In this extract from my book 'God's Heart Cry for Revival', I quote and discuss the two types of means which Charles Finney believed are essential to see God move in revival power.
The Two Means
According to biographer Basil Miller, “Charles Finney believed that two types of means are essential to promoting a revival: one to influence human beings, the other to influence God. People are influenced by the truth and God by prayer. Finney believed that nothing could be effected in a revival except through prayer and the Spirit’s special aid.” 7 If the Church as a whole isn’t praying you can be sure nothing of any value is being affected for the kingdom. Prayer is the most effective means known to man to secure revival on this planet. The fact is, if we are not in a state of revival it’s because the Church is prayerless. The sign of a prayerless Church is the lack of God awareness in our community. Without prayer the Spirit cannot go to work in the hearts and minds of the unsaved. If we have not prayed, souls cannot be saved.
Power With God
We have power with God in prayer. If only we could fully comprehend the magnitude of the authority we have in the Heavenly realms. Matthew 18:18-20 says, “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven. Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in Heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” That is the authority every believer has, as well as the power we have with God if we are unified in prayer. That is a promise that we should get a hold of and activate and appropriate in our lives and in the Church. We know and believe this Scripture, yet many of us still fail to pray and use our divine authority.
Expect a Revival
Charles Finney, who promoted and saw revival on an unprecedented level during the 1800’s said, “Expect a revival when the sinfulness of sinners grieves, humbles, and distresses Christians. Expect a revival when Christians have a spirit of prayer for revival, that is, when they pray as if they want it. Expect a revival when Christians begin to confess their sins to one another.” 8 This is the key to the beginning of a true revival of God. When the Church begins to repent and confess their sins and a burden comes upon them to travail for the unsaved and for an outpouring of the Spirit, then we can logically expect God to come to Church.
The Burden
Lewis Drummond said, “An awakening is ready to burst on the dismal scene when Christians have a deep, profound Spirit of prayer for an awakening.” When the burden for the unsaved gets so heavy that we can’t help but pray, understand that revival is in our midst. How do we get this burden? We ask the Father for it, we pray it into existence. The Lord wants a revival and He is willing to give intercessional burdens to those who ask. When we begin to pray as if we want it, God will send it. When we begin to confess our sins to one another, this, Finney said, is a sign of revival. When we humble ourselves and repent of our wicked ways, revival is on the horizon.
Brokenness
Evan Roberts, the Welsh Revivalist, was continually heard crying out to God saying, “bend me, bend me.” Evan knew that he could get the attention of God if he was broken before Him. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17) Evan prayed for that brokenness, he prayed for that contriteness of heart and that burden for the lost and dying in this world. Could this be the type of prayers that God desires, prayers of broken people crying out for Him to change them and for Him to move in their cities?
Repentant Church
When the unrepentant Church begins to pray, we have little power with God and nothing happens of great significance, but when the repentant Church begins to pray and fast, then there’s power with God and a consequent revival. There is simply no other way to promote a true revival of Christianity, except by seeking the Lord in brokenness.
In Christ
Robert Cartledge
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7 Miller, Basil, Charles Finney – Men of Faith Series (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethany House Publishers 1941) page 38
8 Charles Finney, Lectures on Revival (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethany House Publishers 1941) page 23-27
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