In this sermon, the preacher discusses the desire for something extraordinary and unusual in the church. He emphasizes the need for a deeper knowledge of God and His love. The preacher uses a hymn to illustrate the longing for a greater understanding of God's manifestations and plans. The sermon also highlights the importance of repentance and intercession for the church's revival, drawing from the story of Moses interceding for the faithless Israelites in the book of Exodus.

The words to which I should like to call your attention this morning are to be found in the book of Exodus, in chapter 33, reading verses 12 to 17. Verses 12 to 17 in the 33rd chapter of the book of Exodus. And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, bring up this people, and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight, and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here, that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken, for thou hast found grace in my sight. And I know thee by name. We come here to what I have described as the second section of the second stage. In this incident which is recorded here, in this thirty third chapter of the book of Exodus. We are looking at it, as it gives us instruction and guidance, with regard to the whole question of revival. It is the picture of the church in a critical condition. And you remember that the church found herself in that condition, because of her faithlessness, because of her rebellion, because she had turned her back upon God, had made herself a god, a golden calf, and had worshipped him, and had then given themselves to sin. And God, you remember, punished this people for doing that. But then Moses, their leader, the servant of God, begins to intercede on their behalf, and brings them to repentance, to an acknowledgement of their sin. And they give practical evidence of that, you remember, in stripping themselves of all their ornaments. But then we saw last Sunday morning, that it wasn't left at that. Moses now felt the necessity for prayer, for intercessory prayer. So he pitches this tabernacle, this tent of meeting, outside the camp. And there he goes to pray to God, and other people, feeling the burden, would go out and join him, in this prayer to God, that he would return and have mercy upon them, and be with them as he had been in times past. You remember, we considered all that this need for some exceptional action, this kind of separation. And how Moses and various others did this. And we ended by showing how God hearkened unto them, because the cloudy pillar, we are told, returned unto the door of the tabernacle, thereby giving clear indication that God had heard their prayer, that he was back again in their midst. And the final point we made was, you remember, that Moses went back to report to the people of what had happened, how God had spoken to him, and God had made it clear to him that he had indeed received him again. He had spoken to him face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. Moses went back to report all that, but left Joshua, the young man, his assistant, in the tabernacle, waiting for more, for further revelation. Well now then, we resume at that point. Here I say we come to what I would call the second stage in this matter of preparation for revival or for visitation of God's Spirit. And there is a sense in which I think it can be said quite truly, that it is here at this point that the prayer for revival as such really begins. All that has happened hitherto is a prayer that God may return amongst them, that he may not withhold his face altogether, as he had been doing as a part of their punishment. But here, we go beyond that point. Now this is the thing that I am so anxious to emphasize this morning. Moses, obviously, was very grateful for all that had happened. The coming back to the cloudy pillar was a remarkable thing. Even the people could see that, because we agreed that all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose up and worshipped every man in his tent door. Even they could see that. Well Moses could see it much more. And of course he was grateful for this, profoundly grateful. God has returned, as it were, and God is listening to him, and God is speaking to him. Now you would have thought that he might have stopped at that point. You might have felt, well, surely there is nothing necessary beyond this. And yet the whole purpose of this section that we are looking at this morning is to show that Moses was not satisfied. He desired more. So he goes back again into the tabernacle, and he continues in his praying. All that has been given, he says, is not enough. He longs for more, and he begins pleading for more, for something extra. Now then, it is just there, I say, that we rarely come to the vital point in this whole matter of revival. Revival is something extra. It is something additional. It is something which is quite unusual. Now I am emphasizing this because it seems very clear to me that there are large numbers of good Christian people today who have never grasped that point at all. That revival, by definition, is something quite out of the ordinary, special, unusual, exceptional. Now, revival, in other words, is not the church being blessed by God and conscious of his presence and enabled to do his work. Moses, in a sense, was already conscious of all that. God had come back. God had promised to bless. God had given him that personal assurance, as it were, when he spoke to him face to face. Now there, you see, Moses might have argued, well now then, we are back to where we were. All is right again. God's presence has