Tag: The Spirit of God

“The Power and Blessing of Revival”, Teachings and Quotes from Spurgeon, Lloyd-Jones, Piper, E.M.Bounds, J.Edwin Orr (The Holy Spirit, Prayer)

Posted on by Linda Willows

The Power And Blessing of Revival

Andrew Murray said that “The coming revival must begin with a great revival of prayer. It is in the closet, with the door shut, that the sound of abundance of rain will first be heard”.

We stand before God knowing that before Him, nothing will be impossible. We are deeply aware that of our own power, we can do nothing yet with Him we live and move amidst the Miraculous. Revival and humility go hand and hand. We yield to God’s will, place our hearts before him and we pray to be equipped and given courage. The purpose of receiving the blessings of revival is to bless others and to be stewards for His glory.

E.M. Bounds on Revival~

“A revival of real praying would produce a spiritual revolution.”

“To look back upon the progress of the divine kingdom upon earth is to review revival periods which have come like refreshing showers upon dry and thirsty ground, making the desert to blossom as the rose, and bringing new eras of spiritual life and activity just when the Church had fallen under the influence of the apathy of the times.”

Martin Lloyd Jones on Revival~

“We can define it as a period of unusual blessing and activity in the life of the Christian Church. Revival means awakening, stimulating the life, bringing it to the surface again. It happens primarily in the Church of God, and amongst believing people, and it is only secondly something that affects those that are outside also. Now this is a most important point, because this definition helps us to differentiate, once and for all, between a revival and an evangelistic campaign…

The essence of a revival is that the Holy Spirit comes down upon a number of people together, upon a whole church, upon a number of churches, districts, or perhaps a whole country. That is what is meant by revival. It is, if you like, a visitation of the Holy Spirit, or another term that has often been used is this–an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

What the people are conscious of is that it is as if something has suddenly come down upon them. The Spirit of God has descended into their midst, God has come down and is amongst them. A baptism, an outpouring, a visitation. And the effect of that is that they immediately become aware of His presence and of His power in a manner that they have never known before….

And what does that mean? Well, there are general characteristics which you will find in every revival that you can ever read about. The immediate effect is that the people present begin to have an awareness of spiritual things such as they have never had before.

They have heard all these things before, they may have heard them a thousand times, but what they testify is this: ‘You know, the whole thing suddenly became clear to me. I was suddenly illuminated, things that I was so familiar with stood out in letters of gold, as it were. I understood. I saw it all in a way that I had never done in the whole of my life.’ The Holy Spirit enlightens the mind and the understanding. They begin not only to see these things clearly but to feel their power…” Source: Martin Lloyd Jones on Revival

John Piper on Revival~

“In the history of the church, the term revival in its most biblical sense has meant a sovereign work of God in which the whole region of many churches, many Christians has been lifted out of spiritual indifference and worldliness into conviction of sin, earnest desires for more of Christ and his word, boldness in witness, purity of life, lots of conversions, joyful worship, renewed commitment to missions.

You feel God has moved here. And basically revival, then, is God doing among many Christians at the same time or in the same region, usually, what he is doing all the time in individual Christian’s lives as people get saved and individually renewed around the world.” –John Piper

Charles Spurgeon on Revival~

“The word “revival” is as familiar in our mouths as a household word. We are constantly speaking about and praying for a “revival;” would it not be as well to know what we mean by it? Of the Samaritans our Lord said, “Ye worship ye know not what,” let him not have to say to us, “Ye know not what ye ask.” The word “revive” wears its meaning upon its forehead; it is from the Latin, and may be interpreted thus—to live again, to receive again a life which has almost expired; to rekindle into a flame the vital spark which was nearly extinguished.” –Charles Spurgeon

“If revival is confined to living men we may further notice that it must result from the proclamation and the receiving of living truth. We speak of “vital godliness,” and vital godliness must subsist upon vital truth. Vital godliness is not revived in Christians by mere excitement, by crowded meetings, by the stamping of the foot, or the knocking of the pulpit cushion, or the delirious bawlings of ignorant zeal; these are the stock in trade of revivals among dead souls, but to revive living saints other means are needed. Intense excitement may produce a revival of the animal, but how can it operate upon the spiritual, for the spiritual demands other food than that which stews in the fleshpots of mere carnal enthusiasm.

The Holy Ghost must come into the living heart through living truth, and so bring nutriment and stimulant to the pining spirit, for so only can it be revived. This, then, leads us to the conclusion that if we are to obtain a revival we must go directly to the Holy Ghost for it, and not resort to the machinery of the professional revival-maker. The true vital spark of heavenly flame comes from the Holy Ghost, and the priests of the Lord must beware of strange fire.

There is no spiritual vitality in anything except as the Holy Spirit is all in all in the work; and if our vitality has fallen near to zero, we can only have it renewed by him who first kindled it in us. We must go to the cross and look up to the dying Savior, and expect that the Holy Spirit will renew our faith and quicken all our graces.

