But well, let's take our Bibles and we're not going to Luke, we're not going to Matthew, well, not going to Luke 11 or Matthew 6. I want you to go, if you would, take your Bibles, go to Luke chapter 18, Luke chapter 18. And the title's slightly different from what I gave you, Brother Butch, in that area, but we are dealing still with our building through prayer. And we have looked, at what is prayer a little bit, not in great detail, but enough to understand the nature of prayer. And then we've looked at the command to pray. We have looked for a couple of weeks, we looked at the hindrances there are to an active and effective prayer life. And then we were the last couple of weeks, we've looked at the power that's found in prayer tonight. We're gonna start looking at, I was hoping to maybe do the whole thing and there's just too much to cover doing it all in one shot. So we will surround our revival services with dealing in this one area here of the revival found in prayer. And so Luke chapter 18, and verse number one, just one verse, and then we're gonna jump on into this understanding of revival and may I say the need of prayer if we ever hope to have revival. And so we're gonna look at that this evening. Look at verse number one of Luke chapter 18. It says this, and he spake a parable unto them to this end that men ought always to pray, and not to faint. Now I'm not going to go into the parable that he teaches. We're looking just at the reason why he would go into the parable that is given here. Why did he go into it? What was the whole purpose of teaching them that parable? It was to teach them the truth that men ought always to pray and not to faint. So let's open right now in a word of prayer, ask the Lord to lead and guide through this message tonight and help it to apply to our hearts individually and personally. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for the safety giving each and every one of us back to get to your house once again. Lord, thank you for the songs we've sung. Thank you for the challenge that we had and encouragement through the special we just heard. Lord, I pray as we open up your word that you would once again reveal to us the truth from your word. Allow us to see prayer in this Lord, issue needed of revival, see the need of prayer for revival to take place, and how through a genuine, active, and effective prayer life, that each and every one of us can see personal revival take place. Again, we just pray that you would do in our hearts and through us what we cannot do for ourselves. We need you, we need your guidance, need your help. Ultimately, we need your conviction to help us in this area of prayer that we might see revival take place. We ask all this in Christ's name, amen. Revival can be found in prayer. And may I say, as I already said a little bit, I do not believe revival can be found without prayer. We can have meetings, we can have preachings, we can have stirrings, but revival is not a stirring. Revival is the change that takes place because the stirring comes from the Holy Spirit. There's a song, tired of being stirred, but not being changed. And that is very accurate to what we face if we're not careful on a daily basis as God's people. We can be stirred by preachers. We can be stirred by messages. We can be stirred by great orators and people that can use the word of God in wonderful, powerful ways and be stirred and stirred and stirred and stirred and stirred and stirred. And the only thing we actually accomplish is we turn to butter. because we churn and churn and churn and churn and churn, but we don't actually see a change. It's just the milk being sloshed around constantly, but there's not a transformation that takes place. We're stirred, but not really changed. And so, as we look at this, we understand that oftentimes, The reason there can be a stirring and there can be an excitement and there can be a, wow, that was great, but I really just, you know, it's still a take it or leave it moment and I, you know. That was good preaching, that was great, but I don't really need all that anyways. What causes us to hear truth, to see things taking place, but not allow it to affect us personally? I believe it comes down to being in the right place, but not being of the right heart. being around the right things but not being prepared for it to actually take root and affect us. Where does that ability to be in the right heart of the right mindset and the right desire to be hungry and to be thirsty for what God wants us to learn? It comes, honestly, from an active, proper prayer life. If we don't pray prior to our desire for revival, we'll have a meeting but we won't see revival. And again, I'm not just focusing on now, it honestly applies to any given time frame of our life, doesn't matter. Every single Sunday, we can be in prayer, Lord, stir the revival within me. I believe it should come as a, Lord, start a revival in me. Then it should be, Lord, stir the revival in me. And then, Lord, make the revival you do in my heart such a flame that it affects the hearts of those around me. In this verse we see of Luke 18.1, there's ultimately, I believe, three areas of prayer, three kinds of prayer that we're given that men ought to pray, ought to do. Very simply, there is consistent prayer. Men ought always to pray. That's consistency. There is continual prayer dealing with the and not to faint. Continual, not to, it's my consistency, I am praying. When it gets tough, I don't stop praying. There needs to be a continual faithfulness. And with that, I believe you also come down to use that word always. You could also go over into 1 Thessalonians