Four Ways to Seek Renewal and Revival
Dear COAH,
As we are praying for renewal and revival both individually and as a community, here are four ways to seek and find it. Let’s call Renewal and Revival “R&R” (I know that it originally stands for “rest and relaxation”). But here, it stands for “renewal and revival”.
First, seek R&R through prayer. R&R comes through prayer; both public and private. We must cry out to the Lord as David and other psalmists show through the Psalms. With prayer comes compassion and courage to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to those who need to hear it. With prayer comes a deeper desire and hunger to love the Lord. With prayer comes the exposure of sins and the conviction to repent knowing that there is forgiveness. With prayer, we hear God speaking and can see how He answers our prayers.
If prayer is so vital for R&R, we must grow in it. Why not join us for Early Morning Prayer (EMP) on Saturdays at 7 am in the Agape Chapel. It’s an opportunity to study the Scriptures (we are going through Psalm) and spend time in personal and intercessory prayer. It is so important that God’s people pray. We have been emphasizing more prayer during our worship service as well because as we gather, we should be coming before the Lord with repentant hearts. But we also come with joyful hearts knowing that Christ paid it all and we are washed as white as snow. Therefore, we gather and pray in response to what He has done and what God may be speaking to us about during worship. We seek R&R through prayer.
Second, seek R&R through the Word. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…” (2 Tim 3:16). Whether it’s a sermon that is preached, a bible study you join, your personal Bible reading, anything that incorporates the Word of God, God is speaking to you. So then, what should our posture be when we gather for worship? Should it not be a posture of hearing and listening? Whenever you open your Bible and read it, we should be attentive to hear and listen for God to speak to us.
There is something powerful every time God’s people gather; we come to hear and listen to God. We hear Him in our singing, in the preaching, in the prayers, in our fellowship. And we listen with hearts of obedience. This year, we brought back Wednesdays in the Word. We are currently going through “An Overview of the Bible”. Starting February 12, we will be going through a 7-week study on the Christian book classic “Knowing God” by J.I. Packer. This is COAH’s Book of the Year. The hope is that by reading and discussing this book together, we will grow in knowing God and find R&R in our lives. We seek R&R through the Word.
Third, seek R&R through holiness. The verse right after 2 Tim 3:16 says, “…that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” We not only read the Word, but we obey it. We are equipped to live for God, to love Christ and follow His example, and to walk in the Spirit.
Pursuing holiness cannot happen by ourselves. It is lived out with those around us. We grow in Christlikeness as we grow in how we treat others. Are you growing in the character of God?
How are you shining the light of Christ to your family, friends, coworkers, and even strangers? How does the pursuit of holiness transform the way you care for and love others or in the way you share Christ to those who need Him? We seek and find R&R when we live a life of holiness.
Finally, seek R&R through perseverance. Being a follower of Christ is joyful and heavy. It is both exhilarating and exhausting. We need to pray that each of us would be ready to persevere. When we look at the life and ministry of Christ, we see how He persevered through all the hardships even to the point of dying on the cross for us. That’s why Jesus can tell us to “deny ourselves, pick up the cross daily, and follow Him.” (Luke 9:23). Look at Apostle Paul’s ministry (and all the other Apostles). Paul was “afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor 4:8-9).
We must always remember that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Apart from Jesus Christ, we can do nothing. We must train ourselves to be ready to give our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual lives to Christ and to one another. We must persevere through the trials as, often, it is in these moments that we can see that He is strong when we are weak.
COAH, may we seek and find R&R though prayer, the Word, the pursuit of holiness, and perseverance. Let us see how God works in each of us in bringing renewal and revival this year.
With blessings,
Pastor Tim