Tuesday, June 18, 2013
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God blessed the Hutchcraft home with three very unique children. Anybody who knows them, nod your head now. Good...okay. I realize that's three more than a number of families, some of whom would love to just have one child. We've had some friends tell us, "Ron, we've been trying to have children for three years," or five years, or ten years. And today doctors do all they can to increase those possibilities. They'll suggest times of the month when the baby would be most likely be conceived; sometimes they'll give you fertility drugs. And many a childless couple does all that they can to conceive a new life, and the way that they do that is just to create the conditions in which the miracle could happen. And even though they can't make it happen, they can at least prepare for the life to begin.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Creating the Conditions."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Acts 2:1-2, and it records for us the most dramatic visit - Holy Spirit visit - in history. "When the day of Pentecost came," it says, "they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting." And you know from there it became even more exciting as the Holy Spirit changed the city of Jerusalem and launched a movement that has reached to you and me today.
Maybe today you have a longing deep inside to have a special, personal touch from the Holy Spirit. You know you need one; maybe a touch of what they call revival. You don't even know what the word means, but you'd love to experience some. You know you need a reviving work for the Holy Spirit, something new and fresh and more powerful than you've had before. Maybe it's a supernatural provision for a God-sized need right now. It's a healing touch, or a restoring touch.
Well, if you need a little personal Pentecost right now, you're in the same situation in a way as the couple who wants a child. You can't make the miracle happen; that's up to God. But you can create the conditions that the Holy Spirit can respond to, and that's exactly what these people did when this great Spirit visit happened at Pentecost.
In Acts 1:12 it says, "They returned to Jerusalem from a hill called The Mount of Olives and waited there." And that's exactly what Jesus had commanded them to do - to wait in Jerusalem. Verse 14, "They all joined together constantly in prayer." See, the way you create the conditions for the baby to come, for the baby of revival to come, of healing, of God's restoring touch, is first to obey: to do what the Lord told you to do, to wait patiently, to be in the place God has placed you. Be sure you are where He wants you to be.
Second step, you've got to pray. You obey and then you pray. And you notice it says, "They prayed constantly." That means through the day, dialoging with God, and often saying to Him as you ride, as you walk, and as you're in the middle of your responsibilities, "Lord, please give me that special touch. Give me that special touch." Cry out to Him often, pray constantly for it. "Seek the Lord continually," David said.
And thirdly it says, "They stayed together." You obey, you pray, and you stay together. And you eliminate any walls between you and any other believers. Usually these kinds of Spirit-touches come from praying together. God comes to places where His kids are all together, persistently asking Him to come. It's not a microwave revival. It's from people who will wait, who will pray, who will stick together, who will pursue Him together passionately.
Pentecost doesn't begin at a public meeting; it doesn't begin at a planning meeting. It begins in a prayer meeting. So if you're hungry for new spiritual life to be conceived, create the conditions in which it happens and expect God to respond with the visit you sought.
Only you can create the conditions. Only God can send the revival.