and you could also look at the pray without ceasing. which is a committed prayer, always committed, faithful, consistent, continual, and committed in prayer. Now, committed prayer, when we commit, when we give our all to prayer, it brings the ability for personal revival. and we deal specifically with personal revival because you will not see family revival or see church revival or then see community revival. Everybody wants to see this big tent meeting revival kind of thing take place where hundreds of people are coming, thousands of people are coming, people are getting saved. People want to see that visible version of revival, but they don't understand, honestly, and we sometimes don't comprehend That is a result. of actual revival taking place. That's not revival. That is the product, or I should say the byproduct of something already having taken place on the personal level. Until there is personal revival, there cannot be family revival. Until there is personal and family revival, you will not see a true church revival take place. Until there's personal, family, and church, you won't see community revival take place. It starts with you and I as individuals. And it starts, I believe ultimately, with our prayer life. When personal revival comes, the work and service for God becomes a natural thing to do. It is no longer a dread or a feared responsibility or an assignment, I've gotta do my duty. It now becomes a pleasure and a desire to wanna serve God. The one you walk with and talk with the most is the one you just can't help to do things for on a regular basis. You just love to work with and do for and serve the one that you are communicating with on a regular basis. For example, John experienced revival, though he was exiled on the Isle of Patmos. Elijah experienced personal revival, though he was surrounded by Ahab's wicked administration and leaders. Moses experienced a personal revival on the mountainside, though he had been 40 days and 40 nights without food or water. Abraham experienced revival while in the process of slaying his son in obedience to God as a sacrifice as he required. You say, what does that have to do with revival that you're talking about, preacher? Simple, because of those examples and many more we could look at, It is clear that personal revival can be experienced amid the worst of conditions. It's not about the conditions, it's about the condition of the heart. It need not be motivated by any other source other than the presence of God and a proper attitude of our heart toward God. I would suppose that You could say that there'd be honestly no limit as to what one individual could experience when we are living a true personal revival individually in our lives. When there is a flame of fire, by the way, Jeremiah talked about it a little bit. Jeremiah struggled because he wanted to basically, he got hurt. He got burned, he got maligned, and honestly got sick and tired of God's people not listening and making life miserable for him. Let's just be honest, that's exactly what it was. And he looked at God and said, Lord, thou hast deceived me. I really thought I was going to preach and I was going to teach and God's people were going to say, oh God, we need to get right. Oh, Jeremiah, teach us, lead us, show us. And instead he got, well, you just shut up. Go home. We don't want to hear what you have to say. Forget that truth. Get out of here. I mean, he's got maligned and pushed aside and mocked and ridiculed by God's people. And he finally said, Lord, you deceived me. Made me think that this serving you thing was gonna be something of power and excitement and wow, revival, look what took place. I ain't saying another word. I ain't speaking of your name anymore. I'm done. I quit. Go home and pout by myself. Go sulk on my couch. Been there throughout ministry at times. Be talked about, stabbed in the back. Buddy buddy over here and then turn around and found out that they're planting traps behind you and it's God's people, it's like what is going on? By the way, if you haven't figured it out, Christians will hurt you. because the flesh can still override the spirit and people can still do wrong. And yet, is it wrong? Yes, it is. Should it not happen in the house of God? Yes, it definitely should not happen in the house of God, should not happen in the child of God. But guess what? It does. But Jeremiah said, I'm not gonna speak a word. I'm not going to say anything. Here's the one thing he wasn't counting on. He wasn't counting on the fact that his walk with God and his talk with God was going to eat him alive. because even though he said, I'm not speaking to another person again about God, I ain't saying another word, they can have whatever they want. I ain't preaching anymore. And then he went home, and he still kept talking with God, and he still kept communing with God, he still kept doing personally, and the revival was in his heart and within his life so strong that the word of God was in him as a flaming fire, and he could not contain And he said, I can't hold out anymore! I've got to preach! What was it? There was a personal revival taking place, and even though he was struggling in the flesh, that personal revival overrode the flesh, and in the midst of turmoil, in the midst of frustration, and in the midst of everything going wrong according to man, and the ministry being a scourge, as far as man would say, the revival on the inside could not stay contained and wrapped up, and I'll just be a secret agent for God, bless God. As soon as he tried to fold it up, it was burning so hot within him, he could not contain, he could not hold out anymore, and