Personal Revival Rubric - Do you need revival?

I asked everyone on Sunday to join in a time of prayer and fasting. I asked everyone to pray specifically for 3 things:

1. Personal Revival

2. Church Unity

3. God's Guidance Over Our Building Decisions

You may not feel like you need a personal revival. But we are told in scripture not to trust our feelings. Jeremiah 17:9 says "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Being wrong feels the same as being right – until you know better. Instead of trusting our feelings, take a look at this list. It is an excerpt from The Battle Plan for Prayer, by the Kendrick Brothers. It is a book they wrote from the film "War Room", that they wrote and produced. Take time today or tomorrow to ask yourself these questions, and ask God to help you answer them. The key to revival, like salvation is recognizing we are sinners in need of a savior. Use this list to assess your personal state of faith.

1. Is your spiritual life joyless and apathetic?

2. Do you love and follow God as you once did?

3. Is there at least one unconfessed sin that you refuse to repent of?

4. Is there at least one person who has wronged you that you refuse to forgive?

5. Are the words of your mouth displeasing to God and dishonorable to others?

6. Are you not seeing answers to prayer or seeing God’s power in your life?”

7. Do you have time for entertainment but not for Bible study and prayer?

8. Do pride, worry, or fear stop you from obeying what God has told you to do?

9. Does your family see you behave on way at church and another way at home?

10. Do you enjoy viewing things you know are unholy and displeasing to God?

11. Are there people who have things against you but you make no effort to reconcile?

12. Is your worship casual and singing halfhearted?

13. Is your giving reluctant and calculated rather than extravagant and sacrificial?

14. Have you been begged to serve in the church?

15. Are you unresponsive to those around you that will likely die without Christ?

16. Are you blind to your spiritual condition and don’t think you need to change?

If you found yourself guilty in any of these areas, I have a simple exercise for you that will help to promote renewal in your life.

1. Recognize God for who he is. Tell him his attributes, recount his worth. He doesn't need to hear it, you do. Kind of like this, "God you are mighty, wise, loving, faithful, patient, kind, good, just, jealous", etc; you get the idea. Remind him of all the ways in your life he has been faithful, specific instances. Remember his blessings in your life and thank him for his provision.

2. Confess your sins to him; be specific. Agree with God that you are a sinner who needs forgiveness. Recognize that your unconfessed sin builds a wall between you and God and it limits your sensitivity to his voice and hardens your heart.

3. Spend time reading the Bible. The way we resist being conformed to the world is by spending time with God and reading the Bible, his love letter to us. The Bible tells us in Romans 12, his word, the Bible transforms our minds. It allows us to understand God's heart and helps us to think like he thinks and see like he sees.

Begin today to walk the path of personal revival. Allow God to remake you every day in his image.

Pastor Matt

1/10/2023