Powerful Prayers

well I went hiking in the snow uh over the weekend I like uh to get out on these Trails kind of out near the pomac and sometimes I'll just get out in the Hills to random places deer Trails uh it's it's where I go to work on messages uh many of a sermon has been preached to the squirrels out along the pomac before I deliver them here and uh but I was out there this weekend after all that snow when I was walking in an area I was somewhat familiar with uh but the trail was entirely gone and so so at one point I was like I know I'm trying to get to the pomac river and I know it's generally that way but I can't see the trail at all but then I saw all these uh deer prints in the snow and I was like you know I'm just going to follow these and uh see where they lead which is not necessarily always the best advice depends on where you want to go but it was fun to kind of walk them and go yeah you know what these these guys led me right to the Waterfront of the pomac and I thought you know that that'll preach there's something about that if if you're trying to find the water source you need to follow the feet of those who need that source to survive that's what you want to do right uh that you walk the trail of those who desperately desire the destination right they need it it's not just a novelty and so if I follow the feat of those in desperation I'll find the source of their desire right now why I mention that because we've been in this series called call on heaven and we've been talking about how we want to be a church that calls on heaven we want to be a prayerful people not just vaguely spiritual but people who really know God and really know what it is to be men and women transformed as a result of being in his presence and yet I know when as soon as I say that many of us go yeah I don't know how to get there I I don't know how to be in that place I don't know how to be that kind of person like been we got guides for everything guides on how to work out guides on nutrition guides on investing who will guide me into being a truly spiritual man man or a woman and we've been looking in the series at different guides that can lead us to the source of life and in the first week what we discovered was that what we'll often energize our initiative to seek the Lord is a desperation for him and we followed the footsteps of Jehoshaphat a king in the Old Testament that got to a moment of Crisis where he realized I got a problem bigger than me and my military and political Solutions are insufficient and so he was desperate enough that three times the text said he sought the Lord and that word seek means to trample he he beat a path into the presence of the Lord and we said we need to follow those footsteps that for many of us what will make us a Praying people desperation is a good motivation you get scared enough you realize the forces outside of me are bigger than what's in me desperation can lead you to do some dangerous things or it can lead you to the one who can do something about it and josaphat taught us hey seek the Lord why because he is the Lord over the Nations we come to a God who rules the kingdoms of men and women and that gives us confidence right and in the second week what we learned was hey desperation may open the door to us being a prayerful people but it's a desire for God's presence that will make us linger there and we followed the footsteps of people like David King David who said as the deer pants for the water so my soul Longs for you he says deers start to pant for water they long for it why do they long for it because that's what was to satisfy them it's what their body needs and he says my soul longs to be satisfied and many of us know what that feels like but we've been going to different places to try to get a solution we've been going to distractions and addictions successes and and all kinds of different things when we realize no my soul was made not just by him but for him and like a deer makes a trail to that water my soul is longing for the Lord who made it that I would find satisfaction in him in your presence is fullness of joy David says right and so we follow the footsteps of a god of a guy like that because we realize hey I want to enter the presence of the Lord but for many of us we we hesitate to do that because we know we're dirty we know we're Sinners and so there's a fear of being a sinful person in the presence of a holy God that's what makes a lot of people not even want to come to church right and yet what's beautiful about the gospel is we find we have a sympathetic high priest that Jesus is one who lived like us that he walked Among Us faced Temptation like us he knows what it is to be a tempted and a tried people and yet where we stumble he was Victorious but rather than lorded over us he offers Grace to forgive us I lived the perfect life you could not I died the death you deserved not to Lord it over you but to open the door to say I'm taking your sin away and I'm giving my righteousness to you I will take your penalty you get my sunship and I open the door that you can approach the throne of grace and confidence because you have a sympathetic high priest Jesus Christ opens the door and says when you come into the presence of a holy God yes there's fear of his Holiness but when you walk to that door what you meet with is friendship it's like we said last week like meeting a lion in all its terrifying power