Day 6 : A Deep Work of Repentance
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord…”
- Acts 3:19 (NIV)“…without holiness no one will see the Lord.”
- Hebrews 12:14b (NIV)
If we truly want to see the presence of the Lord flood our hearts, families, communities and nation, we must prepare the way for the refreshing waters to come! As these scriptures clearly tell us, His outpouring and His presence being revealed first depend on these conditions: repentance and holiness.
John the Baptist came to prepare the way of the Lord. His message and his baptism were both of repentance. People from the entire region began coming out to confess their sins and to be baptized as a sign of their repentance. He called them not only to confess, but also to turn from their sins, bearing fruit in keeping with repentance. (Matt. 3:2-3, 5-6, 8) This heart preparation allowed for the ministry of Jesus to be revealed and for heaven to draw near to an entire people!
Frank Bartleman of the Azusa Street Revival said this: “The depth of any revival will be determined exactly by the spirit of repentance it obtains.”
Indeed, there cannot be a lasting move of God without a deep work of repentance among us. When the great revival came upon Wales in 1904, over 100,000 souls were brought into the kingdom in this mighty outpouring of the Spirit!
Leading up to the Welsh Revival, Evan Roberts delivered a message regarding the four conditions for receiving the Holy Spirit that became a catalyst in and throughout this outpouring:
1. We must confess before God every sin in our past life that has not been confessed.
2. We must remove anything that is doubtful in our lives.
There may be areas in our lives that might not be considered “sin” in terms of a specific command in the Scriptures, yet they may be hindrances in our ability to remain abiding in the presence, heart and mind of the Lord! There may be areas we do not sense a full peace on within our lives, that God desires to address and remove from our lives. As Romans 14:23b tells us, “Whatever is not from faith is sin [whatever is done with doubt is sinful].” (AMP)
Susanna Wesley, the mother of John Wesley, shares powerful insight into how to identify these areas of our lives: “Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off the relish of spiritual things: in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.” 1
3. Total Surrender. We must say and do all that the Spirit tells us.
4. Make a public confession of Christ. 2
Are we ready to prepare the way of the Lord? For without repentance, there will be no times of refreshing. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord!
PRAYER
Ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind the things that He wants to address in our hearts. Are there any sins from the past life that have not been confessed and put away? Is there anything that we have not fully forsaken, or that we have gone back to from our old life?
Is there anything doubtful in our lives – any mindsets, habits or ways of living that may not overtly be sinful, but is hindering us from wholehearted pursuit and love for Jesus? Is there anything that weighs down our spirit or hinders our ability to hear His voice, abide in His presence or walk in obedience to His words? Anything that keeps us from finding our full satisfaction, enjoyment and fulfillment in Him?
Have we been obedient to do all the Holy Spirit has asked us to do? Is there anything we have left undone, that we’ve not taken action on? Remember that “partial obedience” is not obedience; it is actually disobedience! Let us confess those things, and take practical action steps today to begin to walk out obedience before the Lord!
Have we been afraid to publicly confess or proclaim the testimonies, works and words of Jesus to our friends, family or others? Let us confess any fear of man or seeking the praise of man, which has hindered us from allowing His life to flow freely in and through us!
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[Excerpted from 21 Days of Prayer for Colleges and Universities by Chris Ngai and BridgeBuilders International, (c) 2021 by BridgeBuilders International, pp 18-19. Used with permission. Slightly edited.]
[Citation:
1. Adam Clarke, Memoirs of the Wesley Family; collected principally from original documents (New York: Published by N. Bangs and T. Mason, for the Methodist Episcopal church, 1824), p. 222. In a letter from Susanna Wesley to her son, John Wesley, written Jan. 8, 1725.
2. D. M. Phillips, Evan Roberts, The Great Welsh Revivalist and His Work, Fifth Edition (London: Marshall Brothers, 1906), p. 225.]