed by more satisfying experience, and more clear discoveries of God’s love.
Describing the characteristics of the revival, Edwards said that it gave people an extraordinary sense of the awful majesty, greatness and holiness of God, so as sometimes to overwhelm soul and body; a sense of the piercing, all seeing eye of God, so as sometimes to take away the bodily strength; and an extraordinary view of the infinite terribleness of the wrath of God, together with a sense of the ineffable misery of sinners exposed to this wrath. … and … longings after more love to Christ, and greater conformity to him; especially longing after these two things, to be more perfect in humility and adoration. The flesh and the heart seem often to cry out, lying low before God and adoring him with greater love and humility. … The person felt a great delight in singing praises to God and Jesus Christ, and longing that this present life may be as it were one continued song of praise to God. … Together with living by faith to a great degree, there was a constant and extraordinary distrust of our own strength and wisdom; a great dependence on God for his help … and being restrained from the most horrid sins.
Let us pray saints:
1. Review our life’s and ask God to reveal to you the truth about your life. “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith” (2 Cor. 13:5). Examine the fruit of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit in your life. Are you a new creation? Have you been filled with His Spirit and power?
2. Ask God what He wants you to do today to apply what He has revealed. What actions will you take?
3. Pray today by name for a person who has yet to believe in Christ as Saviour.
4. I repent totally from loving other things more than God in my life. Father, forgive me in the name of Jesus Christ.
5. I repent totally from the sin of idolatry. Any area or any way that I have served idols or am still serving idols, and such will hinder me from heaven and rapture forgive by mercy in the name of Jesus Christ.
6. I repent totally from calling the name of God in vain (for joke/comedy, to curse, to lie, to swear etc). Father, forgive me in the name of Jesus Christ.
7. I repent totally from all the disobedience that I have disobeyed to my parents that will hinder me from heaven and rapture. Father, forgive me in the name of Jesus Christ.
Day 8 the 8th of July 2024: READ THE WHOLE OF JOHN CHAPTER 8
(Read Either as an individual, family or church and then read the questions that you can reflect and discuss as well as read the Revival thoughts for each day)
THINGS TO PONDER:
Do you ever read the Bible aloud? Try that with chapter 8. The Bible was written with the expectation that it would be read aloud to others. As a result, many old familiar passages will take on a new life when you hear them with your ears as well as your eyes.
As you read, try to imagine the people; try to picture Jesus and the Jews who believed in Him (John 8:31). Try to picture the Pharisees who confront Jesus. See if you cannot feel the emotion rising through this whole chapter up to Jesus' climactic statement, "'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am'" (John 8:58).
This statement looks like a mistake at first. Shouldn't Jesus have said, "before Abraham was, I was"? No, Jesus knew exactly what He was saying here--and the Pharisees did too. Jesus was declaring Himself to be the God of Abraham. And by using the phrase "I am," He was identifying Himself as the one who spoke to Moses from the burning bush. This made the Pharisees furious.
God said to Moses on that occasion, "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14). But the Pharisees and even some people today have been telling God, "You will be who I say you are." But it does not work that way. Only those willing to accept God on His terms will ever truly find Him.
REVIVAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY: Before Jesus returned to His throne in heaven, He told His followers to wait for the filling of the Holy Spirit. That filling occurred 40 days later the Day of Pentecost. However, we also need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowers our witness for Christ.
You can present yourself to the Lord for filling in one of two conditions. Imagine I’m holding in my hands two clear plastic containers. One is filled with dirt, rocks, and other things. The other container is clean and empty. Those containers can represent the two conditions you can present to the Lord for filling.
The container filled with stuff represents a life filled with selfish desires, impure thoughts and deeds, sinful behaviours, broken relationships, and “idols of the heart” that distract you from your first love. When you bring a life like that to the Lord for filling, He says, “I’m sorry but I cannot fill and use a life like that.”
The empty container represents a life that has been cleansed from sin and has learned to walk in victory over sin (see Rom. 6). It has reconciled broken relationships, put away idols of the heart, and been cleansed from impure thoughts. Self has been denied, crucified with Christ. When you bring a life like that to the Lord for filling, He says, “I’ve been looking for you!” Scripture says, “The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to show Himself strong for those whose hearts are completely His” (2 Chron. 16:9). A life emptied of all the junk can be filled by His Holy Spirit, and that’s where spiritual power comes from.