that licks your face and you go you never quite lose the fear but there's a power in knowing there's a friendship with the fear that I get to be loved I get grace extended to me By An Almighty God then I want to linger in his presence there's forgiveness there there's hope there he teaches me like a father does a child where else would I want to be that's what David discovered I'm not being forced to prayer in your presence is fullness of joy I would better is one day in your courts than a thousand days elsewhere I'd rather be a door holder in the count courts of the Lord than dwell in the tents of the wicked he says hey it's desperation that may lead you to prayer but when you really get to know God it's a desire for him that'll make you linger there and our hope is that we would be that kind of people that we love to linger in the presence of the Lord and yet let's say that happens desperation kickstarts it desire caus us to linger there some may go okay Ben but let's say we do it let's say we become a church that calls on heaven we become a Praying people what's the destination of all this what are we ultimately asking God for like what are we looking for here and what I want to do today is is follow two guides uh one from about 120 years ago and one from roughly 2,000 years ago we'll start with the 2000 and I mean the Apostle Paul because Paul will do something interesting you know we talked about guides to prayer uh Paul will use uh in all his letters he wrote to the church there'll be moments at the top of them where he'll often uh say what he's praying for the church and they're beautiful prayers they're good things to pray for yourself you can read them be like yeah me too I want that you know and they're good prayers to pray for ourselves but then often he'll end these letters uh by commanding us hey pray for us and so if you're wondering well Ben I don't know what to pray for there's verses that say pray this it's a good place to start that he's saying hey church pray these things and he's going to give us the reasons why we pray the purpose behind all our prayers the cause of our calling on heaven and what's interesting is and I read you three endings of three of his letters there's a remarkable consistency in the message and whenever you see that you should pay attention that repetition is a way to emphasize things in the Bible and so Paul will call us to some things so what I want to do in our time is I just want to briefly look at these three passages I'm going to give you three points about the purpose of prayer and then I'm going to conclude by illustrating with one story all right so to look at the three passages we'll start actually with first Thessalonians 5 I didn't read that one to you and that doesn't count as one of the three this is a jump starter okay uh 1 Thessalonians 5 Paul ended the letter to them and he just said Brothers pray for us and it's a command hey if you're in the family of God pray for us but then he doesn't tell them what to say and so in second Thessalonians he says the exact same statement Brothers pray for us but then he tells them what to pray and we get two Clauses that give us kind of the content of what we're supposed to pray uh they give us the purpose of our prayer so in second Thessalonians he says Brothers pray for us that pray is present active keep doing it persevere in seeking God on our behalf for what purpose number one he says that the word of the Lord May Speed Ahead I love that that that word speed had is literally the word run he say made the word of God run into the world that may the knowledge of the glory of God spread to every place May what we do in here fill the streets out there that's what he prays that that the message of the grace of God available through the sacrifice of Jesus would come to everybody that people could know and be transformed by a loving relationship with God pray that that message of the grace of God would run unhindered into the world and then he says and pray when it gets there that it would be honored that people would see it as precious see it is valuable so he says pray for the progress of the Gospel that's the first thing he prays for and then the second thing he prays for is hey pray for the progress of the gospel and for the protection of the people who deliver it uh that's the next Clause he says and way we be delivered from wicked and evil men for not all have faith he says pray that the good news of Jesus would spread but no when it does there'll be opposition to the expansion you'll get rejected because of your allegiance to the king it'll come for you he says it's coming so pray for the advancement of the gospel and for the protection of the people who deliver it uh it's interesting last week we talked about having a time and a place to pray you know and uh different people have different prayer moments I I had a friend who uh has a prayer Closet in their house it's a place they designated just to go pray I know some people that maybe pick a a park bench on their way to work and they go that's where I go and and sort of dump all my cares on the Lord and I leave them there and then I head on to work right that's a great thing to do for me I have a chair uh in my study and that's where I go every day and sort of meet with the Lord and pray and and uh cast my cares upon Him and so in that chair right outside of it there's there's a little statue in our backyard of St