Be Careful What You Pray For

Be Careful What You Pray For

"Wilt Thou not Thyself revive us again, that Thy people may rejoice in You? Show us Your lovingkindness, O Lord, and grant us Your salvation!"
Psalm 85:6-7)

One of the comments that I have made to congregations when I lead worship is to think about how often we SING lies! Did I grab your attention? Do you really mean what you sing? Think about it the next time you are singing. Do I really believe what I am singing when I worship the Lord? If our worship is all about HIM and He is our audience of ONE - wow ... think about that.

There is a powerful hymn that is often sung as an invitation hymn. The hymn is CLEANSE ME (Search Me, O God), a prayer written by James Edwin Orr. The last verse of the hymn reads: "O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee; Send a revival, start the work in ME ..." Just as in singing, we need to be careful HOW we pray. Do I really want God to bring revival to my church? My city? My country?

Think about this: "Lord, teach me to understand the meaning of revival.
I have often prayed for revival, hoping to be the revivalist and therefore the center. At other times we have longed for revival because it meant crowds, interest, and excitement. How wrong those ideas! Revival is anything but pleasant; it is a searching, searing time when God's holiness burns hotly against our sins. It is knowing that God is a 'consuming fire' (Hebrews 12:29); knowing God's 'terror' (2 Corinthians 5:11), and crying out, 'Woe is me' (Isaiah 6:5).

Revival has one chief aim - the removal of sin and the purifying of the believer. We read of revivals and wholesale conversions, but these are the RESULTS of revival. Revival itself concerns two parties: God and His people. The message of revival is: What are you doing about your piled-up sins? Revival is a sign that, because of His thinning patience, God has moved His people to confession. But it also means something else: God loves us so much that He is anxious to put us back into a right relationship with Himself.

In revival, God says, 'I love you, so get rid of your sins.' The seed of revival is the grief of the Holy Spirit; the confession of the people is the Spirit's grief vented. Only when the Spirit is 'ungrieved' can blessing come. It is at that point that God's people can take a mighty leap forward. Unless I have a contented Holy Spirit within me, I need revival. Revival is God's mighty surgery for people who have grown dull of hearing.

The Psalmist's deep cry encourages us, 'Will you not revive us again, that YOUR people may rejoice in YOU (Psalm 85:6). It is a welcome day when revival comes, for then we are restored and delivered! (from DAILY WITH THE KING by Glynn Evans/Moody Press)

So do you want God to begin a revival in your church? In your ministry?
In your family? Then be careful what You pray for - He most likely start that revival in YOU! But guess what - it will be worth it! - Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK.

God's WORD for YOU: 2 Chronicles 19-20; John 13:21-38

Think about this: Jeremy Taylor gives us some fundamental rules for prayer. And the chief of them is this: "Do not lie to God." And that curt piece of advice, so bluntly thrown down for us, is indeed all-important. Do not burn false fire upon God's altar; do not pose and pretend, either to Him or to yourself, in your religious exercises; do not say more than you mean, or use exaggerated language that goes beyond the facts, when speaking to Him whose word is truth. -- Arthur John (A. J.) Gossip