Prayer: Evidence We Are Being Revived

Revive us, and we will call on your name (Psalm 80.18a). 

Last week these words from the Psalmist stuck out to me like a sore thumb. For the last five weeks, we as a Church family have felt a renewed call from the Lord to pray. To cry out to him for his Kingdom to come - for his will in heaven to be known on earth - for zeal for his agenda and not ours - for revival. Frankly, this final petition has weighed heavy on my heart as a pastor. My thinking was something like - If I just pray hard enough, revival will come to our church. If I can just convince SBC to pray with enough fervency, then revival will finally happen. It was as if prayer for revival was the X-Games in the sport of prayer - reserved for only extreme sort of folks who are world-renown for the vast number of "Father God's" they can fit into an offertory prayer. 

Prayer and revival, however, are spoken of differently in Psalm 80. Revival, being brought back to life, that is, precedes calling on the name to Yahweh for deliverance. Did you catch that? Calling on God for salvation-power is evidence that we have been and are being revived. This was refreshment for my thirsty soul. As a Church family we have been pursuing prayer with a measure of fervency that I have not known in some time. After seasons of prayer like we are presently enjoying, we often judge the "effectiveness" of the season by what we see God accomplish after we have prayed. I believe "the effectual, fervent prayer of the righteous one avails much," but I want us to remember that the season of prayer itself is evidence of the life-giving power of God among us. We have been praying. We are feeling a renewed commitment to boldly come before the throne of grace. This, in and of itself, is clear evidence that God is at work in our midst. He is reviving us because we are calling on his name. Amen.

Please make plans to attend our Combined Worship-Driven Prayer Meeting with Cornerstone Church. We will gather at SBC at 6:30pm.


For further encouragement on prayer, please enjoy another sermon clip by Pastor John Piper
Prayer: A War-Time Walkie Talkie