Prayer

Revival
Meaning:
 a restoration to life or consciousness.
 Murray, revival means “making alive again those who have been alive but have. fallen
into what is called a cold, or dead, state. They are Christians and have. life, but they
need reviving to bring them back to their first love and the healthy.
 an act or instance of reviving: the state of being revived: such as a: renewed attention to
or interest in something.
 Prayer, in many ways, is the supreme expression of our faith in God. If you do not desire
to be holy—then you have no right to think that you are a Christian. Our supreme need,
our only need, is to know God, the living God! Man's chief business in life, is to serve
and to glorify God.
 John 17: 3-4

 ኢየሱስም ይህን ተናግሮ ወደ ሰማይ ዓይኖቹን አነሣና እንዲህ አለ። አባት ሆይ፥ ሰዓቱ ደርሶአል፤ ልጅህ
ያከብርህ ዘንድ፥ በሥጋም ሁሉ ላይ ሥልጣን እንደ ሰጠኸው፥ ለሰጠኸው ሁሉ የዘላለምን ሕይወት
ይሰጣቸው ዘንድ ልጅህን አክብረው። 3 እውነተኛ አምላክ ብቻ የሆንህ አንተን የላክኸውንም ኢየሱስ
ክርስቶስን ያውቁ ዘንድ ይህች የዘላለም ሕይወት ናት። 4 እኔ ላደርገው የሰጠኸኝን ሥራ ፈጽሜ
በምድር አከበርሁህ፤ 5 አሁንም፥ አባት ሆይ፥ ዓለም ሳይፈጠር በአንተ ዘንድ በነበረኝ ክብር አንተ
በራስህ ዘንድ አክብረኝ።
 “Prayer is beyond any question the highest activity of the human soul. Man is at his
greatest and highest when upon his knees he comes face to face with God.”
― Martyn Lloyd-Jones
No man – I don’t care how colossal his intellect – No man is greater than his prayer life.
At the judgement seat the most embarrassing thing the believer will face will be the
smallness of his praying.
 There’s nothing more transfiguring than prayer. People often ask, “Why do you insist on
prayer so much?” The answer is very simple—because Jesus did.
 You could change the title of the Gospel according to St. Luke to the Gospel of Prayer.
It’s the prayer life of Jesus. The other evangelists say that Jesus was in the Jordan and
the Spirit descended on Him as a dove—Luke says it was while He was praying that the
Spirit descended on Him. The other evangelists say that Jesus chose 12 disciples—Luke
says it was after He spent a night in prayer that He chose 12 disciples. The other
evangelists say that Jesus died on a cross—Luke says that even when He was dying Jesus
was praying for those who persecuted Him. The other evangelists say Jesus went on a
mount and He was transfigured—Luke says it was while He was praying that He was
transfigured. There’s nothing more transfiguring than prayer.
The Scriptures say that the disciples went to bed, but Jesus went to pray—as was His
custom. It was His custom to pray. Now Jesus was the Son of God—He was definitely
anointed for His ministry. If Jesus needed all that time in prayer, don’t you and I need
time in prayer? If Jesus needed it in every crisis, don’t you and I need it in every crisis?
 Now I say very often—and people don’t like it—that God doesn’t answer prayer. He
answers desperate prayer! Your prayer life denotes how much you depend on your own
ability, and how much you really believe in your heart when you sing, “Nothing in my
hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling….” The more self-confidence you have, the less
you pray. The less self-confidence you have, the more you have to pray.
 Prayer is the language of the poor. Over and over again David, the King of Israel, says,
“Incline Thine ear, O Lord, and answer me; for I am afflicted and needy” (Psalm 86:1).
And do you remember that one of the greatest psalms he wrote says, “This poor man
cried and the Lord heard him…” (Psalm 34:6).
If you’re thinking of revival at your church without any inconvenience, forget it.
Revival costs a lot.
 I can give you one simple reason why we don’t have revival in America. Because we’re
content to live without it. We’re not seeking God—we’re seeking miracles, we’re
seeking big crusades, we’re seeking blessings. In Numbers 11, Moses said to God,
“You’re asking me to carry a burden I can’t handle. Do something or kill me!” Do you
love America enough to say, “God, send revival or kill me”? Do you think it’s time we
changed Patrick Henry’s prayer from, “Give me liberty or give me death,” to “Give me
revival or let me die”?
 People say, “I’m filled with the Holy Spirit.” If the coming of the Spirit didn’t
revolutionize your prayer life, you’d better check on it. I’m not so sure you got what God
wanted you to get.
 We’ve said that prayer changes things. No! Prayer doesn’t change things. Prayer
changes people and they change things. We all want Gabriel to do the job. God says do
it yourself—with My sufficiency and My strength.
 We need to get like this woman, Hannah. What did she do? She wept, she was grieved,
she said she had a complaint, she fasted—and she prayed.
 Jesus, the anointed of God, made prayer His custom. Paul, with his background and
intellect, depended on prayer because he said he was weak. David, the king, called
himself a poor man and cried to the Lord. Hannah prayed for a son and gave birth to a
prophet. The prayers of a handful of young men sparked revival.
 There’s nothing more transfiguring than prayer.
Luke
Luke emphasizes prayer more than any other synoptic.1 He records nine prayers of Jesus, of
which all but two are found in no other Gospel. 2 Luke associates’ prayer with the most
important moments of Jesus' life.3 Jesus prays at his baptism (3.21), and after a day of working
miracles (S.IS-I6). Before choosing the Twelve Jesus spends the night on the mount in prayer
(6.I2). Before Peter's confession of faith and his first prediction of the Passion, Jesus prays alone
(9.18; c£ S.I6).4 Jesus goes to the Mount of the Transfiguration to pray (9.29).
He prays with gladness and thanksgiving after the mission of the seventy disciples because of
his Father's revelation to the little ones (10.17-21).
His example leads the disciples to ask him to teach them to pray (n.I). Jesus prays during his
agony on the Mount of Olives (22.39-46),5 and during his Crucifixion (23.34-46).
Luke alone relates two special parables about prayer: the friend at midnight (II.S) and the unjust
judge (18.1-8). He alone presents the $tory of the Pharisee and the Publican at prayer in the
Temple (18.9-14), ~l1d states that Jesus exhorted his disciples to pray during his agony in
Gethsemane (22.40).

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Revival

 John 17: 3-4

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