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In this sermon, Pastor Aaron Shamp discusses the importance of bold prayer for spiritual renewal. He draws from the story of Moses in Exodus 33 to highlight the themes of dependence, desire, revelation, presence, and power in prayer. He emphasizes the need for repentance, intentionality, consistency, and boldness in our prayers. Pastor Aaron encourages listeners to pray with confidence, knowing that through Christ, we have access to the throne of grace and can boldly approach God for spiritual renewal.
Takeaways
Takeaways
- Prayer is essential for spiritual renewal and revival.
- We pray out of dependence on God and desire for Him.
- Revival prayer is repentant, intentional, consistent, and bold.
- Through Christ, we have access to the throne of grace and can boldly approach God for spiritual renewal.
Creators & Guests
What is Redeemer City Church - Lafayette, LA?
Pastor Aaron Shamp preaches about the Gospel and facets of Christianity at Redeemer City Church. These podcasts are his sermons.
Aaron Shamp (00:12.312)
First, just wanted to start off just to thank all of the guys that were able to come out this weekend for our foundry event. We did some cleanup at Christ Church Academy and it was just a blessing to be able to go out there and help them get ready for their school year. You know, that's where our where this church was planted at. So it's just really, really good to give back to them and.
We'd love to do it again eventually next year. But with Foundry being wrapped up, this weekend, actually this Saturday, our women's ministry rooted is actually you're going to be going on an escape room.
The one on Johnston across from Pizzartista. The sign up sheet is in the front. So all the ladies, y 'all are more welcome. Y 'all are welcome to go show up, have some fun, solve some mysteries. And it's all the cost is paid for. So y 'all don't have to worry about any payments or anything. Just sign up, show up, and have a good time. And our next big event is our church -wide service event on September 14th. We're gonna be serving kind of similar to what we did with the Foundry Group. We're gonna be helping Live Oak Elementary get ready for their school year.
specifically our very own Megan Repon. We're helping her get everything set up for school and as a former band kid, know, gotta make sure the band room's looking right. The sign up for that is actually gonna be on Facebook. We're partnering with...
can't remember the name of the organization we're partnering with, but we're partnering with someone else to go do it. We posted on our Facebook, sign up for the September 17th. I think there's a bunch of different jobs available. Just sign up and they'll assign us once we get there to go do whatever we need to do. And then with that, just make sure you follow us on our social media, Facebook, Instagram, keep up to date with things that we have going on.
Aaron Shamp (01:52.812)
So before Aaron comes up to give us the word, just turn to your neighbor, tell somebody, you know, hello, that you're glad they're here, and just tell them you love them.
Aaron Shamp (02:33.074)
Well, good morning, everyone. Great to see you guys at Redeemer City Church this morning, whether this is your first time here with us or one of our members, regular attenders, it is a joy and a privilege to worship along with you guys over here at Redeemer this morning.
You know, this morning I was excited because I was like, I'm gonna dress up a little bit better for church today, like wear a button down shirt. And even when I was walking out the door, Leila said, you look handsome today. I said, thank you. But you know, I didn't know that I was gonna have to be following Troy in the leopard shirt. And so now I'm not feeling so good about myself as I was before. But no, we love Troy, right? And just like all of our other deacons who doing an amazing job.
doing ministry over here at Redeemer. We appreciate them so much. So we are continuing in our series that we started last week, which is called Filled With Awe. In this series, we are learning about spiritual renewal because we are pursuing spiritual renewal as a church for ourselves and also for our community. We are planning on, well, we're not planning on, we're preparing for a night of worship event that we're gonna be doing on September 28th called Renew. Renew night of worship.
is gonna be on September 28th. That's the last Saturday of September. It's gonna be from six to eight that evening and we are super excited for it. We're putting a lot into this event. We're gonna have several guest worship leaders coming in, some familiar faces to you guys as well as some new faces. We're gonna have our music people here but along with some guest worship leaders, guest musicians. They're gonna be coming in from across Louisiana as well as out of state. And so it's gonna be an awesome
night of worship, we're gonna have childcare, so parents, just know that you'll be able to come and bring your kids and your kids will be well taken care of. We're hiring some trustworthy, professional childcare workers who are gonna be doing that. so we're just thrilled and we hope that this is a night of worship event that blesses not only our congregation, but also some new folks that God brings in and that you guys invite and bring in as well. So leading up to that series, we are
Aaron Shamp (04:48.064)
and because we are praying for, and it's our vision that God would move mighty on that evening and also in the weeks following, we're doing a few things to prepare. First of all, we have some special prayer meetings that are happening every Sunday morning from now until renew. And so if you wanna join one of our renewed prayer meetings, then let me encourage you to put your name on the sheet in the back. You can sign up for a week. Just look at your calendar for the next month or so.
and just figure out where is there, maybe you're not a morning person, but where is there one week that I can get here just a little bit earlier and spend some time with my fellow church members in prayer for renew. You only have to get here at 9 .15, the prayer meeting is from, I'm sorry, 9 .45. The prayer meeting is from 9 .45 to 10 .15. So plan a week, even if it's just one week, where you can come and join us in prayer. And of course, it can be more than one week. You can come with us every Sunday if you want to, okay.
