We turn in the Word of God please to Acts chapter 2. It's a privilege to be here and an honor to minister the Word of God. When I was asked to speak twice, then comes the work of thinking of what you're going to say on a second session. And when I had thought about it and figured out what I was going to say on both times, then I contacted Stephen to see if he had already printed the order that is before us. And they were already coming back from the printer. So I want to, tomorrow, deal with that which is more historical, and here this afternoon deal with the Word of God and what it has to say with regard to revival. God was very gracious in my conversion to save me at a time when He was breathing upon the local church and there was a spirit of revival, very localized and very much concentrated in her own congregation, but it was a breath of God. When you have twenty-seven young people gathering for youth fellowship, and they all want to stay afterwards for prayer. You know, something's going on, and that's what was happening. And God was very gracious to give me an early experience of an outpouring of His Spirit in a very real way, though it was small. Acts chapter 2 I want to read after the sermon of Peter and the response of those thousands that were converted. We read in verse 41, then they that gladly received his word were baptized. At the same day, there were added onto them about 3,000 souls, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul. Many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together and had all things common and sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." Still your heart with me just momentarily, brethren. Lord, You promised. Not only do You resist the proud. but you give grace to the humble. May the word come in humility, but graciously and powerfully enter our hearts and stimulate in us not some vain desire for something that is of no good, but to have a vision that is born in heaven and birthed in our hearts, a desire to see thy name glorified in our generation. and to call down the blessing of heaven that we might know the stirrings of God in our day. Use thy word in some little way or perhaps in a great way to that end we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Prayer, the kindling of revival. I don't want to assume anything this afternoon in using the term revival and believing that you understand exactly what I mean by that term. I came to North America two and a half years ago, and before I came here I was made aware of the fact that sometimes when one talks about revival, they're talking about having revival meetings. And it's something that they organize, and the church brings together, and they're going to have revival meetings. Well, that is not revival, and thank God I was never instructed to believe that that was revival. When I use the term revival, I'm referring to a sovereign act of God that no man can put together or organize. It's when God comes in a very unique and special way. And while there is a sense in which we might enjoy personal revival, and that is my prayer at the very least for this conference, that our hearts are personally revived, that God draws near to us as individuals and just kindles the fire of our hearts afresh. Perhaps He'll do even more when we leave that to Him. But when I speak of revival, of a broad revival, God working in a distinct fashion over multiple souls, I'm referring to that which He does uniquely Himself when He breathes spiritual life into a community. the Scottish preacher Duncan Campbell that God used on a number of occasions, but most famously on the Isle of Lewis. He defined revival in this way. A revival is a community saturated with God. A community saturated with God. Now that community might be a church, it might be a district, a city, or even, as has been the case in the past, a nation. Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones said of revival that it's a passing by of God's glory, a passing by of God's glory. Sometimes we talk that we have seen the Lord or God has drawn near, but revival is that multiplied to a degree where an entire community testify that something extraordinary is going on. And it can only be explained in terms of the divine, a passing by of the glory of God. And in a day of apathy, even in the church, increasing secularism, humanism, and atheism in our society at large. I put it to you, brethren, that the only answer for these problems is revival. You will not learn sufficient apologetics to see a dramatic change among many hearts that you minister among. Something else needs to happen. The only thing that humbles men in a dramatic way, in a multiplied fashion, is God coming by and manifesting His presence. Manifesting His presence. We know theologically God is everywhere. We know that. But manifesting himself, that is another matter. And that's what happened on the day of Pentecost. We know about the sermon. We know what its results were, the conversion of 3,000 souls. But something struck me. And this wasn't the text I initially was going to read, but I was struck on Tuesday reading this passage, verse 43, the phrase, fear came upon every soul. Fear came upon every soul. And I read that and I wondered, is that talking about those