Chapter 8: Don’t Go Without Power

 

Don’t Go Without Power

 

Page 146

Be Filled with the Holy Spirit.

“But how,” you ask, “can I be sure I am filled with the Holy Spirit as those early disciples were, equipped for winning souls?”  The Answer—by prayer. 

This filling is not just receiving the Holy Spirit once at salvation, which is true (Acts 2:38), but a continuous being filled.  Ephesians 5:18 commands the Christians to whom Paul was writing to be “filled with the Spirit.”  Because of the actual tense of the verb “be filled,” it is correctly translated “keep on being filled with the Spirit.”

Two Types of prayer—corporate and personal –produce this Holy Spirit filling in preparation for witnessing.

First, there is the scriptural corporate praying of others in the sending out of one who is to ministry (such as Acts 13:1-4).

Evelyn was sent out to minister to the world.

For twenty years, the gathering together of my own board to pray for me just as I leave for an especially huge assignment has been very important and deeply meaningful to me.  This prayer support not only produces a shared partnership in the responsibility and fruit of the task, but releases multiplied power from God in, on, and through me.

I understand first hand how this feels to have people praying for me when I am speaking somewhere.  The more people I have praying the more effective my speaking times seem to be.  I long to have a team of people praying for the Holy Spirit to fill me with his power, as I go out there and share my life story with women of the world.  I long for the Holy Spirit’s power to be released in the hearts of the people who listen.

Personal

Page 147

Second, I believe more important, is our personal seeking to be filled.  We must be willing to spend time alone with God in prayer before our witnessing – asking God to cleanse us and then emptying ourselves of our own desire.  Next we must ask God’s Holy Spirit to fill us with Himself so we can be holy and full of Him rather than our own desires. 

Next we must ask God’s Holy Spirit to fill us with Himself so we can be holy and full of Him rather than our own selves.  Then we will be eligible to have all the power the early disciples needed to win their world to Jesus because they, to, were filled by the Holy Spirit working in them.

EVANGELISM IS REACHING WITH JESUS A WORLD STILL IN ITS SIN.  And despite our wonderful modern communication expertise and mountains of printed materials, it still is only the Holy Spirit who can convict people of sin—so that they will repent and turn to Jesus. 

Several years ago I would pray everyday for God to fill me with his Holy Spirit.  I still do this often, but not nearly what I used to do.  Does it make a difference in reaching my world for Jesus?  Yes, it has! 

Why have I forgotten to do this??? TIME!  When I do not put God first in my line of priorities, things begin to slowly change.  It is time for me to, wake up and get back to the basics. 

Thank you dear Evelyn, for reminding me of the priorities in my life.

 

 

 

Chapter 7: God’s Last Kind of Repentance in Revival

God’s Last Kind of Repentance in Revival

 Page 118

 So we see there are three stages in genuine revivals where repentance plays a major role—whether on campuses, in local churches, in communities, or across whole nations.  They are:

 1.     Revivals always have been preceded by one to a few Christians doing the initial deep praying for revival—including repenting of their own sins.

2.     Then the first sign of a revival actually beginning has always been the spread of this kind of praying and repenting to other Christians.

3.     The third kind of repenting in the revival process is God’s reason for sending the first two steps.  It is the unbelievers repenting and believing as they are convicted and come to Jesus in Salvation.

 

Reading this book has filled my heart with a great desire to first of all, look at my own life, praying for God to bring to the surface my sins.   I want a total cleansing of any sin in my life.  I have a burning desire for a fresh beginning in my life. 

NEXT:

Today I met together with a woman to JUST pray for our city.  We prayed that God would send a Revival and maybe that will begin with us as we pray for it. My desire is to have a Repentance Praying! 
Repentance producing revival in our town.

Page 122

 

For years I never told anyone of the praying that preceded our church’s revival—and I’m sure others we didn’t know about were also praying.  But several years later my husband and I were asked to lead a panel discussion in a Colorado church on “What causes revival?”  Stymied as to what to say, I asked my husband what part he thought that praying of the three of us (and perhaps others) had played in producing it.  His immediate response took me by surprise:  “There is not doubt!  It caused our revival.” “Repentance praying!  Repentance producing revival!

Page 135

Could God be pulling out all the stops in preparing, rekindling, sending, gathering, reaping the harvest in one huge grand finale to accomplish the completion of the Great Commission—in our generation?  In His way and in His time—cleansing us Christians and gathering vast multitudes to Himself—for His glory!  The choice is up to God—and to us—for “God can us a small vessel, but he will not use a dirty one.”

