Un #4 Unlimited Power
Before Jesus went off into the wild, blue yonder (quite literally) he promised unlimited power to his disciples. This power came to them days later when the Holy Spirit rushed into their souls. The Day of Pentecost changed everything for them and for us. No longer was Jesus on the outside trying to work his way into the hearts and minds of the disciples. He was now on the inside working his way out, in their actions, evangelistic efforts and attempts to make disciples of all nations.
Jesus guaranteed his disciples "you will receive power after the Holy Spirit comes on you" in Acts 1:8. The word power comes from the Greek Word "dunamis" which is where we get our English word "dynamite." In other words it is explosive power.
The power of God exploded in and through the disciples as soon as the Holy Spirit came into their souls and pulled the pin on the gospel grenade. The shrapnel of truth pierced over 3,000 moments after the Spirit of God filled the early disciples and Peter stood up "in power" to preach the good news.
This explosive power gave the disciples the strength to endure every torture and gave them grace in their executions to die with style.
This same divine power courses through our spiritual veins and is waiting to pump our hearts and lives with explosive change. All we must do is choose to depend on his strength and not our own and things will start to blow up spiritually.
Will you yield to his strength? Will you allow the Holy Spirit to pull the pin on the inside and explode in power through every aspect of your life?
If you want revival you can’t humanly manufacture it. It must come from God’s strength working in, on and through you!
Un #5 Unquenchable Prayer
It’s hard to pin down just one passage in Acts that showed the unquenchable nature of the early disciples’ prayer lives. When the Spirit came upon them in Acts 2 they had been praying for ten days in the upper room. They continued the prayer service for 26 more chapters. Their prayers were unquenchable and faith filled. They believed in God. This same Jesus that gave them unthinkable goals would help them reach these goals as they continued to get fueled by Him through unquenchable prayer.
I love the words of the great prayer warrior George Mueller, "I live in the spirit of prayer; I pray as I walk, when I lie down and when I rise, and the answers are always coming."
It is this kind of ancient church, unrelenting prayer that we are called to participate in. I’m not talking about a prayer service that we go to once a week. I’m talking about an ongoing prayer service that we live and breathe every second of everyday. We are called by Paul in Thessalonians to "pray without ceasing." The Greek word for "without ceasing" is the same word used to describe a hacking cough. When you have a bad cold you don’t have one cough throughout the day that never stops. You have several coughing attacks throughout the day, throughout the hours of that day. It is consistent, not constant. In the same way we are to pray throughout the day. We are to pray in faith. We are to have prayer "attacks" consistently.
You want revival? There is a price to pay on your knees.
Conclusion
We have everything we need for revival. The Holy Spirit is ready, willing and able to consume the sacrifice when we, like Elijah, act in faith. Let’s live the revival that was purchased through the cross of Christ, energized through His resurrection and delivered into our hands at the moment of salvation through the Holy Spirit.
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