Lord, Rend the Heavens, and Come Down... Isaiah 64 Prayer’ Role in Revival and Spiritual Awakening J. Chris Schofield, PhD

Defining the terms  Revival—Believers experiencing a restoration of fellowship with God (Psalm 85:6)  Spiritual Awakening—Large numbers of lost people becoming aware of God, His presence, their spiritual condition and need for Christ.

A Spiritual Check-up—How Are We Doing?  Decline of our Churches  Losing our Culture  Church is Blending with the Culture  What can we DO?

The Contemporary American Church and its Evangelistic Effectiveness  Clegg and Bird, Lost in America  Percentage of adults attending church is decreasing  Half of churches in America did not add one new person through conversion growth (1999)(8000 SBC churches)  Conversion rates—Lost people lose-85:1 ratio  More churches closing than being planted each year

 Conversions to other religions and dropouts increase  Christianity in the west has been declining for fifty years  Church people believe and behave like unchurched counterparts What can we do?

PRAY!  It’s time to Pray—Jeremiah 33:3  Why does Revival Tarry?—James 4:1- 10

Biblical Solutions/Principles  2 Chronicles 7:1-18  Ezekiel 37:1-14  Nehemiah 8-9  Acts 2; 4:23-33

Historical Examples  Florence, Italy ( )  Layman’s Prayer Revival ( )  Moravian Revival (1727)  Lewis Islands (1949)

Praying For Revival and Awakening  Psalm 85  R-eturn  E-yes and Ears  V-ision  I-nvolvement  V-ictory  A-cknowledge  L-ost