GOD HAS HELPED ME IN A LITTLE WAY BUT I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO SLOW DOWN ON MY PRAYER AND FASTING SCHEDULE – I NEED TOMORROW TO BE GUARANTEED
WHEN YOU MEET THE devil, THE FASTING AND PRAYER THAT SHOULD HAVE DEALT WITH THAT devil SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE ALREADY
WHEN WE STOP THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES THAT BROUGHT US INTO REVIVAL, REVIVAL WILL BE LOST
THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF YESTERDAY DETERMINE THE PRODUCTS OF TODAY. THE RESULTS OF TOMORROW ARE DETERMINED BY THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF TODAY
FOR EVERY REALM YOU STEP INTO IN GOD, WHATEVER YOU DID TO ENTER THAT REALM, YOU MUST CONTINUE TO DO TO REMAIN IN THAT REALM
MOST PASTORS IN AMERICA DON’T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO PRAY AND FAST.
OUR GREATEST PROBLEM IS THAT WE ARE TRYING TO WORK FOR GOD WITHOUT BEING WITH HIM.
WHEN A MAN OR A WOMAN BECOMES SO BURIED IN THE WORK OF THE LORD THAT THEY FORGET THE LORD OF THE WORK, REVIVAL EXPIRES.
JESUS USED 30 YEARS TO PREPARE FOR AN ASSIGNMENT OF THREE AND A HALF YEARS. SOME OF US USED THREE AND A HALF YEARS TO PREPARE FOR 30 YEARS OF ASSIGNMENT
WE ARE ORDAINED TO BE WITH HIM NOT ORDAINED TO OPPRESS PEOPLE OR TO BE PROUD AND ARROGANT
– Dr. Pastor Paul Enenche on “CAUSES OF REVIVAL LOSS” || New York Apostolic Invasion – Day 2 (Evening Session) || New York, USA || 14th September 2023
Hosea 10:12. As we talk about redigging the wells of revival, we are redigging the wells of revival because revival once existed and it disappeared. The challenge is: What made it disappear? We are looking at CAUSES OF REVIVAL LOSS. That revival happened before and we can’t see it anymore. Church Gist. Our objective is to understand what causes revival to cease. Whether it is personal, corporate or national revival, they can be lost. The question is, if you’re on fire today, if the Church you pastor is on fire today, if the nation is on fire today for God, what should we avoid in order not to lose the fire? What causes revival to fail? If we want to redig the well, we need to know what happened to the last well, why it’s not flowing anymore.
I’m going to give like 7 or 8 reasons tonight: what are the things that may cause revival to be lost?
1. When we stop the spiritual exercises that brought us into revival in the first place: when we stop paying the price that gave rise to the revival. Church Gist. Something is very important to know: for every realm you step into in God, whatever you did to enter that realm, you must continue to do to remain in that realm. Whatever brought you into a realm will keep you in that realm. Isaiah 51:1. Where did you come from? How did you come up? How did you step forth? Don’t forget what brought you here. That is what this Scripture is saying.
Some of us who are pastors or ministers or children of God, I want you to know that the prayers, fastings, worship, declarations of yesterday are responsible for the product of today. Your results of tomorrow are being determined by the prayer life of today, by your study of the Word of today, by your fasting of today. The challenge that people have is that when they step into the results, manifestations, mantles, they conclude that it is not necessary anymore to fast and pray, not necessary to study the Word anymore. Church Gist. “I only fasted when I was looking for this thing and now I have the grace, mantle, result, I don’t need to waste my time anymore.” Not knowing that they are jeopardizing tomorrow, affecting their tomorrow. The fuel/gas you got from the gas station is responsible for your motion here; if you must keep moving, you must keep getting the gas but if you say, ‘I am already in motion, I don’t need no gas anymore,’ the time will come when the gas expires, finishes and the vehicle stops and you’re wondering what happened to me? It is because you stopped getting the gas that must keep you in motion. Am I communicating at all?
God has helped me in a little way, I have not been able to slow down on my prayer and fasting schedule – no. I need tomorrow to be guaranteed. Listen to me: I told somebody and said, “if someone tells me today that the Coca-Cola dome will jam in Atlanta, it’s jammed to capacity with people and someone should come and preach to them, get the lost saved, get the sick healed and the people are waiting now, I won’t need to go and pray to go there now because the prayer to handle that now was prayed yesterday. The fasting, spiritual exercise, that should handle that now was done yesterday. Church Gist. When Jesus said to the disciples, “this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting…” (Matthew 17:21) he was not telling them that if they saw a demon possessed they should leave the demon and go and fast and then come. Oh no, that’s not what he said. He said, “when you meet that devil, the fasting that should have dealt with the devil, you did it already.” The fasting, prayer, authority that should have handled that devil, you came with it, you carried it, you have handled it. If you are fasting now, it is not because of the devil of now, it’s because of the devil of tomorrow. Church Gist. When we stop the spiritual exercises that brought us into revival, it will be lost.