Francis of aissi uh when we bought this house there was a little statue of St Francis that came with it that was sitting right on top of the septic tank I don't know why but we we kept it there we just called him St Francis of the septic there he is right outside the door and uh several months ago my son with No Malice in his heart like threw a football I think and you know it just there was no even aiming it was just the flailing of Limbs and uh but that football hit St Francis directly in the face and uh smashed it smashed his face off which was interesting he didn't take his head off just took his face off uh it was was very disturbing to my son he was distraught that he had literally defaced St Francis um but as I go to pray every day it sits right in my field of view as a symbol and reminder to me Saints get smashed in the face you just got to know that's coming when this time's over in Jesus name amen right that's how it goes and it's not just for vocational ministers Paul said all who desire to live Godly will be persecuted you really want to be a godly man or woman there will be people that don't like God so they don't like you and so Paul says Hey pray for us be a Praying Church persevere in it to what for the progress of the gospel and protection of those who will share it that's what he prays for you see it and then he asked them to be steadfast in Christ Jesus in that Colossians passage we see a similar emphasis Colossians 4:2 it says continue steadfastly in prayer I love it it's the word devoted be devoted to prayer if you talk about someone you say they're devoted to a task what does that mean it means their mind is set on it they're fixed on it they care about it and they work to get good at it they're getting good at their job they're getting good at working out they're getting good at crafting words they're getting good at making money if I'm devoted to a craft I'm thinking about it I care about it I'm working on it and he says get good at prayer think about it develop it become somebody who works the muscles of prayer be devoted to it being watchful that that means be aware of what's happening in the world pray with the news open in front of you and with Thanksgiving remember the prayers prayed before that he answered or maybe mercifully didn't answer because prayers answered in the past will motivate prayers in the present so he says be devoted to prayer there's a perseverance there with watchfulness and Thanksgiving and then he says at the same time pray for us for what Paul that God may open to us a door for the word so he doesn't pray for them let the word run he says let a door get open for it to go through I love the metaphors pray that God would open a door and the gospel would go running out right but he says pray that God would open a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I am in prison that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak he says pray for opportunities for the gospel to go forth and pray for clarity of its Proclamation when it does I I love it because he told the Corinthians when he was on his way to Ephesus he said pray for me a wide door of effective Ministry has been opened and many oppos me and I love that conjunction he doesn't say a door of ministry was opened but many oppose me he says no a wide door was opened and many opposed me he says I got a chance to preach there and it's going to hurt but I'm going and off he goes and that's why we get a letter to the Ephesians the queen of the Epistles because Paul was faithful to run through that open door for the progress of the Gospel but he says pray for me that when I get there God would give us opportunity to proclaim the mystery which is what that Jes Jesus Christ wasn't just a messiah to one people group but to all people he's a God who wants to bring all of us into the presence of God and so pray for that opportunity and for clarity and then in Ephesians our last passage Ephesians 6 we won't do the whole armor of God it's beautiful but in verse 17 he says take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God what's beautiful about that is this idea of the helmet of salvation it's not Paul's idea he actually got it from the Old Testament from the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 59 Isaiah is talking about a particularly Wicked day and he says justice is turned back righteousness stands far away for truth has stumbled in the Public Square and uprightness cannot enter he said we are in days of such wck wickedness that truth has stumbled in the Public Square in the places where politics and policy was decided truth has stumbled people are lying to get political power can you imagine it happened centuries ago and he says an uprightness cannot be found truth is lacking and he who departs from Evil makes himself a prey the Lord saw it and it displeased him that there was no justice he says we were in a wicked day and I looked for a man who could fix it and there was no human being that could solve the amount of evil I saw but then he says he saw there was no man wondered that there was known to intercede then his own arm brought him salvation and his righteousness upheld him he put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on his head whose helmet is it it's the Lord's that he says I saw that the world was devastated in sin who will save them they can't save themselves and so what happened we know the Son of God