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How to Pray for Revival: Part 1, by Ray Ortlund

By Anonymous

How to Pray for Revival: Part I
By Ray Ortlund

After church today, I (Pastor Charlie) will be traveling to California to meet with the pastors of the Treasuring Christ Together Network (TCTN) for a time of retreat, prayer, and strategizing. Pastor Kevin and Karen will be flying out on Tuesday. The TCTN is the family of churches to which we belong and with which we serve, and as I think about our common ministry, my heart longs to pray with you for a revival to break out in our country. In that spirit, I want to share a helpful article over the next two weeks by Ray Ortlund on how to pray for revival. I pray that God will inspire you as you read so that you’ll add this kind of praying to your daily routine. Ortlund writes…
“When Jonathan Edwards described the awakening in his church, he had to use words like ‘surprising,’ ‘extraordinary’ and ‘astonishing.’ The Bible says of the early church that ‘awe came upon every soul’ (Acts 2:43). We can’t program that into our worship: 10:45 am – Awe comes upon every soul. Since revival is of God, we should pray for it. But how? The Bible teaches us how to pray and Isaiah 63:15-64:12, for example, is a biblical prayer for revival.
“LONGING FOR THE LOVE OF GOD: ‘Where are your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me’ (63:15). Isaiah is saying, ‘Father, your mighty heart beats with so much passion for us. But you’re holding back. We need more of you!’ We can pray for the outpouring of God’s felt love upon us.
“LAMENTING OUR OWN HARDNESS: ‘O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?’ (63:17). Isaiah is not blaming God for our sins, but he is saying God can hand us over to the power of our sins. We think we can play with sin, no big deal. But it isn’t that simple. When we are stuck, we can ask God to move toward us and free us again: ‘Return for the sake of your servants’ (63:17).
“LONGING FOR THE PRESENCE OF GOD: ‘Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down!’ (64:1). God hung the starry canopy above us like a big curtain in space (Isaiah 40:22). Isaiah is saying God can take that curtain in his mighty hands, so to speak, rip it apart and step down into our world with power from above. ‘When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down’ (64:3). Our God is full of surprises. Let’s never settle for any status quo.” More next week; for now, let’s pray!




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