 Good morning everyone. So we are down to our last two weeks of the semester. We'll continue with where we left off last week with someone open us in prayer. We start. Father God we thank you, bless you for this day Lord. Father you are great and you are awesome Lord. We worship you and we thank you. Father as we pursue going through this pursuit of revival Father help us to know that the key is praying and praying according to your word and Father help us to do this Father in Jesus name we pray. Thank you. So we stopped off. We just gone into chapter eight. We'll continue from there. We'll be looking at a lot of scripture passages today so if you can be ready to read. We'll do that. So we read last week at the end of the class we read Isaiah 60 to 1 to 7 so we won't go back and read it now but we'll just discuss a few things that we see from Isaiah's example based on this passage. So in Isaiah 60 he talks about God's glory being seen over the people so that was a little bit earlier in the book of Isaiah and then in 62 is when he is saying that these he's calling the people back. He's talking about how they will be restored but there's also he knows that destruction is coming but he knows that they're going to go into exile that the Babylonians are going to come and destroy Jerusalem. Even though he knows that he is still talking about this future glory and restoration that is going to be there and he doesn't stop with just that destruction he prays for and he intercedes for that restoration that will happen after the destruction. So that is something for us even if we know judgment is coming to also know that God's heart is always to restore and so we can be praying for restoration in the church even if there are things that are going wrong in the church things that are needing to be addressed or things where we know that there is action that needs to be taken. We can also be praying with the hope of restoration praying with the hope of revival there's never a time when we should give up hope or say okay there's no way God can work in this situation or in this church that should never be our attitude. And so looking at these verses there are a few things that we can take away from Isaiah's example so we looked at how Jerusalem and Zion in the Old Testament are a picture of the New Testament church. So when he is praying he's praying for Zion's sake for Jerusalem's sake for the restoration of Zion. And so that should be something that we adopt we pray for with the same kind of passion with that burden to see the church become and be all that it's meant to be. So when he's praying there is a vision of this is what God called the people of God to be like. He called Zion to be a city on a hill that is a light for the rest of the world where nations will gather they will come to know who the true God is. So having that vision of what is the church called to be and to have the burden to see the church in that place fulfilling what we are called to be. So we look at a few verses Matthew 16 18 and 19 and Amos 6 1. Matthew 16 18 and 19. Chapter 16 18 and 19. And I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you lose on earth will be lost in heaven. Thank you and Amos 6 1. Amos 6 verse 1. Woe to you who are complacent in Zion and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria. You notable men of the foremost nation to whom the people of Israel come. So we see in Matthew 16 18 verse 19 picture of what the church is called to be a place against which the gates of Hades will not prevail. So we are advancing God's kingdom. We are overthrowing the kingdom of Satan. We are bringing God's will for his people for the world to earth by the things that we are doing. The way we live our lives, the way we carry out our day to day lives, the things that we are called to in our everyday lives. How are we bringing God's kingdom in those places? So that's what the church is called to be. And in Amos 6 1 we see this other group of people who are at ease. They are resting, relaxing. They are very complacent about Zion. They are not thinking about Zion being all that God is called to be. So we can be this one group of people who are complacent, who are very satisfied with the way things are. Or we can be on the other side with that Matthew 16 vision of the church praying towards the church fulfilling that calling. And so like Isaiah to be people with that burden who are crying out on behalf of the church. So a few other things he says, he says, I will not keep quiet. I will not rest until. So to have that kind of attitude where we will keep pursuing God, we will keep interceding for the church until God's glory comes as he has promised. To have that fervor, that passion, that zeal and that faith that God will fulfill his promises. And then the last part he calls watchman to not be quiet. So he says watchman don't keep quiet, do not keep silent, give God no rest. So to say, he's raising up other people to share in this burden that he has. So he has a burden to intercede for for Jerusalem. And then he's calling other people who are placed as watchmen who are placed there to guard the city against attacks to keep the people safe. To also have this attitude of praying calling out to God, not resting and asking God to fulfill what he has promised. So for us to also be people who stir others up. So not only do we pray, not only do we intercede, but we also raise up others who will pray with us, who will have that same kind of passion for the church. So from there we go into what are some heart conditions for praying for revival. Now, if most people have worked on the assignment, you'll have already read through all of this. So anyway, we're going to just mostly be reading passages of scripture. But we look at in this part what are some attitudes of the heart that we should have in order to see revival happen. And revival we're looking at as starting with us as individuals. If you want to see revival happen in the church, it needs to first begin with us. For us to be people and instruments through whom God comes. And so what should our heart attitude be in order to see revival happen for ourselves. So to pursue intimacy with God, to allow God to continuously be changing us into his likeness and to allow God to create in us a clean heart. A heart that is ready for that role as an intercessor, as someone who's asking God to come. We read this quote from Charles Finney says, Revival is the coming of the inexpressibly sweet and tender spirit of God into the midst of his people with convicting and transforming power. The