Jesus Christ strapped up and went to war on our behalf I will fight sin I will fight death I will fight the devil what you are powerless to overcome I will I will face every Temptation and I will cast it aside I'll live the perfect life you could not and then the penalty for your sin I will bear it on the cross I will bury it and then I will rise Victorious over it so the Battle of Salvation has already been fought and so what I love about the helmet of salvation is it's not that we have to strap up and try to earn our way to heaven Jesus already fought it and then he takes the helmet off after Victory and drops it on our head like a dad does a kid says hey son keep that as a souvenir you don't have to fight to get approval of gods you already have it and so we wear that helmet as a reminder that he fought for me that I am saved I got a future I got hope why because Jesus fought on my behalf so I take up the confidence that I know I'm his and when I do that I take up the sword of the spirit which is the word of God when you pray he says have the news open in one hand Be watchful and then have the word of God open in another hand that I'm praying his Eternal Word into my current state and as I do that he says praying at all times in the spirit with all prayer and supplication and to that end keep alert with all perseverance that I'm keeping my mind engaged but even at times the spirit of God groans in Me When words can't express it and yet in the midst of that I'm offering up all kinds of prayers I'm persevering in it with supplication and he says making supplication for all the saints and also for me that words may be given to me in the opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for which I'm an ambassador in chains that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak Paul was imprisoned for preaching the gospel and what's Wild is he had death as a legitimate alternative in front of him he might die there but what he prays is not get me out of here he's like hey guys pray for me I'm in prison they may kill me pray God will give me a shot to share the gospel with them what that's pretty wild that's focused prayer that's changing of an Empire kind of prayer which here's the interesting thing if you read through second Timothy and I won't preach it now second Timothy is the last letter Paul ever wrote at the end of his life he did get to go on trial in front of Caesar himself and he said and I proclaimed the gospel before Kings and I was saved from the lion's mouth that this prayer got answered pray that God would open the door give me opportunity and pray not just for protection but pray for power that I would Proclaim boldly this message it deserves to be said with authority because it's true the grace of God is available to all who will call on his name so what's our three points how do we call in heaven we persevere in prayer don't give up labor at it linger in God's presence work at persevering in prayer that's why we call this a season of prayer and fasting consider fasting taking something out of your schedule to devote more time to prayer some of you it's taking a meal away so that rather than eat you you sit with the Lord and pray in that season uh for others of you it's hey I'm I'm G to get rid of social media or something like that I know for Don and I we we got rid of different things in our lives so we could focus more on prayer in this season and and Donna was part of that got rid of social media for me there were some media sites that I liked going to for the news and then I realized this morning hey I think they've become a real distraction for me that some of these sites I went to aren't giving me news they're giving me a lot of anger and crazy and weird stuff and stress and maybe I should devote the time I was spending reading that to prayer and then I found I didn't want to delete it I liked it I had a struggle this morning family am I going to get rid of some things to persevere in prayer I didn't want to do it I had to text two different people hey I think the Lord wants me to delete some apps that I don't want to do it give me strength and then I was like fine in Jesus name right and deleted him and uh I feel good I'll keep you informed I'll let you know how it goes but I want to persevere in prayer and get good at it and and I'm going to move some things out so I can get good at being in his presence right not because he's telling me to but because I want to I want to be that kind of person who calls on heaven so that's how we do it but why do we persevere in prayer why do we call on heaven for the progress of the Gospel that the world might know him that the glory of God would fill these streets that people who are far from God can know heaven doesn't frown on them the grave isn't their end they have a hope in a future in Jesus and we pray for protection for us as we Proclaim it because even though it's a message of Grace and love there are many who oppose it and so we pray for protection and power as we boldly tell our neighbors and co-workers and family and friends about the love of God available in Jesus Christ now normally when you give a sermon you read a scripture give a point illustrate that point apply it and then move to your second point and do that if you've noticed we've not been doing that at all I gave you all the scripture up top and then all the points here in the middle there's a way of conceiving of the sermon