In the twenty three years since my coming to salvation, I have heard numerous messages and read numerous books/articles concerning prayer for revival. I have often been struck with the fact that this request for revival by God’s people is not being answered by the Lord. Recently I had a conversation with a dear friend who ministers in Canada concerning revival. He made an offhand comment that haunted me. He said “that many have prayed for revival for years, and a few have prayed with sincerity.”

The issue of “many praying for revival and a few have prayed with sincerity” plagued my thoughts for more than a week. I was struck with the concern as to whether or not my prayers for revival had been sincere. And as I wrestled with myself concerning my motives for revival, several insincere motives came to mind. These motives are connected to my concerns about the moral decline in America.

Incorrect Motive #1.    Revival will clean up America

As our country continues its destructive spiral into darkness, the natural response of believers is to pray for revival in America. As I thought about it, I recognized that I have begun to view revival as the “cure-all” for the social ills of our country. I held to a concept that stated “We need to pray for revival. Revival will deal with these issues. Remember how the Welsh Revival affected the community as a whole.” As I gave this motive some serious thought, two problems emerged.

First, biblical revival has to do with God’s people. By definition, revival means “coming back to life.” The nature of revival concerns the issue of God’s people coming back to life. Biblically, revival has nothing to do with nations. It has to do with God’s people. Unsaved people cannot be brought back to life when they have not experienced life in the first place.

The second problem strikes at the heart of this motive for praying. The impact on the social ills of a nation is not the aim of revival, but the by-product of it. It is the result of God’s people coming to life, not the reason for it. Sadly, I have to admit that I have been praying for revival as a cure for the social and moral chaos of our country.

Incorrect Motive #2.    Revival will restore America.

As I have entered into this process of examining my motives concerning revival prayer, I had to come to grips with the fact that my patriotism was shaping my prayers. It is not hard to see that our nation is self-destructing as it indulges itself in materialism. We are watching the decline of another nation. My patriotic pride does not want that to happen. The result is a thought-process that sees revival as the instrument to turn America around. Revival becomes the instrument for restoring America to some past glory.

Two problems emerged with this motive as well. First, it assumes that God wants to restore America to some past glory. Is it possible that God does not want to restore America? Since the world is moving to the ultimate climax of Jesus Christ coming again, could the decline of our nation be a part of His ultimate plan? Is my patriotic pride coming in conflict with God’s providential will?

The next problem has to do with the restoration to some past glory. What past glory are we talking about? Every generation in the history of our nation has been marked by godlessness. Every generation has been marked by sin. Sadly the restoration that we are seeking has to do with our comfort. We long for the days when being a Christian was acceptable and respected in our culture. We do not like the antagonism that we are beginning to face in our country. This is especially true in spite of the fact that Jesus promised us that we would suffer for His sake. I have to admit that my revival praying has to do with my comfort level.

Incorrect Motive #3.    Revival will make America like the church.

The third motive was subtle and deadly. It was based on the assumption that I am praying for the nation to become like the church. It assumes that everything is well concerning the heart condition of believers today. This motive is deadly because it arises out of a self-deception that the condition of the church is okay. Yet the truth is very clear that everything is not well in the church. Divorce is prevalent. Believers are guided more by the culture than the Word of God. The church is actually more like our godless culture. Therefore, my prayers were actually a reflection of my spiritual blindness to my sins, than a genuine concern for others.

 

Is it any wonder that God has not answered my prayers concerning revival? The question arises concerning the proper motivation for praying for revival. The answer is simple. We should pray for revival because we want God. Everything else is insignificant.