One Good Reason to Pray for Revival

Why should we pray for revival?

There are many reasons. One essential one is that revival will not come if we do did pray together. Dr. J. Edwin Orr once said that...

"There has never been a spiritual awakening in any country or locality that did not begin in united prayer."

Do we pray for revival in our church, small group, home, etc.?

Nehemiah was a man of prayer

Nehemiah was a man of prayer. Throughout that Old Testament book, we see him either praying or encouraging others to do the same. In chapter 1, after he heard about the condition of the wall and gate in Jerusalem, Nehemiah went right to prayer...

"As soon as I heard these words (about the wall and gate in Jerusalem) I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven" (Verse 4; English Standard Version).

Nehemiah knew that the wall and gate in the city where God's temple was had to be rebuild, but he knew that the first item of business was prayer and knocking on the door of heaven.

There are many things that need to get down for the Lord, but our number one priority is prayer!

Praying for revival!

Bryan

Off to Prayer

Good morning. I am about to leave the office to prayer with a bunch of pastors at another church. We meet twice a month to do so. Among the many prayers offered up, we pray for revival to come to to the church of Omaha.

May it come soon

Bryan

Stephen Olford on Revival

Good Evening. As we continue to pray for revival, we can take to heart the words of Stephen Olford...

"It is my conviction that we are never going to have a revival until God has brought the church of Jesus Christ to the point of desperation."

Stephen Olford
quoted at http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=3162

Prayer, Fellowship and a Renewed Church

Elton Trueblood wrote that fellowship is one of the keys for church renewal. No doubt, within the life of the fellowship, God's people will pray together.

"The renewal in the church will be in progress when it is seen as a fellowship of consciously inadequate persons who gather because they are weak, and scatter to serve because their unity with one another and with Christ has made them bold"

--The Incendiary Fellowship (pg. 31, click the title above to purchase a used copy of the book)

Not a bad definition of revival from Wikipedia!

Wikipedia offers a good definition of revival. The entire page can be viewed at...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revivalism

"Revival in a Christian context generally refers to a specific period of spiritual renewal in the life of the Church. While elements such as mass conversions and perceived beneficial effects on the moral climate of a given culture may be involved, the key factor in revival is the restoration of the Church to a vital and fervent relationship with God after a period of decline. Please note that here the word "Church" refers to the body of believers in Christ as a whole and not to a particular group or denomination."

I appreciate the statement "...the key factor in revival is the restoration of the Church to a vital and fervent relationship with God after a period of decline."

May that day come soon!

Bryan

Short and to the Point

Good morning. It has been a few days since I posted. I like this short but good definition of revival from James Stewart...

"Revival is a new discovery of Jesus."

Let us pray that we discover Jesus in a new way soon!

Bryan

Any Elijahs Around?

Hi: Last Sunday, I preached about the prophet Elijah's classic confrontation with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Today, I received Dan Puckett's article about that show-down through Life Action revival link. Where are the Elijahs today?

If Elijah Were Here, What Would It Look Like?
Dan Puckett

Elijah was a prophet. He was a man of God. He had one mission: to speak for God.

Elijah was a plumb line of heaven’s counsel dropped into the affairs of men. Elijah was not concerned with political correctness; matter of fact, he did not care about politics at all.

In Elijah’s day Ahab was king and Jezebel was queen. They were wicked people who had no heart for God. Ahab was aware of the Living God of Heaven, but Jezebel had her imported religious system of Baal worship and overwhelmed Ahab.

Baal was the fire god. The worship system was intricate and complicated, requiring hundreds of priests. There was a Baal temple and sacrifices, roughly paralleling the worship instituted by Jehovah God.

The people were fickle. They counted bigness of organization, ceremony of worship, and size of following as overall effectiveness, and neglected the one true God to follow the idol of Baal. Another thing false religion always seems to offer is a little more latitude in lifestyle, for those stuffy “Ten Commandments” can be restrictive.

King Ahab pursued the false religion of Baal to the point that God commented in 1 Kings 16:33, “Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.”

Elijah came on the scene with a simple message to Ahab, “As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1).

Elijah’s message held no immediate threat. It was a declaration that there was a living God, and He was taking action. It was weeks or maybe months before the effects pronounced by Elijah became critical. In the meantime, after Elijah delivered the message from God, he went into hiding at the command of God. Elijah was in exile.

The drought continued—crops failed, livestock suffered, and the people were scrambling to survive. Ahab and his people were hunting for Elijah, seeing him as their enemy and the cause of their difficulty. They never once looked to or for God in order to repent and beg for mercy. Matter of fact, as the situation worsened, their hatred for God increased.

Today the man Elijah is not here, but the message is. In our day, we have the Word of the Living God, the Holy Bible, at our disposal. The message is clear; God has not changed. God withdrew Elijah from the view of God’s enemies for a time. In our day, the enemies of God have pushed and are pushing the Word of God out of public view. We people do not seem to mind. God seems a little restrictive: He demands fealty and control. Nothing has changed.

We are in a spiritual drought. The withering of our family and social structure is a direct result of the lack of the Word of God being implanted and nurtured in the hearts of people. God could have intervened earlier in Elijah’s day, but He waited until the “famine was severe” (1 Kings 18:2).