who were saved or the general populace and community at large in Jerusalem? And you read the commentators and they all come to the conclusion that this was generally what happened even among the unbelievers. Albert Barnes commenting on this text said, so striking and manifest was the power of God on this occasion that it silenced all clamors and produced a general veneration and awe. The effect of a great work of God's grace," he says, is commonly to produce an unusual seriousness and solemnity in a community, even among those who are not converted. It restrains, subdues, and silences opposition. Now, we have our ways of trying to silence the voices that are being proclaimed in our day, politically and in every other way. And we have our ideas about what the problem is and what we need to do. We need to support this political party or start a new political movement. We need some way of controlling what is happening in our day. Well, we've been doing that for how long now? To no avail. It's just not happening. It's just not happening. And if we honestly analyze what is going on, politically or any other way, whatever endeavors are being engaged in by believers, it's not working. It's just not happening for us. The need of the day, brethren, the need of the day is that God would come and bring fear upon every soul. I don't know if it was to a man, but that is the commentary of the Holy Ghost upon the event. The Holy Spirit says, fear came upon every soul. And that's what happens when revival breaks forth. This is the need of the day, a manifestation of the presence and power of God. But the question we must ask is, why did this happen? here and then. Why? Why do we read, fear came upon every soul? It is my conviction, not just from the Scriptures but also from church history, that there is a correlation, not just here and the experience of fear coming upon every soul and why that occurred straight after the disciples had been days in prayer, But that in history that has been the pattern that constantly you will find men and women engaged in serious, protracted seasons of prayer before this ever happens. That's the pattern, whether we like it or not. That's how God has set it up. That's it in the Word of God. That is it in church history over the last 2,000 years, and so it shall be in the future. David McIntyre, who penned that little book, and if you've never read it, you should, The Hidden Life of Prayer, he said, in a word, every gracious work which has been accomplished within the kingdom of God has been begun, fostered, and consummated by prayer. That's it. So you say, well, I am praying. Really? I pray for revival. So do I. But it's my conviction about my own life is that I'm not anywhere near praying the way God has desired and relayed to us through His Word and by the pattern of church history how we need to pray if we really are serious about seeing this happen in our day. Now, it's up to God if it happens, but no man ever was sad about putting in the effort in order to see God come in this fashion. I have lots of thoughts about prayer in connection with revival. And so to try and sandwich it into one message isn't particularly easy, but I have three headings for you that I think summarize what at least is important for you to take away. If you've never considered revival, if you've never thought about revival, if you've never prayed for revival, you need to start thinking about it very seriously. Read the book that has been given to you. Listen to sermons that deal with the topic. Go and listen. Here's where to start. Go on to Sermon Audio and listen to the personal testimony of Duncan Campbell of the revival on the Isle of Lewis. Just start there. If you've never listened to that, may you listen and may God stir something in your heart. If you have a ministry, if you have a people that are before you that you influence week after week, God would stir in your heart a burden for this and that would be passed on into your congregation. Three things, that it is contrite prayer which kindles revival, counseled prayer which kindles revival, and it is continual prayer which kindles revival. First, it is contrite prayer which kindles revival. This is where we must begin. Now, we are not given in any detail at all about what the apostles and the about 120 that met for prayer in the upper room, what they were specifically praying about. We know they were praying about how to replace Judas, and no doubt were praying about the promise of the Father, that ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, so tar ye in Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high. That had to be up there in their prayers. Lord, give the promise of the Father. Give the blessed comforter before we go out and preach. But while we do not have the expressions of their prayers, we do have the expressions of other men in the Bible and how they prayed and men that God used to launch forth His work and His kingdom. And I think of three that are very easy to remember. Daniel, Nehemiah, and Ezra. You read their prayers. Daniel 9 was referred to already today. You read the prayers of Daniel, of Ezra, and of Nehemiah, and you will see something very marked in their similarity, and that is their contrition, their