Let us pray saints:
1. Think about the two containers described. Ask the Lord which one best represents your life. If it is the first container, ask God to cleanse you and guide you to prepare your life to receive His fullness. If it is the second container, humbly present yourself fully to Christ for filling.
2. Ask God what He wants you to do today to apply what He has revealed. What actions will you take?
3. Pray today by name for a person who has yet to believe in Christ as Saviour.
4. Lord Jesus Christ, I repent totally from every friendship that I have committed with worldly lustful pleasures, forgive me, and do not let me miss heaven and the rapture.
5. Lord Jesus Christ, free me and deliver me from every attack of Satan and his demons that comes against my mind, thought, body and will every day.
6. Lord Jesus Christ, influence my will, my mind, and my body on daily basis, so that I can be yours forever.
7. Lord Jesus Christ, bring my thoughts, mind, body and will under the subjection of Your word, so that I can make heaven. 1 Cor 9 :27
Day 9 the 9th of July 2024: READ THE WHOLE OF JOHN CHAPTER 9
(Read Either as an individual, family or church and then read the questions that you can reflect and discuss as well as read the Revival thoughts for each day)
THINGS TO PONDER:
The disciples begin this chapter by raising a question a lot of us have asked. They see a man who was blind from birth, and they feel pity for him. It must have been terrible living in such a state, and such misery could only be the result of sin. Right? Jesus' answer to the disciples' question is understandably hard to swallow.
"'It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him'" (John 9:3). In other words, this man was born blind and lived blind so that one day Jesus could heal him. It was not punishment for someone's sin or the result of someone's carelessness; he was blind so God could display His glory. Does that sound cruel of God?
The fact is all of us are born in an equally miserable state. We are all born blind to spiritual matters. We are all born with a sinful spirit and a rebellious nature awaiting the day we meet Jesus. The problem is, some people, like the Pharisees, do not recognize their own blindness.
It is easy to look at a physically challenged person and see his or her limitations and feel sorry for that person. But as Jesus pointed out time and again, it is possible to be physically whole yet spiritually disabled.
Do you know someone who hasn't yet meet Jesus? Maybe you are in his or her life to make the introduction. More than anything, Jesus wants to restore that person's sight and show him or her the glory of God.
REVIVAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY: Your life is like a PVC pipe (or any kind of pipe). It is a channel through which Jesus—the Living Water—flows. On one end of your “pipe,” you must be connected to God by a saving relationship with Him through Jesus Christ, your Saviour. On the other end of your pipe, you are connected to other people through relationships. God’s desire and mission is to work through your life in such a way that others will come to saving faith in His Son—that they would be reconciled to God.
However, if your pipe is clogged up, the Living Water cannot flow through it as intended. Sin can clog up your pipe. God’s holiness and righteousness cannot be revealed (flow) through a dirty life. If your pipe is clogged by sin, self, or the love of something that takes the place of your love for God (an “idol of the heart”), you need to get your pipe cleaned out. Clean out your “pipe” by confessing and repenting of your sin. Put away “idols of the heart” and return to your first love for God.
Another problem can exist with the flow of Living Water through your PVC-pipe life. If you have a broken relationship with a person, you have a cap on the end of your pipe that stops or limits the flow. The person may not be willing to listen to you or receive the Living Water from your life.
Two kinds of broken relationships may be present in your relationships with others. In one case you may have sinned against the other person or group. In that case Jesus commands you to go and be reconciled. Seek forgiveness and make restitution if necessary. The other kind of broken relationship is where you have been offended (or sinned against) by the other person. If you are withholding forgiveness, your pipe will be capped. In this case you must forgive, no matter how serious the offence.
I have heard and read many stories of people who reconciled a relationship and that very action created the opportunity to lead the person to faith in Christ. Uncap your pipe and let Christ’s living water flow!
Let us pray saints:
1. Ask God to reveal any relationships you may have that need reconciliation or forgiveness. Pray for those people today.
2. Ask God what He wants you to do today to apply what He has revealed. What actions will you take?
3. Lord Jesus Christ, all the seeds sowing into my life, in other for me to make heaven, let them germinate and bear fruits to eternal life.