come back to us and we can go forward. But Moses, I say, is not satisfied. And revival is not the church being blessed and being conscious of God's presence and being enabled to do her work. Revival goes beyond all this. And thus we can see it clearly in this particular case here. Moses feels that the circumstances are such that something quite out of the ordinary and special is desired. And so he proceeds to pray for it. Now this, I repeat, is the crucial point in the whole understanding of revival and of what it means. There are many today, and there are less, there are many evangelical people, it seems to me, who have completely failed to see this point. They argue like this. Surely there is nothing necessary except that we should be orthodox, that God should bless us, that we should be aware of his presence amongst us, and that we should carry on with our regular ministry and that conversion should be taking place and that efforts should be put forward. What do you require beyond that? What do you require beyond the fact that men and women should be converted and then should know the fullness of the spirit? Is there anything necessary beyond that? Isn't that the most desirable thing? Isn't that the ideal state of the church? That men and women know whom they have believed are orthodox in their beliefs and thus go on being filled with the spirit according to the exhortation of the apostle in Ephesians 5.18. Is there anything desirable beyond that? Now then, to argue like that is to display a complete ignorance as to what is meant by revival. Revival is something beyond all that, something additional to all that, something exceptional, something which is quite extraordinary, something which is in a sense almost startling in its amazing character. Now it is obvious that if we are not clear about this point that we shall not be concerned about revival and we shall not pray for revival. And that has been the attitude of the vast majority of people. They say things are going well. Look at us, look at the societies, look at the reports in the religious weeklies. Everything's going well, marvellous. And so you see, they don't think about revival, they don't feel it's necessary, and they don't pray for it. All we've got to do this is to keep on as we are. God's blessings, everything's all right. And it is, I say, because they thus have this central failure to understand the meaning of revival in its essence. That they find themselves in that very position. So that we are looking at what I would call the most crucial aspect of this whole question of revival. Now then, here it is, I say, depicted so plainly in this second section here of this chapter. Moses, who's had so much, goes back because he wants more. And he begins to plead for this more and for this extra. Now then, the first question before us therefore is what does he pray for? What does he feel is this additional need? Well, you will find that as we look at the answers to that question, as they're indicated here, we shall be looking at something that has characterized the prayers of men and women who felt a burden for revival at all times and in the history of every revival that the Church of God has ever been privileged to know. There is a sameness about this which is really almost incredible. But of course, the moment you realize the principles governing these matters, you shouldn't be surprised at it. Here are the things that the intercessors who've done their work before the revival comes have always concentrated upon. Therefore, if we are concerned about the situation today, here are the things about which we should be concerned. What does he pray for? Well, first and foremost, he prays for a sense of personal assurance. That's the message of verse 13. Now therefore he says, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, he knows that he has. He's using it as an argument. You can read it like this if you like. Because I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight, and consider that this nation is thy people. Now this almost sounds contradictory, doesn't it? He says, if I have found grace in thy sight, do this in order that I may find grace in thy sight. God has already told him that he knows him and speaks to him as a man does unto his friend, and yet Moses' prayer is this, that I may know thee. Now then, what does this mean? Well, here I say is one of these differentiating points. Moses is not content with the mere knowledge of the fact that he is accepted by God and that he is in God's favor. He knows that, but he's not content with it. He wants more. That I may know thee, says Moses. Oh, he knew about God. He'd had manifestations of God's loving interest in him and God's kindness to him. He's not satisfied. He wants more. What does he want? He wants a personal knowledge of God. He wants a direct knowledge of God. He wants to know beyond a doubt and a purred venture that God really loves him. Well, he knows it, of course, but he wants a manifestation of it. He wants an absolute certainty with respect to it. Now then, here is something I say that you will find in the lives of all the great saints of God in the church throughout the ages and particularly in men on whom God lays his hand in this matter of revival and of intercession. The first thing that happens to them is that they themselves feel this desire for a deeper knowledge of God. Of course, they're good men. They're orthodox men. They believe in God. They know they're saved. They've got assurance of salvation. They may have had it for years, but now they begin to feel a hunger and a thirst for something bigger and