he had to speak of the truth within. There was revival taking place, and the fire was burning, and it could not stay burning without being released. Oh, unto God, would to God that we would get such a burn within us that even when we are fearful to say a word to anybody because I just don't know that I can do it, the fire within us would be so aflame for God that no matter what fear we faced, we could not help ourselves. I've got to witness to somebody. It's killing me. I've got to tell somebody my testimony. It's killing me. I've got to share them with someone. It's killing me. I can't stay cooped up any longer. It's gotta come out. If we got that fired up about truth and about God, the revival within us would have to overflow. No matter what the obstacle, if the presence of God is there and a proper heart attitude is present, revival is possible. You're prepped, ready, and all it takes is a spark and you got a forest fire. Personal revival can happen to anyone at any place at any time. And there are four clear prayers presented in God's word, and I'm just gonna give you the first and we'll be done. But there are four clear prayers that bring, I believe, the opportunity for personal revival to anyone and everyone who desires it. The first prayer. Take your Bibles, go to Psalm 139. Psalm 139. I've mentioned this many a times. We're gonna take a moment to focus on it. Psalm 139, verse number 23. and 24, the first prayer that presents the opportunity for any child of God to experience personal revival. Search me, oh 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. Now, in these two verses is a prayer, a request to God that I believe becomes absolutely necessary as you break down the things that are said. The first one in this prayer, search me, search me. That is a prayer of surrender. God, look at every point of my existence. Look into the very depth of my emotions, my feelings. Here you go, my desires. Search me with the magnifying glass of thy word. Lord, take truth. And as I read it, magnify my problems. Magnify my issues. Not to anybody else, Lord. This is personal. This is me and you, Lord. I need you to magnify not how great I am, how wonderful I am, how awesome I can be. No, no, no. I need you to magnify the ugly. I need you to magnify the dirty. I need you to magnify the problems. Search me, oh God. Not according to what I know of me, but according to what you know of me. Y'all ever notice that we're real easy on ourselves? We tend to give ourselves a little extra rope, right? That wasn't quite, I mean, that was bad, but it really wasn't that bad. I mean, honestly, I know what I meant by it. I didn't really mean maybe I had quite that, I mean, you know. They can just get over it. But we give ourselves space. Or, Lord, I know, I know, I know you wanted me to do that, I know, but you know, Lord, I. That was a busy day. That was a really busy day, Lord. That was a tough one. That was a long, you know, and I was tired. I probably honestly would have made a mess out of that conversation. So, you know, I know I needed to witness, but I, you know, I just figured I, you let me, you bring them, if it's your will, you'll bring them back across my path and I'll do it the second time. Okay, Jonah. That's how we get sometimes, isn't it? But we say, Lord, I need you to search me. Not according to what I know of myself because I give myself too much leeway. What I need you to search me according to what you know of me and reveal, we'll keep on going. How about this one? So search me, how about this? Know my heart. I was like, do I really have to ask him to do that part? Know my heart. What is done here is to turn his heart over to God and say, Lord, search me, but not just for any reason. Ultimately, I need you to go to the most difficult part of me. I need you to search me and know my heart. Now, as he's saying, I don't think the Lord already knows. No, what he's saying is, I need you to reveal to me what you know. Search me and know my heart. I'm opening myself up completely. I'm letting myself give you the opportunity to have full reign. No closed doors, no blocked off rooms, no dark areas in the corner. No, Lord, I need you to shine the light, put the magnifying glass on, search me and know every portion of this heart within me. Why? Jeremiah 17, nine through 10, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? There's only one who can truly know the full honesty of where the heart lies, and that's God. Verse number 10, I, the Lord, search the heart. I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. The Lord searches the heart. And this request over here in Psalm is a request saying, Lord, I need you to search me and to know and reveal my heart to me. Then it goes on. Try me. Try me. This is to test me. Prove me. See if I qualify. Now, hold on with that statement. You'll understand in a minute. But it's simply, in a sense, asking, requesting, just give me an opportunity to be. in the same service group as those who are fully dedicated Christians. It's almost like that rookie baseball player looking at the coach saying, hey coach, just give me a try. Just let me have a shot. Hey, search me, know my heart, try me. Lord, test me, prove me. By the way, here's just a thought for all of us to ponder for a moment. God won't turn us loose on the most important assignments that he has for our life in this world without first trying us on less major issues. I just wish God would use my life like he did so-and-so and so-and-so. Yeah, okay, but he's gonna try and test and prove us He's not gonna throw us, hey, hey, okay, you, I don't know what you're gonna do, I don't know if you're