Prayer For Revival 12/15

Prayer For Revival

By Kathleen G. Grant

Revival is defined as what occurs when God pours out His Holy Spirit upon His people. This pouring out of the Holy Spirit results characteristically in the following: a seeking after the Lord in much prayer and with wholeheartedness; the anointing of preachers with power and courage resulting in the ability to preach the Gospel with great boldness; the salvation of many; devotion to the Scriptures, to the fellowship of the Body, and to the ordinances of the church; love, unity, generosity, and holy living; the fear of the Lord, awe, adoration, and praise; confession of sin and repentance from it; the removal of evil things; obedience to the Word of God; and the spreading of the Word of the Lord in power.

Instances of revival in the Bible are: under Joshua (Josh. 5:2-9), Samuel (1 Sam. 7:1-6), Elijah (1 Kgs. 18:17-40), Jehoash and Jehoiada (2 Kgs. 11-12; 2 Chr. 23-24), Hezekiah (2 Kgs. 18:1-7; 2 Chr. 29:31), Josiah (2 Kgs. 22-23; 2 Chr. 34-35), Asa (2 Chr. 14:2-5; 15:1-14), Manasseh (2 Chr. 33:12-19), in Nineveh (Jon. 3:4-10), at Pentecost and post-Pentecostal times (see the Book of Acts).

In the Old as well as the New Testaments, and in the history of the church, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit is often brought about through heartfelt prayer and often, fasting. As you pray for revival, remember that revival pleases God for it inspires and empowers us to return to our first love of Christ and results in many others being saved as well.

A Prayer

Dearest Father in heaven – almighty, just, sovereign and exceedingly merciful Lord,

We come to You in prayer, with hearts profoundly burdened with the desire that You once again revive us, causing us who say we believe in Your wonderful Son, Jesus, to love Him and You with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength (Matt. 22:37). We ask You to pour out Your Spirit – the Spirit of holiness, truth, and of Christ – that we may realize the unity of His body, which will be the greatest witness of all that You have given Him as Savior of this wicked, perishing world (Rom. 1:4; John 14:17; 2 Cor. 3:17; John 17:21).

We believe that You are a God of mercy and that the name of Your mercy is Christ (Psa. 25:6; Eph. 2:4; 1 Pet. 1:3). In Him, You have already fulfilled the just demands of Your wrath against the sin and ungodliness of all humanity, once and for all at the Cross (Rom. 3:26; 5:9; Col. 1:20, 22). We look to the Cross, to the crucified body of our precious Savior, and to His shed blood as the only reason why You should answer our prayer (Heb. 10:19-22).

We humbly acknowledge that although we seek to walk blamelessly before You, walking in the light as He is in the light, we do not walk perfectly (1 John 1:7-8). We give You our hearts anew, confessing once again that we trust only in Christ for our righteousness. We believe that You will, for His sake, keep us from falling and bring us into Your presence with great joy (Rom. 4:5; 10:11; Jude 24, 25). Our prayer begins, continues, and ends with our trust in You as the One who initiated our salvation out of Your great love for us while we were sinners, and as the only One who is able, out of that same love, to bring revival (John 3:16; 1 John 4:10). Father, revival will never come if it is left up to us! No person seeks You unless You have first sought him! (Rom. 10:20; John 6:44, 65).

Therefore, we ask You to move among Your people within every local church throughout this country and all over the world to bring about the conditions that will result in revival: deep conviction not only of specific sins, but also an awesome revelation of Your presence, leading to a profound sense of the holiness and mightiness of God (John 16:8-10, 14; Eph. 1:18-23). Blessed Holy Spirit, be pleased to exalt the most high God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the image of the invisible God, the radiance of His glory, and the exact representation of His being (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3). Exalt Him who is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, who is without beginning or end, the firstborn from the dead, who for the sake of the joy set before Him endured the Cross, scorning its shame, and now sits at the right hand of the almighty Father (Rev. 21:6; Col. 1:15-16; Heb. 12:2).

Father, it is for Your glory that Your Son humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross – so that at His name every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Phil. 2:10-11). We who say we are His, who profess to love Him, who gather in His name week after week, who stake every hope we have of eternal life upon Him, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, long that He be exalted as Lord in our lives (Heb. 4:14; 12:2; Acts 2:21). May You work in us who call ourselves “believers” to will and to do according to Your good pleasure (Phil. 2:12; Heb. 13:21). May Your grace in our lives not be without effect! May we say with the Apostle Paul that we worked harder than all the rest by the grace that You supplied (1 Cor. 15:10). And may we never forget that You redeemed us from an empty way of life with the precious blood of Christ, a Lamb without blemish or defect (1 Pet. 1:18-19). Surely, we are not our own; we were bought at a price! (1 Cor. 6:20).

We confess, Father, that we do not love You the way we long to love You (Phil 3:12-14). We confess that too often the cares, worries, and wealth of this world choke out the life of Christ and keep us from bearing the crop that would please You (Matt. 13:22-23). Make our hearts and minds noble (Luke 8:15). Teach us how to put Christ first (Matt. 6:33). Ignite our hearts with a love for You that does not die out when we leave the worship service but continues as the week unfolds, inspiring us to do good deeds and acts of service through Christ and for His glory (2 Thes. 2:16-17). Work in us a perseverance of faith and love (2 Thes. 3:5). True revival never just affects our emotions but always leads to an obedience of faith (Deut. 10:12-13; Rom. 16:26). Enable us not to forget Your words, that those who love You obey Your commands (John 14:15). Oh, that we would love Your will as Jesus did! (John 6:38). By Your grace and mercy, may we not miss Your will for revival: the restoration of Your people to their first love, as evidenced by an obedience to all the will of God (1 Pet. 1:1-2).

To this end, Father, may You in Your great mercy reveal once again what is needful in every generation of the church: the true Gospel. May You take the blindness from our minds, hearts, and wills, to reveal the fact that salvation is from You – a gift that includes repentance from sin and self, and which causes a turning to God by faith in Christ alone as Lord and Savior (Acts 2:38; 17:30; Eph. 5:23; Heb. 5:9; John 3:16). All of this – repentance, turning to God, and faith in Christ as Lord and Savior – is the fruit of the grace of God and the evidence of regeneration (Acts 3:19-20; Eph. 2:8-9).

Salvation is the work solely of God to redeem for Himself a people from every nation, tribe, and language, to become a kingdom and a priesthood to serve Him. For this very purpose, Christ was slain (Rev. 5:9-10; 1 Pet. 1:2). By Your Spirit and through Your Word, may You work in us the fruit of the Gospel, enabling us to become blameless and pure, children of God in a crooked and depraved generation, in which we shine like stars in the universe as we hold out the Word of Life (Phil. 2:15-16). Father, do establish us by this glorious Gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ so that all nations might believe and obey Him (Rom. 16:25).

Finally, Father, we pray that You would illuminate the words of the Bible, that we would reverence them as the very words of God (Psa. 12:6; Matt. 24:35; Psa. 119:89). We confess that we have not studied, memorized, nor believed Your words as sacred, sufficient, and inerrant, the only true guide for all of life and godliness (Deut. 4:2; 12:32; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:3-4, 21). May it be true for us as it was for Him, that we do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4; Deut. 8:3).

…We pray that this revival will touch not only us who believe, but will serve to bring a multitude into His sheep pen before the end. Our Great Shepherd has other sheep who will listen to His voice, and He will make us one flock with one Shepherd (John 10:16). Remind us, as You did the Apostle Paul when he was in Corinth, that You have many people in many places throughout the world (Acts 18:10). May we be compelled by Christ’s love, as Paul was, to live no longer for ourselves, but for Him who died for us and was raised again (2 Cor. 5:15). May we, like him, implore others to come to Christ as we fulfill this blessed ministry of reconciliation, that God is reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them (2 Cor. 5:19). Father, You have made us all Christ’s ambassadors; may we faithfully, lovingly, and truthfully make Him known, the Lamb of God who was slain for the sins of the world, as You pour Your grace into our lives (2 Cor. 5:20; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; 1 John 2:2; Eph. 4:4-7).

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

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