repentance. Now keep it in context. These are the holiest men on the earth in their generation. These are men of God. These are men that God is using. and they lament over their sin. Now that strikes me as a pastor who's meant to, you know, keep everything together and be as godly as is possible for the glory of Christ and to be above reproach in every regard, maintaining a state of blamelessness before the people. And yet these men that were blameless, these men that were above reproach, these men that God so singularly used are confessing their sin. They're lamenting over their sin. And God is going to use men like that, and that has always been the way. Every outpouring of the Spirit that I've read about down through history has not merely been led by a band of praying people, but has been led by a band of praying people who have sought God in contrition and penitence. and you read those prayers, we have sinned, oh God, we have sinned. Revival is often a dawning of light after the darkness. Generally, there are some occasions in church history where there have been wave upon wave of revival where the ebb hasn't really gone too far out before God has come again. But generally it comes in a time of great darkness when there is a real apathy in the church and there's a real coldness in the hearts of the professing people of God. If it was to happen today, that would be the case. But those periods of coldness are caused by sin. It's not caused by God withdrawing His blessing merely. It's caused by sin. The dark periods of the church, whenever they've known blessing, and the Spirit has come, and then a generation rises up, like Judges 2.10 tells us, which know not the Lord, a coldness sets in, and they need to relearn the fact that God will only come to a broken and a contrite heart, that they are sinful, they're wretched, and they need to confess their sin before God. Now the sins that I'm thinking about are not always the ones that we might imagine. If we were to talk about the sins of our day, you would look out there and you would talk about the sins out there. That doesn't seem to bother God really when He's dealing with His people and is wanting to move them in the right direction. He's not asking them to look out there, He's asking them to look in here. In Isaiah 58, you will see something of this when there is a spirit among Israel that doesn't want to recognize their sin. Now the prophet is called to cry aloud and spare naught, verse 1 of Isaiah 58, but verse 2 says, "'Yet they seek Me daily and delight to know My ways as a nation that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinance of their God.'" So this is how they think they're They're doing okay. They imagine themselves to be getting on fine. And you go to the next chapter and it tells us in verse 1 of chapter 59, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear. Now, I understand that as being in the general spirit of Israel, that they're making this almost an accusation against God that his hand's shortened. He won't come and stretch it out and deliver us. And His ear is heavy. He's not listening to us. Is that how you feel? Here it's as if God doesn't hear you, doesn't listen to you. Look at verse 2. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you that He will not hear. It's your sin. It's your sin. It's not the Lord. It's not that God's not listening anymore. It's the fact that there's a problem with you. Now brothers, I'm dealing with this in this fashion because I understand this to be the mind of the Lord. If I am wrong, then may God teach me. But I understand unless we see first the sin that is in our own hearts, those pet sins your congregation don't know about, at least you think they don't. Those hidden foxes that spoil the vein, the flays in the apothecary's ointment, the little laven that lavens the whole lump. God's ear seemed to be heavy to Israel. And God says, no, that's not the case. It's your sin. Now there's an important biblical principle. I want you to follow me here before we proceed into the second point. There's a principle that can be summarized in Galatians 6, 7. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. We know that. We tell the ungodly that. Whatsoever you sow, that you'll reap. Well, the law applies to us as well. God was dealing with a people who wouldn't listen to Him. And God stops listening to men when men stop listening to Him. They sow a deafening spirit toward God. They are not listening to God. That's what they're sowing. So they reap God not listening to them. If you sow the practice of ignoring God, you reap the experience of God ignoring you. Israel didn't listen to God. There's umpteen verses that could be used to illustrate this. Isaiah 30 verse 9, this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord. They won't hear it. Jeremiah 22 verse 21, I spake unto thee in thy prosperity, but thou saidst, I will not hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice. So now God's not listening to them. Brethren, if we have the experience of God not listening to us, sense that God is ignoring us and are pleased for divine intervention, for God to come into our communities, to visit our churches, to awaken our cities, and He's not hearing. We don't bring