gonna stick, but I'm gonna throw you here in the most important part of the battle, and I'm gonna trust that you're not gonna fail me. Well, an all-wise God knows better than to throw somebody who has not proved whether or not they're genuine and real into the hottest part and most important area when, number one, they're not proven that they can stick it out, number two, They're not proven they can handle it. Take in, just give you a simple understanding on that. Hire a brand new person. Let's say you got a business. And your business has a very important position that kind of hinges everything. It all flows through. If that position is not done accurately by somebody who is ready, who is prepared, who's knowledgeable, who can handle it, if that position gums up, the entire works gum up. So you hire a brand new person who has no experience in anything and they say, ah, I can do anything. Okay, great, I'm gonna put you in this most important position. Don't mess it up now. Now, could there be a likelihood that individual could all of a sudden like, wow, diamond in the rough. Yes, I will give you that much. Do you know of anybody owning a business gonna hire somebody, this is their first job ever, they've ever worked, there's no history, there's no proof of how they work, no proof of what they can do, just their word on, oh yeah, I can do anything. You know of anybody that's gonna hire and say, oh, by the way, I'm gonna put you in the most important position of this business because you can do anything. You said so. Here you go. No, not unless, of course, they want their business to tank. What are they gonna do? They're gonna start them off in an area, where they can train them and work with them. Then there'll come a moment where they'll say, you know what, I'm gonna give you a chance. I think you've got potential in you. I'm gonna give you a place. Let's put you over here. Let's see how you handle this. And if they handle themselves well, then all of a sudden they think, hey, guess what? Promotion time. Those who have proven themselves and those who are trustworthy and those who are getting the job done and hard workers are going to be rewarded because we need that kind of person in leadership. So we're going to give you a position here. Here's an opportunity to step forward again, an opportunity to step forward again. Next thing you know, that individual who started off in the mail room could end up being vice president of the entire company. With time and proving. Same thing is true, now God knows everything, but he teaches, trains, matures, grows his people for a purpose. Having a desire to serve God is half the equation. Allowing God to teach us and train us in areas that may not be the most comfortable at times is an important part so that God can make us ready for what he knows he wants to do with our lives. And by the way, I've never found God to put anybody in a position when he doesn't feel they're ready. No, I've seen them put people in, I didn't know if they were fully ready for it, and the Lord did it, and I'm like, wow, okay. And they bloomed, they blossomed. But I've always known God in my life and those that the lives in watching, God always takes us through a time of trying and testing and proving of our faithfulness. We want God to give us a try. We have to understand though, our walk with him, and by the way, our prayer life will open up the opportunity to say, Lord, search me, know my heart. I'm even willing for you to put me through the test. Try me, because not only do I want to prove to my Heavenly Father that I am genuine, I am real, I am serious about my service for Him, but Lord, I need you to prove to me that I am what I claim to be. You do know sometimes that it's not God that needs the evidence. to prove that we are what we claim, sometimes it's just ourselves. God tries us and puts us through tests, puts us through trials, puts us through hard times, and by the way, as the psalmist said, when I am tried, I shall come forth as gold. Actually, I think it's Job. Shall come forth as gold, purified. By the way, only way you purify gold is to stick it through the fire, melt it down, and remove impurities. Going through the fire is no fun, but when we say, Lord, I'm open, try me. Lord, I am completely available, test me. Let me prove my love, and in the process, Lord, will you prove to me who I really am for you. Revival does not just happen because we say, I want revival. Revival happens because we say, Lord, I'm willing for you to do whatever it takes in my life to spark revival. Couple more, we're done. Know my thoughts. Search me, know my heart. Try me, test me. Know my thoughts. This is being totally open and honest with a holy God. Yes, search me and know my heart. That's an opening. Try me and know my thoughts. If there's one area of my life that I would really rather God not get into, it's my thought life. Because I don't really care how spiritual you are in this room. You're in the flesh and this mind is of the flesh if we're not careful. And there is some extremely fleshly thoughts that go through our minds. And sometimes it's just thoughts of frustration and anger and we think things towards others or even towards ourselves or towards our family or towards the house of God or even towards God himself that we wish could just be erased from the record books. But this request is, Lord, know my thoughts. I'm gonna be totally open. I wanna be completely honest. And may I say what this process of know my thoughts is doing, it's making ourselves completely vulnerable to his investigation. I don't like being vulnerable. I like keeping the walls up and protecting me. But when you're dealing with a holy God, the only way he can really get in and the only way he can really work on this mind and this thought process, the Bible teaches us what we should think on. The Bible teaches us what we should dwell on, what we should meditate on, but oftentimes, that's not where we go. We meditate on everything else, we dwell on everything else, we think on everything else, and we have to say, Lord, I need your help. Help. Know my thoughts. Genesis 6-5 says this, and God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Just prior to the flood led God to have to bring the flood because the thoughts of the heart were evil continually. First Chronicles 28.9, and thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind. For the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts. Yikes. