Day 21: Daniel Fast 2013

Beloved of God,
The word “revival” means “resuscitation and/or restoration back to life”. Over many centuries, the church has used this word to define the infilling and outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon a person which ignites or reinvigorates the LIFE of Christ’s within their spirit, soul, and body. When someone experiences personal revival, they have a present tense white-hot love for Jesus expressed in total obedience. They hate sin, repent quickly, enjoy happy holiness, live morally pure, cultivate a secret life in God, walk in the fear of the Lord, and are marked by intense love for God and others. Revival results in humble service and bold witness.
The essence of revival is to fully submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, who lives within your heart (spirit & soul). Revival involves being a.) baptized in the Holy Spirit, b.) filled with the Holy Spirit, c.) empowered by the Holy Spirit, d.) manifesting the fruit of the Spirit, e.) wisdom and revelation of the Spirit, f.) identity as sons by the Spirit, g.) leadership of the Holy Spirit. Everything we long to see happen on earth starts with personal revival. Lk. 3:16-; Acts 1-2; Gal. 5:22; Rom.8; Eph. 1:17-18; Eph. 4:30, 5:18  In his book entitled “Personal Revival: God’s Way of Setting Our Hearts On Fire”, Steve Hill writes: “Thinking that revival can only come in great earth-shaking outpourings of the Spirit, we have overlooked the fact that it is first and foremost a personal experience. When God revives His people, He has to start with someone because the Church only consists of individual believers. Where else can spiritual renewal take place but in the lives of individuals? The Church is not a building! There is no abstract “Church” which can be revived apart from the men and women who make up the Church. For us to have revival in our generation, we are going to have to do far more than merely think of it in general terms. Each of us must take personal responsibility to cry out for a fresh, radical encounter with the Living Christ. The refining fire of God must consume the impotency of our own lives before we can ever expect it to spread to an indifferent world. Are we willing to face the searching questions of Charles Finney, the great revivalist of the 19th century? “If God should ask you this moment, by an audible voice from heaven, ‘Do you want a revival?’ Would you dare to say, Yes? ‘Are you willing to make the sacrifices?’ Would you answer, Yes? ‘When shall it begin?’ Would you answer, Let it begin today—let it begin here—let it begin in my heart now? This is always a major key to spiritual breakthrough! We must never forget that “I” is always central to the word “revival.” When we understand this principle, we cannot help but be encouraged! Nothing can keep us from the revival we so desperately need if we want it badly enough. Each of us who desires God’s best will immediately become the focus of the personal care and attention of the Holy Spirit. Regardless of the spiritual environment that surrounds us, the Spirit of God will deal with our hearts as exclusively as if no others existed. Let each of us, therefore, determine afresh to hold nothing back from Christ, so we can become carriers of revival wherever we may be, allowing the Spirit of God to fan the flame worldwide!”
An individual needs great personal commitment in Christ to experience revival. However, one cannot achieve and sustain personal revival without intentional church community. Find other believers that are passionate about personal revival and the restoration of the church. Then, together, go after Jesus with all your hearts. Here are some suggestions:
“Formula” For Revival by A. W. Tozer

1. Get thoroughly dissatisfied with yourself. Complacency is the deadly enemy of spiritual progress. The contented soul is a stagnant soul.
2. Set your face like a flint toward a sweeping transformation of your life.  Timid experiments are tagged for failure before they start. We must throw our whole soul into our desire for God.
3. Put yourself in the way of blessing. It’s a mistake to expect God’s help to come as a windfall apart from conditions known and met.  To desire revival, and at the same time to neglect prayer and devotion, is to wish one way and walk another.
4. Do a thorough job of repenting. Hasty repentance means a shallow spiritual experience. Let godly sorrow do her healing work. It is our wretched habit of toleration sin that keeps us in our half-dead condition.
5. Make restitution wherever possible. If you owe a debt pay it. If you have quarreled with anyone, go as far as you can to achieve reconciliation. As fully as possible, make the crooked straight.
6. Bring your life into accord with the Sermon on the Mount and other such New Testament Scriptures as are designed to instruct in the way of righteousness. An honest man with an open Bible and a pad and pencil is sure to find out what’s wrong with him quickly.
7. Be serious minded. The people of the world used to go to the movies to escape serious thinking about God and religion. There must be a radical change in  your habits, or there will not be any permanent improvement in your interior life.
8. Deliberately narrow your interests. Too many projects use up time and energy without bringing us nearer to God.  The mansions of the heart will become larger when the doors are thrown open to Christ and closed against the world and sin.
9. Begin to witness. Find something to do for God, and your fellowman. Make yourself available. Do anything you are asked to do. Learn to obey.
10. Have faith in God. Begin to expect. Look up toward the throne. All heaven is on your side. God will not disappoint you.
11. These suggestions constitute a formula for personal revival. When personal revival is experienced, there is no knowing how far it may spread. The Church is in desperate need of a spiritual resurrection and it can only come through the revived individual.

How To Experience & Maintain Personal Revival by Bill Bright:

1. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any unconfessed sin in your life.
2. Seek forgiveness from all whom you have offended, and forgive all who have hurt you. Make restitution where God leads.
3. Examine your motives in every word and deed. Ask the Lord to search and cleanse your heart daily.
4. Ask the Holy Spirit to guard your walk against complacency and mediocrity.
5. Praise and give thanks to God continually in all ways on all days, regardless of your circumstances.
6. Refuse to obey your carnal (worldy) nature (Galatians 5:16,17).
7. Surrender your life to Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Develop utter dependence on Him with total submission and humility.
8. Study the attributes of God.
9. Hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matthew 5:6).
10. Love God with all of your heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37).
11. Appropriate the continual fullness and control of the Holy Spirit by faith on the basis of God’s command (Ephesians 5:18) and promise (1 John 5:14,15).
12. Read, study, meditate on, and memorize God’s holy, inspired, inerrant Word daily (Colossians 3:16).
13. Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
14. Fast and pray one 24-hour period each week. Prayerfully consider becoming one of the two million Christians who will fast for forty days before the end of the year 2000.
15. Seek to share Christ daily as a way of life.
16. Determine to live a holy, godly life of obedience and faith.
17. Start or join a home or church Bible study group that emphasizes revival and a holy life.