charges against God. We bring charges against ourselves. Very simply, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. There's a positive to this in the New Testament. It's flipped over, and the Lord Jesus speaks of it in positive terms. You will know the verse very well, but I had never noticed this in this verse until last year. In John 15, verse 7, Jesus says, if ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Now, we're wanting to get to the asking what we will, and it shall be done. That's the goal. I want to be there, Lord. I want to ask, and it be done. And he says, well, first, if you abide in me and my words abide in you. What does it mean that the words are to abide in us? What does that mean? Does it mean we just memorize it? Some have the gift of tremendous memory. They can memorize things. No, that is not the Lord's point. It's not just the memorization of Scripture, profitable though it might be. Abiding in His words is making them the very principle of our lives, that they govern our very thinking, never mind our deeds. Word of God is our sole rule for faith and practice. Not just something to be quoted, but something to be lived, imbibed, and where our hearts are given in earnest desire for the glory of God to live out the Word in every detail. Whatever the Lord is asking me to do, I will do it. There is no limitation. There is no boundary. I am not bringing any but Lord to him." Those who experience revival have that spirit to a man. Now, they're not perfect. We're not called to perfection. That is not my point at all. The problem isn't the existence of sin in our lives. The problem is the absence of repentance. We can't get rid of all sin. That's not going to happen. The problem with knowing that in our theologically tuned minds where we understand I can never be absolutely perfect, that we then come into a spirit of contentment. Well, there's nothing grossly wrong with my life. There's nothing that would cause alarm in the minds of my people that would cause them to look for another pastor and kick me out of the pulpit. We're content if they're happy. But not asking, are there little things still in my life? You know, it always struck me whenever I was going through college, The difference in the years spent in training versus the years spent in secular employment. When I was in secular employment, every day I was facing the ungodly. Every day. And I would, every morning, crying to God, Lord, give me the whole armor. I need it. I could ruin my testimony with one wrong word. Give me power. Give me opportunities. This sense of going into the battle. And then you go into seminary, surrounded by all these believers, Christians, and you're just thinking about how you're going to get through the next exam. And you lose something. And you carry that same spirit from your seminary training into the ministry. You lose sight of the depravity of your own heart, of the mining out, the constant mining out of sin that the Christian is called to engage in. Understanding like Paul, I have not yet attained, but this one thing I do, I press toward the mark. I'm still going upward and onward. I'm still fighting. I'm still in the battle. a battle that begins in here. Unconfessed and unforsaken sin separates us from God, causes our prayers not to be heard, no matter how pious those prayers might be. But revival breaks out among the people who begin praying with contrition. Read Daniel's prayer. Go and read it tonight. Go and get on your knees with Daniel lying open before you and you see the prayer is permeated with contrition. This is a man that God is using. This is a prophet of God. This is a man who's been in the book understanding what the mind of the Lord is for the future, and that 70 days are now fulfilled, or 70 years are now fulfilled, and understanding the mind of God. He's a man of discernment, a man who knows God, and he's pouring out his own sin before God. That's the pattern. We pray like the psalmist in Psalm 139, search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Even whenever we look at the cross, I'm always struck by The picture God gave Israel on the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16. The greatest picture, perhaps, of the cross. And the people were to stand there. It was wonderful because they weren't contributing anything. They weren't doing anything on that occasion. So they were seeing fully what Christ was going to do for them. That it would be hands off. Salvation is by grace, not by works. On this occasion, you don't even bring the animal. So they watch the high priest go in. But the people standing around are called to afflict their souls. Afflict their souls. God is portraying to them There in the seventh month, the tenth day of that month, they're to look on and see the cross. Oh, what a glorious sight the Lord gave to Israel on that occasion, and yet He says, you afflict your souls. Why? Why is that important to God? Why even whenever He's portraying there what Christ is going to do for them, why is a spirit of affliction necessary? I tell you, beloved, But the reason we must afflict their souls even when we look to the cross, perhaps even particularly when we look to the cross, is because we realize my sin put them there. The