2. When Activity Replaces Intimacy
When activity for God replaces intimacy with God, revival expires. When a man or a woman becomes so buried in the work of the Lord until they forget the Lord of the work, revival expires. When men become more excited about what they do for God rather than who they are with God, revival expires. Acts 6:2. Church Gist. The revival in Acts of The Apostles almost finished on time when they began to leave the Word and serve tables until they called themselves to order. We can’t leave our intimacy with God and be turned into activity. When that happens revival is lost.
Mark 3:13-14. He ordained twelve to be with Him and after that, He might send them. I would like you to see the order. When someone says I am an ordained minister, this is the purpose of ordination. You are ordained as a pastor, a prophet, an apostle, a reverend, to be with Him. After you have been with Him, if He wants He might send you. Being with Him is what is compulsory, working for Him is what is obligatory. Our greatest problem is that we are trying to work for Him without being with Him. We have put working for Him ahead of being with Him. He said “You are telling people I sent you, when was the last time I saw you? You said I sent you when last did we talk?” There are so many people raising their shoulders, do you know that I am ordained? Ordained pastor, ordained reverend, ordained bishop, ordained apostle, ordained to do what? Church Gist. Ordained to be with Him not ordained to oppress people not ordained to be proud and arrogant, not ordained to be carrying around an air of importance, ordained to be obscure, ordained for intimacy, ordained for the closet, ordained for the background. Your ministry must come out of the strength of intimacy. Ministry must come out of the strength of intimacy. Forever and ever don’t forget that you are ordained for intimacy, ordained for relationship and fellowship. The strength of your ministry is determined by the strength of your relationship. It changes your life.
I tell people in those days that for most times in my life coming out to preach was a distraction of my fellowship with Him. Coming out to do most things was a distraction. Revival expires when people replace activity with intimacy. Where they are so busy like Martha and forget to sit down like Mary. You know that Jesus used 30 years to prepare to fulfill an assignment of 3 and a half years and He is the son of God. Thirty years to fulfil a ministry of three and a half years. Some of us used three and a half years to prepare for 30 years of assignment. It is like praying for three hours to come and preach a message of three minutes. That is how it sounds. Church Gist. It is like praying for three hours to come and address people for only fifteen minutes. The other people do three minutes of prayer to come and minister for three hours. Most pastors in America don’t know what it means to pray, don’t know what it means to fast. There is a covenant with food, they don’t what it means. There are many who don’t know three days of fasting and prayer without food or water. There are those who don’t know seven days. I see people rising out of here and setting their generation on fire.
3. When what began in the Spirit is being perfected in the flesh:
Galatians 3:1-3. When we begin to attempt to do in the energy of the flesh what can only be done in the power of the Spirit, revival ceases. When spiritual labour is being corrupted by fleshly inputs, revival ends. When man begins to attempt to help God. You know Uzzah tried to help God not knowing that God is big enough to help Himself, Uzzah died. Church Gist. 2 Samuel 6:6-7; 1 Chronicles 15:12-13. Beloved brothers and sisters, we cannot do in the energy of the flesh what must be done in the power of the Spirit. Let us not start in the Spirit and end in the flesh or in the wisdom of man. Let us start in the Spirit and continue in the Spirit and finish in the Spirit. Let us not try to help God to be God. He is God without our help. There is nothing we can do to make the Almighty God mightier than he is.
4. When we decide to settle around particular manifestations of God: when God manifests in a certain way and we decide to settle with that manifestation, revival will cease. Church Gist. When Peter was at the mountain of transfiguration and he saw the glory of the Lord he said, “let us pitch a tent here and just remain here.” God said, I don’t operate like that; I have more to offer than what you just saw. Proverbs 4:18; Psalm 84:7; Romans 1:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18.
