7 Things – 2Chron 7:1 Keys for revival

2Chron. 7:1 is an extraordinary passage that describes God's response to a prayer of King Solomon: 

2Chron. 7:1 When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

It is always great to find 7 secrets in one verse. Here we can see the culmination of Solomon’s prayer and God’s response. I just want to outline 7 awesome principles of revival that can be found in this verse

Prayer - the preparation and provision for revival

We need to pray until revival comes. Don’t stop asking God for revival until you see the answer to this prayer. I don't believe it is possible to have revival without prayer

Fire - the character and consequence of revival

This is a supernatural fire that comes down (fire goes up, but revival fires comes down) from the hand of God. We need God's fire to cleanse our heart and light the way to greater depths of His presence

Heaven - the origin and order of revival

We can pray for revival, but true revival must come as a result of God’s sovereign act. The Lord is the source and center of all revival - it comes from heaven and copies the order of things in His presence

Consumed - the cost and condition of revival

The Lord honored the sacrifice that Solomon prepared – when we become living sacrifices, we will see God’s response. The Lord consumes the total sacrifice - whatever you lay before Him, He will touch

Burnt offerings - the fuel and focus of revival

Our flesh needs to be consumed by the revival fires of God’s presence. Revival always begins with individuals as He touches the depths of our lives

Glory - the purpose and product of revival

This is really what revival is about - the glory of God. Everything that happens in revival must center around Him and bring Him glory

Whole House - the extent and evidence of revival

True revival will touch the whole Body of Christ. I know there will always be those who disagree and speak against a move of God, but revival must be available for all corners of God's Church – the whole house will be touched when He comes like this

Each one of us needs a personal revival - join me in praying for God's presence and reviving Spirit to fall on every soul in every Church, and every generation, in every nation!

7 Things - Revival Fire

I am taking a little detour into one of the points from last night – the verse in 2 Chron. 7:1.

When Solomon became King, he offered lavish worship to the Lord. In fact, the very first thing he did after being crowned king was to worship. He built an altar to the Lord and then just offered more and more to the Lord. Then he made bigger and bigger altars until he placed himself in the middle of the whole thing!

This would be like us passionately worshiping God and then increasing expanding our hearts (altar) so that we could give God more of our time and more of our heart to Him.

God responded to Solomon’s prayers and offerings with fire from heaven. In this scripture we are confronted with the challenge for revival. Seven aspects of revival are found in this one verse:

                                          

Prayer is the.................. preparation and provision for revival

Fire is the...................... nature and necessity of revival

Heaven is the................ origin and order of revival

To be consumed is the... cost and condition of revival

Burnt offerings are the.... fuel and focus of revival

Glory is the.................... purpose and product of revival

The whole house is the.. extent and evidence of revival

Prayer is the first foundation of revival. I don’t think there has ever been a revival in the Church that has not been preceeded by fervent, all-out, heaven-shaking prayer. Prayer makes way for the manifest presence of God.

Fire is the nature of revival. Look at the fires of God’s presence I talked about yesterday – God’s fire must touch every area of our lives – this is what revival is all about.

Heaven is where revival originates. Moses told God that if He didn’t go with  Israel into the promised land then they would not go (Exodus 33:15). We need to say the same thing – we must have God – nothing, snd no one else will satisfy.

                           

Being consumed is the cost of revival. The Lord must have all of us – just as we cry that we must have all of Him. He calls us to be living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1). Every sacrifice requires death. We are not put to death physically, but we need to pray with Paul that we would die daily to all selfishness and pride (1 Cor. 15:31).

Burnt offerings are the fuel for more and more revival – they keep the fires burning. Our offerings are our worship, surrender, and daily laying down of self.

Glory is the purpose of revival. The Lord has promised that His glory would cover the earth like the waters of the sea (Hab. 2:14). God desires to fill us with His glory and the world with us!

The whole house is the whole Church. God does not want revival fire for just a few – He invites the whole Body of Christ to experience His presence and glory in these days. We know it is revival when the power and presence of God touches churches and nations beyond our little group.

(Congratulations to the Catholic Church for the election of Pope Francis today. May he be filled with the fire, Word and wisdom of God! We need to pray for the Catholic Church – they experienced the Charismatic renewal in the 1960’s and like all of us, they need a fresh revival in these days!)  

Every one of us needs such a fire in our lives and ministries. We will remain barren and passionless without the revival fire of God burning within us.