Preparing for Personal Revival

In preparation for the National Day of Prayer this week (May 1), our church (First Baptist Church of Kissimmee) distributed a document useful for preparing yourself for personal revival. I thought I would share it here to encourage you to work through it as well.

Steps of Action

Pray the prayer of the psalmist: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 1:39:23,24).
Be totally honest as you answer each question with a “yes” or “no”.
Agree with God about each need He reveals in your life. Confess each sin, with the willingness to make it right and forsake it.
Praise God for His cleansing and forgiveness.
Renew your mind and rebuild your life through meditation and practical application of the Word of God.
Review these questions periodically to remain sensitive to your need for ongoing revival.

1. Genuine Salvation

(Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17)

Was there ever a time in my life that I genuinely repented of my sin?
Was there ever a time in my life that I placed all my trust in Jesus Christ alone to save me?
Was there ever a time in my life that I completely surrendered to Jesus Christ as the Master and Lord of my life?

2. God’s Word

(Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day…. Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it. Psalm 119:97, 140)

Do I love to read and meditate on the Word of God?
Are my personal devotions consistent and meaningful?
Do I practically apply God’s Word to my everyday life?

3. Humility

(For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. Isaiah 57:15)

Am I quick to recognize and agree with God in confession when I have sinned?
Am I quick to admit to others when I am wrong?
Do I rejoice when others are praised and recognized and my accomplishments go unnoticed by men?
Do I esteem all others as better than myself?

4. Obedience

(Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Hebrews 13:17; And Samuel said, “Has 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 listen than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22)

Do I consistently obey what I know God wants me to do?
Do I consistently obey the human authorities God has placed over my life?

5. Pure Heart

(If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9)

Do I confess my sin by name?
Do I keep “short sin accounts” with God (confess and forsake as He convicts)?
Am I willing to give up all sin for God?

6. Clear Conscience

(So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man. Acts 24:16)

Do I consistently seek forgiveness from those I wrong or offend?
Is my conscience clear with every man? (Can I honestly say, “there is no one I have wronged or offended in any way and not gone back to them and sought their forgiveness and made it right”)?

7. Priorities

(But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Matthew 6:30)

Does my schedule reveal that God is first in my life?
Does my bank account reveal that God is first in my life?
Next to my relationship with God, is my relationship with my family my highest priority?

8. Values

(Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, Colossians 3:12)

Do I love what God loves and hate what God hates?
Do I value highly the things that please God (i.e., giving, witnessing to lost souls, studying His Word, prayer)?
Are my affections and goals fixed on eternal values?

9. Sacrifice

(But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. Philippians 3:7,8)

Am I willing to sacrifice whatever is necessary to see God move in my life and church (time, convenience, comfort, reputation, pleasure, etc.)?
Is my life characterized by genuine sacrifice for the cause of Christ?

10. Spirit Control

(But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25; And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:18-21)

Am I allowing Jesus to be Lord of every area of my life?
Am I allowing the Holy Spirit to “fill” (control) my life each day?
Is there consistent evidence of the “fruit of the Spirit” being produced in my life?

11. “First Love”

(For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Philippians 1:21-24)

Am I as much in love with Jesus as I have ever been?
Am I thrilled with Jesus; filled with His joy and peace, and making Him the continual object of my love?

12. Motives

(But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. Acts 5:29; And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28)

Am I more concerned about what God thinks about my life than about what others think?
Would I pray, read my Bible, give, and serve as much if nobody but God ever noticed?
Am I more concerned about pleasing God than I am about being accepted and appreciated by men?

13. Moral Purity

(But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. Ephesians 5:3,4)

Do I keep my mind free from books, magazines, or entertainment that could stimulate fantasizing or thoughts that are not morally pure?
Are my conversation and behavior pure and above reproach?

14. Forgiveness

(Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Colossians 3:12,13)

Do I seek to resolve conflicts in relationships as soon as possible?
Am I quick to forgive those who wrong me or hurt me?

15. Evangelism

(For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. Romans 9:3; … and [Jesus] said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. Luke 24:46-48)

Do I have a burden for lost souls?
Do I consistently witness for Christ?

16. Prayer

(First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 1 Timothy 2:1)

Am I faithful in praying for the needs of others?
Do I pray specifically, fervently, and faithfully for revival in my life, my church, and our nation?