something deeper. They read their Bibles and they feel that here there is some deeper and some fuller knowledge of God and God's love. And that is what they want. They're no longer content with what I may call the ordinary condition of the church. They want something extraordinary, something unusual. Let me put it to you in some lines from a hymn which seem to me to put it very well indeed. Here is a man, you see, writing, Speak, I pray thee, gentle Jesus, O how passing sweet thy word, Breathing o'er my troubled spirit Peace that never earth affords. And then he goes on to say, Tell me thou art mine, O Savior, Grant me an assurance clear. That's the thing. He knows that the Savior loves him. But you see what he wants? Tell me thou art mine, O Savior. It's only the man who knows the Savior's love who asks him for that. Here is a man asking for something special, something unusual, something additional. I needn't belabor this point, surely. On the human level we all know something about this. It's a great thing to be told that you're loved. You may know that you're loved, but it isn't enough. You like to be told it. It's extra, it's additional. There's nothing like it. Tell me, tell me thou art mine, O Savior. That's what Moses was praying for. He wanted God to tell him. He says, I know, if I have found grace in thy sight, I know I have, because I have, show me now thy way that I may know thee. You see, he's not content with the general, the average, the ordinary. No, no, he says I'm in such a position that I want something beyond that, something additional, some special feeling of all this to my spirit and to my heart. That's what he's crying out for. No, this, I say, is something that happens in the experiences of individuals who begin to long for this blessing of God, which we call revival. It is, in other words, a desire to have a very living and well consciousness of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the church. Oh, we know the Holy Spirit is in the church. The Holy Spirit has been in the church since the day of Pentecost, yes, but what this man is asking for and what men who plead for revival are always asking for is this, not simply that we may know or be aware of the fact that the Spirit is in the church, but that this may be demonstrated and manifested to us in such a way that every doubt or hesitation is gone. It is for a clear manifestation, an unusual manifestation, some access of love, some additional manifestation of love. That's the thing that Moses was praying for. That is the thing to pray for if we are concerned about revival. Because with all our orthodoxy and with all our consciousness of the fact that the Holy Spirit is in the church and that God does bless us, are we not aware of the fact that there is much more, that we know so little about? When we compare ourselves with the people in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, that's the thing. There is more that we haven't touched. We know nothing about it. We are like children paddling in the sea. There's that mighty ocean and its depths. What do we know about that? Now here is a cry from a man's heart for this additional something, these depths of the ocean of God's love, these unusual manifestations that I may know of thee. And then of course he says, show me now thy way. And here he is referring to God's purposes and God's plans. He is now asking for this absolute certainty that God is going to go with them as they march up in the direction of Canaan and enter into the promised land. God had told them that he wasn't going with them, you remember, that he was going to send an angel. Now says Moses, you must come with us and I want to see your way. I want you to give me some glimpse into your great plan and purpose. That's his prayer. Not content, you see, with knowledge by faith that God is going to bless and is going to honor. Moses is here beginning to be daring. He says I'd like to have a glimpse into the plan. I'd like if you'd share the secret with me. I'd like if you'd take me into your confidence. I'd like if you'd give me now an absolute assurance before we go any further that you really are going to come with us. Now, you see, there is all the difference in the world between that and assuming that God is going to be with us. We tend to do that, don't we? We tend to assume it. How did we come up to this service this morning? Did we offer any special prayer that God might be with us and look upon us? Or did we come assuming it? Isn't that the trouble with us that we assume the presence of God? There is a sense in which that is perfectly right and that we walk by faith and not by sight. Yes, but here, you see, is the cry for something more. Here is the church as it were represented by Moses and the people. And they've got a great task in front of them. Many difficulties, great enemies. Now, says Moses, can I venture, can I dare to come into your presence in the light of what you've already said to me and in the light of what you've already done for me? Can I come in and ask or just tell us what you're going to do? Tell us about it. Give us some certainty. Let us know that you're going to be with us. That's the prayer for revival. Not being content to go on from week to week and month to month and year to year. Yes, enjoying God's blessings. Don't misunderstand me. I'm not despising the day of small things. But what I am saying is this, that we are in the day of small things, my friends. These are the days of small things. There are big things. And I'm talking about the longing for the bigger things. And what Moses was praying for was this, was he