2 Chronicles 7:13, 14, "If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
Today we read church signs, bulletin boards, newspaper articles that say, "Come to A Holy Ghost Revival." But they forget one thing. They forget to invite the Holy Ghost when they make their invitation list. Churches everywhere are seeking Revival, but none are preparing for the Revival. How do you prepare for Revival. Pray! Pray! Pray!
Too many churches have 3 day Revivals, some a week, but how many pray week after week, really understanding that Revival must begin with their own heart. It is time churches stop saying, "Well, you know the week of June 6th or September 8th, will soon be here, and you know we must plan our yearly Revival." Who are WE going to get to come preach our Revival?
It is time we decide to pray and have Revival all year long. No man or woman can bring a Revival to your church. If you do not pray and prepare, you will just have someone come, preach, and then when they leave, you will go back to the same routine of just attending church services. Yes, bored, dry, and no anointing at all. You will have the same few people, doing the same things, going on with the same programs. If you want Revival, again, Pray! Pray! Pray!
Christians must seek the face of God on their knees. Churches must have corporate unity to bring the anointing, that will bring a true Holy Ghost Revival. Too many people are seeking God for answers, and wanting to work for God, but they are not getting up off the pew and working to get the job done. You cannot just come to church week after week, and not do some foot work, and win lost souls to God. Remember, if Peter had not got our of the boat, he would have only knew the disciples, but he took a step of faith and got out of the boat and meet Jesus.
I do not know about you, but as I wrote the words above straight from my heart, I can tell you now, I want a real Holy Ghost Revival, and I am starting it within myself on my knees. How about you?
I read the article below about the great Revival of 1799, and I want to share it with you.
I truly believe the quote from: Alex Dodson
"We live in a day when the preaching of the Word of God has taken a back seat in many evangelical churches to other things. The great pulpits of the past have been removed and the stage opened up for the worship team. It is not that the worship team is doing something wrong but that what they do has priority over the preaching of the Word of God which used to be pre-eminent in our worship services. Many Christians no longer take the Bible seriously or have no confidence in much of what it says. We are living in a time of compromise. No longer is the Bible revered as the very Word of God. Even seminaries compromise with modern day science theories and philosophy. The whole Bible is not considered trustworthy anymore. Darwinian philosophy has taken the place of a truly Biblical and Christian philosophy in the public schools of this land and even in some Christian schools."
In the last several months, I myself, have noticed that people do not even take their Bibles to church. The scripture is on a screen in the front of the building behind the pulpit, so why carry my Bible into the sanctuary?
Now that is not a problem, unless, it means that Christians cannot even find their Bibles anymore at home. If they are not taking the time to pick their Bible up and study God's Word, their lives will become totally dormant.
And then we wonder, hummmm? Why and I having such a bad day or week?
God Bless You,
Pastor Pat Aman Lenox Massachusetts in 1799
Notes taken from events of Rev. Samuel Shephard of Lenox, Mass. who wrote about what happened in his church in 1799.
In 1799, there was a revival that swept through the Northeast. Many came to Christ through the standard means of the faithful preaching of God's Word and prayer. We have not had a national revival in the United States since 1858, when the Prayer Meeting Revival began in New York City.
I came upon a list of seven characteristics in a general accounting of what occurred during this revival in Lenox, Massachusetts. Most interesting to me was what did not occur during this revival. It was not driven by emotional outbursts, but rather was a solid contemplation of the individual's position before God and state of the soul. I intend to summarize the seven points below without much comment. It was a work of God. There was a marked change in the appearance and pursuits of the people. The revival began in the church.
When God is about to bestow spiritual blessings upon a people, it is His usual method, first to awake His professed friends out of spiritual sleep. There began a striking importance given to the means of grace. Prayer became precious. The Lord's day was honored. People studied and cherished the Bible with a newfound love.
Every opportunity for religious instruction was prized, and fellowship with the people of God involved serious conversation. Nothing was said about dreams and visions, hearing unusual voices, or seeing uncommon sights. No extravagance, either in gestures or outcries, appeared. No wild enthusiasm attended the revival in any stage of it. There was a unity of faith and understanding.
There was a focus on the need for regeneration (being born again). There was an additional emphasis on the need for a moral life as evidence of having been justified. All these, and other, aspects of the faith were "received by all with one consent." The revival in this town proved the "death-wound" to vain amusements. The youth are remarkable for their sobriety.
One distinguishing feature, both here and elsewhere was humility. Humility has been the common effect of the operation of the Spirit in the hearts of sinners in every age during a revival. The author gives the end result of the effects of the revival in Lenox. He says the result was: happy families, happy neighborhoods, happy societies, happy towns, happy states, happy kingdoms, and a happy world.
If you are one who longs for revival this list is an example of what one looked like. I found numbers four and seven the most interesting, because both of these are not typically what we look for when there is an outburst of God's grace and mercy. I'm not intending to say that God has to work this way. In fact, I gave this list because of how surprised I was by it. If we seek revival, it may be the case that the Lord brings it in ways that we are not expecting.
Blessings, Love and Prayers,
Pastor Pat Aman
Also, please know that:
Pastor Pat Aman
Also, please know that:
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with Joy.
Philippians 1: 3-4
Philippians 1: 3-4
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