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As I mentioned before, I was encouraged to expand a prior blog post, Incorrect Motives for Praying for Revival, into an article. The resulting article, “The Quest for True Revival”, was published by Empower Ministries International in their Dunamos newsletter. The article is now appearing in Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox as a two-part series. The first part was published in the May 28 edition of the Toolbox. You can click here to read it. The second part will be published June 11.
There seems to be a growing yearning for revival in our country. It has become an evident burden upon the hearts of many Christian leaders. It has become the focus of many conferences as they have placed the emphasis on revival. One major ministry has called a “solemn assembly” for the purpose of seeking God’s face for revival in our nation. It is very apparent that the hearts of Christian people are being moved for revival.
However, there is a major problem with the current emphasis on revival. And if we do not recognize the problem, I believe our emphasis and efforts will be meaningless. The problem has to do with our American concept of revival. The American concept of revival seems to be focused on the nation as a whole. It seeks God to bring revival to America so that biblical norms of morality will be restored. It almost seems to be a cry of desperation that has resulted from watching the power and influence of the church disappear in our country. It’s a “we tried our best, now we need God” attitude.
While this concept of revival is popular and prevalent, I believe it is misguided and wrong. And the result will only be manifested in disappointment. My assumption is based on two thoughts:
1. The issue is the church, not the nation.
I believe our efforts for revival are meaningless because the focus is on the wrong place. There is an underlying assumption with the American concept of revival that is very deceptive. The assumption is based on a belief that the church in America is spiritually okay. Yet poll after poll shows us that we are lying to ourselves about the true condition of our morality. We struggle with addictions just as the lost. We have a higher divorce rate than the lost. We view as much pornography as the lost. We are just a prejudice. We worship at the altar of materialism. We are self-absorbed.
In spite of all of this, we are disturbed more by the actions of unbelievers than our own. We have forgotten that they need Jesus. Only then will they be able to live as Jesus wants them to live. I believe it grieves the heart of God more when He sees those who have been redeemed living as the world in general. We need to embrace the words of Jesus when He told the multitudes, “
And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Matthew 7:3-5 ( NKJV )
Instead of praying for revival so that the nation is turned around, we need to pray the God turns the church around. I believe that the Lord is disgusted with the church and its sins, more so than the sins of the nation. We belong to Him, yet we turn the blind eye to our sins and focus of the sins of the lost. It is not the nation that needs revival, but the church.
2. America does not need revival, it needs to be evangelized.
Revival means to bring back to life. It has to do with God’s people coming back to life. The lost cannot be brought back to life when they have never experienced it in the first place. America does not need revival, it needs to be evangelized. This requires that the church deals with it sins so that we can be effective witnesses to the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. With a nation that is becoming increasing secular and irreligious, the church needs to wake up to its responsibility as light-bearers. What will turn back the darkness in our nation is not a revival, but the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ that emanates from our lives.
Revival will never take place among that which a spiritually dead. Revival can only take place among the church. That is where our emphasis needs to be concerning revival. We need to start praying that the Lord will be merciful to the American church. We need to confess and turn from our sins. We need to seek His presence that has long been absent from His people. We need to turn back to God.
The church’s prayer time on Sunday evenings have become a very special time. It is very evident that God is moving. Last Sunday I handed out a prayer card that would serve as the focus of our prayers for the summer. The prayer card covered nine areas of prayer.
1. That the Holy Spirit would open our eyes to our true condition.
2. Confess and turn from any sin or habit that is hindering your walk with Christ.
3. Ask that the Holy Spirit would fill and empower you.
4. Ask that the Lord would consume you with a desire for the Word of God.
5. Ask the Lord to burden your heart for those who need Jesus.
6. Ask the Lord to give you new opportunities for ministry.
7. Ask the Lord to prepare our hearts and lives for what He is about to do.
8. Ask the Lord that we would be used to see many people come to Christ.
9. Ask the Lord for the World according to Psalm 2:8
Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance And the ends of the earth for Your possession.,
Psalms 2:8 (NKJV)
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.