was asking God, will you just tell me that you're going to do it? Now, you see, this is, this is the filial spirit. It's only a child who does a thing like that. The child ventures to ask the father things that the servant would never dream of asking. The child, the father has given some indication of something that's going to happen. The child is a little bit impatient and he says, do tell me what you're going to do. Let me have a peep into it. Let me see. He can't wait. He's so anxious. Is that wrong? Of course it isn't wrong. That's the childlike filial spirit going to the father and saying, oh, just let me know. Let me know so that I can be, enjoy peace, that I can be happy. And you see, that was God's answer to him. He said unto him, I will go with thee, my presence shall go with thee and I will give thee rest. I'll take your anxiety away from you. I'll let you know what I'm going to do so you need have no concern and apprehension. God answered his prayer. But now that was the petition. This personal assurance that the church may know this love of God and may be let into the secret of his plans and his purposes, his proposals and his ideas. My dear friends, have you felt anything of this desire? Have you felt this longing to be allowed into the secret? Wouldn't you like to know this morning whether God is going to do something for us or not? That's the prayer of Moses. Now then, there is the first thing, but let me say a word about the second. It follows, of course, of necessity. It's an accompaniment. It is the prayer for power. God had said to Moses, my presence shall go with thee and I will give thee rest. And Moses said unto God, if thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. Here's a tremendous thing again. The prayer for power. This is absolutely invariable in the history of the church prior to revival. This is the thing of which the intercessors always become most conscious. The need for power. Why? Well, here are the reasons. One, of course, their awareness of the magnitude of the problem confronting them. The strength of the enemy that they were going to meet. The nations in the land of promise. The powerful nations, the Amalekites and others. The tremendous task of occupying a land. Here they were, just a kind of nomadic people traveling along like this and they were going to settle a land and conquer it and make their homes there. And suddenly, they become aware of the immensity of the problem. I have to emphasize this once more. Because to me, there's nothing so tragic about the present position as the obvious failure of so many people to realize the magnitude of the problem that confronts us. My dear friends, if you only realized the magnitude of the problem, there'd be no need to urge you to pray for revival. But our eyes seem to be shut. Everything's going well, we say. Look at the reports. Marvelous. Look at the activities. Isn't all well? Wait a minute. You've got to analyze figures always. You've got to be aware, beware that you're not carried away by certain enthusiasts without going any further. But there are other figures, my dear friends. Keep your eye on the papers. The statistics of the various denominations are being published now as they're going to have their May meetings. You look at them. Look at the decline in membership. Membership of the church. Attendance at Sunday schools. Attendance in church services. It's going down in all the denominations and at an alarming rate. You'd think by looking at some Christian newspapers that everybody has been converted into various countries. But they haven't, you know. The statistics of the churches prove that they haven't. The churches are going down steadily year after year. And as to the increase in vice and sin and godliness and profanity, can't we see it? Can't we see it in this country? Can't we see it in all the countries? Can't we see this modern intellectualism that won't even consider the gospel? Can't we see how men in a state of prosperity are not concerned about their souls and about God? This is happening not only in this country. It's happening in every country. I was reading only during this last week a statement made by Pastor Namer. He's not an evangelical. I'm not quoting him because he's evangelical. I'm quoting him because he happened to be stating facts. And he stated that that is the position in Germany now. Immediately after the war from 1945 to 1947 and beginning of 1948 people were crowding the churches. He says they're no longer doing that. Since Germany has become a prosperous country again she's forgotten God and is turning her back upon Him. And that is true of this country. How can we be at ease when only some 10% of the people in this country claim to be religious and only half those ever think of attending a place of worship? Is that a position about which we can be complacent? Is everything alright? The position I say is going from bad to worse. It's becoming increasingly alarming. And I am here to assert that all our efforts are not touching the main situation. That's not to disparage individual conversions. Of course it's not. The whole point I'm making is this. Moses and his people were already in that position. They're pleading for the extra. They're pleading for the unusual. They're pleading for the exceptional. And that is my plea. That's not to criticize what's happening but it is to show that it's not enough. And the tragedies as I see it that men are saying this is enough. It's happening. It is not happening. The main position is worse than ever. And that is where the cry and the plea for power and for an unusual manifestation