only response, at least the first response before we praise His name, is the affliction of soul. There has to be a dominant spirit in our hearts. My sin nailed the Son of God to that tree. It is contrite prayer which kindles revival. Always. Broken people. Secondly, it is counseled prayer which kindles revival. This has been touched on already today a little bit, but again, When we see God move, anytime He is pleased to come down, it is upon a people who have been counseled by the Lord in His Word, always. Turn with me to Psalm 44. Psalm 44. This is just one example of many. There are many that I could turn to. to show you this, but this is the one that came to mind for me as I was preparing this. The psalmist in Psalm 44 is looking for deliverance. You can see the experience of how he feels before God. Just look at verse 11. and has scattered us among the heathen." That's how he's relating the experience of the people of God at that time. But look how he begins. As he is looking for deliverance, as he is looking for revival. Verse 1, we have heard with our ears, O God. Our fathers have told us. what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old. How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantest them, how thou didst afflict the people and cast them out, for they got not the land in their possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them, but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hast a favor unto them. Now as he comes to God looking for deliverance, where is he building his confidence? Where is he getting the courage to pray that God might deliver them? Where is he getting the expectation that God is the answer for the hour? Where? from what he knows about the past. Specifically, what the blessed Spirit of God recorded concerning his dealings with his people in the five books of Moses, and how God's hand had been upon them and delivered them. And so he says, we have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us. We know what you've done. You did it for us because you had favor to your people then. Oh God, show favor to us now. You can see the desperation that he is in. Verse nine, thou hast cast off and put us to shame and goest not forth with our armies. You're not with us, Lord. Is that how it feels? I tell you, sometimes I come down out of a pulpit and it's just like that. He hasn't gone with me. He hasn't gone forth. As I went into the battle, into the fray, I have not known the Lord. I stood there behind the pulpit, laboring in my own strength. We are not called to battle in our own strength. The battle is the Lord's. And if it is the Lord's, then we need His help. And this is what David understood. This is what the psalmist realized, that God needed to come. when you read through the history and the record, and you see just before we move on how he moves, verse 23 of Psalm 44. Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? Arise, cast us not off forever. Have you ever prayed like that? Have you? Really? Have you ever come to a point not just where you see the desperation of your circumstances, but such has been your experience of prayer, that you have the courage, yes the courage, and the faith to tell God to wake up. That's what he's saying. God wake up. Wake up. Now he's not accusing God of ignoring him and falling to sleep. He is using Anthropomorphic language, language which humans can relate to and understand. He is using that which we can get. It seems as if God is asleep. Arise. Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust, our belly cleaveth unto the earth. Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercy's sake. Every time there's been a move of God, you will find that those believers understood God's Word, not just theologically, not just academically. These were people who had the Word of God permeating their hearts, saturating their minds, filling their souls, and guiding their prayers. Every time. And they come and argue before God. You'll find that. They argue before God. Listen, as I've already encouraged you, listen to Duncan Campbell's record of the Lewis revival. He will give an account in that where a man is basically arguing before God. Lord, you promised that you would pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground. Lord, you're not doing it. Men who are arguing before God His very Word that gospel days should be days where the rain comes from heaven, where floods come upon thirsty lands, where God sends forth His Spirit empowering the preacher That those feet that carry Him to far lands and near, with the glorious tidings that Jesus saves, that the blessed Spirit of God comes with times of refreshing, opening hearts and minds to the message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. When it's not happening, we need to stay on our knees, being counseled by the Word of God and seeking Him to come as in days of old. Lord, You did it before. Psalm 85 verse 6, wilt thou not revive us again that thy people may rejoice in thee? See, the psalmist understood as well that God has a desire that his people live with joy. Is that the experience of your congregation? Is it joy? Is that the experience of the church at large? I don't know. The vast majority of you, I have absolutely