4. I confess in the name of Jesus Christ. I will not be left behind to shed terrible tears after the rapture in Jesus Mighty Name!
5. Holy spirit of God, prepare my way and garment for heaven and rapture.
Day 10 the 10th of July 2024: READ THE WHOLE OF JOHN CHAPTER 10
(Read Either as an individual, family or church and then read the questions that you can reflect and discuss as well as read the Revival thoughts for each day)
THINGS TO PONDER:
A common mistake people make in Bible reading is to assume that when a chapter ends, so does the story or lesson. Sometimes that is the case, but today it is not. So, take a moment to remind yourself of what happened in chapter 9: it involved a blind man and a confrontation.
For several chapters now we have seen Jesus' conflict with the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the Jews. It would seem the Pharisees would be delighted to have Jesus, the Son of God, among them. The Pharisees had devoted their lives to serving God and following His law and teaching others to do the same. But Jesus revealed the truth about them. They were not serving God with all their religious practices; they were serving themselves.
They were using religion to make themselves rich and influential. As a result, they were driving people away from God rather than drawing them near to Him. They were the thieves and the robbers of Jesus' parable.
The parable is also a warning for today. There are many religious leaders out there who claim to be serving God but are only serving themselves. How can you and I avoid them? "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27). Become familiar with the voice of Jesus by spending time in His Word. And when you listen to the men and women claiming to be servants of God, listen to the Spirit's prompting in your heart. He knows the voice of God and will recognize those who speak for Him.
REVIVAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY:
(Today Let us look back at two pioneers of open-air preaching)
1739 – January: London, England (John Wesley, George Whitefield)
When the New England revival was strongest, George Whitefield (1714-1770) in England and Howell Harris (1714-1773) in Wales were both converted at 21 in 1735. Both ignited revival fires, seeing thousands converted and communities changed. By 1736 Harris began forming his converts into societies and by 1739 there were nearly thirty such societies. Whitefield travelled extensively, visiting Georgia in 1738 (the first of seven journeys to America), then ministering powerfully with Howell Harris in Wales 1739 and with Jonathan Edwards in New England in 1740, all in his early twenties.
At the end of 1735, John Wesley (1703-1791) sailed to Georgia, an American colony. A company of Moravian immigrants travelled on that vessel. During a storm they faced the danger of shipwreck. John Wesley wrote in his journal for Sunday 25 January 1736:
At seven I went to the Germans. I had long before observed the great seriousness of their behaviour. Of their humility they had given a continual proof by performing those servile offices for the other passengers which none of the English would undertake; for which they desired and would receive no pay, saying, “It was good for their proud hearts,” and “their loving Saviour had done more for them.” And every day had given them occasion of showing a meekness, which no injury could move. If they were pushed, struck or thrown down, they rose again and went away; but no complaint was found in their mouth. Here was now an opportunity of trying whether they were delivered from the spirit of fear, as well as from that of pride, anger and revenge. In the midst of the Psalm wherewith their service began, the sea broke over, split the main sail in pieces, covered the ship and poured in between the decks, as if the great deep had already swallowed us up. A terrible screaming began among the English. The Germans calmly sung on. I asked one of them afterwards: “Were you not afraid?” He answered, “I thank God, no.” I asked: “But were not your women and children afraid?” He replied mildly: “No, our women and children are not afraid to die.”
Back in England in 1738 after John Wesley’s brief and frustrating missionary career, the Wesleys were challenged by the Moravian missionary Peter Bohler. In March 1738 John Wesley wrote:
Saturday 4 March, I found my brother at Oxford, recovering from his pleurisy; and with him Peter Bohler, by whom (in the hand of the great God) I was, on Sunday the 5th, clearly convinced of unbelief, of the want of that faith whereby alone we are saved.
Immediately it struck into my mind, “Leave off preaching. How can you preach to others, who have not faith yourself?” I asked Bohler whether he thought I should leave it off or not. He answered, “By no means.” I asked, “But what can I preach?” He said, “Preach faith till you have it; and then, because you have it, you will preach faith.”
Monday, 6 March I began preaching this new doctrine, though my soul started back from the work. The first person to whom I offered salvation by faith alone was a prisoner under sentence of death. His name was Clifford. Peter Bohler had many times desired me to speak to him before. But I could not prevail on myself so to do; being still a zealous assertor of the impossibility of a death bed repentance.
