Prayer Precedes Revival Part 1 by Len Paxton

John Wesley, that great Methodist preacher and revivalist of yesteryear said: ” God does nothing without the prayers of believers.”
A heart movement of the Christian toward a deeper prayer life will always precede revival and that without exception.

The bible tells us that after Jesus ascended to Heaven, 120 believers gathered in the upper room to pray and this was actually the very first church. We read in Acts 1:14 “They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus.” (NLT)
The Greek word for United is homothumadon and refers to being unanimous, having a group unity, having one mind and purpose and each time this word is used it always refers to a harmony leading to action.
This is the type of prayer that will precede revival!

Many of these same disciples gathered in that upper room had been with Jesus. Many had seen Him crucified and also encountered Him after His Resurrection. Earlier Jesus had told them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for the Promise of the Father; The Comforter, The Holy Spirit that He would soon pour out upon this fledgling church. (Acts 1: 4-5)
The 120 obeyed the Lord and tarried in Jerusalem. They had no real idea what was to happen, having no prior point of reference or experience. All they knew was to pray and pray they did. The prayers prayed those days in the upper room resulted in a revival and outpouring of the Holy Spirit that is still changing the world we live in today… The Revival did not occur because these early Christians were so strong in prayer and merely prayed for long periods of time. It occurred because God had promised them He would pour out His precious Holy Spirit and they prayed according to His promise. The lesson for us is this: We can’t just pray any ole way we want and expect God to jump.. We Must pray according to the Word and a proper interpretation of the Word. One does not twist the interpretation of scripture to fit the desires of their flesh and ‘self’ and have many genuine answers to prayer!

What I want you to see in this is that as the disciples were obedient to what Jesus had said, stayed where they were told to stay, and did what they were told to do; crying out to God in prayer, then God did the rest. They prayed for about 10 days and God answered with an awesome miracle that was greater by far than anything they could have ever dreamed..(Eph 3:20) One thing we can clearly see in all of this is that unity and obedience clearly play a huge role in answered prayer as well as prayer for revival. We must learn to put away our petty differences and walk together in the unity of obedience to the Word and then God will manifest Himself in mighty ways. While large segments of todays church argue over Bible translations, music, and non essential doctrinal differences, a lost and hurting world drops off into hell and God is searching for men and women of spiritual maturity that will stand in the gap (Ezekiel 22:30) by praying, giving, and going to reach the people of planet earth.

Prayer is what produced every single action described in the book of Acts. All the way through Church history from then until now prayer has been what has moved the mountains, traversed the valleys, and been used of God in changing the hearts of men. When praying for revival we ask God to pour out His Spirit and when He does the Spirit will change peoples hearts. Always.The foremost marks of a real and genuine revival is not fast music, weird manifestations, pretty feelings, even though these things may well happen.. The first thing that takes place in a real revival is that people see their need for the savior; Jesus and turn from their sin in repentance and give their whole heart to the Lord. In a real revival you may indeed jump high but you will also walk straight when you land!! In a genuine revival, the Holy Spirit changes the way people live and look at things. He lines us up with the Word of God. Lets read Acts 4:31 from the KJV. “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.”
So we see that they prayed, God shook the place and filled them with His Spirit and they got bold in the word because of it. We need to get bold in the Word too. Take Gods Word verbatim and believe just how He says it. When we pray for revival from our position ‘in Christ’ and dare to believe His awesome promises, He will move on the behalf of fulfilling His Word!

Faith is also an important element if we are to see prevailing prayer that brings revival. We must truly believe that God will always do what He said He would do, even when it looks impossible to us.
Sometimes when we have been saved a long time, the fire of God within us can give way to a casual approach to walking with Christ. This is not God’s will at all. Prayer is one of the tools the Holy Spirit uses in our sanctification process to keep revival embers stirred and blazing in our hearts. When we, the people of God come together and pray in unity, obedience, and faith; God promises results that will revive us, change us, and bless us! Community is also a very important factor. We were never created to live the Christian life all by ourselves. We need the entire body of Christ and all the giftings acting in concert together to see revival brought to individuals, communities, nations, and the world.

In order to walk correctly in unity, obedience, faith, and community; we have to allow the Spirit of God to mortify, or put to death, the deeds of our old sinful nature. Please take the time to read and meditate in Romans 6 for an understanding of the New you in Christ! God wants to deliver us from our selves as well as the more obvious bondages. As we humble ourselves before God, He begins to do new and powerful works in us.God will deliver us from addictions, unbelief, compromise, and worldliness as we humble ourselves, pray, and seek His face. This could even be properly termed revival on the personal level. It is not really the will of God that we should talk of “one day” being free… God is always operating in the “Today”.. In the Now! Hebrews 11:1 says Now Faith Is…. We must not love our sin more than we love His Freedom. Oh yes my friends, these are the beginning stirrings of revival. Personal holiness and dying to self.

This is a rough excerpt from my new booklet to be released this fall.
Thanks for checking it out.
Len Paxton. September 9th, 2013 . Traverse City, MI USA