no idea. You could be in the midst of a breath of the Spirit. God bless you. Come and see me, I want to hear about it. But if we are on, if there's a dearth It brings depression upon the people of God, because they know. They know. Our people know. The people, even the most ignorant, sitting in the pew, understands that Christianity is more than word only, as we were reminded. There's a divine in it, that God reveals Himself with power. This is why I put it to you, this is why many who aren't so well educated and understanding and missing out in the real fire, that's why they're headed to the false fire. That's why you look on and say, how come they're leaving my ministry and going over there? How come? Because they know there has to be some sense of confrontation of experience in meeting with God. Of course, it can be well-crafted, services can be well-structured, all sorts of things can be done nowadays in order to make the appearance of something happening. But our people need the real thing. Of course, some of us like to be smart. We like to look at those old saints who would take 2 Chronicles 7.14 and say, you know, exegete it away so it's not really something we can look to God to do anymore. That was then. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways. Then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land." Oh, but that's not for today. Well, is there not a message there for us? It's maybe not necessarily that God's going to come and heal North America. But is he not at least coming, why do we have to skip to the end and say, well, because the end doesn't really apply, we ignore the former bit. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, are we prepared to pray, seek his face, turn from our wicked ways, filth we watch? The manner in which we treat our wives and our children. Things our people don't see. And we never say to our wives, I'm sorry, sweetheart. Forgive me. Or we're sharp with our children. But because they're our children, we won't say, I'm sorry. It's sin. These are the little things. And so many more. we turn a blind eye to, but God doesn't. We come to the Word, allow it to examine our hearts, allow it to lead our prayers, and we begin to pray the Scriptures back to God. When we are praying for revival, it must be in a spirit of contrition, and it must be with prayers that are counseled by God. You can't think of anything better to pray than what God has told you to pray in His One of the best pieces of advice I was ever given, when it feels that you can't pray and you've nothing to say, just open up a psalm and pray down through the verses of the psalm. Nothing to say? Really? I wonder how our people think about our prayers. I wonder. I wonder how they think. I wonder how they move by our pastoral prayers. Do they sit there and think that man is in touch with God? Thank you for that, dear man of God. I convict my own heart. It is contrite prayer. It is counsel prayer. Thirdly and finally, it is continual prayer. Revival has never descended because of complacency. but always in response to fervency, always. The disciples waited in the upper room for days on end because Christ had left them a clear command, tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high. In other words, don't move until you know the promise has come from heaven. Don't move. Now, there are many passages I could turn you to today to illustrate this point, Jesus Christ Most clear teaching on this is in Luke 18. I'm sure you know about it. He taught a parable to the end that men ought always to pray and not to faint. And there was a judge in a certain city and so on and a widow. But I'm going to turn you to 1 Samuel 1. Turn to 1 Samuel 1 with this. Then we'll get close to drawing to a close. 1 Simon chapter 1. Now, I'm sure many of you are familiar with this. We have the story of Hannah, and she is barren, and she prays for a son, and God gives her a son. I'm convinced that most completely miss the point of what is going on here. I think many read this and see maternal motivation in Hannah's heart, that she is a woman who wants to have a child and that's what drove her prayer. I don't believe that's the case. I don't believe that's the case at all. There is almost a throwaway statement in verse 3 that seems to not fit in in the narrative at all, at least not here, where it says, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. It's telling us about Elkanah going to worship. That tells us then about the two sons of Eli. It's just thrown in there. It doesn't have to be there. We're going to find out about them later on. But that's there. In the midst of the events of the narrative of Hannah being moved to pray for Samuel, we're told about Eli's two sons. Without getting into too much detail, brethren, I believe that Hannah looked at her day and she realized, as it says in chapter 3, verse 1, that the word of God was precious in those days. She realized that dark days had descended upon Israel. She's looking at Eli, perhaps knows his lethargic spirit and the things of God, but she's particularly looking at Eli's two sons. She's not going to be moved to prayer by Penina provoking her. That's not it. Penina provoking her, I believe, only moved Hannah to realize how much