is kind of a mess but uh what I could do is now go through each of those points and and illustrate them let me illustrate perseverance and prayer how often Jesus uses examples and metaphors to tell us to do that how his brother James did the same and I could do that I'm not going to do it I could talk about the progress of the go goel how in the early church they prayed boldly that God would advance and and Rome itself became infiltrated with the gospel that spread so that the Roman Empire is gone and yet Christianity is still growing and expanding I'm not going to do all that I could talk about praying for the perseverance of ministers and and how even today uh a recent survey found that over 40% of ministers have seriously thought about quitting uh the ministry they're so discouraged so praying for the protection and power of God's Minister uh I'm not discouraged by the way I'm okay but uh but pray for me uh but I'm we not going to do that what I want to do is I want to close with a story uh that I think illustrates all these things together and what I want to tell you about is a story of something that happened uh roughly 120 years ago it was a a massive and mighty culture shaping movement of God in Wales that in Wales what's called an Awakening a Revival happened and it's not just that churches got bigger but it's that churches began to take seriously their called to seek the Lord and then what they did in here didn't stay in here but the culture began to change as a result of what was changing inside the people of God and so it's interesting Sam storms is a pastor today and and uh he wrote an article of of 10 things that were true of the Welsh Revival that you should know and if you went to like a Christian School you probably studied this in school but for many of you me included uh you didn't maybe grow up hearing how God moved in power in Wales I want to talk about this because I think it illustrates these points I was making of what Paul called us to pray for uh it's interesting uh Pastor Louie uh Pastor Passion City Church in Atlanta and over the passion movement uh you know before we did that conference in January with 55,000 young people from literally all over the world those of us who were going to speak on the platform and Lead worship we gathered together in Austin like two months before and uh just gathered in a living room and what we did in that living room was not um strategize the sessions well you read lead these three songs then I'll preach this text and you come up and do that there was no strategy we literally those of us who were about to lead got together and all we did was was call on heaven we we prayed we encouraged each other with testimonies of the Lord's faithfulness and and and if you're a strategist you go like well was that a economic use of time you know you go I I don't know but but we we sought the Lord together and the Lord did something in our hearts that that birthed a Unity a real lack of ego and I think had real spiritual power as we LED in that time and yet in this moment uh Pastor Louie read us this account uh that Sam storms gave of um the Revival in Wales of 1904 and what's interesting is Sam storms Begins by quoting a different Pastor from 1904 Dr G Campbell Morgan uh he was a pastor in London and he delivered a very unusual sermon also sometimes that happens uh Sam storm says to G Campbell Morgan he says contrary to his normal practice of expanding a passage of scripture he proceeded to tell his people about the remarkable things that the spirit of God was doing in Wales uh and I love this uh Sam storms describes me he says G Campbell Morgan was a perceptive man a sane and balanced and highly respected pastor and having heard of the Revival that had broken out in Wales and unwilling to accept anything on hearsay he personally traveled to Wales to observe for himself what if anything God was doing and Upon returning he said this on Christmas day in 1904 I say to you beloved without any hesitation this whole thing is of God that's a visitation in which he is making men conscious of himself what would that look like for us to call on heaven and Heaven say yes what was happening in Wales let me give you 10 things that were true of them that I pray will be true here number one he points out that the principal human agent used by God in the Welsh Revival was Evan Roberts uh Evan Roberts was born in 1878 died in 1951 worked in the coal mines at age 12 that's tough and around 13 decided this was not his career of preference uh and went into Ministry uh began to study in Ministry Evan Roberts was 26 years old when this revival broke out interesting thing in church history often when God does a powerful work in a people it often starts among the youngest among us those in their 20s uh he was 26 and what's different about him though is he had been praying for God to revive himself and his people for 13 years uh right before this revival broke out for a few months prior he records that he would get woken up at 1:00 a.m. and would just pray from 1: to 5: it was like God Was preparing him for what was about to break out among his people and so from 1 to five for for several weeks he would pray and seek the Lord it was said of Evan Roberts that he was not a brilliant speaker or preacher yet his audience were captivated by his words and so quote what is the secret of the spell he wielded over that audience is it his learning or