So we're doing that and then we're also doing this series called Filled With All where we're learning about spiritual renewal. Am I still on? Okay. I was very loud. Okay, so now I'm normal. All right, good. Just making sure. All righty, so we're gonna be in Exodus chapter 33 this morning. So if you have your Bible with you, you can open it up to Exodus 33.
If you don't have your Bible or you are having a hard time finding that passage, it's okay because I'll read it clearly and we'll also have the passage on the screens next to me so you can follow along there. But we're gonna be in Exodus chapter 33 this morning.
Aaron Shamp (06:40.622)
So today we're gonna be looking at Exodus chapter 33, and I'm gonna be reading verses 12 through 23, once everybody gets there. So I'll give you just a moment. And I'll read this passage and we'll jump in.
Aaron Shamp (07:03.63)
All right, well, if we're all there and ready, let's go ahead and jump in here. And if you weren't able to find it, it's okay, I'm gonna read it and we'll have the words up there. In Exodus chapter 33 and starting in verse 12, Moses said to the Lord, look, you have told me, lead this people up, but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You said, I know you by name and you have also found favor with me.
Now if I have indeed found favor with you, please teach me your ways and I will know you so that I may find favor with you. Now consider that this nation is your people." And he replied, my presence will go with you and I will give you rest. If your presence does not go, Moses responded to him, don't make us go up from here. How will it be known that I and your people have found favor with you unless you go with us?
I and your people will be distinguished by this from all the other people on the face of the earth." The Lord answered Moses, I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor with me and I know you by name. Then Moses said, please let me see your glory. He said, I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you and I will proclaim the name the Lord before you.
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But he added, you cannot see my face for humans cannot see me and live. The Lord said, here's a place near me. You are to stand on the rock. And when my glory passes by, I will put you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take my hand away and you will see my back, but my face will not be seen.
So we are doing a series on spiritual renewal and we started last week by looking at Acts chapter 2.
Aaron Shamp (09:09.358)
which was the story of the day of Pentecost where all of the followers of Jesus after his ascension were still in the upper room praying, waiting for God to send the Holy Spirit down on them. He sends the Spirit. It causes a little bit of an uproar in Jerusalem, which was during a major festival. And Peter goes out and he preaches the gospel for the first time. And it says that 3 ,000 people were saved that day. And then we get a description of what the first Christian church looked like.
and it gave us four descriptions of what that church looked like and what they were devoted to. It says they were devoted to four things and one of those things that they were devoted to was prayer. And so that's what we're gonna be looking at today and we're gonna be looking at it through the story of Exodus chapter 33 here. But bold prayer is a key feature in renewal and in revivals.
We see back during the first great awakening in England and in the colonies in the late 1730s and early 1740s, we had this revival that spread called the first great awakening. And George Whitfield was one of the primary preachers leading in that revival.
George Whitfield was originally preaching down in the southern colonies, but then he went up into the northern ones and went on some preaching tours and Massive crowds would come out and the gospel was powerful. It was effective the spirit moved and Brought about incredible change change that was not something that was just like, you know their worship services got better But change that actually brought about differences in their cities in their communities There's another guy who was around during this time and he was actually
friends with George Whitfield, a name you may be familiar with, his name was Benjamin Franklin.
Aaron Shamp (11:01.356)
Benjamin Franklin was in Philadelphia during the time of the first grade awakening. He saw and heard many of Whitefield's sermons. Him and Whitefield were actually friends. Even though Franklin never came, as far as we know, never came to fully accept the gospel and follow Christ as his Lord and Savior, he observed, he was friends with Whitefield, he respected Whitefield, and he observed the effect of Whitefield's preaching and of the first grade awakening in Philadelphia. And he wrote this. He said, it was wonderful.
to see the change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seemed as if all the world were growing religious. So that, and listen to this, he says, so that one could not walk through the town in an evening.
without hearing Psalms sung in different families of every street. Can you imagine that? Walking around at night and you can't pass a home where people aren't singing Psalm, where families aren't singing Psalms together, where families aren't worshiping together, where people are not praying. Can you imagine that for a moment? Now let me ask you this, is our vision for Lafayette anything less than that?