begins to come in. They realize the nature of the problem. But they not only realize the nature of the problem. They realize their own weakness. He said unto him if thy presence go not with me carry us not up hence. Moses we are told was the meekest of men. He was. And that was his glory. He realized his weakness his own inability. I won't go another step said Moses to God unless you promise to be with me. Who am I to meet this situation? Even with the wisdom that thou hast given me it's not enough. I want this absolute certainty. I want this strength and I want this power. Moses you see was afraid to go on without God. He wouldn't go on without this absolute certainty of the presence and the power of God. Well there again is the thing that you will always find in the church before a time of revival. And that is what makes me sometimes think that we've got a long way to go. We are still so confident in what we are doing. We are still so proud of it. We are still so convinced that it's doing marvelous things. We are not aware of our impotence my friends. We are not aware of our weakness and of our need of power. As long as we think we can organize these matters there is no hope for us. The beginning of revival is to realize that without this manifestation of God this manifestation of God's power we can do nothing. We've got to get back to that position in which the apostle Paul so constantly found himself. I'm never tired of quoting it. It's the text that needs to be held before the church today in every section more than any other. 1 Corinthians 2 3 to 6 And I brethren when I came unto you came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring unto you the gospel. It didn't go with enticing words of men's wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. I think I've told you before I've quoted to you before of certain cases of ministers used of God in the past who wouldn't dare to go to preach until they had an absolute assurance that the Holy Spirit was going to accompany them and was going to empower them. That's what Moses had come to. He realized the need of this exceptional power so he prays to God for it. Very well let me hurry to the next thing the third thing which is this. He prayed also for a special authentication of the church and her mission. God's presence his personal assurance the power yes and this special authentication of the church and her mission. That's the message of verse 16. He listened to Moses arguing wherein he says for wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight. Is it not in that thou goest with us so shall we be separated I and thy people from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. In other words this is a prayer that the church should be as she is meant to be. What is that? Well it's this. The church is meant to be separate. The church is meant to be unique. Now says Moses to God I am asking for this something extra because I am concerned here are we thy people. How are all the other nations to know that we really are your people. They are looking on at us they are laughing at us they are mocking us they are jeering at us they are ready to overwhelm us. Now I am asking for something said Moses that will make it absolutely clear that we are not just one of the nations of the world but that we are thy people. That we are separate unique all together apart. Now then the prayer for revival is the prayer that the church may again become like that. And my argument is that nothing but some unusual outpouring of the spirit of God can do that. What is needed is something that cannot be explained in human terms. What is needed is something that is so striking and so signaled that it will arrest the attention of the whole world. That's revival. Revival always does that. Now then this is the point we can never do anything like that. We can do a great deal and we should do so. We can preach the truth. We can defend it. We can indulge in our apologetics. We can organize our campaigns. We can try to present a great front to the world. But you know it doesn't impress the world. It leaves the world where it was. I say the need is for something which will be so overwhelming so divine so unusual that it will arrest the attention of the world and prove that we are indeed what we claim to be the unique and separate people of God. That is the essence of this prayer in this third petition. And if I understand the times in which we are living at all this should be our most urgent need today. What's the matter? Well what has gone of course is the uniqueness of the church. The church seems to be so much like other agencies and other bodies. The church is just like another institution. How difficult it is to see any difference between the world and some good societies and organizations that belong to the world. Have a look at a church assembly I mean by that of any denomination that you like. And have a look then at a political society or a cultural society. I wonder whether you could tell any difference between them if you didn't notice the particular dress that is affected by certain dignitaries and officials. If you just went in and they all happened to dress like everybody else I wonder whether you'd realize that there was something unique about the church of God because she's God's church and they're God's people. My dear friends we've lost our uniqueness. We are nice people we are respectable people we are well-dressed people yes we are religious people oh but there are many other agencies that of which you can say all that and yet they're not Christian. Oh but you say we can do big things we can organize