eloquence nothing of the kind The Secret of his power is that he was quote full of faith and love and Zeal in the Holy Spirit he was simple plain and unimpressive so that God might get all the credit and the glory for what happened isn't that great the other thing that was said of Evan Roberts is that he was filled with joy uh this was a day when most people thought religion was supposed to be austere don't you dare smile in the presence of God and yet someone remarked the most striking feature of this revival was the joyousness and radiant happiness it was remarked that the essence of this movement was mirth isn't that great number two most believe the beginning of the Revival was during a prayer meeting and it wasn't some fascinating sermon That animated them they were all praying together in the midst of the praying this young woman stood stood to her feet and spoke softly with a trembling voice I love the Lord Jesus with all my heart and the Pathos and passion of her avow was like an electric shock upon the congregation and many look and say that was the moment where things began to change as they sought the Lord in prayer what was the cause of it all the third point about this revival was that most believed it was the result of earnest agonizing prayer Evan Roberts prayed daily for 13 years but there was numerous other prayer groups in whales that had prayed for years one Observer said if it be asked why the fire of God fell on whales the answer is simple fire falls where it is likely to catch and spread as one has said whales provided the necessary Tinder here were thousands of Believers unknown to each other in small towns and Villages and great cities crying to God day after day for the fire of God to fall this was not mer near a little talk with Jesus but daily agonizing intercession number four was the Revival broke out and spread without any advertisement or commercials or posters telling of the meetings that were being held there was no hype number five is that people were saved approximately 70,000 people came to Faith In Jesus in the first two months a 100,000 during the course of the Revival number six there was a noticeable absence of preaching during the Revival not because it was devalued but because great preaching had preceded and precipitated the move of the spirit One Pastor said they had heard the word but this was the time of response number seven was that what marked this revival was an intense passion for Jesus which if I can make a note I believe that's what Revival is it's interesting I'll talk to some people sometimes they're like man we're just begging God for Revival we're begging God for Revival like God is a means unto this end and he is God is the one who brings Revival but what is Revival what are we asking for an emotional experience moral discipline no if you look in the history of the church a Revival is what a Reviving of our passion for the Lord that he's the fountain from which all proceed that he is the Fountain of Living Water that he is our great joy he is our prize that what is the greatest commandment to love the Lord our god without our heart soul and mind what gets revived is our passion for the Lord and so God is the means and God is the end and what was the truth in Wales was this that there was a revived passion for Jesus not just wrote performance of religious duty but know I love this man who gave his life for me a little side note here one of my favorite preachers listen uh I listened to Growing Up would tell the story in Texas of a hail storm which are not frequent in Texas but uh there was one that came suddenly and unexpected and hail storms the size of baseballs were crashing to the ground and there were some couples that were having a picnic out in the field and uh were nowhere near cover but as these baseball-sized hails began to rain down they started to run for the tree line but realized it's too far they're not going to make it and so one of the husbands just grabbed his wife and pulled her in closeth and she recounted later that she could hear the concussive force of these hailstones hit her husband as he shielded her from the blows and then she heard the crack of the one that hit his head and yet before he lost Consciousness his last waking Act was to make sure he fell on her so he could continue to Shield her from the onslaught and then the pastor asked us what do you think her response was in the hospital when she saw those scars that he took those wounds from me that he took the hit so I might go free I think she loved those scars because the wounds were emblems of love and that's what the church is meant to be like as the bride of Christ he he presents that picture that we're like the joy of a wedding day we were at a wedding yesterday it's a joyous thing to be at a wedding two people coming together and Jesus Christ says I want to love my church like a husband loves a bride and he gave himself up for her if sin is separating you from God he who knew no sin will become sin if the wages of sin is death I will take the hit on the cross that the concussive force of the wrath of God against sin will land on me and bury me in the grave but I won't stay dead and I will take the penalty of sin away one day it's very presence away but I'll put my spirit in you that my power is dwelling in you and so Jesus Christ gives us a hope and a confidence we get to enter the throne room of God by grace and so the