 

 

 

Chapter 6: Revival Through Repentance

Chapter 6:  Revival Through Repentance

Page 105

God can use a small vessel, but He will not use a dirty one.

Last week at the end of the chapter was something wonderful.  It was just a Sample List of Scriptural sins to read before confessing sins in prayer.

I tried it this week.  I read through all 20 sins (with scripture references), prayed about them and then confessed the sins that I realized were in my life.

Oh, my gosh! I cannot explain how I felt.  Everything I had been worrying about disappeared.  There was a peace that seemed missing for some time.  It was a wonderful experience.

I plan to keep this list handy.  I will give you the references in case you want to clean your heart out.

Pages 99-102

1 Thessalonians 5:18, Ephesians 3:20, Acts 1:8, Romans 12:3, Ephesians 4:31, 1 Corinthians 6:`19,  Ephesians 4:29, Ephesians 4:27, Romans 12:11, 1 Corinthians 8:9, Hebrews 10:25, Colossians 3:9, 1 Peter 2:11, John 13:35, Colossians 3:13, Ephesians 5:16, Matthew 6:24, Matthew 23:28, Philippians 4:8.

If you are looking for a revival and a fresh start, look up one verse a day.  Revival begins with repentance.  It will be life changing.

Page 112

Revival is only for those who already have life through knowing Jesus as Savior and Lord—but who are desperately in need of a fresh touch of God.  That touch comes in revival through prayer and repentance.

No human can produce revival.  It is the sovereign out-pouring of the Holy Spirit, in God’s timing and in God’s way, when Christians see the holiness of God, are convicted, and repent of their sin.

Page 116

Lastly, it certainly is true that repentance is completed only when we turn from that sin.

Turn from my sin!  True repentance is competed only when I turn from that sin. 

Something does come to my mind when I think about this.  It is easy to say, God forgives me and then continue doing what I want.  I think it is time to let go and give my life to God.

Chapter 5: God Cleansed-Life Requirement

God Cleansed-Life Requirement

Page 93

It was the early 1980’s and, as a woman, I was apprehensive about being asked to speak at the dedication of a new missionary complex in Tokyo, Japan. Very humbly, I spoke to those gathered leaders on the topic of prayer power and how sin in our lives keeps God from answering our prayers. But I did not feel it was a woman’s place to lead those men in a prayer of confession at the end, so a missionary had been assigned to do it.

But communication had broken down somewhere, and after I sat down there was a long, long awkward pause. The minutes passed and we all bowed lower and lower under God’s convicting power, but nobody made a move. Finally, broken and sobbing the leading area pastor stepped to the microphone: “Please, God, forgive me. Forgive me for my prayerlessness…For running my family without prayer…For running my church without prayer…” And prayer broke like a pent –up dam—rising in a crescendo of repentance throughout the whole room as Christian confessed their sins.

One of the most powerful verses about God not answering prayer was written by Peter to the scattered Christians. Peter, who personally knew well what it was for Jesus’ followers to sin, gave this warning in 1 Peter 3:12

The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against whose who do evil.

So we see that the Bible clearly teaches that both kinds of sin—those committed before and after salvation—need to be forgiven in order for our prayers to be answered. But Jesus gave an added dimension to sins of Christians being forgiven: We Christians must also forgive them.

There is so much treasure in the words of this book and I cannot possibly do it justice with my little blog, but I can only share with you today the words in this chapter that pricked my heart.

I remember having very similar feelings of brokenness like this pastor was feeling, so as he shared his heart, it put a big question mark in mine. Am I doing my life in God’s strength or my own?

I remember the days of being a missionary, then working in administration in a church. I could relate to being so busy doing God’s work that I could not slow down. My time with God alone had slowly disappeared. Something was missing and I felt as though I was doing everything in my own strength.

Why did I do this?

Life in ministry is busy. Life in general is busy for all of us.

While we lived in the Philippines, I remember reading my Bible to prepare for a class or a Bible study, but this is totally different than just being still and allowing God to speak His words to me, but it is so easy to fall into this.

Setting a time to get alone with God needs to be a priority in my life. I do not want to run my life with Prayerlessness.

I am learning that I honestly need to set aside a time and write it on my calendar as an appointment with God. Would I miss an appointment with anyone else?

Am I Praying God’s Way or am I praying in the rush of everyday life. I will be praying for God to show me. I really want and need to be praying God’s way every day.