We must feed anew by faith upon the flesh and blood of the Lord Jesus, and so the Holy Ghost will recruit our strength and give us a revival. When men in India sicken in the plains, they climb the hills and breathe the more bracing air of the upper regions; we need to get nearer to God, and to bathe ourselves in heaven, and revived piety will be the sure result.” –Charles Spurgeon

“Father, for thy promised blessing,
Still we plead before thy throne;
For the time of sweet refreshing
Which can come from thee alone.

“Blessed earnests thou hast given,
But in these we would not rest,
Blessings still with thee are hidden,
Pour them forth, and make us blest.

“Wake thy siren bering children, wake them,
Bid them to thy harvest go;
Blessings, O our Father, make them;
Round their steps let blessing flow.

“Let no hamlet be forgotten,
Let thy showers on all descend;
That in one loud blessed anthem,
Myriads may in triumph blend.”

Hymn “Father for Thy Promised Blessing” by Albert Midlane

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Enjoy listening to this 25-minute video on Revival that offers a historical perspective:

The Role Of Prayer In Spiritual Awakening by J Edwin Orr – YouTube

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“Pray like Spurgeon”, from the Spurgeon Center (Bold Prayer, God’s Promises, Beloveds at the Mercy Seat)

Posted on by Linda Willows

9 Ways To Pray Like Charles Spurgeon

In July 17, 1887 Augustus Strong and John D. Rockefeller visited Charles Spurgeon at his home in London.

After two hours, the leading Baptist theologian and the wealthy U.S. tycoon uncovered the secret of Spurgeon’s ministry: “He seemed to be a man of prayer” (Crerar Douglas, Autobiography of Augustus Hopkins Strong, 300).

Spurgeon’s prayers made you feel “the throbbing of that mighty heart” (C. H. Spurgeon’s Prayers, vii).

Spurgeon once said, “Prayer has become as essential to me as the heaving of my lungs, and the beating of my pulse” (MTP 49:476).

Prayer was the underbelly of Spurgeon’s ministry.

“Let me know the day when you give up praying for me,” he said, “for then I must give up preaching” (Autobiography 2:335).

Spurgeon teaches us how to pray. Here are nine ways to pray like Charles Spurgeon.

1. Grapple with God.

“It is on our knees that we overcome” (MTP 7:94).

“Unanswered petitions are not unheard” (MTP 13:74).

“That which is gained speedily by a single prayer is sometimes only a second rate blessing; but that which is gained after many a desperate tug, and many an awful struggle, is a full weighted and precious blessing. . . . The blessing which costs us the most prayer will be worth the most” (MTP 17:612).

2. Ask boldly! You are the beloved.

“Our God not only hears prayer but also loves to hear it” (Morning and Evening, November 3, AM, italics in the original).

“Do not let us go to God as though we were strangers, or as though he were unwilling to give—we are greatly beloved” (MTP 13:82).

“It would be of no use to knock at a wall, but you may wisely knock at a door, for it is arranged for opening” (MTP 29:306).

“God keeps a file for our prayers—they are not blown away by the wind, they are treasured in the King’s archives” (Morning and Evening, March 29, PM).

3. Hold God to his promises.

“He can reverse nature, but he cannot reverse his own nature, and he must do this before he forebear to hear and answer prayer” (MTP 7:93).

“A true prayer is the echo of the eternal purpose” (MTP 48:487).

“The Spirit of God leads us to desire exactly what God has decreed” (MTP 48:487).

“The best praying man is the man most believingly familiar with the promises of God. After all, prayer which is not based on a promise has no true foundation” (MTP 34:21).

4. Pray fervently when you don’t feel it.

“If you do not pray except when you feel like praying, you will not pray much, nor pray when you most need it. My brethren, when you do not feel like praying, you ought to pray all the more, and go to the Lord to help you to pray” (MTP 35:583).

“We must get rid of the icicles that hang about our lips. We must ask the Lord to thaw the ice-caves of our soul and to make our hearts like a furnace of fire heated seven times hotter” (MTP 13:79).

“We cannot commune with God, who is a consuming fire, if there is no fire in our prayers. . . . Prayers which are filled with doubt, are requests for refusal” (MTP 28:547).

5. Pray privately.

“The less prayer is observed on earth, the more it is observed in heaven” (MTP 30:136).

“You are no Christian if you do not pray. A prayerless soul is a Christless soul” (MTP 48:483).

6. Pray patiently.

“When prayer is long in the answering it will be all the sweeter in the receiving, like fruit which is well ripened by hanging longer on the tree” (MTP 20:306).

“Prayer does move the arm that moves the world” (MTP 41:524).

“The act of prayer is blessed, the habit of prayer is more blessed, but the spirit of prayer is the most blessed of all” (MTP 29:532).