We tried to establish our tent around what God did. For example: Jesus used the spittle and mud and applied it on the eye of the blind man and the blind man was healed, but that was not the only way he healed the blind. There was another one that he just spoke and the eyes opened, another one he laid his hands on the man and he said, “I see men like trees” he laid hands again. If it was many of us in our generation and the healing happened once with the spittle, we will organize, “Spittle Service, Anointed Spittle.” We just settle there, remain there. Church Gist. The spittle will even reflect in the name of the Church, “First Spittle Church of the First Born.” That is how we move ourselves away from the agenda of God. God says, “I am too big to run out of new things. What you have just seen is one angle of my manifestation. I have more to offer. There is something ahead for you.” Yet like Peter, you decided to pitch a tent around particular manifestation and actually, we begin to worship the manifestation.
The summary is: God is moving and man stopped moving; so the revival expires. God is still moving, what you saw was just a junction and he is still in motion and you stopped moving. This is too good to go beyond. You know the tribe of Reuben and Mannaseh that ended their journey on the other side of Jordan. They said, there is a Promised Land on the other side, they said, no, we are okay here. They don’t understand that there is something far better than what they saw before the River Jordan. Church Gist. They ended their journey before the Promised Land. No matter how good where you are is, it is not as wonderful, can never be as wonderful, as what God has in mind for you. All I can say is, for as long as God keeps moving, keep moving with God, keep taking steps with God. Don’t go ahead of God and don’t go behind him. Just take steps with him. Revival stops when God is moving but man stops moving.
5. When the glory of God is diverted to man: when God ceases to be the focus and the glory that is due to God is now being diverted to the human vessel that is the instrument of revival. When the man of God has more recognition than the God of the man. Church Gist. Many of us respect our pastors and it is good, we reverence them and it is not bad but many of us have zero reverence for the God of that man. That will cause revival to expire.
God said in Isaiah 42:8 ‘my glory will I share with no man. I am not going to share my glory with anybody. I am not going to share my glory with a mortal man.’ It is praising the horse that is carrying the King and dishonouring the King. When the man of God becomes more visible than the God of the man, the revival expires. When people come in and who they can see is the man and not God, revival expires. Just now you felt a very intense presence of God, people were weeping profusely and we appreciate God for that presence. In most places when you step in, it is not God you feel, it is the man you feel. You feel the man, you feel his wife, you feel the first lady. When man is increasing and God is decreasing in the scale of events, in the scenario of things. Man is increasing and God is decreasing instead of the opposite. Church Gist. John 3:30. They came to John and said that the man you baptized is now doing his own ministry and everybody is trooping to him. John said ‘That is how it should be. That is what I am here for. I am not the bridegroom, I am the bridegroom’s friend. My assignment is to hear the voice of the bridegroom and be excited. I must decrease so that He must increase.’ When man is decreasing and God is increasing, the work will flow and revival will flourish. When man is increasing and God is decreasing, we are at the end of the journey.
Pastor, when you preach, who do people hear? Singer, When you sing, who do people feel? One day two people read the 23rd Psalm. The first one read it so eloquently, he finished reading and people clapped. The second man read it and once he finished with it, nobody clapped but there was no dry eye in the room. People cried. They asked that second man what happened. Church Gist. When this man read the Psalm we clapped, when you read the Psalm we cried. He said that man knows the Psalm eloquently, I know the Shepherd. There is a difference. You can know the Psalm and recite it eloquently, it can move the heads of the people but when you know the Shepherd, when you encounter people they will know they are encountering the Shepherd.
Please never come to any point where the glory of God is unsafe in your hands. I went on a seven-day fast many years ago and I was asking God to help me see some things. Suffering people were all over, afflicted, sick people were everywhere. I want them healed, I want them delivered. I was praying and God said to me “What you are asking me to do is not hard, will you protect my glory? Will you defend my glory? I don’t share my glory with anybody, I don’t want anybody to touch it and I don’t want anybody to touch it where you are. Under your supervision never let anybody divert the glory to anybody including yourself.” Then I continued crying for the next three days “Try me, Lord! I will defend it. I won’t toy with it”. Only a fool will take the glory for what he didn’t do. Church Gist. Somebody said we saw me in the dream and I laid hands on her eye that wasn’t seeing and she woke up seeing, what does that do to me? Nothing because I didn’t visit her in the dream. God only gave me the privilege of association. One day I told God that He was visiting people and using my face, what do you want to do with me? I am not aware, I didn’t go. Otherwise, I would have visited all of you tonight. The dead are being raised by His mercy. One day someone said someone died and he took our Daily Devotional, the book Seeds of Destiny, he took it and laid it on the dead and the person came back to life. I wrote the book but I didn’t carry the book to lay on anybody, the person who carried the book didn’t write it. The book didn’t write itself. I can’t take the glory, the person cannot take the glory and the book cannot take the glory.
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