Sermon Tone Analysis

I lived in the desert for 13 years.

I remember when we would approach the end of June into mid July.

The temps had been up near 110 degrees and beyond for weeks.

You could look over the city, desert, or parks and see the tiredness of the leaves, the trees would droop, color seemed to lighten out of the green.

Dust would blow with a hot breeze and your skin would feel like it was baking just by stepping out the door for a brief moment.

You would begin longing for the monsoons to come, they would cool things off to around 101 or 102.

The humidity would have to rise after being down at a low 1-3% to 3 days over 55% before the storms could break.

That could take a while because of the severity of the heat and drout like conditions.

Then that first lighting strike, the flashes, the clouds rolling in and the torrential down pours of rain would flood the streets, rush over the plants and trees.

Often the first rains would hit such HARDENED ground it just rolled right over it without any absorption.

After a few days of this happening everyday, it would finally begin to soak in a little, and the air would smell fresher, the trees looked greener, and things perked up.

The monsoons had arrived!

With those monsoons were the refreshment of the desert!

Even the worst of deserts need to be refreshed!!!

So is the same with the people of God.

Many treat their spiritual condition like a desert - barely sending water and refreshment and yet expecting abundance and life to thrive!

Others will run from yard to yard (church to church) trying to find a church where it is raining to get a quick wet down, and then they go back out to live in drought like conditions.

When we have been in the desert - we often need a deep saturation to come back to life spiritually.

When we have found the passion for Christ, the lack of time in worship or prayer and absence of God’s Word we realize we are barely eeking by.

It is like having a garden and saying I will water it once a month in the midst of a Colorado summer!

When we get into this position we realize -

1.

I NEED A PERSONAL REVIVAL in my LIFE!!!

A. I need to be REVITALIZED!!!!!

Not, I need to attend a REVIVAL where I can experience the presence of God for a few moments, but a PERSONAL REVIVAL - a return to releasing the FOUNTAIN OF LIFE - THE SPIRIT OF GOD - to flow in and out of my life!!!

Revival means:

To restore consciousness or life

To restore from a depressed or inactive state

To renew the mind or memory

DO you need a REVIVAL - a personal one?

We can wait around to see if some evangelist comes by with a tent, or jump to special speakers, but what God really wants is to bring a personal revival into your life!!!

One where you are tapped into the streams of living water, and are transformed not for a moment, but for a life time!

To restore spiritual activity to our spirit man.

We can blame everything around us for why we do not see or experience revival, but in reality, if we don’t have it - we need to look within.

CHALK REVIVAL is just a phrase to describe taking a piece of chalk, drawing a circle around yourself and asking God to bring a revival to the person within the circle!

We have not because we ask not!

We lack renewal and refreshing because we don’t seek it, we don’t ask for it!

Passion and fervor for the Lord can be yours.

You can see it happen again in your life, or if you have never experienced personal revival - you can for the first time!

B. Revival is Pictured in the Bible and for today

Get rid of the notion that a revival is a style of service with an evangelist with a white suit screaming at the top of his lungs in a southern accent to whoop up the people!

Revival/ being revitalized has been a cry of God’s people for His involvement in their lives personally!

It is not a church revival, but a personal revival, and when we have it personally - it will also occur in the church when we come together - it can’t help but show itself in believer’s lives.

We need to let God get a hold of our lives, inside and out! and pour in a fresh anointing of His Holy Spirit to revive our spirit man.

Churches spend so much effort recruiting workers, volunteers, finding funding, but what we need is for the Lord to get a hold of our lives and the rest will happen!

SO, I am going to spend the next few weeks talking about 7 prayers for a PERSONAL REVIVAL!

Draw that chalk line around yourself, and say, Lord - start this revival within this circle, and brace yourself for what God wants to do.

You see, my vision for our church is to see a group of believers not just faithful to the Lord, and the church’s mission, but who are empowered in their lives on a DAILY BASIS, and wherever you may go your light will shine, and when you pray for others, the power of God will heal, deliver, restore, speak, and

That the gifts of the Spirit would move through each person each day of the week… and outside of this building!

2. Prayer Begins with Humility

Prayer for Revitalization in our Lives, Church and Nation begins with HUMILITY!!!!

You might want to say that a CHALK REVIVAL is an

iREVIVAL ---

unlike the popular iPHONE, iPad and iPod where it is all about ourselves,

iREVIVAL

has a SMALL i

In order for revival to happen, we have to hunger and thirst for it!!!

We don’t hunger and thirst for anything when we are full of ourselves and meeting our needs through other mediums because we have control over them!

That’s right, we fill up on what this world has to offer!!!

We can control much of what we get in this life - therefore we get what we can get our hands on without having to ask for it...

Its like your stranded at home, and there is no food in the house but some TWINKIES — you know your spouse is out and you can ask them to stop for something good to eat, but you just decide to go for the TWINKIES...

TWINKIES may not be evil, or maybe they are --- but it is more about having control over what you can lay your hands on --- and not being willing to ask or wait...

So we feast on the things of the world - something sinful and somethings not sinful --

NEVERTHELESS - they are accessible and within our control, and we do not have to ASK FOR THEM...

Ask and you shall RECEIVE ---

Asking requires humility!

Asking requires acknowledgment of need!

That humility is necessary for a REVITALIZATION of our SPIRIT MAN!

God is HIGH and LIFTED UP — He is the CAPITAL I

We are the humble - the little i

We need to come off the thrones of our lives and surrender to the Lord and humble ourselves before HIM.

We say we need Jesus and that we want HIS intervention in our lives, but we need to HUMBLES OURSELVES and ask that HE WOULD REVIVE US!

No REVIVAL, PERSONAL OR CORPORATE will ever take place without HUMILITY!

Think about this ---

PRIDE was LUCIFER’s SIN!!!

Pride in his own ability is what caused him to REBEL against God and be cast out of heaven!

Of course he wants your life to swell with pride and self sufficiency, because it is his way of deceiving you as he deceived himself to rebel against God and do things YOUR WAY instead of GOD’s WAY!

When will we acknowledge our NEED OF GOD!

Ya know - things grow FAST in the desert because of the sun IF you give them water!

In and of itself - the desert is barren even though it has the ability to grow things fast and year round… because it lacks the necessary ingredient of water.

You cannot grow yourself spiritually - you have the tools to tap into the water source, and you must do that - but without the LIVING WATER that the Lord supplies you will exist in a barren state!

Lord, revitalize our lives!!! Revitalize ME - I NEED YOU!

Recognize YOU NEED HIM to thrive and grow!

3. Lord, Heal My Land

Revival will not come to us personally if we are not willing to pray for our land!!

What is our land?

Our nation

Our state

Our city

Our Church

God has called YOU AND I to pray for our land - our community, state and nation.

He did not call us to boycotts and political positions, but to PRAY!

Boycotts and POLITICAL positions (which we all have opinions about) our about OUR CONTROL not about HIS INTERVENTION!

57.15

We spend so much time COMPLAINING about everything around us that we refuse to pray --- however these complaints change nothing.

Do you know that companies now train people to hear complaints while ignoring them at the same time!

We cannot ignore this vital part of Scripture.

Complaining is actually a POINT OF PRIDE!

We complain, because we think we know what is best or right and that someone else is wrong!

A complaining heart is actually opposite a CONTRITE heart!

OK, when Israel was dedicating the Temple of God it was glorious.

The PHYSICAL PRESENCE of GOD came and filled the TEMPLE - they saw a thick cloud descend upon the TEMPLE with awe and the Lord gave this warning...