Message Notes
Prayer and Revival
Today's Songs:
Here as in Heaven - Elevation Worship
Place of Freedom - Highlands Worship
Before the Throne of God Above - Shane & Shane
Boldly I Approach (The Art of Celebration) - Rend Collective
Unashamed - Starfield
Remember, you can find all the songs from this week and previous weeks in a publicly shared, accumulating playlist on Google Play and in weekly playlists on YouTube (like this one).
Summary: Prayer and Fasting are essential elements of revival as displayed by Ezra proclaiming a three day prayer and fast prior to embarking for Jerusalem.
Key Scripture (Ezra 8:21-23): 21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. 22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” 23 So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.
God is sovereign over all to include events of life and the willing choices of moral agents (humans).
Jesus taught us how to pray at the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 6)
Why do we pray? (Mt. 6, James 4:2, Luke 11:9-10, Ex 32:12,14)
When do we pray? (Colossians 4:2, 1 Th. 5:16, Neh. 2:4)
Where do we pray? (Mt. 6)
How do we pray, in what manner? (Hebrews 4:16, 10:22, John 14:13-14, Mt. 21:22, James 1:6, Psalm 66:18, Proverbs 15:8)
What do we pray?
- Focus area. (Mt. 6:10)
- We ought to pray the will of God meaning we have to know the will of God (John 15:7) and understand the will of God vs. the decree of God.
- We ought to pray the will of God explicitly and for those areas that are not directly covered in Scripture, implicitly, applying the principles of Scripture and the character of God to whichever situation.
The end state is that we are changed, conformed, and molded further into His image.