Aaron Shamp (12:16.226)
Don't we desire the same? Don't we desire that the gospel would be so effective, that the spirit would move so mightily, that we could also be filled in a city where you can walk and see and hear people praising God, singing psalms, praying together, reading scripture with one another, encouraging one another in scripture. Is not our vision for life yet the same? And so if it is the same, we need spiritual renewal.
And as we see in Acts, as we see in many other places in the New Testament, prayer is essential to spiritual renewal. And that's what we're looking at today, devotion to bold prayer. We're look at three things. We're gonna look at first, why we pray. Why do we have to pray for spiritual renewal? Secondly, what we pray for and then how we do it. We'll get really practical at the end. So we're gonna talk about the why, the what and the how of prayer here. Just to reference back to Acts chapter two.
And at chapter two, if you remember, you can go back and read it later this afternoon. Jesus is, after his resurrection, he spends several weeks with his disciples, continuing to teach them and disciple them before his ascension. But at his ascension, one of the last things that he tells them is to remain in the city, he's talking about Jerusalem, to remain in the city and to pray until the Holy Spirit comes upon them. He ascends.
and then they go and that's what they do. They devote themselves to prayer. And seven days later, the Spirit comes. So it wasn't a short prayer meeting, but for seven days, for a week, they continued to devote themselves to prayer, waiting on the Lord, but they were consistent.
The Spirit comes and moves, He moves through the preaching of the gospel. 3000 people are saved and it just brings about this incredible movement in Jerusalem. And then right after that, what do we read? We read that all of these new believers were together, they were devoted to the teaching, fellowship, worship, and they were devoted to prayer. What I wanna point out here is that,
Aaron Shamp (14:22.252)
the day of Pentecost, the birth of the Christian church, one of the most incredible movements of God's spirit that we can read about in scripture was preceded by prayer and then it was followed by prayer. Prayer is essential for spiritual renewal, so we need to understand the why. Why is it so essential for spiritual renewal? Here's our first big point. We pray for spiritual renewal out of dependence and desire.
That's the why. We pray for spiritual renewal out of dependence and desire. Let me break that down. First, we pray, our prayers flow from our dependence on God. The reason that we have to pray for spiritual renewal is because we pray out of a dependence on the Lord. We talked last week about how what true revival is, is it's not necessarily seeking.
signs and wonders though the Lord can bring those things about is not necessarily seeking anything that is outside of the ordinary experience of the Christian life or what the church is. Instead, it's a pursuing of all those things that we always desire such as gospel preaching, such as deep fellowship, spirit -filled worship and so on, but it's those things at a magnified degree is what we desire, right?
But so often what happens is our expectations and our goals for what we desire to see in our church and community shrink down to the size of only what we can do. And if our goals and our vision is within the realm of what we can do, that is not revival. Revival and spiritual renewal are the things that happen whenever God moves. We distinguish it this way, renew, right?
the event that we have coming up on September 28th, our worship event, is not a revival. It is an event that we can put on. We can put on events, but revival is something that is done to us. So we can put on an event and then ask that the Lord would come, that he would meet us and that he would move and do something with our work that we cannot do on our own. If that is our vision, then we have to confess our dependence on God. If our...
Aaron Shamp (16:41.442)
Goals and plans are so small that it does not make us aware of how much we need the Lord in order to meet that goal or to see that vision come to fruition. Then it's not big enough. And we will not be moved to prayer. Because whenever our goals are that big, it makes us aware of how much we need God.
that we need him to move, we need his power, we need him to come in in ways that we can't do on our own. We need him to open doors that we can't open to bring in the loss that we can't bring in just by invitation ourselves. We need him to come. So we pray out of dependence on God.
What this means is that whenever we pray together, just like we're doing in our Sunday morning prayer meetings, and I hope that you're praying even outside of those times at home throughout the week. But what we're doing when we pray is we are rejecting independence. We are rejecting independence. We are rejecting the plans that we can do on our own. We're rejecting the small vision of things that we can do on our own, and we are confessing that we need God, that we need him.
Reflect on your life. Maybe you're in a season like this right now, maybe you've been in a season like this. Whenever life starts to get tough, you have some stressors or you have some news that you're waiting to hear. But whenever life gets tough, things get hard. So often we start praying a lot more.
Versus whenever life is easy, things are going well, all of our needs are being met, we're not necessarily stressed about anything. So often what happens during those times is that our prayers start to shrink. They become less frequent, maybe they become a little less consistent and passionate as they are when we feel the urgency in prayer in those times of need. Whenever we're in a time where it feels like we're going through a storm and we're calling out to God. Why is it?
