Week Three - 21 Days of Prayer for Revival

This is the third and final week of 21 Days of Prayer for Revival. Below you will find days 15 through 21. You will find a passage, an encouragement, and a prayer for each day. This week we will be focusing on our hearts, our country, and our influence. We will be pleading for the heart of the nation we call home.

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Day Fifteen

“The secret strength of a nation is found in the faith that abides in the hearts and homes of the country.” Billy Graham

The decline of our society, the barbarism embraced, the consequence-free pursuit of good feelings, the proclamation of reality with no basis on truth is not a new thing. It took time to get here. And, whether we like to admit it or not, it started with us. It started in our homes and in our churches. We started building or houses, faith, ministry, dreams, and ideals on the soft pretty sand – too afraid and uncomfortable on the rough and difficult rock.
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And now the storm is here and continues to come and we wonder where our footing went and what happened to the foundation? We acted the fool and threw wide open the doors and windows for We The People to do the same. Just as our decline led to theirs, so will our revival. I want to be a part of the ones who are responsible for awakening.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” Matthew 7:24-27

Pray this with me:
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Heavenly Father,
We have been fools. For many years we sang only of love and happiness and we neglected your justice and truth. We are more comfortable preaching about prosperity than holiness. But, Lord, you are righteous and we have failed. We have failed to build our houses solidly on The Truth of The Word and our nation – We The People – have suffered as a result. Our lights were hidden under a basket for we feared their brightness, may we repent and help to fuel the revival of our country and each soul in it. Help us to forsake the soft sand and dig deep in to the solid foundation of The Rock of our Salvation.
Amen

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Day Sixteen

“I have now concentrated all my prayers into one and that one prayer is this, that I may die self and live wholly to him.” Charles H. Spurgeon

If we cannot change ourselves (and we can’t) then we certainly can’t change our neighbors, our family, or our fellow countrymen. Only God can do these things; however, He may, in His sovereignty, use us to do it. Through our prayers we align ourselves to His will, He moves our hearts, and we are empowered to act in obedience. Revival is a byproduct of our hearts in tune with God and God alone.

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.  Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.” Psalm 62:5-8

Pray this with me:
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Heavenly Father,
For you, alone, I wait. I wait for your will to be done. My hope is in you. You are my rock and my salvation. You are my foundation and my refuge. I put my trust in you and I will not be moved. You hold all my past, present, and future in your hands. The power of Heaven and Hell is in your control. I will trust in you always. Lord, move upon the hearts of the people, may they behold you and fall kneeling before you. May many more be able to shout in freedom, “God is a refuge for us.”
Amen

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Day Seventeen

“If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.” Charles H. Spurgeon

My neighbor should not leave this earth without having heard the holiness of God and the Good News of Jesus Christ. If they do it is my fault. Mine. No one else’s. That is a hard pill to swallow. We are commanded to snatch them out of the fire. No, they probably don’t want to hear it. No one wants to hear about their sin, especially me. But my redemption means nothing were it not for the stark contrast that my filth stands in comparison to His Holiness. Why turn to a Holy God unless I know I have need of Him?

Were it not for mercy. The great mercy of God that changes men’s hearts and rescues the perishing is what we all have need of. 

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire.” Jude 1:20-23a

Pray this with me:
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Heavenly Father,
Guide my prayers. Fill them with the leading of our Holy Spirit that I may be less and you may be more. Help me to keep myself in the love of God while I am on this earth so that I will be ready, at any moment, to pour Gospel mercy of Jesus onto the world around me. Lord, I pray that I would not neglect to speak in terms of eternity when the opportunity arises. Help me to show mercy to those who are doubting and struggling. And may I be willing to wrap my arms around the perishing in hopes of rescue – that if they face hell it would not be because of my silence. And, finally, by the voices of the redeemed may revival spread beyond our blocks and our streets to every far corner.
Amen

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Day Eighteen

“If you want to be popular, preach happiness. If you want to be unpopular, preach holiness.” Leonard Ravenhill

You cannot repent if you do not know you are sinning. And telling someone they are sinning will not make you popular. I am not encouraging finger pointing, Facebook condemnation, and relational suicide. Bringing someone towards repentance into redemption and revival is best done through relationship. A person, myself included, is more apt to accept correction from someone who knows me. The painful truth is that a revival in our time is more likely to come from relationships than through pulpits. We must be speaking truth and holding hands.

“Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.” Isaiah 58:1

Pray this with me:
 
Heavenly Father,
Equip me in courage and strength to cry aloud, to not hold back, and lift up my voice to declare sin what it is. However, Lord, may I not do it from soapboxes or computer screens but from hand-to-hand and arm-in-arm relationship. Stretch me to reach out beyond my comfort zone to touch those outside my immediate circle. Open doors for community in places I would never anticipate and give me words spoken in due season.
Amen

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Day Nineteen

“A Christian isn’t a man who never goes wrong, but a man who is enabled to repent.” C.S. Lewis

When we cry to God, when anyone cries to God in repentance, He hears. He is EL SHÂMA, the God who hears me. He tilts His ear towards earth and listens to our groanings. In His presence through prayer He welcomes us - mere worms before the Mighty King of Kings. Why? Because He wants to. Because He chose to. Because He chose to love us.
He hears us when we call and He will answer. 

“Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’” Isaiah 58:9a

Pray this with me:
 
Heavenly Father,
I praise you for your listening ear. Thine is the kingdom and the glory and the power forever and ever. We are but nothing, a breath in the wind, and gone. But you hear us, you love us, and you desire us in repentance. Please, Lord, hear us as we call out to you collectively – voices from all corners of the earth – and seek your face. Turn your gaze to us and turn our hearts towards you.
For it is all for you.
Amen

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Day Twenty

“Revival awakens in our hearts an increased awareness of the presence of God, a new love for God, a new hatred for sin, and a hunger for His Word.” Del Fehsenfeld Jr.

I love my sin. I cling to it as if within it is all the comfort I will ever need. But the reality is it leaves me dry and diseased. You are the same way. We all are. But when God gets a hold of our hearts, it can’t be that way for long. We are constantly broken and humbled, our wills being brought under the perfect will of God. Humility leads us to be aware of God’s presence, a growing love for God, and a hatred for anything that He hates.
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Humility manifests itself in prayer and turning from our wickedness. Pride will say, “I don’t need this. They do.” Pride will say, “I don’t need God.” Pride will say, “there is no hope.” Humility, in contrast, will say “I need God, I need His redemption and so do you. 

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.”
​2 Chronicles 7:13-15

Pray this with me:
 
Heavenly Father,
Come like a mighty wind among the dry desert of our hearts. Or like a flashing flame in the darkness of our world. Or like a rolling thunder in the midst of our disorder. Or, better yet, come like a still small voice calling to your children to come. Come away. Turn away and return to the love we knew at first. Hear us from heaven and forgive our sin. Open your eyes and turn your attentive ears to our pleas that are made in full repentance. Rain revival down on us. On our family, friends, community, and nation. And may the world all around know that God is on the move.
Amen

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Day Twenty-One

“I cannot bear it that we should love Jesus so little! It seems to me horrible! Not to have your heart all on fire for Christ Jesus is immoral! Let us love Him to the utmost! Let us ask Him to give us larger hearts and to fire them with the same love that is in His own, that we may love Him to the utmost possibilities of affection!” Charles H. Spurgeon

Can you imagine being filled with the same love and the same fire as Jesus Christ? Can you imagine a fullness of affection for God that so far exceeds what you are currently capable of that you wouldn’t even be able to recognize yourself at its fullness? Oh, we are feeble creatures, dust crawlers at best in comparison to our Savior. But, He is in us. The Holy Spirit is in us.
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It doesn’t matter what happens. It doesn’t matter where our feet may go or where our country wanders because He is with us, in us, and He is greater. HE IS FAR GREATER!

“He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4b

​Pray this with me:
 
Heavenly Father,
You are good. You are holy. You are worthy. Enlarge our hearts, not our property, so that we may love you better. Enlarge our hearts, not our bank accounts, so that we may love others greater. Help us to always remember that you are far greater than any earthly man, woman, king, or government. You and you alone are worthy of our praise. You and you alone hold this spinning globe and all the universe and beyond in the palm of your hand. May your praise be always on our lips.
Amen, Amen, Amen