Gates of Righteousness and Revival 10-22-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Lead me in Your way, teach me Your truth, empower me with Your life today. … “Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it” (Psalm 118:19-20). We’ll be prayer walking through Oxford, England today with our friends who are prayer leaders in the city with an especially great burden to see revival among the students at the University. In these same halls, some young University students named George Whitefield, John Wesley, and Charles Wesley burned with that same passion. You imparted to them an uncommon desire for holiness in their hearts and significance with their lives. Others called their group “the Holy Club” because of their passion to pursue righteousness by Your Spirit and in Your Word. And history records how You set Britain ablaze with great awakening and revival through their lives. Lord, open to me the gates of righteousness. Give me a heart that seeks Your heart, a spirit pursues Your Spirit. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). Your righteousness is not about rules and regulations. The righteousness You desire is a heart fully surrendered to You, fully available to You, embracing Your will for our lives, allowing You to conform our nature into Your image. Your righteousness is the restoration of our lives into right relationship with You and with one another through the grace and power of Your love. In the great revival that began in the hearts of these young men to burn like wild fire through Britain and America, John Wesley proclaimed to his preachers, “Expect no revival without preaching holiness.” And that’s still Your desire: Hearts ablaze with a desire for Your heart and Your nature. That is revival. And the way to revival is through the gates of righteousness. Only by grace can we enter in, but we can only enter in if we first purpose in our hearts to pursue it—to seek first the Kingdom of God and Your righteousness (Matthew 6:33). And by Your grace, let that be my heart’s desire. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, please cover us on our Encounter Wales! ministry trip this month. We're in Oxford, England for a few days with prayer leaders in this area and where I'll be preaching at a community-wide gathering Friday night before returning to Wales. This is a historic city with deep Christian roots in the lives of the great revivalists George Whitefield, John Wesley, Charles Wesley, as well as Christian authors C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien among many others. Thank you for joining with us in prayer and ministry! God bless you! Subscribe for free by email to me at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!