outpouring of God's spirit is the divine aspect of revival while the preparation of the heart is our part. So that's what we're going to be looking at. How do we prepare our hearts for revival? So first is the heart that is humble. We'll just look at these different passages. Second Chronicles 7 verse 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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. So we see that for God to hear, for God to forgive, for God to heal, we first need a heart that is humble. A heart that comes to God with recognition of our sin where we are praying and seeking God. And so not only to have a posture of humility, but also then to turn away from wickedness. So to live, to see that change of heart reflected in the way we live. And then we will see God come, God pour himself out. Can we read Hosea 10, 12? Hosea 10, 12. So for yourselves righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fellow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord till He comes and reigns righteousness on you. So break up your fellow ground. Fellow ground is ground that was being used to cultivate crops, but now is not being used. It's been abandoned, it's been left uncultivated. So God is calling them to once again sow righteousness. So to break up that ground that has hardened, that is unproductive. And to get it ready for a season of sowing and reaping. And we sow righteousness and we experience God's mercy. So reap in mercy. For it is time to seek the Lord till He comes and reigns righteousness on you. So that is, there we see both the, what we're called to do in the promise. Call to seek the Lord till He comes and reigns righteousness on us. And these are the promises that we can be holding on to as we are praying for God to come as we are preparing ourselves to be praying these promises, these words that God himself has given us. Hosea 14, 1 to 7. O Israel, return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, take away all iniquity, receive us graciously, for we will offer the sacrifices of our lips. Israel shall not save us. We will not ride our horses, nor will we say any more to the work of our hands. You are our gods. For in you the fatherless finds mercy. It will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely. For my anger has turned away from him. I will be like the dew of, due to Israel. He shall grow like the lily and lengthen his roots like Lebanon. His branches shall spread. His beauty shall be like an olive tree and his fragrance like Lebanon. Those who dwell under his shadow shall return. They shall be renewed like grains and grow like a wine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon. Thank you. So we see in Hosea the verses 1 to 3 of chapter 14 where he's calling Israel to turn back from all things in which they have put their hope. Wherever they have sought help from other people, other things rather than God, he's saying put away all those things. And then verses 4 to 7 is a promise from God that he will restore them, that he will bring them back to himself. That he will bless them, revive them, make them fruitful and release his glory on them. So it's from that place of coming to a place of complete dependence on God that then God blesses, God pours out himself on his people. So we'll just read John 15, 1 to 5. John 15, 1 to 5. I am the true wine and my father is the wine raiser. Everyone branch in me that does not bear fruit. He takes away and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Avoid in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it avoids in the wine. Neither can you unless you avoid in me. I am the wine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him weirs much fruit for without me you can do nothing. So thank you. So that is the heart of humility where you recognize that apart from God I can do nothing. And it is that place of completely depending, completely relying, completely abiding in God because you know that any fruitfulness, anything that is going to happen will only happen if you are in that place of communion with God. That is the picture of humility where you are completely surrendered, completely dependent on God, recognizing him as the source for any fruit that your ministry or you are going to bear. We will go into the next point of heart that is hungry. We can read the verses from there. Matthew 5.6. Matthew 5.6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. So this is God's promise, right? When we come to him with a heart that is hungry, when we come with a heart that's thirsty, then we will be filled. So to have that kind of hunger, that desire for more of God, that recognition that we are empty and we need to be filled. That is a heart that we should be coming to God with Psalm 63.1 and 2. Oh God, you are my God. Early will I seek you, my soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for you in the sanctuary to see your power and your glory. Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you. So again, that hunger and thirst for God, right? So a soul that is thirsty, that longing for God that actually feels like your flesh itself, your body itself is desiring, is needing more of God. So it moves from just a spiritual sense to a physical like pursuing a physical sense of hunger and desire for more of God. To the extent that he goes to the sanctuary. So I have looked for you in the sanctuary to see your glory. So he goes pursuing God's presence wherever God is, he wants to be. So that is the kind of a spiritual hunger and thirst that moves us to physical action, to physical pursuit of God. Psalm 27.4. One thing I have desired of the Lord that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in this temple. Yeah, so I think David is like the Psalms are this perfect example of someone who is really seeking after the Lord. So to be a man after God's heart is kind of described in these words wanting to know God wanting to experience God wanting to have that intimacy with God. So one thing I have desired is the Lord himself that I will seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. So what do I desire is God himself the presence of the Lord to be in his presence to behold his beauty to receive wisdom from him. So all of those things at the same heart of Mary as well right to Mary was doing the one right thing the best thing is to be in communion with God. So having that kind of passion that's driving a pursuit of God having that kind of heart. Hosea 6.1 to 3. Hosea 6.1 to 3. Come let us return to the Lord. He has drawn us to pieces, but he will heal us. He has injured us, but he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us on the third day he will restore us that we may live in his presence. Let us acknowledge the Lord let us press on to acknowledge him as surely as the sun rises he will appear. He will come to us like the winter rains like the spring rains that water the earth. So in Hosea we see this promise right. Let's return to the Lord. We see God's judgment. We see that we are in a place that is not a place of blessing that is not a place of prosperity. So let's go back to God and we can be sure that when we go back to God we will see his blessing come on us as sure as we are of the rain coming. We can be sure of his presence, his blessings coming back on us. And so to have that kind of confidence right when we are seeking the Lord to be sure that he will answer that he will pour out his blessings on us. We look at one more Isaiah 44.3 which has a similar promise. 