Revival Praying – 7

Revival Praying – 7

Subject – Our Gift to Jesus – The Heart of a Servant

By Rick Welborne

Psalm 27:1-14 (NKJV)
¹  The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
²  When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.
³  Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me, In this I will be confident.
⁴  One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple.
⁵  For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.
⁶  And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
⁷  Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
⁸  When You said, "Seek My face," My heart said to You, "Your face, LORD, I will seek."
⁹  Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation.
¹⁰  When my father and my mother forsake me, Then the LORD will take care of me.
¹¹  Teach me Your way, O LORD, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
¹²  Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.
¹³  I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.
¹⁴  Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD! 

--So many of us think about and ponder what we might get for Christmas. Some are just hoping to have enough for Christmas. We are trying to help. Think about this…what gift could we give Jesus to honor Him.

--I personally believe the greatest gift we could give Jesus is the heart of a servant. Let’s look at these verses.

1.  A true servant gives Jesus their complete trust.

--A true servant of God will give Jesus his complete trust because he knows Jesus is the One Who shows him the way. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life!

--A true servant of God gives Jesus his trust because he knows Jesus is his salvation. Not a political party or earthly personality. We do not have to be afraid because we serve an Omnipotent God! All powerful!

--Those of you who trust in man. Let me give you a little history lesson. We all have heard of Herod in the NT and he is mentioned over 50 times. It is not always the same Herod. 

--Herod the Great – killed all the babies when he was tricked by the Magi. Herod Archelaus – caused the fear that made Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt. Herod Antipas – Had John the Baptist’s head removed.

--Herod Agrippa I – Had James killed and Peter arrested. Herod Agrippa II – He is last of the Herods and is the one Paul almost convinced to believe.  

--My point is this…If you are hoping to get rid of a leader you think is corrupt or obnoxious, there is always others waiting in the wings probably more corrupt than the last. Your trust has to be in King Jesus.  

--A true servant of God gives Jesus their complete trust because even when they are weak, He is there.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10 (NKJV)
⁸  Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
⁹  And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
¹⁰  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

--We quote it so much but it is time that we start living it. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. In Psalm 27 David is saying…The Lord is my Light, my Salvation, and my Strength. True servants trust completely.

Psalm 27:1-3 (NKJV)
¹  The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
²  When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.
³  Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me, In this I will be confident. 

2. A true servant is not independent but dependent on Holy Spirit. 

--Something that has always been burned in my heart for years, probably because of my love of Holy Spirit, has been in the prayer of repentance David did after his adultery and murder, what was his concern?

Psalm 51:10-12 (NKJV)
¹⁰  Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹  Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
¹²  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. 

--Please pay attention to your pastor, your sin may not have your name erased from the Book of Life (though that is a possibility – Rev.3:5 – Not blot out your name) but you can lose fellowship with Holy Spirit.

--Hear David’s cry as he confesses his sin, do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore my joy, Lord, and hold me up with your Holy Spirit.

--As a servant of the Lord, there is no worse feeling than realizing that you have grieved Holy Spirit and now He is no longer close to you. Who moved? You! Oh God, do not take your Holy Spirit from me!

--If your attitude is such that you say, as long as I make it into heaven I am good, then, you are not a true servant of God. No greater gift can you give Jesus than to walk in the Spirit.

--Without Holy Spirit, how will you know it is God’s time to pray for a lost or hurting person. How will you know God wants you to pray for healing for a brother or sister? God’s gives gifts of the Spirit as He wills.

--Even if you are sick and in the hospital how will you know that doctor or nurse is going through the toughest time of their lives and needs a Spirit-filled believer to reach out to them. 

--Though David failed God terribly, he knew the secret. Your face, Lord, I will seek. Biking at Santos, I had finished riding my 31 miles, ready to go home. I had prayed in the Spirit most of my ride.

--As I am loading my bike and putting things in my truck, I lock my keys inside. Frustrated and tired until I realized I had been set up to share Christ. While I waited on Tricia, shared Christ with several people.

--My mind gets totally blown when I hear of churches who want nothing to do with Holy Spirit. Even more, my heart is broken here when we preach, teach, and flow in the Spirit, and people still ignore Him.

--A true servant of God realizes his total dependence on Holy Spirit guiding him and flowing through him. If Jesus acknowledged Holy Spirit, how much more should we acknowledge Him?

Luke 4:18-19 (NKJV)
¹⁸  "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
¹⁹  To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." 

--When we turn to marketing strategies, technology, promotion, or any other human resource without the power of God, we are headed for death instead of life. 

Ravenhill – The Church has lost the note of authority, the secret of wisdom, and the gift of power, through persistent and willful neglect of the Holy Spirit of God. Confusion and impotence are inevitable when the wisdom and resources of the world are substituted for the presence and power of the Spirit of God.  

--Seek God’s face, seek Holy Spirit power, and pray in the Holy Spirit as much as you can every day. A servant of God will be strong because of his dependence on the Spirit.

Jude 1:20-21 (NKJV)
²⁰  But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
²¹  keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

3. A servant of the Lord is highly flammable. 

Matthew 3:11 (NKJV)
¹¹  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

--Are we available fuel to be set ablaze for God? Missionary Amy Carmichael prayed, “Make me Your fuel, Flame of God!”

Jim Elliot, martyred by the Auca Indians – God makes His ministers a flame of fire. Am I ignitable? God, deliver me from the dread asbestos of “other things.” Saturate me with the oil of Your Spirit that I may be a flame. Make me Your fuel, Flame of God!

--If you want to give Jesus the best gift ever this Christmas, let Him baptize you with Holy Spirit and fire! Be combustible for Him!