Aaron Shamp (18:41.484)
that our prayers start to increase during those times where it feels like we're in a storm or we are wandering through a desert. Why is it? Because we become so much more aware of how much we need God during those times. Of how we need Him to move in ways that we can, of how we need His love, we need His peace, and so on. We become so much more aware of how dependent we are on Him. You see what that implies is that,
Outside of those times, whenever things are going well, our default assumption is that we've got control of things. Our default assumption is that we've got control of things and we're living independently of God. It hurts me to know how often I have confessed Christ with my mouth, but then lived my life as though I didn't need him, as though I was in control. I had it all together, right?
I was confessing Him with my mouth, but living independently of Him. But whenever our life gets tough and whenever we have times like this where we are seeking and have a vision for God to move, it makes us more aware of how dependent we are on Him. Since we tend to be independent, we need to recognize that and reject it. Reject that independence.
reject that default mode assuming that we are in control, that we can accomplish the things that we are pursuing on our own. We must reject that and we do that in prayer because we don't wanna be just as individuals in here. We don't wanna be individuals who confess Christ but live without the power of Christ. You remember, we just finished going through Ephesians and in Ephesians, Paul says that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is living within us.
Now look, either Paul was wrong or I have not been living out that power that has been available to me. I don't think Paul was wrong.
Aaron Shamp (20:46.211)
But if he was right, and if we can stake our life on God's word, friends, I think I'm not alone. Many of us have been living without incredible power. The power that raised Jesus from the dead, that is within me, that is within you if you are following Christ. How many of us have been living without it?
independently, we've been confessing him but living without his power. We don't wanna be individuals like that. We don't wanna be a congregation that is satisfied to do church on our own. It's so easy to start to fall into the rhythms of weekly ministry, weekly church, weekly groups and so on. And you become so comfortable with those rhythms and habits that you start to become a little too self -sufficient. And you can start to do church.
you can start to do your groups and so on just out of the habit, out of having gotten good at it, but not out of the power that comes from the Spirit. Especially as someone who's, my career has been in ministry, you know? I don't wanna become someone who can just fulfill my obligations in ministries like a professional.
Aaron Shamp (22:03.116)
And even though you're not in my position, we can all do the same thing. We don't wanna be a congregation that is satisfied to do church on our own, to come here on a Sunday and do all of this in a way that does not require the spirit moving. I don't wanna be satisfied with that. Desire for revival is a vision to see God do the things that we cannot do by ourselves. So we reject self -reliance and we embrace our need for God. So that's why we pray.
We pray out of dependence. We secondly pray out of desire. Our prayers flow from our desire for God. Do you desire God?
I think even in our times where we're not doing the best, if you're a Christian, we would all say, yes, we do. Even if I don't desire him as much as I want to, I want to want to desire God sometimes. Do you desire God? I wanna point this out. One of the reasons that I love this story here in Exodus 33. So just to back up a little bit, what happened that led to Moses praying this and having this experience with God?
the Israelites, they're wandering through the desert, the Israelites disobeyed God, they were incredibly unfaithful to him. And so God comes to Moses and he says, look, you guys are gonna make it to the promised land, you're gonna make it there safely, you're gonna live there, you're gonna enjoy the riches of the land, you're gonna prosper there, but I'm not going. He says, you can go, you're gonna get it all, but I am not going.
And this is what prompted Moses to pray. And notice that whenever Moses goes before the Lord in the tent of meeting and prays with urgency, notice this, to me, so easy to miss, but to me, this is just mind blowing because it's so different from my experience. Notice that Moses didn't pray for any of God's blessings. He only prayed for God.
Aaron Shamp (24:06.794)
Moses heard God say, I'm going to give you everything you want.
But without God, it was unacceptable. And how different that is from my prayers. Where so often they're only focused on God's blessings, but not him. And it makes me ask myself, what would I do? How would we react if God said to us, I'm going to give you everything you want, everything. Like the fulfillment of all promises, of all desires, of every request you have made to me. You're gonna get it all, but it's not gonna come with me.
How many of us would be satisfied? I know that there's times whenever I would have been, he told me he would give them everything they wanted, but without him. How many of us would have been satisfied in this situation? You see, it's okay for us to have many different desires, Parents, we desire for our children to be happy, healthy, to grow up into responsible adults and to, you know.
good life and all these things. That's a good desire. There's nothing wrong with that. We desire to live in safe homes and communities. That's good, there's nothing wrong with that. Maybe you even desire to have a cheeseburger for lunch today. Nothing wrong with that, okay? I'm not speaking again, I'm not saying you have to get rid of all those things, that's not right, okay? But what I'm saying is this, it is okay for us to have many desires, but what is on top of our desires? What is at the top of the list?
I think we often, we frequently start to use God to get the other things that we really want. Rather than going to Him to receive Him and to confess, I only want, like after getting you, I only want whatever else helps me to get more of you. Anything that I think I want, if it would have the effect of drawing me away from you, I do not want. You know, I don't wanna be rich.