Christian we don't just uh adhere to religious duties we love the one who bore those pains for us those scars are precious to us right yes amen yes they are that there is a Revival of a passion for the one who gave his life for us there was also a remarkable widespread passion for singing That's number eight G Campbell Morgan said when the Welshman sings they sing the words like men who believe them isn't that great I actually mean that that's awesome number nine was an overwhelming feature or sense of God's presence One Pastor said if one was asked to describe in a word the outstanding feature of those those days one would unhesitatingly reply it was a universal inescapable sense of the presence of God the Lord had come down a sense of the Lord's presence was everywhere it pervaded they created a spiritual atmosphere setting other Eternal issues were discussed freely and unashamedly and above all a sense of the presence and Holiness of God pervaded every area of human experience at home at work in shops in public houses eternity seemed inescapable and real and number 10 there were prolonged meetings of prayer and praise people wanted to get together to seek the Lord now what was the result of this Awakening here's where I want to close these people earnestly called on heaven and God began to Kindle aresh a fire of their affections for him within the church and then whenever that happens what happens as they persevere in prayer the prayers become let what you're doing in here fill the streets out there that may the gospel of grace progress and may it go out in power what was the result in Wales it's what I'm praying will be the result here listen to this during the time of the Revival the police were left with virtually nothing to do and the courts were empty is't that amazing as God began to move in the hearts of people police officers got bored because there was no crime some of you don't even believe that's possible it happened then Lord let it happen now do we have the faith to pray like that saloons and bars shut down for lack of business public drunkenness was almost non-existent old debts many long forgotten were paid off and full traveling theatrical agencies canceled their engagements because everyone was in church this one's my favorite profanity disappeared it was said the horses everywhere were in complete confusion they had become so accustomed to responding to their Master's profane shouts and kicks and cursing virtually all of which had disappeared horses were accustomed to responding to profanity and when there wasn't any they didn't know what to plow at one rugby match a Pastor said he heard only one man cursing who thereupon repent Ed of the 40,000 present 10,000 began singing hymns relationships were healed marriages restored this last description sums it up the best it was plainly evident now to everybody that God had answered the agonizing prayer of his people and had sent a mighty spiritual upheaval a sense of the Lord's presence was everywhere his presence was felt in the homes on the street streets in the mines factories schools even the drinking saloons so great was his presence felt that even the places of amusement and carousal became places of holy awe many were the instances of men entering taverns ordering drinks then turning on their heels and leaving them untouched Wales up to this time was in the grip of football fever when tens of thousands of workingclass men thought and talked only of one thing and they gambled as a result of the games now the famous football players themselves got converted and joined the open air Street meetings to testify what glorious things the Lord had done for them many of the teams were disbanded as the players got converted and the stadiums were empty so on that Christmas day in 1904 G Campbell Morgan closed his sermon by saying this let no man hear of what happened in Wales and try to start it in his own land why because no man started it in Wales we can't produce Revival but we can pray that God would be gracious and send it in abund abundance we can persevere and pray for the progress of the gospel for the perseverance and the power of His Saints as what God Kindles in here fills the streets out there that we would be in a city that could know the grace and kindness of God through Jesus and be so changed within that it changes the way we treat each other without that we truly love our neighbor that we outdo one another in showing honor that we pray for our political Rivals can you imagine that we love one another that these streets are filled with the grace and kindness of God because we are filled with the grace and kindness of God do we believe that's possible we can't make it happen but God can't that's light work he can do that whatever he wants the question he's asking is will you persevere in praying to the god of revival can we come before him and consecrate ourselves before a God who came towards us will we move towards him believing that he will reward those who seek you

Channel: Passion City Church DC

Views: 6,790

Keywords: Passion, Passion City Church, Passion Sermons, Washington D.C., Passion D.C., christian, sixsteps, passion conference, passion, passion city church worship, passion church, passion music, worship, jesus, ben stuart, Bible Teaching, 2023 Sermon, Online Church, Faith

Id: CbGSsMSgF10

Length: 39min 19sec (2359 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 24 2024