I began praying for awakening several years ago. My life was in a good place, but a hard one. The church was doing well, yet I knew there was more. A deep stirring settled into my spirit as I prayed – that God wanted to do more in me and among our church. Reading Scripture satisfied my heart but filled my soul with a longing for a deeper experience with God. I knew this had to begin in me, though it would not only be for me. I began to ask God to move in powerful ways.
Psalm 85 is a prayer of a people who are living distant from God. Though they knew God, a sense of disconnection from fellowship, loneliness of relationship, and isolation in hopelessness prevailed. Their life situation brought them to a point of spiritual desperation. Desperation is a “better life situation” when it presses one to seek God for his sovereign work in life.
Remembrance of God’s past activity is a great grace in life. When we remember what God has done, we can be confident of his will and desire to act in our behalf. Remembering God’s past mighty deeds reminds us that God wants to blow revival fire through his people. Psalm 85 is a prayer of revival that the people pray. It is also the Word of God to guide our prayers. The instruction from this prayer should inform the language of our prayer for revival.
Three words from Psalm 85 show God’s desire to move powerfully through the purpose of revival. The first word is found in verse 4 when it says, “Restore us.” This Hebrew word captures the full scope of revival. This is the activity of turning away from self and sin and turning to God. All the words and concepts used in the Old Testament to describe the activity of man coming to God are consumed in this word.
“Restore us” includes both a spiritual orientation and physical activity in life. Spiritual renewal permeates into every area of life, revitalizing our adorations and affections, realigning our desires and will, and renewing our attitudes and heart inclinations for godliness. Physical movement means practically realigning every area of life to God. Relationships, priorities, finances, schedule, energies, and life focus are all surrendered to the leading of Holy Spirit in obedience to the Word of God. Revival turns people to recalibrate life to know and serve God. Asking God to restore us means that we turn away from self and sin and return to God.
The second word is found in Psalm 85:5-7. Revive means to “make alive.” This is not a theoretical concept. The Old Testament speaks of an experience whereby one has the ability to exercise vital power to the fullest extent. Whether strength for the moment or endurance for the distance, we are empowered to live fully alive from him as our never-ending source. All of life glorifies God as living sacrifices radically transformed by his love.
The third word is redeem. This is described in verses 10-12. Psalm 85 culminates in a sense of a renewed hope and confidence that grows when God’s people turn to walk with him in faithful obedience. God blesses his people to be a blessing on the earth.
When God redeems, he restores the value of reflecting his glory in the world. God saves people to be a child of God and sends them to all peoples of the world as an ambassador of Jesus Christ. Live is a synonym for “serve and share.” A life that is redeemed reflects a greater glory, possesses a bolder witness, and produces an increasing impact for the gospel.
At the age of 14, I experienced a revival fire burn through my home church where my father had pastored for 11 years. The churches in our city held crusade meetings and many people from our church were saved and experienced life change by the gospel. I remember hearing testimonies of changed lives from individuals and families. In many ways, I had no idea all that God was doing in the midst of the revival.
Two years later, I was saved. My father, sensing the leading of God in his life, resigned as pastor on faith with nowhere else to go. He led us in a different direction. This period in my life was transformational. Watching my father follow God in this time was a radical shift for me that I would not recognize for 20 more years. While I am confident this is not the only reason “why” God did all that he did in that revival, I do know that is how he used it in my life.
I am leading LifePoint to pray for revival because I am hungry for God to move in more powerful ways. This desire is not birthed in all that is wrong. We’ve experienced some amazing testimonies over the last two years. One could assert that our entire nine-year history has been a sort of revival. I am leading LifePoint to pray for revival because of an urgency I feel – that God has so much more for his people and the world.
In my follow-up posts I will share four motivations from Psalm 85 that I believe should press the Christian into fervent prayer for revival. I will also share five principles for revival. If you read this, I hope your heart will be stirred to pray for revival, personally as well as for your church congregation.