Aaron Shamp (26:06.7)
I don't wanna be poor, I want whatever's just gonna bring me close to you. I don't wanna be healthy, I don't wanna be sick, I just wanna be whatever's gonna bring me closer to you. It's okay to have all these other desires, but what's at the top? so what we ought to desire more than anything else before anything else is God, and after that, whatever else helps me to get closer to Him, to be more unified to Him. To desire God doesn't mean that you desire Him to the exclusion of other things.
It doesn't mean you can't desire anything else, rather it means that you desire Him before anything else. It means I only want the blessings that come with God, just as Moses prayed. And it means that I want Him above anything else. So this is why we pray. We pray out of dependence for Him and desire for Him. Now what do we pray for? Here's where we can look at Moses' prayer and be informed about.
Some of the things that we pray for when we pray for spiritual renewal. Here's my second point and then I'll flesh it out. When we pray for spiritual renewal, we pray that the Lord would give us revelation, presence and power. We pray for spiritual renewal to bring revelation, presence and power. So this is the first thing that Moses prays for in verse 13. Where's verse 13? In verse 13, Moses says, now if I have indeed found favor with you, please.
Teach me your ways and I will know you so that I might find favor.
What he wants, what I mean here by revelation is he wants to know God more. He wants more of who God is and what God desires to be revealed to him. He asked for something very personal here. It's just like a teacher, I'm sorry, a student going to the teacher, an apprentice going before the master and saying, teach me, reveal more things to me. It's a very personal relational request that Moses is making here. It's not like.
Aaron Shamp (28:07.446)
him just wanting more data, he's wanting more of God, but he's wanting to know more of God. So what this means is, is it grounds our experience. Whenever we talk about pursuing an experience of God, an experience of the Spirit, we are talking about something here that is, as you can assume, something that is very experiential, but not experiential at the cost of knowledge. Whenever you have a true experience of God,
It will not just ignite your heart, but it will fill your mind with his truths as well. It's not in a rational state. It is not experienced at the cost of truth and knowledge. But true spiritual renewal brings those together so that our heart is closer to him, but our mind is also filled with more knowledge of him and a greater understanding of him and of his ways. Moses wants to be taught the Lord's ways and he wants to know him.
So we pray for spiritual renewal, we pray that we might know God more. We pray for a revelation of Him. But then Moses prays for God's presence to go with them. As I said before, God said, I'm gonna give you everything that you want, but it's not gonna include my presence. And this was non -negotiable. This was the deal breaker for Moses as he led the people. He prayed that God would go with them in verse 15. He says, if your presence does not make us go,
don't make us go up from here. Remember, they're wandering through the wilderness. They don't have a home. They are a nation living as nomads out of their slavery in Egypt, but still not to the place that would be their home. What Moses said is that it would be better for us to stay in this condition, but with your presence than to be in the promised land, to be in the land flowing with milk and honey.
to have all those things we want without you. It would be better for us to live in the wilderness than to be there. He said, your presence must go with us. When we pray for spiritual renewal, we are praying for the same thing. We are praying that God's presence might be here among us. As I said before, I hope that none of us become so complacent that we are satisfied with going to church and not experiencing God.
Aaron Shamp (30:33.624)
but that we would have the desire, that we would have the expectation that whenever we go and we listen to the preaching of the gospel and we worship, we actually sing, right, you have to sing, we actually sing with our brothers and sisters near us that the spirit will move. He will touch our hearts, he will reveal God's ways to our minds and he will draw us into closer communion with him and fellowship with one another. That's what happens whenever the spirit of God comes.
Whenever he doesn't come, we might have a pleasant morning, but it's not the same. We need to enlarge once again our expectation, our vision here of what we desire. We desire God's presence. Do you desire God's presence in your experience at church? Do we desire his presence at renew? Do you desire his presence in your home whenever you go to him in scripture and in prayer? Moses.
said, it would be better for us to live as nomads in the wilderness with you than to go on without you. I wanna have a heart like that. Don't you as well. Lastly, he prays for God's power. In verse 16, he says, you have to go with us. And he says, one of the reasons that he gives for the.
the Lord needing to go with them as he says, how will it be made known that I and your people have found favor with you unless you go with us? I and your people will be distinguished by this from all other people on the face of the earth. What he's talking about here is that it is not their culture and it's not their wealth status. It is.
Aaron Shamp (32:27.316)
not their art and music, it is not all these other things that distinguishes them as God's people. What distinguishes them as God's people is that he is present with them and that his presence brings such a power that it distinguishes them from the world around them. Now, how often do we start to set our identity as what distinguishes us from the people around us in many other things? We start to set our identity in our careers.