7. Measure prayer by weight, not length.

“Short prayers are long enough. . . . Not length but strength is desirable” (Morning and Evening, January 14, AM).

“Some brethren pray by the yard; but true prayer is measured by weight, and not by length. A single groan before God may have more fulness of prayer in it than a fine oration of great length” (MTP 34:16).

8. Groan your way to God.

“The essence of prayer lies in the heart drawing near to God: and it can do that without words” (MTP 24:214).

“It may suit a teacher of English composition to criticize your sentences, but God thinks much more of your desires than of the words in which they are expressed. It may be natural for a scholar to consider the accuracy of your terms, but God specially marks the earnestness of your soul” (MTP 48:483).

“I would sooner see you eloquent with God than with men” (An All-Round Ministry, 314).

“A sigh, a sob, is the most you can get out. . . . The inward moanings of a broken heart are music in the ears of the Infinite Jehovah, and he accepteth the sincere prayers of his people” (MTP 60:512).

“Our poor prayers are blotted, and blurred, and stained with sin, but our great High Priest sprinkles them with his own most precious blood, and so purifies them, and then, with his own dear hand, he lays them before the mercy-seat, and for his sake they are sure to be accepted” (MTP 48:487-88).

9. Pray always.

“Souls abiding in Jesus open the day with prayer; prayer surrounds them as an atmosphere all day long; at night they fall asleep praying. I have known them even [to] dream a prayer” (MTP 34:15).

“Prayer is now as much a necessity of our spiritual life as breath is of our natural life” (MTP 34:15).

“These are dark days, but you can bring on a spiritual summertime if you know how to pray” (MTP 48:491).

“Continue, then, in prayer. Never let your fire go out” (MTP 7:92).

A Prayerful Plea from Spurgeon
“My dear friends, wait upon God much in prayer, and you have the promise that he will do greater things for you than you know of” (Spurgeon’s Prayers, 30).

Source: Spurgeon.org

From LW: Enjoy these Resources and Links on Prayer to learn more!

Resources on Prayer~

“Isaiah 59.21 The Covenant of The Redeemer”, Commentary by Albert Barnes

Posted on by Linda Willows

isaiah5921beloved

Isaiah 59:21 — “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.”

Commentary by Albert Barnes

As for me – In the previous part of the chapter, the prophet has spoken. Here Yahweh is introduced as speaking himself, and as declaring the nature of the covenant which he would establish. In the verse previous, it had been stated that the qualifications on the part of people for their partaking of the benefits of the Redeemer‘s work, were, that they should turn from transgression. In this verse, Yahweh states what he would do in regard to the covenant which was to be established with his people. ‹So far as I am concerned, I will enter into a covenant with them and with their children.‘

This is my covenant with them – (Compare the notes at Isaiah 42:6; Isaiah 49:8; Isaiah 54:10). The covenant here referred to, is that made with people under the Messiah. In important respects it differed from that made with the Jewish people under Moses.

The word, ‹covenant‘ here is evidently equivalent, as it is commonly, when applied to When it is said, ‹this is my covenant,‘ the import evidently is, ‹this is the nature or the tenure of my covenant, or of my solemn promises to my people under the Messiah. It shall certainly occur that my Spirit will be continually imparted to thy seed, and that my words will abide with thee and them forever.‘

My Spirit that is upon thee – The word ‹thee‘ here does not refer, as Jerome and others suppose, to the prophet, but to the pious Hebrew people. The covenant under the Messiah, was not made especially with the prophet or his posterity, but is a promise made to the church, and here evidently refers to the true people of God: and the idea is, that the Spirit of God would be continually imparted to his people, and to their descendants forever. It is a covenant made with true believers and with their children.

And my words – The Chaldee understands this of prophecy. But it seems rather to refer to the truth of God in general which he had revealed for the guidance and instruction of his church.

Shall not depart out of thy mouth – This phrase probably means, that the truth of God would be the subject of perpetual meditation and conversation. The covenant would be deemed so precious that it would constantly dwell on the tongues of those who were interested in it.

Thy seed‘s seed – Thy descendants; thy posterity.

From henceforth and for ever – This is in accordance with the promises which everywhere occur in the Scriptures, that God would bless the posterity of his people, and that the children of the pious should partake of his favor.

See Exodus 20:6: ‹Showing mercy unto thousands (that is, thousands of generations) of them that love me and keep my commandments.‘ Compare Deuteronomy 4:37; Deuteronomy 5:29; Deuteronomy 7:9; Psalm 89:24, Psalm 89:36; Jeremiah 32:39-40.

There is no promise of the Bible that is more full of consolation to the pious, or that has been more strikingly fulfilled than this. And though it is true that not all the children of holy parents become truly pious; though there are instances where they are signally wicked and abandoned, yet it is also true that rich spiritual blessings are imparted to the posterity of those who serve God and who keep his commandments.