Introduction

I am constantly amazed at the continuity found in obedience to His Spirit as we follow Him in session themes and sermon series. It began in January 2009 with the Spirit of Elijah focus that ended up lasting the entire year as the weekly sermons covered 1 Kings 17-18 for eight months. The last four months of the year saw the Spirit of Elijah become even more practical with the subtitled focus of Prepare the Way. Ushered in with the New Year was the underlining desire for a new life in Christ with the series called Devoted to Destruction—a call to genuine holiness in being the “voice” to effectively herald Christ’s return. In that session the Lord called us to seek His heart so revival could take place; thus, our Heart for Revival focus which was completed just last week.

Now, seventeen months into God’s call for revival and restoration, we will look to the book of Malachi and the session’s text, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:5-6 KJV).

Malachi was one of the three prophets after the Babylonian exile (the other two were Haggai and Zechariah); his theme being that the sins of the their fathers could not continue in this time of restoration—an obvious parallel to what the Lord is doing today as seen from the aforementioned themes.

Prayer Focus

Read the entire book in one sitting today and make note of the verses that initially speak to you. Pray that the Holy Spirit opens your understanding in the days ahead so your heart can be turned to where He desires.