We start to set it in the neighborhoods we live in. We start to set it in the social class that we're in or in the networks that we're a part of. We start to set it in maybe the good things like being a spouse, being a parent or so on. Maybe we start to set our identities even in what denomination we're in. We start to set our identities in what political affiliation we have and so on. But what Moses knew was at the core of their identity.
For them and how the rest of the world would see them was this, not their culture or any of those other things, but that God was with them, that God was with them. You see, he knew that God's presence being with them would be so powerful that it would make that distinction obvious to the nations around them.
Aaron Shamp (33:46.21)
What will make Redeemer, what will make this congregation distinct to Lafayette so that people would know that there's something different, that there's a power here? It is not my preaching, obviously. It is not the music that we do, it is not our service projects, it is not our ministries. It will be God's presence here, God's presence. Once again, something.
that we cannot manufacture, something that we cannot plan, something that we cannot do, but that we in dependence call on Him to do. So just like Moses, we pray, we would rather be in the wilderness with you than to be on mission and to receive everything that we desire without you. And we need the power of God so that He might distinguish us and that He might get the glory.
That's what Moses desired that by them being distinguished as his people, as God's people, right, that God would get the glory. And so we desire the same things. You know, as we in our service projects, in our groups and at Renew, in our sermon series and so on, as we desire that more people would know God, that they would meet Jesus, that they would enter a relationship with him. Our goal, in other words, to accomplish that goal, we need God's power.
We need his power with us so that we could accomplish the goals of glorifying him. We don't do it in our own power. So this is what Moses prays for. He prays for revelation to know God, that God's presence would be with them. That was a non -negotiable for Moses, that he would be with them and that his power would be present with them so that they might glorify him as his people amongst all the nations around them. Now, how do we pray for these things?
What are some of the postures and ways that we do this? Let's get really practical. All right, so first, revival prayer is repentant. Revival prayer is repentant. It is done in repentance. It is done beginning with forsaking our sin. That is what repentance means. It means turning our back on our sin, turning our back on and forsaking idols that we might follow and so on. It is done in repentance.
Aaron Shamp (36:15.374)
God tells Moses, I'm gonna give you everything you want, but it's not gonna come with me. If you go back and you read that section at the beginning of chapter 33, the people respond in sorrow. You see, it wasn't just Moses, but the people too, they knew they needed God. They didn't want to get all those blessings without God being with them. So they tear their clothes and they repent, they cry out to God. Revival prayer is repentant. It has to begin with us.
taking an inventory of our heart and asking is the Lord the only God in my heart or do I have some other false gods operating in there? It means looking at our life and asking and looking at our commitments and saying, is my life, my schedule, my finances, my relationships, are they all ordered in such a way that they point towards the supremacy of Jesus in my life or?
is the way that my life and my commitments are structured doesn't imply that I have rival lords. Jesus, but a little bit of myself as king of my life too, right? Taking inventory, taking stock of these things and bringing our sins and our idolatry before the cross of Christ, laying them down, forsaking them and letting those things die at the cross. It is repentant.
It has to begin here. We cannot expect to call a katiana to repentance and following the Lordship of Christ if we as individuals and as a church do not start that ourselves. It has to start with us. So it's repentant. Secondly, revival prayer is intentional. Revival prayer is intentional. Moses, describes, once again, if you read the first part of chapter 33, it describes how Moses had this tent of meeting.
that he would often go to. It was called the tent of meeting, not because it was like a conference room, you know, where like that was their meeting room. No, it was called the tent of meeting because that's where Moses, as the high priest of the people, would go on behalf of the people, as a representative of the people, he would go and he would meet with the Lord. It says that Moses and God would talk with one another as a friend talks from one to another. That is how close Moses was able to go.
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before the Lord and pray on behalf of the nation before him in the tent of meeting. So whenever this crisis comes up, that they're gonna go, get everything they wanted, but it's gonna be without God, the people cry out, they repent. Here's the thing, Moses had the structure, he had the place to go to, to go and meet God. You see the intentionality there? It had already been set, but then now it...
because of that intentionality, it makes it natural for Moses to go back to that place. So revival prayer, and if you wanna make your own just personal prayer life more effective, it requires intentionality. We have to make times. We have to make spaces. And when we make those times and spaces, we need to prepare our hearts. We need to be intentional with our prayers.
Have you ever before you started to pray, maybe thought about how you're going to pray? Maybe chosen a passage of scripture that you're gonna start with, that's gonna inform your mind. Maybe you have a list of things that you wanna praise the Lord for. Maybe you have some attributes of God already written down that you want to glorify Him for. You have your requests ready. And so whenever you go before the Lord, you have intentionality to strengthen your prayers. We have to make times.