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee, but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever. I don't believe that that's an evidence of losing salvation. except for the fact that if thou seek Him, He will be found of thee. If you seek the Savior and you ask the Savior, you'll find Him and He'll come in, He'll forgive. But if thou forsake Him, in other words, if you push Him away, that's just truth of salvation. You push Christ away, you reject Christ, you don't get salvation. Doesn't mean that afterwards you can reject Him and lose it. No, no, if He comes and He's there and you reject Him, you reject the only hope of eternity. Thou forsaken, he will cast thee off forever. Psalm 94, 11 says this, the Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, and here's what he thinks of them, that they are vanity. Yikes. You ever notice how the Bible just really doesn't make us feel too good about ourselves? Unless, of course, we're serving the Lord and we're being faithful and we're walking with him. And then he backs up the blessings of those that follow him in righteousness. Psalm 119.13, I hate vain thoughts, but thy law do I love. Boy, that should be our claim on a regular basis. So not only do you see the search me, know my heart, the try me, the know my thoughts, But here's the last two. It says, and see if there be any wicked way in me. That any wicked way in me is a request for conviction. Lord, I need you to show me where I need to be convicted. And I need the pressure of the Holy Spirit on my life so strong that to kick against the pricks would wear me slap out. I need conviction like I've never need conviction before. I need to have the pressure of Holy Spirit on my life over things in my life and things that God doesn't want in my life. I need conviction, Lord, so strong that I'm sweating bullets trying to hold on to it. until I get right. I need conviction, Lord, that I can't sleep at night unless I get right. Lord, I need conviction that I can't hardly sit underneath the preaching waiting for an invitation to get down and get right with God. That's the kind of conviction I need, Lord. I need conviction that wears me slap out because this flesh needs to be wore out so that I can let the Spirit have free reign. This is the opportunity we have to say, Lord, I need to confess. By the way, for prayer to be effective, the child of God needs to have the way cleared in prayer. If we go before God holding sin and iniquity in our hearts, it doesn't matter how big we say it is or how small we say it is, well, that shouldn't be a big problem, it's just a little bitty small thing. Well, to God, it's all equal, and if there's anything in the way, you cannot have an effective active prayer life with sin hindering the way. So what do we have to do? Lord, bring the conviction. Lord, show me what it is. And Lord, help me get it right so there's nothing between my soul and the Savior. Lord, we want revival. Just don't mess with that area, please. Lord, leave that one alone. I'm not ready to deal with it yet. Really? I mean, that goes for all of us. Lord, give me revival over here, but leave that alone. I hate to say it, that I believe is the majority of God's people throughout the world, especially throughout America. Lord, I want revival on my terms, in my place, at my time, but leave everything else alone because I'm not ready to deal with that yet. You just work over here, Lord, and I'll serve you over here, but I'm gonna hold on to this over here. That right there is not revival. That's hand-picked, God, you do what I ask, and nothing more, and that God does not work that way. If we think he does, we're sadly mistaken. It is saying, God, can you please point out our wickedness? Because we know you can do a much better job of pointing out the areas I need help in than I can do myself. If the Christian will allow the Holy Spirit to convict us He promises he will, and he will assist in the clearing of that which is under conviction. John 16, seven through 11. