Praying For Revival In Church
Day 10 - October 6, 2024
Byron Paulus President of One Cry View Website
Devotion For Day 10
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite’
Oswald Smith relates: “Several members of Jonathan Edwards’ church had spent the whole night in prayer before he preached his memorable sermon, ‘Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.’ The Holy Ghost was so mightily poured out, and God so manifest in holiness and majesty during the preaching of that sermon, that the elders threw their arms around the pillars of the church and cried, ‘Lord, save us, we are slipping down to hell!’”
Not many churches are calling their people to spend an entire night in prayer seeking God in preparation for Him to show up in their midst. Yet, here we find a powerful example of just a few members of a church “preparing in prayer” prior to the preaching of a message about sin. And, the Spirit showed up so powerfully in Jonathan Edwards’ church that even church leaders were convicted of their sins.
Merciful Father, we are a sinful people saved by the grace of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ! You made this salvation possible through Your kindness and love. Help us not to be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that by testing, we may discern Your good, acceptable, and perfect will. May the churches in our nation repentantly cry out to You as the Psalmist in Psalm 85:6: “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you!”
Prayer Topics
- Ask the Spirit to help you understand the power of the One we are addressing in prayer so that our faith will grow and we will begin to pray in a way that moves the hand of God towards reviving His people.
- Confess any sin that has compromised your life with God.
- Ask God to have mercy on His people and move in power in your church in response to repentant, fervent prayer!
- Pray through revival Psalms such as Psalms 63, 64, and 80 and petition the Lord for revival with both variety and the power of Scripture behind your requests.
- Ask God to awaken His people to the reality of His presence in our midst and in doing so, transform and shape our lives into the character of Christ.
