“The high and lofty One who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: ‘I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.’” Isaiah 57:15 NLT)
Recently I read in a Turning Point article by Dr. David Jeremiah about a very unique way to ask the Lord to bring revival. Dr. Jeremiah wrote: “’Gipsy’ Smith was a British evangelist who preached in Great Britain and America for more than seventy years. He is famously known for this formula for bringing about revival: ‘Go home. Lock yourself in your room. Kneel down in the middle of the floor, and with a piece of chalk draw a circle around yourself. There, on your knees, pray fervently and brokenly that God would start a revival within that chalk circle.’ That is, there can be no corporate revival (renewal) that does not begin with prayerful, personal revival.”
There’s no better way to express to the Lord your desire to become contrite and humble before Him than to kneel on the floor and ask Him to do in and through you that which would please and honor Him the most. The reality is, He very likely won’t do anything in someone else THROUGH you that He hasn’t already done IN you.
Our sinful patterns prevent the Spirit of God from working through us as He desires, so, the only way we can allow the channels of our life between us and the Lord to flow again is through repentance, turning from our disobedience and sin, seeking His forgiveness, and committing to keep our life holy and pure, that the Spirit may flow freely,
The Lord will not use a dirty vessel, so, only by His grace and the purity of His forgiveness will we be able to become the vessels of holiness the Lord desires us to be in order to use us to usher in the revival of His people He longs to bring. The Prophets of old understood this principle as time after time the Lord gave them messages for His people to repent and return to a place of usefulness; otherwise, they would be destroyed.
That seemed so harsh, but the reality is the same is true today. To not walk with Jesus is to risk hell, eternal separation from Him, but, by His grace, through repentance, forgiveness and the empowering presence of His Spirit we can overcome our sin and walk in newness of life with Him. It’s only then we can become vessels of His holy presence to influence others positively for Him.
Revival isn’t an emotional frenzy, it’s the realization that God is present, willing to move, but He’s waiting for His children who are prepared, filled with His Spirit, and living in step with His will to be equipped and answer the call to pray for the fulfillment of what He has planned. That begins in our own personal prayer closets, our “circle of one”, as brother “Gipsy” Smith described.
My heart’s desire is to be used powerfully of the Lord to see lost people come to Him, that revival will begin with me and spread to my family, friends, neighbors, and beyond. I know that’s the heart of many of you who read this blog, so, by God’s grace, we will see a mighty move of God in our day.
Just know I love you, am so very grateful for your strong stance with Jesus and look forward to having long walks and conversations with you in heaven.
Blessings, Ed 😊