Both John and Charles were converted in May 1738, Charles first, and John three days later
on Wednesday 24 May. He wrote his famous testimony in his Journal:
In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.
Later that year John Wesley visited the Moravian community at Herrnhut. He admired their zeal and love for the Lord, and he prayed that their kind of Christianity, full of the Holy Spirit, would spread through the earth. Back in England he preached evangelically, gathered converts into religious societies (which were nicknamed Methodists because of his methodical procedures), and continued to relate warmly with the Moravians. Evangelical revival fires began to stir in England and burst into flame the following year.
1739 saw astonishing expansion of revival in England. On the evening of 1 January, the Wesley’s and Whitefield (recently back from America) and four others from their former Holy Club at Oxford University, along with 60 others, met in London for prayer and a love feast. The Spirit of God moved powerfully on them all. Many fell down, overwhelmed. The meeting went all night and they realised they had been empowered in a fresh visitation from God.
Mr Hall, Kinchin, Ingham, Whitefield, Hitchins, and my brother Charles were present at our love feast in Fetter Lane, with about sixty of our brethren. About three in the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from that awe and amazement at the presence of his majesty, we broke out with one voice, “We praise Thee, O God, we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.”
This Pentecost on New Year’s Day launched the revival known later as the Great Awakening. Revival spread rapidly. In February 1739 Whitefield started preaching to the Kingswood coal miners in the open fields near Bristol because many churches opposed him, accusing him and other evangelicals of ‘enthusiasm’. In February about 200 attended. By March 20,000 attended. Whitefield invited Wesley to take over then and so in April Wesley reluctantly began his famous open-air preaching, which continued for 50 years.
He described that first weekend in his Journal:
Saturday, 31 March In the evening I reached Bristol, and met Mr Whitefield. I could scarce reconcile myself at first to this strange way of preaching in the fields, of which he set me an example on Sunday; having been all my life (till very lately) so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order, that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done in a church.
Sunday, 1 April In the evening, I begun expounding our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount (one pretty remarkable precedent of field preaching) to a little society in Nicholas Street.
Monday, 2 April At four in the afternoon I submitted to be more vile, and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation, speaking from a little eminence in a ground adjoining to the city, to almost three thousand people. The scripture on which I spoke was “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.”
Sometimes strange manifestations accompanied revival preaching. Wesley wrote in his Journal of 26 April 1739 that during his preaching at Newgate, Bristol, “One, and another, and another sunk to the earth; they dropped on every side as thunderstruck.”
He returned to London in June reporting on the amazing move of God’s Spirit with many conversions and many people falling prostrate, a phenomenon he never encouraged. Features of this revival were enthusiastic singing, powerful preaching, and the gathering of converts into small societies called weekly Class Meetings.
Initially, leaders such as George Whitefield criticized some manifestations in Wesley’s meetings, but this changed. Wesley wrote on 7 July 1739:
I had opportunity to talk with Mr Whitefield about those outward signs which had so often accompanied the inward work of God. I found his objections were chiefly grounded on gross misrepresentations of matter of fact. But the next day he had opportunity of informing himself better: for no sooner had he begun (in the application of his sermon) to invite all sinners to believe in Christ, than four persons sank down, close to him, almost in the same moment. One of them lay without either sense or motion; a second trembled exceedingly; the third had strong convulsions all over his body, but made no noise, unless by groans; the fourth, equally convulsed, called upon God, with strong cried and tears. From this time, I trust, we shall all suffer God to carry on His own work in the way that pleaseth Him.
Both John Wesley and George Whitefield continued preaching outdoors as well as in churches which welcomed them. Whitefield’s seven visits to America continued to fan the flames of revival there.
Revival caught fire in Scotland also. After returning again from America in 1741, Whitefield visited Glasgow. Two ministers in villages nearby invited him to return in 1742 because revival had already begun in their area. Conversions and prayer groups multiplied. Whitefield preached there at Cambuslang about four miles from Glasgow. The opening meetings on a Sunday saw the great crowds on the hillside gripped with conviction, repentance and weeping more than he had seen elsewhere. The next weekend 20,000 gathered on the Saturday and up to 50,000 on the Sunday for the quarterly communion. The visit was charged with Pentecostal power which even amazed Whitefield.
