Revival

My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭63:8‬

Revival.

It means, “an improvement in the condition or strength of something.”

Biblically speaking it means an awakening.

When something is revived, it lives again!

Are you asleep spiritually right now?

I wonder, how did you fall asleep? 

Well, we all fall asleep physically the same way. Most of us have to be relatively comfortable with our surroundings and most of the time we want to fall asleep in the dark. (I prefer to have socks on and if I do not have my pillow, the same one I have had for probably 10 years, I will toss and turn for a long time. I also have to have a fan on and it completely dark.) I know some people who can fall asleep much easier than others. For instance, my son Jack, has always been an extremely hard sleeper. He can fall asleep sitting straight up in the car. He’ll be five on Sunday and he still takes around 2-3 hour naps every afternoon. The kid loves sleeping. Who can blame him?? Physically, we all require rest. Our bodies would eventually get sick and just break down if we did not ever stop and rest. 

But, I am not talking about that kind of sleeping. Just as we fall asleep physically though, I believe we also fall asleep spiritually because we are comfortable and in the dark. 

I want to ask a few personal questions to you. Remember, God knows your heart, whether you want to answer this truthfully or not, He already knows the truth so you might as well quit fighting Him and just be honest.

When is the last time you wept over sin in your life?

When is the last time you wept over the sin in others’ lives?

When is the last time you got completely alone with God and prayed for more than 10 minutes?

You cannot grow spiritually if you are not praying.

And likewise, I do not believe a person can grow spiritually if they are not reading the Bible and applying what they are reading to their life.

July 28, 2019 I had something life-changing happen. 

Grant was out of town that night so I had the three kids locked in the master bedroom with me as we slept. Somewhere in the middle of the night, I heard a loud knocking coming from my closet. I shot wide awake. I sat up and oddly enough I was not scared, just startled.

I suddenly heard in my spirit these words, “I stand at the door and knock.” My whole body froze perfectly still. And then, I heard it again, “I stand at the door and knock.”

I immediately opened my closet door and fell on my knees and I began to pray. I prayed like I had not been able to in so long. 

After I had prayed for some time, I opened up the Bible and I searched for that scripture that I had heard. I knew it was in Revelation. I soon found it.

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭3:19-22‬ 

Repent. Open the door to God. Overcome. 

This is what I read when I studied these verses for a few minutes that night, sitting in my closet by myself. 

Whether you have been saved for 7 days or 70 years, there is a good chance you might have some form of a sin that you need to repent of right now. Talk to Jesus about it. You don’t have to confess to a person. 

Ever since July 28, I have prayed every single night. I still pray throughout the day for multiple things, but I have found that once all the kids are in bed, I can go into my closet and I know for certain I will not be interrupted. I can stay there as long as I want to read and pray.

We find time to do as we please. Eat. Sleep. Shop. Chatting on the phone. Scrolling through social media for half an hour before and after you get in bed... Yeah, you know what I’m saying. We make time for what’s important to us. We all have 24 hours in a day. 

We named our son Jack, after a man who was known to be a man of prayer. I’ve heard countless stories about this man, Jack Ledbetter, but I never had the honor of meeting him. He was my husband’s grandfather. He came up from Arkansas to begin a church in Wichita, Kansas 60-some years ago. I have thought many times how my son is named after someone I have never met, yet I hope and pray my son has the mantle of powerful prayer passed down to him from his Great Grandpa. I try hard to teach Jack now to pray always. Pray for his friends. Pray for his siblings. Pray for his cousins. Pray for his church. Pray for his Daddy before he preaches. To thank God for healing him.

Raylea turned 8 today and Jack turns 5 on Sunday as I said. I am so thankful the Lord spoke to me on July 28 and reminded me that I must make prayer the top priority in my life. I know I have not been a perfect wife, mother and a Christian, but I truly want nothing more than to please God at the end of the day. He has done so much for me that I am unworthy of. The least I can do is get alone and talk to Him. My kids will only mimic what they see mom and dad doing. Same with yours. You can't count on the children's church pastor or the day care lady or the teacher at their school to teach them to pray.

No, you must make this a top priority or you'll soon regret it. 

Can you imagine what would happen in your life, your marriage, your family, your church, your town, if you removed your television from the living room and replaced it with an altar. What if every time you had the urge to watch the morning news, to watch that game show mid-day, to check on the weather and catch up on sports at night... what if instead you were on your knees in prayer for the same amount of time you would have been watching TV. Or, remove your phone. Try deleting Instagram and Facebook and Twitter for a month and every time you feel the urge to catch up on everyone's lives, you got on your knees and prayed for them. Few would do this. Few want revival. But, a few do. As my father in law said Wednesday night, there is a remnant of people who want God. 

The devil tries with everything in him to keep you so busy, so tired, even doing "good" things, that you won't get alone with God. You'll allow life to control you to the point that you no longer can carve out the time to sit alone with Him.

Are you ready for revival? If so, do your part by removing people, things, hobbies and desires that have led you away from God, and just start praying. It doesn't need to be "fancy." I don't pray in KJV, although that is my translation preference. God understands all languages and He is waiting, knocking.

Answer the door, before it is ever too late!

Revival will soon be goin' on in your life.

It is in mine.