44.3 For I will pour water on him as thirsty and flood on the dry ground. I'll pour my spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring. And John 7 36 to 39. John 7 36 to 39. John 7 36 to 39. What is this things that he said? You will seek me and not find me and where I am you cannot come on the last day and great day of the feast. Jesus stood and cried out saying if anyone does let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow reverse of living water. But this he spoke concerning the spirit whom those believing in him would receive for the Holy Spirit was not it given because Jesus was not it glorified. So we see here the promise of the Holy Spirit to those who come to Jesus right. So if you are thirsty come and drink. So having that hunger thirst going to Jesus to be satisfied and then becoming springs through which the Holy Spirit is poured out on others right through which we're meeting the needs of others ministering to others. So that is the kind of heart we need to have if we want to see the Bible happen in ourselves. The heart that is passionate and persistent. James 5 16 to 18. Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective fervent prayer for righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth produced its fruit. And we can look at first Kings chapter 18. There are a few different verses from that chapter. Read verse one and 41 and then no then 16 to 21. First Kings 18 verse one. And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying go present yourself to Ahab and I will send rain on the earth. Verse 16 to 21. So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him and Ahab went to meet Elijah. Then it happened when Ahab saw Elijah that Ahab said to him. Is that you O trouble of Israel? And he answered. I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and I follow the bells. Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel. The 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table. Verse 39 to 46. And it came to pass at the time of offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. Let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and I am your servant and that I have done all these things at your word. Hear me O Lord, hear me that this people may know that you are the Lord God and that you have turned their hearts back to you again. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said the Lord he is God, the Lord he is God. And Elijah said to them, sees the prophets about do not let one of them escape. So they seized them and Elijah brought them down to the book. Brook of Kishon and executed them to 46 verse 41. Then Elijah said to Abraham, go up, eat and drink for there is a sound of abundance of rain. So I have went up to eat and drink and Elijah went up to the top of Carmel. Then he bowed down to the ground and put his face between his knees and said to his servant, go up now, look toward the sea. So he went up and looked and said there is nothing and seven times he said go again. Then he came to pass the seventh time that he said, there is a cloud as small as a man's hand rising out of the sea. So he said, go up, say to have, prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you. Now it happened in the meantime that sky became black with clouds and wind and there was a heavy rain. So I have rode away and went to Jezreel. Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of a half to the entrance of Jezreel. So we see here in James 5, he is talking about this incident in Elijah's life. He is saying the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man reveals much. That is a prayer that is passionate, a prayer that will persist, a prayer that will continue to pursue God for God's will to be done. So he first prayed that there would not be rain and there was no rain for three years and six months and then he prayed again. And this time there was rain. But what happened before he prayed? He had to believe that God was going to do what he said he would do. So God tells him go tell Ahab there will be rain and he tells Ahab that he calls all the prophets there. They have this whole showdown between the prophets of Baal, prophets of Ashra and Elijah on the other side. All of them praying for God to send fire. Nothing happens with the other prophets and then Elijah says a small prayer and God sends a fire. And so it was because Elijah was already in this place of intimacy with God, already someone who had been praying, already someone who had faith to believe God would do what he said he would do. That God was able to use him to this extent and then once God's fire comes as judgment on the prophets of Baal and Ashra and then he says I hear the sound of abundance of rain. It hasn't yet come but having that confidence God has said he will do this. It will happen and then he goes to pray. He knows God is sending it, God has promised it but he still goes to pray for that rain to come. So that is the kind of prayer we are called to as people who know that God has promised his spirit will be poured out on those who are thirsty, who calls people to repentance so that he can restore, so that he can pour out his blessings on his people to be people who take those words in faith and who pray them into being. Who pray until it's fulfilled with faith that God will do it. We will also look at Luke 18, 1-8 and Genesis 32, 24-30. So this is where Jesus teaches about praying persistently. Luke chapter 18 verse 1-8. Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said in a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought and there was a widow in the town who kept coming to him with the plea, grant me justice against my adversary. For some time he refused but finally he said to himself even though I don't fear God or care what people think and because this widow keeps bothering me I will see that she gets justice so that she won't eventually come and attack me and the Lord said listen to what the unjust judge says and will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones who carry out to him day and night will he keep putting them off? I tell you he will see that they get justice and quickly. However when the son of man comes will he find faith on the earth? And then? Genesis 32, 24-32. Genesis 32 verse 24-32. So Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said let me go for it, it's daybreak. But Jacob replied I will not let you go unless you bless me. The man asked him what is your name? Jacob he answered. Then the man said your name will no longer be Jacob but Israel because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome. Jacob said please tell me your name but he replied why do you ask my name? Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Peniel saying it is because I saw God face to face and yet my life was spared. The son rose above him as he passed Peniel and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites did not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip because of the socket of Jacob's hip was stretched near the tendon. So both these things are an example of persistent prayer. Jesus says he teaches that parable to teach us that we should pray and not give up. And the second example of Jacob that he wrestled to the extent that he was unwilling to let go of the angel until he was blessed, until he received blessing in favor from God. And so if we're looking at it from a physical perspective there's no way that Jacob would have the physical endurance to fight with an angel. But it is what was happening within him that desire to be blessed that pushed him to keep fighting, to keep wrestling until the angel blessed him. And in that fighting, in that wrestling for the blessing to come, his whole life was changed, his destiny was changed, right? From being the deceiver to become someone who had wrestled with God and man and had overcome. And so to become someone who is an overcomer, to become someone who has the favor of God upon him from being someone who was a deceiver. So persistent prayer is something that is taught and asked of us as believers. And so that is something that we should be willing to do on knowing that it will bear fruit. The last is a heart that is compassionate. We'll look at Isaiah 57-15. Isaiah 57 verse 15. So this says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place with him who has a contrite and a humble spirit to revive the spirit of humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. So God is saying I am in the heavens. My presence is in the heavens, but I'm also with people who have a heart of humility. People who have this spirit of repentance and want to see me move. And so that is the kind of heart to be people who are carrying the burden that Christ has for the church. That same kind of compassion for the lost. That same desire to see the glory of God manifested in the church. To see the church be the bride of Christ ready for his arrival. So having that kind of passionate, that kind of alignment with God's heart for his people is needed in order for us to pray in line with God's will. We look at Galatians 419. So we'll just read these verses and then we'll talk about the main things that they talk about. Galatians 419. My little children for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you. I would like only 19. Yeah. And then Romans 8, 26 and 27. Romans 8, 26 and 27. Likewise, the spirit also helps in our weakness. For we do not know what we should pray for as we out. But the spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings, which cannot be uttered. Now he who searches the hearts now, what the mind of the spirit is because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Yeah. Hebrews 5, 7. Hebrews 5, 7. Who in the days of his place when he shared a word, a word of prayers and supplications with vehement Christ and tears to him, who was able to save him from death and was here because of his godly fear. And then that last verse, Psalm 126, 5 and 6. So we see in Galatians 419 Romans 8, 26 and 27 this kind of sharing in the pain of birthing something. So Galatians 419 talks about laboring in pain to see Christ formed in the church. So going through that same pain of a mother who's going to give birth, sharing in that anguish for the sake of what is going to come to see Christ being glorified in the church, Christ being fully worshipped, being fully seen, being evidenced in the way the church lives, the church carries out everything that they're doing. And then Romans 8, 26 and 27 talks about the groaning, right? It talks about the groaning of all creation until the children of God are revealed. So we share in that groaning in that we feel the pain that is in the world. And then we allow God through his spirit to give us the words to express that. And so having the heart of God means that we feel that kind of pain. We feel that burden for the world, for the church. We cry out with that same pain, that heart of God for the church, for the world to see God. And then we see Christ's example talked about in Hebrews 5, 7 that he prayed with that, with vehement Christ, with tears to his father. So we follow that example. And then Psalm 126 has a promise that when we sow in tears, we will reap in joy. That doubtless, we will come back rejoicing, bringing the harvest with us. So to look forward to that promise of the eternal harvest, that will be us. We are sowing this time, we are sowing tears, we are sowing our own lives, our own hearts in this temporary world for an eternal harvest. And so that rejoicing will be much, much greater when we see the lives that are touched through what we have sown in this time on earth. So we'll close with that. We'll continue from here tomorrow. Anything that you all want to share, because you all have looked at this chapter for your assignments. Anything that you all want to share from what we discussed today, that you all thought about as you were doing your assignments. Has everyone done their assignment? Okay, so yeah, I look forward to reading your papers. And the quiz is posted as well, your final quiz, so you can go ahead and do that whenever you have the time. Okay, thank you. See you tomorrow.