We have to make spaces. We have to be intentional with our prayers to expect a greater, more powerful prayer. That's what revival prayer is. It is intentional. If you go back and you read the stories of revivals, I referenced this book last week. It's called A God -Sized Vision, I think that's name of it, by Colin Hanson and John Woodbridge. It's a really easy to read, not super long book that just gives you, I think it's like seven,
stories of revivalist in history. I highly recommend it, it's a wonderful book. But one of things you'll find is that people were super intentional about prayer. They were making times, they were making spaces to go and seek God. This often preceded those movements and it's often what those movements continued to run on was those intentional times of prayer. So revival prayer is repentant, it is intentional. Thirdly, revival prayer is consistent.
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Once again, the tent of meeting was a place that Moses would have gone to consistently before the Lord. And so now as he is always done, he goes to that tent to meet God. I referenced before in Acts chapter two, the prayer that preceded the day of Pentecost, 3000 people being saved, the birth of the Christian church, it was not a short prayer meeting. They had been waiting a week. Guys, it is hard for me to focus in prayer for seven minutes.
compared to seven days, right? But for seven days, for a full week, they waited and they prayed. They were obedient to Jesus whenever he told them to wait and pray. They were obedient. Praise God for that. Look at what happened because of their obedience, right? But they were consistent. They didn't give up. Are we willing to be consistent in our prayers for God to move in us as individuals, in our congregation and in our city?
between now and Renew, that's only six weeks, or less than six weeks at this point. I think we can. We can commit to be consistent in prayer, in your homes, but also in our prayer meetings here, in our services. But even more than that, can we commit to being consistent even after Renew? To continue praying and seeking the Lord. Just as a side note, there's also a lesson here for those other things that you're praying about.
those other needs or requests that you're bringing before the Lord. You know, I said earlier, it's not a bad thing to desire other things too, right? Like that's normal, it's okay. So some of those other things that you guys are praying for, you have some stressors, you have some heartbreaks, you have some, maybe just some big questions that you've been bringing before the Lord, you need to be consistent with those as well. Don't pray once, not see an answer, and so give up. But daily.
and continue to pray daily. Sometimes the Lord desires that the answer to our prayers would not just be like what we get at the end, but the process of going to Him consistently and growing closer to Him in prayer, learning about His provision, learning about His grace, learning about how near and available His presence is to us in prayer. Sometimes that's why God requires us to pray for
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a week to pray for weeks or months, in some cases years, because it's also through the process that he's teaching us, that he's doing things in us, that he's bringing about renewal in us, okay? So just keep that in mind as well as a side point there. Back to revival prayer. It is repentant, it is intentional, it is consistent. Lastly, it is bold. Revival prayer is bold. Moses goes before the Lord and he lays down these requests without...
without hedging his bets. So often we bring our prayers to the Lord, we bring our plans to God, we ask for him to move and we start to hedge our bets. We start to say, you know, if not, and maybe there's something else, you know, but we're not very bold. Our prayers don't look like his where we go and we just simply lay down before him, Lord, here's what we need. Here's how we need you to move. We need spiritual renewal. Father, please bring it.
We start to hedge our bets. We lack confidence. We lack boldness in our prayers. But Moses doesn't. He goes before God and he lays down the request. He says, we cannot go without you. And so God says, my presence will be with you. And then even more bold, he says, let me see your glory. None of us in here have ever seen the glory of God. We've witnessed it.
Yeah, we've witnessed it in small tastes. know, sort of like how sometimes you can catch a whiff of a candle that's far away and you catch that whiff and then it's gone, right, as soon as you catch it. On this life, in this life on this earth, that's usually how we experience God's grace or His glory, I should say. And Moses wanted more. He said, let me see your glory.
That is a bold prayer. He prays it confidently, laying it before God. Let me see your glory. Are we willing to pray bold as well? To pray boldly for God to move and for Him to let us see His glory at Renew on September 28th, right? In the weeks leading up to them, in the new people that He brings to Renew and in our continued ministry that happens after that.
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Are we willing to pray boldly that God would show his glory by moving mightily in ways that we cannot do on our own? Are we willing to pray boldly as well? Guys, are you willing to pray boldly for your family? Maybe you don't have a family yet, and so are you willing to pray boldly for what God will do in your life right now, in your studies and getting your career started and how he would use you? Are you willing to pray boldly? So often we don't.
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How was Moses able to pray so boldly? And why are we so often afraid to pray that boldly with that much confidence before God? How was he able to? You see, because they had just been so disobedient that God said, have a nice life, right? Like, you can go on, I'm not going with you. They had just been that disobedient.
