Revival, awakening, renewal, divine visitation. Such terms are heard frequently and they can mean many different things to different people. Books on these subjects abound. They can range from those dealing with the history of revivals to those promoting some type of charismatic renewal or Pentecostal blessing.

In speaking of the need to pray for revival, then, it is necessary first to define what is meant by revival. Revival should be understood as an extraordinary move of the Holy Spirit in the church, bringing new life and vitality to the people of God, increasing their sense of the glory and the holiness of God, causing increased power in preaching, moving people to deep conviction of sin and giving them a great hunger for the Word of God. Many who have previously been half-hearted, cold and backslidden are profoundly shaken and even those most committed come to a greatly deepened faith and love for God.

Then, to this spiritually enlivened and empowered church, others who have not previously believed are drawn. Large numbers of ungodly people are converted. Frequently this has the effect of bringing considerable change to the character of an entire community or society as pubs and casinos empty and churches fill.

Revivals have been Frequent⤒🔗

Such revivals have occurred frequently throughout the history of the church. Often they have taken place on reformed turf. Characteristic emphases in revival preaching upon such doctrines as the sovereignty, glory and holiness of God, the new birth, conviction of sin, and faith in Christ, are at the heart of reformed preaching. Consequently such distinctly Calvinistic names as Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Robert Murray M'Cheyne, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Martyn Lloyd-Jones and a host of others, are intimately connected with the history of revival.

Our Present Need←⤒🔗

Given that revival concerns these two matters – the enlivening of those within the church and the conversion of many outside of her – we should take great interest in it. The state of the church and the nation here in New Zealand is cause for deep heartache. In the church we face rapidly declining numbers, widespread liberalism, man-centred and entertainment-oriented worship, manipulative evangelism, a dearth of powerful expository preaching, widespread disunity and laxity concerning the commands of God. In our nation we face declining moral standards with increasing attacks upon such Christian values as the sacredness of life, the sanctity of marriage and the holiness of the Lord's Day.

Both church and nation cry out for a mighty work of God, for his gracious and powerful intervention. It is not adequate for us to just coast along, fine tuning our doctrines and launching theological missiles from a safe distance at those with whom we disagree. What we must look for, long for and work for is true revival and spiritual awakening.

Of course, we cannot bring revival ourselves. But we can set our sails to catch the wind of the Spirit when God sovereignly chooses to breathe on us. And to do that requires prayer. The evidence both biblically and historically is that revival is always linked to extended seasons of urgent prayer.

The Example of Acts←⤒🔗

In the book of Acts, in which we have many accounts of the Spirit's powerful work in the life of the church, we find God's people constantly gathering in prayer. Immediately following the ascension of our Lord we are told that the disciples and women met in the upper room to pray. On the day of Pentecost, they were gathered together presumably in prayer. In Acts 2:42 we are told that the new church community devoted themselves to prayer. In Acts 4, in response to persecution, the church gathered in prayer and experienced the mighty power of the Spirit of God. In Acts 12 the church was gathered in prayer when Peter was released from prison. In Acts 21:5 we have a moving account of believers gathered together in prayer as the ultimate expression of their love and fellowship with one another.

Their prayers were corporate, frequent, urgent, bold and effective. They followed in the pattern already set beforehand in the Old Testament. Frequently in the Psalms, for example, one finds God's people crying out for his reviving work (Psalm 85:85, 80:7). In Isaiah 64, the prophet intercedes for the nation, pleading that God would "rend the heavens and come down." In Zechariah 8:20-22 there is a prophecy of people gathering together to seek the Lord. In Isaiah 62:6-7 we are summoned to such prayer:

You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.

The Examples in Church History←⤒🔗

To the biblical examples, we can add the testimony of church history. Revivals have repeatedly been born in prayer. The Great Awakening had its origins in the fervent prayers of men like George Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley. The Welsh revival of 1859 was marked by numerous gatherings for prayer night after night in village after village. In Wales again in 1904-05 revival was preceded by years of prayer on the part of Evan Roberts (who began praying for revival in 1891) and other small clusters of people burdened by the need for spiritual awakening. The Hebrides' revival in 1949 followed the intense prayers of a minister and his church leaders as well as two sisters unable to attend worship but committed to praying for revival, and a group of seven young men who met in a barn several nights a week for prayer.

It little matters what examples one chooses, prayer is always central both to preparation for revival and to revival itself. When one puts together the biblical record of prayer, the testimony of church history and the chronic needs of our present day, the great need to pray for revival is deeply impressed on us. But what is the character and manner of such prayer?

The Character and Manner of Such Prayer←⤒🔗

Firstly it must be said that prayer for revival must arise out of a sense of urgency and even desperation. We must be convinced that God's presence can be experienced in much greater measure than we have seen to date, and we must have a heart longing to know him in all his fullness. We must be burdened by the apparent deadness of much of our own teaching, preaching and worship. We must be concerned about our present ineffectiveness in calling the lost to salvation. We must be disturbed by the apathy and worldliness of many of our churches. We must deplore any tendency amongst us to legalism, divisiveness and theological nit-picking. God must first burden our hearts with such concerns so that we will pray with great earnestness and urgency. The fact may well be that we are too smug and self-satisfied with our neat little churches to be bothered with praying for some greater measure of blessing.

Secondly, there must be perseverance. God answers in his way and at his time. Often his people have prayed for long years before he has sent his Spirit in power. He may answer quickly. He may not. But we must be committed to praying in season and out of season. In this, we would do well to covenant to pray together. We will undoubtedly have to make sacrifices to do so. Yet we will also experience great encouragement and stimulation as we pour out our hearts to the Lord together. Who knows what may be achieved in our churches if groups of believers gathered every week in earnest prayer for revival! Is not God the one who can do immeasurably more than we ask or even imagine?

Thirdly, it must be stressed that what is sought is the Lord himself. We seek a sense of his presence, a deeper knowledge of him, a greater glimpse of his glory, a deeper experience of his grace. We must not come for the things on the Master's table rather than the Master himself – spiritual cupboard love. We must not seek experiences for their own sake as many do today. Nor must we seek numbers and church growth for our own egos. We must seek to be filled with his Spirit, overwhelmed by his glory and holiness, saturated in his presence.

However, whilst it is this alone that we seek, there is no end to the spheres of life in which we may pray for his gracious presence. We will want to pray for preachers and preaching, for evangelistic work and unsaved people by name, for leaders in the churches and in the nation, for our worship services, for family worship and devotion and for our young people. More than that, we will want him to convict us deeply of those hidden sins. We will long for our hearts to be set ablaze with love for God.

It cannot be denied that our churches have been slow to form patterns of such earnest, heartfelt, corporate prayer. Nor can it be denied that revival is as much needed in our own churches as it is in the wider church and nation. Surely, then, the time is ripe for us to give ourselves to such prayer, that God may come amongst us in greater power. We would do well to begin with the words of Habakkuk:

Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord.
Renew them in our day, in our time make them known, in wrath remember mercy.