這幾天，我們都在探討一個關於復興的題目：復興是始於神的主權。今天，讓我們繼續來思想：若復興是神主權的行動（事實是如此），這是否表示神的子民沒有任何角色需要扮演？我的答案絕對是「否」。復興是神主權的行動，意思是祂按自己意願的時間及地點賜下復興，但從研究過去的復興，包括聖經及教會歷史，都顯示復興是在神百姓廣泛的禱告後發生的。

我們今天所讀的經文提到一個很主要的條件，那就是：「我名下的子民，若……禱告……」。有一次，有人向復興領袖羅伯斯（Evan Roberts）問及復興的秘訣，他說：「沒有秘訣，只要祈求，你就必得著。」著名的聖經註釋者亨利（Matthew Henry）寫了很多關於這一點的論述，並以一句有力的話作總結：「神想要向祂的百姓大施憐憫時，祂第一件要做的事就是令他們禱告。」只有神才能燃起復興的火焰，但祂的百姓那熱切及毫不猶豫的禱告，則是復興力量流入教會的橋樑。

我們必須明白，神的主權不是在復興中唯一發揮作用的，愛也同時在發揮作用。我們是與一位既恩慈、又無所不能的神交往。當我們看見復興一個更廣闊的意義──愛的意義時，我們就會明白神為甚麼要在復興前，觸動祂的子民的心，促使他們為復興作出充滿力量的禱告。神就是喜愛祂的兒女共同參與實現祂的旨意。

「神是一位既恩慈、又無所不能的神」

進深研究
約十五1-17；耶二十九13；可十一24；約壹三21-22

1. 我們甚麼時候可以為自己的意願祈求？
2. 禱告蒙應允其中的一個條件是甚麼？

祈禱
天父啊！我感謝您，因您不單是一位聆聽禱告的神，也是一位樂意回應禱告的神。求您讓聖靈引領我們禱告，使我們可以正確地禱告，從而協助建立您的國度。奉耶穌的名祈求，阿們。

Heaven-Sent Revival

Day 340

The wider context of revival

"...if my people...will humble themselves and pray...then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin..." (v.14)

Bible reading:
2 Chronicles 7:12-22

12 the Lord appeared to him at night and said: "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.

13 "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people,

14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.

16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

17 "As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws,

18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, 'You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.'

19 "But if you[a] turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you[b] and go off to serve other gods and worship them,

20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.

21 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All[c] who pass by will be appalled and say, 'Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?'

22 People will answer, 'Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.'"

Message

We continue meditating on the question: If revival is a sovereign act of God (and it is), does this mean that the people of God have no part to play in it? My answer to that question is a categorical "No". Revival is a sovereign act of God in the sense that He sends it where and when He wills, but a study of revivals of the past, both in Scripture and in the history of the Church, shows that revival always follows the prevailing prayers of God's people.

The central condition of the verse before us today is, "if my people...pray...". When Evan Roberts was asked the secret of revival he said: "There is no secret: ask and you shall receive" Matthew Henry, the renowned Bible commentator, wrote a good deal about this particular point and summed it up in this powerful statement: "When God intends a great mercy for His people, the first thing He does is set them a-praying." God is the only one who can produce revival, but the fervent believing intercession of His people is the ramp over which it flows into the Church.

It must be recognised that sovereignty is not the only thing at work in revival - love is also at work. We are dealing with a God who is beneficent as well as omnipotent. Once we see revival in this wider context - the context of love - we begin to understand why God inspires strong intercessory prayer in the hearts of His people prior to revival. He just loves His children to be involved with Him in bringing about His purposes.

"God is beneficent as well as omnipotent"

Prayer
O Father, I am grateful that You are a God who not only hears our prayers but delights to respond to them. Cause our prayers to be Spirit-inspired that we may pray aright and help build Your Kingdom. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

Further study
John 15:1-17
Jeremiah. 29:13
Mark 11:241
John 3:21-22

1. When can we ask for whatever we want?
2. What is one of the conditions of answered prayer?

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