great campaigns and we can get many adherents to come to the church. Do you know that Buddhism is doing exactly the same thing at the present time? There is a great revival of Buddhism going on. There are thousands of people turning to Buddhism in India and in other lands even in this land. The cults are thriving. They can do all this they can stage big efforts and they'll get large numbers of adherents they can do it all. False religions can do it and the world in general is not influenced nor affected it's not even impressed. There's nothing unique about all that. What is needed I'll tell you what is needed what is needed is some supernatural manifestation which will make it perfectly plain and clear that it's not of men but that it is of God. The demonstration of the spirit and of power says the Apostle Paul. Do you know what's needed? I'll tell you. What is needed is what happened on the day of Pentecost. Read Acts 2 that's what's needed. Are you asking Sir Solomon for a sound of a mighty rushing wind? No I'm not of necessity asking for that. Neither am I asking of necessity for speaking with tongues but I am asking for such a descent of the spirit that everybody will know that something's happened. That's what I'm asking for. I'm asking for something like that which happened in that incident which I read to you at the beginning out of Acts 4. There was that little church you see faced with her difficulty the ban on the preaching the threat of imprisonment and death and what did they do? They went back and they prayed they asked God to have mercy they said do something special to enable us to preach with power and send signs following and the building shook. That's what they were asking for and God gave it to them and with great power they gave witness to the resurrection. Yes it was another outpouring of the spirit of God it was a repetition of Pentecost it was another baptism again he poured the spirit upon them and they were filled once more the men who had already been filled on the day of Pentecost. What I'm asking for is what happened do you remember in Acts 10 when Peter was there preaching to Cornelius and his household and as he was preaching the Holy Ghost fell upon them. And he even convinced the narrow minded men narrow minded Jew like Peter that these people these Gentiles rarely were converted. Do you remember how he says who was I that I could refuse to baptise them that I could refuse them water when I saw that God had done to them what he did to us at the beginning. That's what I'm asking for. Some manifestation of the power of God that will make it plain and clear that this isn't men acting but it is God acting. That is the thing and let me give you some other illustrations before I close. Do you notice what we are told in Hebrews in the second chapter and in the fourth verse it's a striking illustration of this very thing. How shall we escape says this man if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will God bearing them witness God confirming it that's the thing that established the early church God giving this unusual exceptional attestation and confirmation of the fact that these men were his and that they were preaching his gospel and the apostle Peter says exactly the same thing you'll find it in his first epistle in the first chapter in verse verses eleven and twelve searching what or what men at a time the spirit of Christ which was in them did signify when it signified before him the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven that is the thing this unusual attestation this indication by God that the church is his that it is his power that is within her that she is unique that this isn't men men can preach her mass how well I know it I can preach without the Holy Spirit with intelligence I can expound this word but that's not enough we need the demonstration of the spirit and of power men can conduct services men can get converts men can get additions to the church what a man can never do is this the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven the descent of power the attestation this uniqueness this special manifestation of the presence and of the power of God that is what Moses prayed for and that is always the third and in many senses the most urgent petition in the mouths and on the lips of those who see the position as it is and who see the need of revival authenticate thy word Lord God let it be known let it be known beyond the doubter of her adventure that we are thy people shake us I don't ask him to shake the building but I ask him to shake us I ask him to do something that is so amazing so astounding so divine that the whole world shall be compelled to look on and say what is this as they said on the day of Pentecost as they said at the protestant reformation as they said two hundred years ago when the spirit was poured upon Whitefield and the Wesleys and others as they said a hundred years ago in the revival in America Northern Ireland Wales and Scotland and in other places what's this what is it and it's clear that it's nothing that men can produce or organize it is plain that it is an act of God God authenticating his people their work and their message and saying yes these are my people and I'm doing something in their midst that I've never done among you and that I never will do among any but my own people is it clear my friends the prayer for revival is the prayer not for the regular blessing on the work we must always go on doing that it is the prayer for the unusual on top of it in addition to something special something that authenticates God and his work amongst his people