Revival: Prayer (Greg Schut)
Before any revival, there are people that labor in prayer for it. As we are talking about revival and wanting it to come, we have to first be praying for it.
Isaiah 30:19 "He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. as soon as he hears it, he answers you." The Lord doesn't need us, but he loves partnership with us. He invites us in to partner with Him in what He is doing. He's the Bridegroom and we are the Bride. When we cry out to Him, He answers. That is one of His promises.
At Ignite, we sang the song Yes and Amen. The lyrics say "all Your promises are yes and amen".
Psalm 22:3 says that He is enthroned on the praises of His people. That is a promise! Scripture is filled with His promises. One of them being that He answers our cry!
Prayer isn't just a checklist of things you need to ask God for. It is dialogue with our Father. It's relationship - communing with Him. He is jealous for us and for our attention, He wants to commune with us. Greg explained that it's just like when he is gone for a few days from his family. A phone call or skype isn't enough, he has a longing to be in their presence and to commune with them. There is a similar longing with the Lord!
When we pray, we often forget to slow down and simply be with God. We need to listen and take time being in His presence.
He has called us to be watchmen, to cry out to Him day and night. Isaiah 62:6 says, "On your walks, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never be silent. You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth." He wants us to continually cry out to Him.
James 5: 16-18 says, "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain o n the earth. then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit." Elijah was a man - just like us - and look at the testimony of his prayers!
Greg them moved into a time of prayer with a few volunteers reading from Joel 2, prefaced by a dream that Greg had many years ago. He was at a place where there was karaoke. Greg was in the way back of the room as the next person went up to sing. Before the man began to sing, he said into the microphone "Joel 2" and Greg just began to cheer and jump and yell, feeling as if electricity was shooting through him. Everyone in the room turned around to look at him strangely. This happened three times. When Greg woke up, he knew it was from the Lord. He had never read the book of Joel, so as he began to read, the Lord spoke to him. Joel 2:12, "'Yet even now,' declares the Lord, 'return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments;" The Lord wants us to rend our hearts, to come to Him and pour everything out.
Later in verses 28-29 it says, "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour our my Spirit." This is what is to come. He WILL. This is another promise from the Lord.
For practical tips about prayer leading, Greg shared that it's not something that is practiced and polished, it's simply us praying scripture back to the Lord. Saying that we agree with the Word and that it would be so in our hearts.
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