TREASURY OF SERMONS
Revival and Prayer
By Rev (Dr) Jeffrey Khoo
Text: 2 Chron 7:1-3, 12-14
Introduction
Revival and prayer—how do they relate to each
other? Without prayer there can be no revival. Revival begins with
prayer. I dare say that every revival in church history is a result
of prayer. If we want the Lord to draw near to us, and to pour out
His blessings upon us, what must we do? We must pray! And according
to John Calvin who was part of the revival called the Reformation,
two things are necessary in prayer: "faith and humility; by faith we
rise up to God, and by humility we lie prostrate on the ground."
This is what we learn from our text today—2 Chron 7—where the nation
of Israel experienced a revival under King Solomon because they
prayed. When a sinner prays to the Lord, He reveals His trust and
dependence on the Lord. He is saying, "Lord, I can’t help myself,
please help me." God desires such prayers of humility, and you can
be sure that God will answer such prayers positively. A sincere,
contrite, humbled heart, God will not turn away. Let’s look at how
the people of Israel humbled themselves in prayer. If we want the
Lord to hear and to heal us, we must pray:
1. Reverently
Here we find firstly the king and priests
leading in worship. Solomon prayed and offered sacrifices to the
Lord. And the Lord was well pleased with the offering. The visual
indication of this acceptance was fire from heaven which consumed
the burnt offering and sacrifices—the same way Abel’s offering of a
lamb was accepted because it was offered humbly and faithfully as
opposed to Cain whose offering of vegetables from the work of his
hands revealed his pride and rebellion.
The time to dedicate the building had come. Look
at how Solomon prayed; nothing of himself, but all of God—repeatedly
you read of his "O LORD" (vv3, 14, 16, 17, 19, 41, 42). Look at the
intensity of prayer. Solomon did not pray in the indicative mood,
but in the optative mood. If we are going to see a revival in our
lives and in the church, there must be this intense crying out to
the Lord from the depths of our heart. It is only when we mean
business with the Lord, and sincerely look up to Him that God takes
us seriously and sends a revival.
App: Do we come to church on the Lord’s day
really desiring to worship the Lord. How many of us come to church
grudgingly. "I better to go to church because if I don’t do, pastor
Jack is going to call me up and ask me why." "I don’t want him to
bother me, so I better go." "I go to church because this someone
that I like is there, I want to go to see him or her." "I go to
church because I have to." We ought to come to church because we
want to not because we have to. We ought to come to church because
of Him and nobody else. Our attention is all on the Lord. Yet, we
may be here, but are we thinking of the Olympic games on TV we are
missing? The amount of money I could have made if I had worked
today? Or a nice round of golf or tennis I could have with my
friends? When we sing, pray, and listen to the sermon, are our minds
focused or straying. How can there be revival if the Lord’s people
are treating him like a stranger?
2. Humbly
And you know that Solomon’s prayer was truly a
humble one when you read 2 Chron 6. The house of the Lord is has
been built under the leadership of Solomon. Who built the Lord’s
house? Solomon could have said, "Look at the magnificent building I
have built for the Lord with the power of my hands." But he did not.
He said in v3, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel who hath with his
hands fulfilled that which he spake with his mouth to my father
David." And in 7:3, the people "bowed themselves with their faces to
the ground . . ."
App: In any and every success in your life,
please do not say "I did it." As Christians we must be very
conscious of God’s helping hand in our lives. And when we realise
this, we will say, "Lord nothing that I have belongs to me. They all
belong to you. Show me how I can use them for your glory and
purpose." One good example of such humble service is the late Dr Tow
Siew Ai who gave practically all her substance to the Lord and she
does so quietly; nobody knows about her giving except those closest
to her. The Lord has enabled her to give to several churches in
Singapore and Australia, and especially to FEBC. In all these, she
did not crave public fanfare, or a plaque erected in her honour. But
the Lord knows, and great is her reward in heaven.
3. Obediently
"If my people, which are called by my name,
shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from
their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive
their sin, and will heal their land."
We must turn from our wicked ways, we must
repent of our sins, and do the Lord’s will and obey His commandments
if we want to experience a revival. If the Israelites wanted the
Lord to be close to them, to bless them with rain, rich harvest,
many children, peace from their neighbours, they must be obedient to
Him.
App: When we come to the Lord each Sunday, do we
come with clean hands and pure heart. Have we lived a Christlike
life during the week. Yes, we may say that we come to praise the
Lord and offer our tithes. But the Lord says, "Hath the LORD as
great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the
voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to
hearken than the fat of rams." God is not interested in how much
money we have, or how influential we are, but how much we love Him
as reflected in our obedience. There are those who are rich and
powerful, and they attend church on Sunday not to worship the Lord
but to be worshipped by the church. They have given so much, and the
pastor kowtows to him. Do you think the Lord is pleased with this.
No wonder there are so many beautiful churches but within the
churches one finds death. It is only when our hearts are right with
God that He will receive our worship.
Sometimes, we ask why are all these bad things
happening to me. Accidents, losing personal belongings, failure at
work or studies, conflict in the office, quarrellings at home,
disobedient children, etc. 9/10 times it is due to our waywardness.
We have backslided. We have not paid attention to keep our daily QT.
We forget to pray. We yield to temptation, and do not the things God
would have us do. So the Lord chastens us. He does so because He
loves us. He wants us to obey Him because it is for our own good.
Conclusion
When we lead a life that is characterised by
reverence, humility, and obedience to the Lord, there can be no
healing in our broken lives. And the first step we must take towards
living a reverent, humble, and obedient life to God is prayer. Read
7:14. Let us pray!
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