By Aileen Khoo
How do we posture ourselves for revival?
When Elijah issued that challenge to the prophets of Baal, the first thing that he said to all the people was, “Come near to me.”
1. Come near to the Lord.
The first thing we must do to prepare ourselves for revival is to come near to the Lord. You cannot do this by standing from afar, you have to come near.
I remember an encounter I had several years ago during the time of worship at one of our weekend services in the auditorium. The presence of God was very heavy. I had a vivid impression of the Lord standing a few steps behind me, He was completely ablaze. The Scripture in Hebrews chapter 12 came to me – “for our God is a consuming fire”. The Lord stretched out His hands and said this, “If I am an all-consuming fire, anyone who comes near enough cannot help but burn for Me.” I realised that many times we are afraid or for some reason, we fail to come near enough to burn. We fail to draw near enough. We are happy to watch from afar like the children of Israel who sent Moses as their representative to go up the mountain because they were afraid.
If I am an all-consuming fire, anyone who comes near enough cannot help but burn for Me.
There was an instance when I was just praying and the Lord asked me to lift up my hands. I responded and said “I can’t because they are empty.” The Lord said, “Precisely why, I want to fill you.” Will you let him fill you today?
When the prophet Elijah set up the altar and repaired it, it was for the purpose of worship. The first mention of worship in the Bible was when Abraham was willing to lay down Isaac as a sacrifice to the Lord. There was a surrender.
2. We need to repair & Rebuild the broken altars.
When the prophet Elijah set up the altar and repaired it, it was for the purpose of worship. The first mention of worship in the Bible was when Abraham was willing to lay down Isaac as a sacrifice to the Lord. There was a surrender.
I will be sharing a very personal journey that I just went through recently.
One of my children applied to a school through the Direct Schools Admission (DSA) exercise. My child had a strong gift in a particular sport, and the coach had approached us to go through the selection process. Within a day of the admission interview, all the candidates who applied for a place in the school had received an offer letter, except for my child.
There may be times when God requires us to lay down something that means everything to us on the altar. If we allow Him to search us, we may find hidden idols that have taken His place in our hearts.
As the days passed, the level of anxiety increased, eventually giving way to an anticipation for a formal letter or notification of rejection so our family could move on.
Often times, we come to the Lord with the perspective that if a door is open then it must be of God, and if the door is closed then He must be saying “No”. Whichever way it turns out, we tell ourselves that God is in charge. But we often lack a personal witness in our heart with regard to how the Lord perceives the situation and what His thoughts are regarding the outcome.
I wanted to hear God speak. I wanted to know what His plans and purposes were for my child. I was reminded that many years ago, this was the same school I had wanted to enter as a student, but my grades fell short. Was this an unfulfilled dream that I was now hoping would be fulfilled through my children? Whether or not it was, I surrendered to the Lord. I do not want to raise my children in the shadow of an unfulfilled dream.
It can be unnerving when God does not speak as we are going through situations as these.
If we are to posture ourselves for revival, and we do not want God to pass us by, we need to have a sincere heart.
By the end of the week, we were almost certain the application had been unsuccessful. I thought of how the sting of rejection might remain in the years to come. But I was reminded of the word that the Lord gave to me more than 10 years ago, “Death has no sting.”
After a full week of waiting, the Holy Spirit spoke for the first time. On the morning of the seventh day, He said, “It is done”. While having lunch with a friend that day, I received a call that the application has been successful.
There may be times when God requires us to lay down something that means everything to us on the altar. If we allow Him to search us, we may find hidden idols that have taken His place in our hearts. I am not sure if there was indeed an unfulfilled dream in my heart. But if there was, I am so relieved to have finally laid it at the altar. It is not about the school or whether the application was accepted or rejected. This episode surfaced issues in my heart that needed a fresh surrender. I am not satisfied with religion from afar. And I want to rebuild the broken altars in my life and come back to worship.
The best result from this incident is the response I got from my child, “It is not me; it is God.”
What sacrifice are you bringing to the altar? Empty altars will not attract fire.
If we are to posture ourselves for revival, and we do not want God to pass us by, we need to have a sincere heart. We need to come to the Lord and say “Lord, search me, try me and see if there is any wicked way in me.”
When we allow Him to restore the altars of our hearts, the next thing the Lord will ask us is, “What sacrifice are you bringing to the altar?” Empty altars will not attract fire.
What is your sacrifice every morning? What are you offering to the Lord?
Is He putting His finger on something in your life? Is there an Isaac in your heart that the Lord is putting His finger on?
May the altars of our hearts burn brightly for Him. Let’s posture ourselves for the coming revival.
To return to part I of The Posture for Revival, click here.
This article is adapted from a sermon preached at CSCC.