There is no doubt about it, our world is becoming more and more hostile toward Christianity. Persecution is becoming more and more common-place. In Acts 12, we find where the early Christians faced the same thing. in fact, one of their leaders (Peter) had been put in jail. What did they do about it? THEY HAD A PRAYER MEETING!
Acts 12:5 says, “Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.” God intends for prayer to be a time where we call on Him in faith and watch Him do mighty things. Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”
The church prayed and God answered! God miraculously set Peter free! So what kind of praying did they do that would bring such a miracle? You can be sure it was more than our little “Now I lay me down to sleep” type of praying that goes on today.
1. IT WAS INTENSE PRAYING. (v.5) says they prayed “without ceasing.” If we are going to see Revival, it will only come through earnest, fervent, intense praying. Too often we expect a $1,000.00 answer to a 10 cent prayer!
Think about the last time you had an emergency and needed people to pray. What if you prayed for revival with that same fervency?
2. IT WAS UNITED PRAYING. (v.5) says that the whole church was praying! There is something about praying together with others at church. That is why we are not to “forsake the assembling of ourselves together” (Heb. 10:25).
3. IT WAS SINCERE PRAYING. Next, (v.5) says their prayers were made “unto God.” Prayer time should really be talking to God, not trying to use flowery speech to impress those listening. If we want God to really move, it it time we examined our prayers. Are they sincere?
Every Revival has begun and been sustained by prayer. Someone said, “The time has come to stop SAYING our prayers, and start PRAYING our prayers.” Someone else said, “Your prayer must move you before it will ever move God!”
4. IT WAS SPECIFIC PRAYING. Lastly, (v.5) says they prayed specifically “for him.” Too often we pray generic prayers like, “Lord, bless all your children.” (In what way?) “Lord, meet all our needs.” (What needs, specifically?)
They called on God for a particular action. They asked Him to save Peter’s life, to get him out of jail. The Bible says, “Let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6). If we want God to send Revival, what specifically are we wanting Him to do?
Last night I asked our church to commit to praying for the next 30 days (leading up to our Revival) the following things for God to do.
10 Specific Things to Pray to Prepare for Revival
1. That God will search my heart and reveal anything that is not right with Him. Ps. 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
2. That God will break any stubbornness and hardness in my heart. Hosea 10:12 “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.”
3. That God would show me any relationships that need to be restored. Matt 18:15-18
4. That I will have a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit that I have never experienced. Eph. 4:30 “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”
5. That God would give me a deep conviction of sin, repentance, and a renewed fear of God. 2 Cor. 7:10 “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”
6. That God would grant me a spiritual hunger and fervency I have never known. Matt. 5:6 “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
7. That God would bring loving unity and deep harmony in our church and in our families. John 13:35 “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
8. That God will fill my heart with a passion to see people saved. Romans 10
9. That God will call many from among us to missions and Christian service. Matthew 9
10.That God will take what He does in our church and spread it to the ends of the Earth. Matthew 28:18-20
If we will pray these things, sincerely, there is no telling what God will do!!!