Victory in Prayer: How to Pray for Revival

The first thing that all of us must do if we want to pray for spiritual revival is to recommit ourselves to a life exemplified by personal holiness.

That requires two things. First, you need to forgive others. Maybe it is a family member, a friend or business associate. As long as you hold on to unforgiveness and bitterness, it will stifle your relationship with God. Through the death of His Son, He forgives you, and you must be willing to forgive others.

Second, you have to love God. That seems so simple, but too many Christians have become lukewarm in their faith (see Revelation 3:16). They don't spend time with God in a daily devotion or they don't think worship is important. Then they wonder why their prayers seem powerless.

As Jesus taught, the Ten Commandments can be summarized as, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37, 39).

If you don't have those two things, you need to ask God to give them to you. It's crucial that you have love for God and love for your fellowman. With those two things, you begin personal revival.

A Revelation From God

The next thing that we really need is a revelation of God. You must ask God's Spirit to come into you: "Lord, anoint me with your Spirit. Give me a revelation of your Spirit." We need to know what God is doing so we can pray and live accordingly.

In many ways, we've become too familiar with God. You've probably heard people say "He's the man upstairs" or "He's an old buddy." The truth is, He is a consuming fire who created the universe. Yes, He's a loving Father. But we must realize that we are talking about the Creator of the universe.

As the Bible says, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully" (Psalm 24:3,4, KJV). If you want to have a more intimate walk with God, and pray with power, don't try to get chummy with Him. Instead, you need to ask Him, "Cleanse me. Wash me. Take away my pride. Break me. Humble me."

Wake Up, America!

In a similar way, we must ask God to stir the hearts of others to join this movement of prayer. To do this, others across America -- men and women from all walks of life -- must have a revelation of God and a sense of God's holiness. The nation must be made aware that it is sinning against a holy God. The nation must be made aware that the Ten Commandments do matter, that adultery does matter, that theft does matter, that coveting does matter, that having other gods before Him does matter. And as the nation humbles itself before God, recognizing that He is concerned about us breaking His law, true revival comes. Then there will be a sense of the awe and majesty of God.

Finally -- and this is very important -- remember that spiritual revival means "life anew." We have a great religious heritage in this country, and we need to see it revived. We need a sense of holiness and godliness so that this nation will, once again, be one nation under God. And when God's people get serious about praying for revival, God will hear and answer His people, and restore faith to many across this nation.