Precious saints our intimate relationship with Christ and our concern for those He loves are dependent on our love for Him. If we depart from our first love, we need to return. Our renewed love for Him could change our world. When you are deeply touched and aware of the sacrificial love of our Jesus Saviour. We will start to express our love for Christ we will start to win the souls that He died for. Your battle cry becomes “to win for the Lamb that was slain the reward of His suffering.”
Let us pray saints:
1. Thank God for His love shown through Christ’s sacrifice. Ask Him to reveal the quality of your love for Him and how to increase your love.
2. Ask God what He wants you to do today to apply what He has revealed. What actions will you take?
3. Pray today by name for a person who has yet to believe in Christ as Saviour.
Day 11 the 11th of July 2024: READ THE WHOLE OF JOHN CHAPTER 11
(Read Either as an individual, family or church and then read the questions that you can reflect and discuss as well as read the Revival thoughts for each day)
THINGS TO PONDER:
When we think about Jesus, it is easy to go to one of two extremes. One extreme emphasizes His humanity. People who do this will read the Gospels and especially notice where Jesus talks about His compassion for others, His tiredness, the pleasure He gets from being in the company of others. When they read John 11, they will be particularly moved by the verse, "Jesus wept" (John 11:35). Who would not weep at the tomb of a good friend?
Others will focus on the divine nature of Jesus. They will look at the miracles of turning water into wine or giving sight to the blind man and declare that only God can do such things. When they look at John 11, they will key in on verse 43 where Jesus "cried out with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out'".
It is not entirely wrong to lean toward one or the other view of Jesus, but it does become wrong when that view begins contradicting the rest of Scripture. When a person starts believing that the miracles of Jesus are just legends added to the Bible at a later date, they invalidate the entire Bible. And when a person says that Jesus was so much God that He did not experience life like we did, they contradict verses like Philippians 2:6-11 and Hebrews 4:15 (check them out and see what we mean.)
We pray that as you continue reading that you also continue to see the wonder and miracle of Jesus, completely human and yet totally God.
REVIVAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY: Paul explained that God’s mercy for us deserves the surrender of our lives and bodies to Christ as living sacrifices. Then John wrote that because of Christ’s love for us, we ought to lay down our lives for others. As did the Moravians who began to pray for mission’s needs, they were told about the significant need for the gospel among the slaves in the West Indies Islands. As they prayed for labourers, Leonard Dober and Tobias Leupold sensed God calling them to go. But they were told that the slave owners would not permit them to preach to the slaves. Leonard and Tobias came up with a plan. They would sell themselves as slaves so they could live and work among the slaves and lead them to faith in Christ. Many at the time said this was too high a price to pay and would not allow them to go. They however insisted that God called them, so the community held a prayer meeting to draw lots and seek the Lord’s will. The lot revealed that Leonard should go, and Tobias should wait. They continued praying and sensed God wanted David Nitschmann to accompany Leonard. The love for Christ caused these men to be willing to lay down their lives for others. When they reached St. Thomas Island, they found that the slave owners would allow them to preach to the slaves without having to sell themselves. And thus began the missionary work that impacted the world.
Though God may not require you to lay down your physical life for His cause, His call to salvation is a call to lordship. Jesus is Lord. We are His servants. We need to be prepared to obey His every command because we love Him. And we love Him because He first love us and gave His life for our salvation.
Let us pray saints:
1. Thank God for all the mercy and grace He has shown to you. Now, I beg you to present yourself to the Lord as a servant who will obey His Lord’s commands.
2. Ask God what He wants you to do today to apply what He has revealed. What actions will you take?
3. Pray today by name for a person or group who has yet to believe in Christ as Savior.
4. Ask the Lord to shed some light of truth in exposing the enemy’s schemes, by revealing us in advance to counterattack in Jesus Mighty Name!
5. Ask the Lord to shed some light on the truth of why the enemy is doing this September? In Jesus Mighty Name!
6. Stand firm in the lord against all the wiles of the devil, standing firm on the Lordship of our Lord Jesus Christ!
7. Ask Jesus to confuse the enemy’s agenda by brining confusion in the camp of the enemy in Jesus Mighty Name!
8. In Jesus name we cut off any attack being sent against you or your families and friends in Jesus Mighty Name!
Click On Link For Part 2: