May 10, 2024 Fervent Prayer for Revival – Words of Grace Blog – May 10, 2024
We shouldn’t be surprised that at the end of Isaiah, we hear a loud cry for the Lord to rend the heavens and come down (Isaiah 64:1). An intercessor has heard the previous prophecies of sin, grace, repentance, renewal, and the newness that Messiah will bring, and is left with one thing to do, pray.
Isaiah 62-64 reads like a long prayer for revival. This is the text we will take up this Sunday at Grace Community Church. This is the prayer we will pray when we gather before God, in his Spirit, with his word, as his people.
As you read through these chapters this weekend to prepare for our time together on Sunday, here are three questions to ask yourself.
Do I have the vision that generates prayer for revival?
Vision is seeing what God has revealed about himself, ourselves, his will, and his ways. It is seeing the real condition we are in and the only hope for change. When we see these realities, we are moved to pray.
If we are not praying, it is because we are not seeing. We may see people and events, but not the heart, the condition, the reasons, and the possibilities of God’s grace. When we see through a biblical lens, we call out to God to do what only he can do.
Ask God to give you a vision of reality from Isaiah that generates prayer for revival.
Do I have the longing that sustains prayer for revival?
Longing is the work of the Spirit in the heart of God’s people for a new work of grace. This longing is a gift, stirred by the Spirit, that sustains our prayers.
Why wouldn’t a Christian long for a reviving and renewing work of God in our generation? Maybe excesses of past “revivals” have turned us off to the whole idea. Disappointed expectations for revival can dampen our enthusiasm. Contentment with a comfortable religious life, blindness to the real state of things, or simple unbelief that God will revive his people are all reasons we lack longing and fail to pray.
But spiritually alive people know where this life came from and how desperate we are for fresh enlivening from the Spirit. The Spirit gives life and stirs up longing for more.
Ask the Lord for longing that will sustain your prayer for revival.
Will I take the time to pray for revival?
Isaiah 62:6-7 says, “You who put the Lord in remembrance, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it a praise in the earth.” In other words, don’t stop coming before the Lord, reminding him of what he said he would do, and asking for his will to be done on earth as it is heaven.
When you wake up and as you fall asleep, when you take a walk or as you drive in your car, with friends in a small group and at the appointed time of your prayers and Bible reading, when we gather on Sunday and on the Saturday night before, fervently pray the prayer for revival among us and in our land.
-Scott