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he has come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. of sin because they believe not in me, of righteousness because I go to my father and he see me no more, of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. We need the Holy Spirit of God to bring about a convicting of sin, a proving of that which is righteous, and a laying out of judgment to let us know and to teach us and to show us, Lord, how can we be right with you so you can do a work you wanna do? Have you ever, it's just a thought for you, have you ever been praying, and in that time of prayer, and maybe leading up, and honestly, it's probably the best practice we have, is before you ever really get into your serious prayer lifetime, you say, Lord, at this moment, I just need you to reveal to me. anything, Lord, anything at all that would get in the way between me and you, maybe a thought, maybe a frustration, Lord, anything, maybe something I did or said that really I wasn't paying attention to, but that really was not the right thing, and it's something wrong in my heart and life, and there's something there that I'm not really paying attention to, Lord, I need you to reveal to me so I can make it right now before we have our conversation. You ever done that, and in that moment, You know, we're thinking, you know, there might be one or two little things, you know, I'm just, you know, I have to try to be right with the Lord on a regular basis. And then all of a sudden, one, two, three, four, five, and six, and seven, and the more they go, the deeper they get. It's like, oh, oh my goodness. And we're like, Lord, do we even have time to deal with all this? Or better yet, you're ready to go before the Lord in prayer, and you're really looking forward to talking with him, and you say, Lord, I need you to reveal if there's anything in my life, Lord, I need to get it right right now. And then he just brings an entire smorgasbord of stuff across your mind and across your path, and you start. Lord, am I even really worthy to talk to you right now? I wanna go hide underneath a rock. And nobody revealed it to you, but the Holy Spirit said, okay, you wanna know? Okay, let me show you what I know. Let me show you just that one irritation that you haven't let go of, or that one thing that's causing a problem, or that one ought you have with that brother, that one little thing that you're trying to act like is no big deal. Been there, done that. Wanna burn the trophy for it, okay. I don't like it, I hate it. But if you go asking God to bring conviction, you better be ready. because he's not nearly as lenient with us as we are with ourselves. Because God desires that his people would be holy as he is holy. And God desires that his people would be righteous through his righteousness. God desires his people to be right with him and clean and vessels ready and meat for the master's use. And when the vessel says, Lord, time to wash dishes, How dirty am I? He doesn't start pouring water in the sink, he just gets the water hose out and says, okay, come over here, let's scrub a dub dub. Time to put the pressure on, time to get it clean. Doesn't feel good in the initial moment of trying to get clean with God, but boy, does it feel good afterwards. It might take a little while to spend some time with God to get clean, but when it's all said and done, I'm ready to talk to God. Man, I'm ready to spend some time with Him. Wow! I don't have that burden weighing me down right now. I feel like I have freedom to talk with God openly. If we want revival to take place, that's what has to happen. And here's the last one. It says, lead me. Now, we're talking about finding revival in prayer. This is just one of a few that we're gonna be dealing with. The last part of this one is lead me. It says in verse number 24, and see there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. The, wait a minute, I challenge you at some point, go look at the Bible where the two words the way is mentioned. or this way. You'll find in the New Testament before it was known as Christianity, it was called the way or this way. What was the way? It was the way of Christ. It was the way of righteousness, the way of God. Lead me in the way everlasting. That lead me is a request to not be in control of my life, but to turn over the reins to Almighty God. God will not lead, and may I say, cannot lead a disobedient Christian. Just like parents cannot lead a disobedient child. You say, what do you mean by that? Oh yeah, you can lead them. No, no, no, no. You can lay the rules down and you can punish for them not, but it's really hard to have true leading when the person's not with you. A pastor can lead a church, but not if the church stops following. A pastor can guide, as the Lord guides him, he helps to guide the church, but if the church decides, no, we ain't doing no more, we ain't going no more, we're just gonna sit right here on our blessed assurance and be happy with what we got, we're not listening anymore, well, you ain't leading if nobody's following. God cannot lead his children if his children say, Lord, I'm not following it. Now he can point the way, and he can direct the way, and he can have given us the truth of knowing the way, but ultimately a disobedient child of God cannot truly be led of God because they refuse to listen. But God will lead the obedient child. He will guide by his hand. He was, we talked about already in steps, he will enlarge the steps so that our way can be sure and a sure foundation. He will not lead those who have made up their mind where they are going and what they are going to do. You say, well, that's not very fair of him that he wouldn't wanna lead. No, no, he wants to lead, they don't wanna follow. God, I'll do what you want me to do, as long as it's on my terms, and as long as it's in my time, and as long as it's done my way. And Lord, I need revival, please give me revival. I know that it's kind of, not trying to do it jokingly, but can we not, to some degree, see the comedy and the ridiculousness of that request? Lord, I'm gonna do it my way, in my time, I'm gonna go on my path and I want you to bless it and give me revival along the way. It doesn't work that way. I wish it did. It'd be so much easier just to control it myself. I wouldn't have to guess at things or say, Lord, I'm waiting. Patience wouldn't have to be something I have to deal with all the