more she needed God to do something that Penina wasn't willing to do and very few others would be willing to do. Because she sees in Eli's sons men who are away from God and the day is dark. If Israel ends up in the hands of these men, there's no hope. She comes and she prays for a son, for the purpose that she would give that boy to the service of God. Now I think even from her husband's response in verse 8, we can see something of surprise in her mourning. Look at it, verse 8. Just put yourself there for a minute. Your wife doesn't have a child. It seems as if he's not very empathetic, doesn't it? As if he can't seem to understand why a woman would want a child. But I don't think that's Alcanna at all. I think Alcanna is looking on and wondering, why is she bothered about this now? I think perhaps when he goes on to say, I'm not I better to thee than ten sons, that this is perhaps, perhaps, can't say for sure, language that maybe came from Hannah one day when they couldn't have children. Look, you're more to me than ten sons. I'm more than content But that contentment goes away and Alcanna's surprised. He's wondering, why? Why are you weeping? Why are you grieved now? Am I not more to you than ten sons? Why are you grieved? Beloved, the reason Hannah was grieved was because she became convinced her day was dark and headed for darker days. And she looks to God and she says, Lord, if you give me a boy, I will give Him to your service and He will be your messenger to minister to Israel and keep us from spiritual darkness." She cries and she weeps. She does not move and stop weeping. Look at verse 12, she continued praying. And then we get to verse 17, "'Then Eli answered and said, "'Go in peace, and the Lord and the God of Israel "'grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.'" She prayed until her priest said her prayer is answered, and it's on the way. And that, brethren, is how to pray for revival. But first, it is not about trying to expand our influence. That we might be known for having a great church from which revival took place and we want to go down in history as being great men of God. That's the wrong motivation. Hannah was content with the providence of God that made her burn until, until her motivation was driven towards something higher. Realization of the darkness of her day. That there's no man who seems to know God. There's no one. And she's burdened, she's overwhelmed, she goes up every year. And she sees Eli's sons and she's moved. Lord, give me a son. And she prays until her priest comes and says, the answer's on the way. And that's how we are to pray for revival. We pray until, tarry until, tarry until, Jesus said. We pray until God sends a breath of His Spirit. You know, I look at our own services. We are part of a particular denomination, of course. We have our Sunday services. We have our midweek meeting. We pray. And I have, since I've come, encouraged our people to pray more and have more prayer meetings. And I said to them on Tuesday night as I was just making a few comments from Acts 2, I said, then why do we not pray until? Why are we not prepared to just pray until? Why do we have to just have a Wednesday night prayer meeting or whatever? Why can't we just get before God and pray until? Until something happens. until we have a manifestation of the glory of God in our generation. I said that to my people, and I said, I don't know how you would respond to that. And there was a couple of them. You call that, you count me in. We are called to a dark day, brethren. Of that, there's no doubt. We need the Lord to visit in a remarkable fashion. And it has been my intent with this message that merely to instruct your mind to begin giving some serious thought. If you go away on vacation or you take some time off over the course of the next couple of months, whatever you have planned, just give some consideration to the topic of revival. The books you take with you or wherever you go, take books on revival. There's some out there. There's a revival of 1857-58. It's out there on that table. Lift it. Read it. Get something of a vision and a burden of what God is able to do and look and say, well, I wasn't mentored in this. I was. Thank God I had men who had experienced the breath of God who used to tell me about it. A mentor of mine who was converted under W.P. Nicholson. You might not know anything about Nicholson, but he was a man tremendously used by God. And he would tell me about how God had moved in the past. You just fill your mind with all this. On occasions you're just moved to come, Lord, do it again. Do it again. Will Thou not revive us again? Fear would come upon every soul. Fear coming upon every soul. Let's bow together in prayer. Lord, I pray as earnestly as I am presently capable of that thou will take each man of God here, each woman of God, give them a heart for Thy glory. I pray that Thy Spirit will fall on us. Thou will forgive us Thou wilt by Thy Spirit teach us our own sins, our complacency, our lethargy, our unbelief. Move us with all the right motives and intentions. to seek for a passing by of thy glory. Continue with us through this day. Pour out thy spirit upon each one that ministers. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.