God moved in Elijah’s day with a direct confrontation between Elijah and the false prophets (1 Kings 18:38-39) on their turf. God won!

Today those who recognize the severe famine we are in must persevere in faithfulness. Obadiah was a servant of God working for Ahab during those days. Obadiah remained loyal to God (1 Kings 18:4). We must as well.

Elijah’s story gives us great hope. Things were bad in the land, very bad, but God broke through. We may not all be Elijahs, but we can be like Obadiah, “Start where we are, use what we have, do what we can.” Our only hope is God. Our means are the Word of God and prayer. Pray always. Speak the Word of God at every opportunity. God is alive; He will win!

About the author: Dan Puckett is a member of Life Action’s speaker team, which consists of 15-20 individuals who are passionate about the message of personal renewal and corporate revival.

More Prayer During Revival

As I stated before, we absolutely must prayer prior to a revival. Yet, when God sends revival from heaven, our desire for prayer will intensify. Murray M'Cheyne observed such prayer:

"Serious men covered their faces to pray that the arrows of the Kink of Zion might be sent home with power to the hearts of sinners" and many were "bathed in tears" (Brian H. Edwards, Revival! A People Saturated with God, p. 125)

Can you see this happening in your church or prayer gathering?

Using Your Veto (by H.B. London)

Good Morning. I liked what H.B. London recently wrote in the Pastor's Weekly Briefing. It is related to the National Day of Prayer. By the way, did you have an opportunity to either pray with God's people yesterday or spent extra time alone standing in the gap on behalf of our nation? Last night, there was a powerful prayer meeting at Glad Tiding Church in Omaha.

Here are H.B. London's words...

USING YOUR VETO

This past week, President George W. Bush exercised his veto power when he refused to sign a bill that would place a date on troop withdrawal from Iraq. Subsequently, the house could not raise enough votes to override that veto. The President said to sign a bill of that kind would send a signal of weakness to our enemies and friends alike — so he used the veto.

Okay, stay with me. Wouldn't it be something if every pastor had the privilege of a veto in the local church? I know some of you would say our congregational type of government would not allow for such a thing — but stay with me.

For example:

A couple in your church decides they will get divorced. They have not had adequate counseling and could be prematurely throwing their relationship on the "ash heap." As a pastor you say, "No way! I veto that decision."

A small group of "joy suckers" in your congregation begin to stir up contention and division. The balance of stability in the body is at stake. You, as the pastor, know their behavior is not in keeping with our Lord's expectations. So you "veto" their activity.

A staff member has allowed a spiritual weakness to develop into a moral dysfunction. Only a bold veto of that person's lifestyle can save him. You walk boldly into that life in the authority of Almighty God.

The people under your influence begin to tell you how and what to preach. They want you to "water down" the truth and make everyone feel more comfortable. You exercise your veto right as a man of God.

I know a lot of this is conjecture and, perhaps, wishful thinking, but don't you wish at times — when you see people whose intent is more selfish than spiritual — that you could step into the mix with a "veto." To proclaim: No! I will not allow you to diminish the unity of Christ's church, or misrepresent the truth of God's Word. Sometimes I wish I could.

Jesus exercised His veto one day when He walked into the temple only to find it being defamed. He said that this is not a swap meet."My house will be called a house of prayer" (Matt. 21:13).

And so today, anything less is unacceptable.

Be blessed and be a blessing. —HBL

National Day of Prayer

Today is the 56th Annual National Day of Prayer. In about twenty minutes, I will go into the church sanctuary and pray with other followers of Jesus during the lunch hour. We will repent of individual and corporate sins. We will also pray for Omaha, Nebraska and our country. The United States is in desperate need of revival.

This evening at Glad Tidings Church in Omaha, hundreds of Christians will gather to stand in the gap for our nation.

Wherever you are today, please be sure to pray for revival.

Bryan

Prayer during a revival

Yesterday, I wrote that prayer must precede every true revival. The when God sends a revival, prayer among God's people will increase. One example from history is in the ministry of George Whitefield...

"Sometimes whole nights were spent in prayer. Often we have been filled as with new wine. And often have we (been) overwhelmed with the Divine presence and crying out, 'Will God indeed dwell with men upon earth? How dreadful is this place! This is none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven!'" (Brian H. Edwards, Revival! A People Saturated with God, pg. 125).

To have prayer times like that, we first must devote ourselves to pray that revival will come.

Praying for revival

Bryan

We are to prayer before and during a revival.

Prayer before revival is absolutely essential. But during a revival, prayer will increase and intensify. Brian H. Edwards writes...

"All revival begins and continues in the prayer meeting. Before revival the prayer meeting is not always attended by many; sometimes only by a few, but someone is always praying. When revival comes the prayer meeting is among the first to benefit. Someone has called prayer 'the great fruit of revival.'

The meeting that is frequently the Cinderella of the church becomes the focal point of the life of the Christian community, and Christians who have avoided a prayer meeting for year are now longing for the next occasion to call to God. Prayer is no longer a burden, though it may be a battle" (Revival! A People Saturated with God, pg. 125).