time. I wouldn't have to wait on God so much. I'd make my plans and say, hey, Lord, bless this, please, let's go. But that's not how God wants to work. I wouldn't have to follow him by faith if I made the plans and he just put his blessings on it. I wouldn't have to follow him each step of the way saying, Lord, I need you to light the way one step at a time, and Lord, I'll trust your plan, your timing, your way, and I'll just follow. I wouldn't have to worry about all that and wait on God and be patient and just trust that he knows what he's doing while I can't see anything in the dark but the one step ahead of me. Can't you show me five or six more steps and make life a lot easier, Lord? I can make some plans. We men are that way, right? We like to be in control, don't we? I don't know about y'all. Look at me, like a calf looking at a new gate. I don't know what you're talking about. No. We do, and some ladies as well. There are some personalities that really like to plan things out, be in control, know what's coming next, and know, I'm there, that's me. I like having plans. I may not follow my own plans, but I like having them. I like to know that I've got some things set in place. I like to know and have a game plan, and I've gotten to the point where it may not work, but I sure like being able to put it together and have a plan. If y'all haven't noticed by now, when I present something, I like having as much detail as I possibly can to lay it out as to what it could be and how we could go about it. I like doing that, it's my personality. God doesn't always work with my personality in that way. A lot of times, I'm like, hey, Lord, this would work out great. And on phase one, he blows it to smithereens. And then it's like, okay, now what, Lord? And he's like, yeah, just trust me. Y'all ever had trouble just trusting God and waiting for him to reveal the next step? I know I have. But it sure is nice when you have the peace of God knowing that you waited and you followed and when you know, you know. And you can take it knowing it's on his shoulders, not mine. Because this is his step, not mine. Lead me, Lord. I want you to show me, I want you to lead me, I want to be nothing but a follower of my Savior. There must be a following faith to be truly led of God. The searching prayer of a saint of God. Search me, oh God, know my heart. Try me, know and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. the searching prayer of a saint of God that is from the heart of a true believer by faith in the plan, the will, and the perfection of a holy God, can and will bring personal revival. And that is, I believe, the first one. And there are others, but if we can't do that one, If we can't do that right there, how can we ever hope to have genuine, not man-made revival, not man-pushed, man-presented, man-created move of God. No, no, no. We're talking about a real, genuine move of God that is not just services, but it's a fire that starts burning within. And it's not through the easiest of times and the perfect of scenarios and situations and wow, hey look, everybody else is fired up, I can be fired up too. No, it might be everything else around me is as cold as a Thanksgiving turkey before it goes into the oven. But yet there's something burning inside of me regardless of the situation around me. Regardless of the environment. Now I certainly hope that's not the environment. If our motto is First Church of the Frigidaire, where many are cold and few are frozen, we're in trouble, okay? Lord, please, we need a forest fire fast. I certainly hope it's not going against the environment for a revival to start in an individual's heart. My prayer for me, my prayer for our church as individuals, as families, as a church family, is Lord, let the environment be conducive to just a spark, just a flicker, and everything is so primed that revival can start so fast that we as God's people can be so sensitive that even if the preacher's yelling and screaming, the Holy Spirit can whisper to our heart and say, what about this? Oh Lord, please help me with that. Oh Lord, I can't hardly handle it anymore. and we fall before our face and say, I don't care when the invitation starts, it's starting right now for me. So sensitive to God that a flame would be started from a simple, still small voice of the Holy Spirit, and one individual responds, and another responds, and another responds, Instead of it being, and again, I'm not trying to be pushy and I don't want anybody doing anything because it will please a man, forget that junk. But that we'd be so sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and so sensitive and primed to responding that one triggers another, triggers another, triggers another, and it becomes not the oddity to see one at the altar, it becomes unusual to see one not at the altar. Again, don't get me wrong and don't think I'm trying to push for a move. What I'm saying is the Lord needs to do that in my heart as much as anybody else. That would be, Lord, I can't sit anymore. Or, Lord, you know I can't kneel at an altar, but I'm right here, Lord. I'm breaking down with you right here. I need my God in my life as a flaming fire. So revival is not just a word we use. It's something we experience and live daily as a child of God. Revival in and through our prayer life. We can see it through prayer. Revival will not be seen without prayer. Where are we at tonight? Every single one of us, where are we at in this area? Are we primed and ready or are we cold and wet? when it comes through the opportunity of revival to set in. Heavenly Father, we thank you for tonight. I thank you for your people.