Spiritual Revival
- Psalm 85:6 Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? The Psalmist here speaks of REVIVAL – and revival is a sovereign act of God.The key thing is preparing our hearts through prayer. John Wesley, once said “More prayer, more power… less prayer, less power…no prayer, no power.After the high rush of revival subsides, we go into a state of complacency…we slump. We seem to forget that to keep the fervor going, we need prayer. Without prayer, revival will not sustain.Revival precedes – “that Your people may rejoice in You”Psalm 85 is a psalm by the chief musician to the sons of Korah. Israelite’s were held in captivity by their enemies in Babylon, away from their home. After their return to Jerusalem on captivity ending, materialism only changes in nature for them during Haggai and Zechariah’s time but, before the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. In these circumstances, the sons of Korah cry out to God and seek revival. Similarly, worldly interests catches up with us. We are also being held captive by worldly things like and we need to reach out to God to ask for revival. Revival comes on God’s terms only
Principals of the Prayer for Revival – when do we need revival:
- Pray for revival when there is a spiritual decline in God’s people. Spiritual decay is seen when Christians love to imitate people of the world rather than Christians. Worldly heroes captivate our minds. Members of the church mingle with idols of the world. Present day idols of the world are money, sex and consumerism. Greed is also idolatry – greed is part of the world culture. People no longer feel bad about bribing and some churches think, ‘we are blessing them’! Adultery, fornication are now termed as ‘relationships’.Judges 2:11-13 speak of the sons of Israel and how they followed other gods and provoked the Lord God to anger.
- Pray for revival when the work of evangelization moves slowly. Christians do not speak of the persecution and the cost that is attached to following Jesus. People come to Jesus for salvation. Revival is dependent on God and not on what you say. The faith of most of us has not been tested to the point of shedding blood; hence it is difficult for us to envisage the cost of truly following Jesus ourselves. People need to be told clearly that Jesus is the Hope and the only true source of Salvation – evangelization needs to be efficient and fruitful and not superficial. Did Jesus make it easy for people to follow Him? – “the Son of Man has no place to lay His head”
In the verse in Psalm 85:5, we see that the Psalmist addresses God directly and seeks revival again. We must know that revival is work of God. Revival can happen again. The right motivation to pray for revival is the people will rejoice in Him again. Prayer should seek revival for the church in God and not your gathering alone!
In conclusion, we see revival is a work of God that is initiated by God and ends with God. We need prayer to prepare our hearts for revival.
This Message was shared by Pastor Altino Gomes on 6th November 2016