And yet Moses is still willing to pray so boldly right after that to say, I need to see your glory. I want to see your glory. How is he able to pray so boldly? And I think one of the things that often holds us back from praying similarly is we're so aware of our sinfulness. We are so aware of how unworthy we are. We are afraid of going that deep into God's presence and praying that big with our prayers because we know
that we're aware of what God will see in our hearts whenever we expose ourselves like that to Him and we go that deep into His presence. And so, you I think that our flesh, I describe it like an allergic reaction. Our flesh has an allergic reaction to the Spirit of God that tempts us to pull back rather than going deep like Moses does. So how is he able to, and how are we able to? I'll tell you how, I'm not sure what gave him the confidence, but I'll tell you.
how I know that we are able to pray that boldly. Moses, says, in the tent of meeting, spoke before the Lord's presence as a friend would talk to another friend. In the New Testament, Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians chapter three that even though Moses had that much access to the Lord, that much special privilege to go into the Lord's presence that none of other people had, by the way, Paul says there was still a veil.
in between Moses and the presence of God. You see, because just as Moses said on the mountain, you know, let me see your glory, but God says to him, no, I'm gonna hide you in a rock. You can't see it. It was the same thing in the 10 of meeting. He says, no, you can't see it fully because if you saw my glory, you would die. It would kill you because his glory is completely holy and Moses was a sinner like us, right? So Paul says, so even for Moses, there was a veil.
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in between Moses and the Lord, whenever Moses would go to him and pray. He says in 2 Corinthians chapter three, but then he says, but for us, the veil has been torn. Why is that? You see, because for us, we do not need to be hidden in a veil, behind a veil, for us to be brought into the presence of God, we do not need to be hidden in the cleft of a rock as Moses was here in this passage, because we have something else. We have Christ.
The Lord says to Moses, you can only see a little glimpse of my glory because I'm gonna hide you in the cleft of this rock. That means like a hole or a crack, right? I'm gonna put you in the cleft of this and it will cover you so that you will be able to witness some of my glory and live. Jesus was struck down on the cross. Jesus was broken so that we might be hidden in him and in Jesus, experience the presence of God.
go before the throne of the Lord boldly, laying down our requests before him, though we are still sinners, though we don't deserve it, but able to do so in complete security and in complete confidence because we are wrapped up in Christ. That is why for us, there's now no more veil between us and the Lord. For us, there is now no cleft of a rock that we have to be hidden in because we are wrapped up in Jesus Christ. And whenever we are in Jesus Christ,
we can, just like Moses, none of the other people in Israel had this privilege. Only the high priest did. But we get that privilege that they didn't. We do because of Christ. Because whenever we are hidden in him, we can go right before the throne of God. No veil of separation needed, right? No other separation needed. No other covering, no other blood needed. We can go before the presence of God in Christ. That is how.
our prayers can be so bold and so confident. So if your prayers have not been bold and confident, and maybe if you still are, you have been somewhat held back, you're forgetting about Christ's grace. You're forgetting about the grace that was bought for us, that is secured for us, and that we are completely wrapped up in. You are forgetting that if you are in Jesus Christ, you are surrounded by the steadfast love of God. And it is in that,
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Think of it like clothing. It is in that clothing of righteousness, that air of steadfast love that you are surrounded in that we are able, we are invited to go into the presence of God. So are we willing as well to be devoted to bold prayer, being repentant, being intentional, consistent, praying for God's revelation, for his presence to be among us and for his power to be present with us? In Hebrews 416.
The author wrote this, he said, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. Let us do that as well. Lord, we come before your throne of grace and not on our own merits, not based upon our own wisdom, not based upon our plans. Lord, based upon your wisdom, your vision for the sake of your kingdom, by your power.
Lord, we come before you and we seek your mercy. Lord, we recognize we are in a time of need. We are in a time of need of spiritual renewal. I experience it and feel it in myself. I need spiritual renewal. Lord, I know that our church, our people here, our congregation, we need spiritual renewal. Father, we look at our city, we look at our nation. We recognize that we need spiritual renewal. So we need you.
We reject independence. We reject self -reliance. We reject doing church or any other ministries without you on our own. Father, we need you. And so Lord, I ask that your presence would be here among us. Father, we pray along with Moses, let us see your glory.
So would your spirit come and touch our hearts? Would it break through our walls? Would it tear down the structures that we erect to hide ourselves because of our sin? Would it tear those things down? And Lord, would your spirit touch our hearts this morning? For those disciples who are weary and needing.
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a new life, would you bring it? For those children of yours who have been dry, would you quench our thirst with your presence this morning? Those who need encouragement, Lord, would you fill their hearts with hope? Whose spirits have been weak, would you make them strong in your strength? If there any here who have not experienced you yet.
because they are not in relationship with you. They are still holding on to their sin and they have not surrendered their life to you, laying down everything before the cross and confessing you as their Lord and savior. Father, I ask that your spirit would move in them as well. We once again pray all these things in the name of Jesus, the rock who has cleft for us.
so that we might be hidden in Him. We pray these things in His name by His merit, covered in His blood. We pray this, amen.