Revival Prayer Pointers

121 through 130

Week 121: We’re going to spend February thinking about waiting on the Lord.  The psalmist said these words to himself: My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.  Part of the pursuit of revival is a willingness to wait silently on the Lord for His work in us.  Instead of wording a prayer for revival this week, perhaps you will choose to sit silently and wait on God to do His gentle work in your life.  

Week 122: We pray for revival with the clear understanding that God is sovereign and does His work in His time.  When we pray for revival, we give God freedom to align our hearts with His heart, our agenda with His agenda.  Sometimes the necessary re-alignment takes time.  Read Psalm 40:1 before you pray for revival this week.  Let’s tell God that we’re willing to wait for His timing and His work.   

Week 123: Hezekiah prayed for Israel’s deliverance from their oppressors.  But when he prayed, he made it clear that he wanted God to get the glory for their deliverance.  Read 2 Kings 19:19.  Let’s pray this week that God will bring renewal to our lives and our church in ways that will bring glory only to Him.

Week 124: The pursuit of renewal/revival will always involve our passion.  Without passion, our pursuit is listless.  Read the words of the psalmist in Ps. 55:16&17.  None of us who knows Jesus needs anything as much as we need Him and His power.  When we figure that out, we’ll pray for revival with passion! 

Week 125: The Apostle Paul teaches us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing.”  While there are many opinions about what it means to “pray without ceasing,” it certainly means that we’re to pray regularly.  Perhaps as we “pray without ceasing” this week, we should pray for revival every day, not just one or two days a week.    

Week 126: The work of revival is a renovating work.  God’s Spirit changes us and renews us according to His knowledge of us.  The psalmist prayed (Ps. 119:88) “Revive me according to your loving kindness.” It is as though the psalmist knew God would do that reviving work as an act of love in ways that were good for him.  Let’s pray that way this week: “Revive us, O God, according to your loving kindness.”

Week 127: The Apostle Peter told the early church to “gird up the loins of [their] minds—to prepare to think about life and holiness in ways dramatically different from their previous ways of thinking.  (1 Peter 1:13-16)  Could the way we think . . . or don’t think hinder revival in our church?  Let’s ask the Lord to help us think about revival in the context of our own thinking, and then allow Him to correct our thinking if needed.  

Week 128: You’ll hear Ephesians 6:18 read in church this morning.  The pursuit of revival is, in part, a choice to do battle with the forces of evil in our world—forces that resist revival and renewal.  The ministry of prayer is part of the way God equips us in the pursuit of renewal in our lives and our church.  Please don’t think your prayers make no difference!  Continuing, focused praying will help us win the battle as we continue the journey to revival.    

Week 129: Praying for revival presumes that we’ve digressed on the journey.  It also assumes that we want to resume forward progress in our journey with Jesus.  I wonder if that kind of thinking was on Paul’s mind when he wrote Forgetting the things behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 3: 13b-14) Let’s pray that God will move us forward!  

Week 130: 130 weeks is a long journey!  And it isn’t over.  We don’t how long the journey will continue, but we do know it is worthwhile.  The destination will bring us to a place of power and fruitful ministry.  I’m reminded of Jeremiah 29:11.  I know the thoughts that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Don’t get weary in this prayer journey; God will show up!