Revival

Monday Meditation: Praying For Revival and Spiritual Awakening

In Daniel 2, Daniel and his three friends prayed together for God to intervene so they would be saved from a certain death. God answered their prayers.

I would like to give you a special invitation to pray together for revival and spiritual awakening in our nation.

A couple of months ago my mentor, Dr. Greg Mathis, invited me to participate in a day of prayer for revival. You can read about about the original plan for the Mountain Top Prayer Meeting here. The pandemic and shutdown orders have changed how this prayer meeting will take place.

Instead of meeting in a specific place for prayer, you are being invited to make time on Tuesday May 5 to pray for revival and awakening in our country.

This prayer time came from the heart of Fred Lunsford, a 95 year old preacher and prayer warrior whose ministry has been built on prayer. On numerous occasions, Fred has asked the Lord to let him go to heaven. God’s response, “Fred, you are still here because I want you to pray.” Fred’s passion for prayer has inspired hundreds of others to pray for God to move in our country. You can read about the invitation from Mud Creek Baptist Church here. You can read the invitation from Milton Hollifield, the Executive Director-Treasurer for the Baptist State Convention of NC here.

During the sermon on April 19, I invited our listeners to commit Tuesday May 5 to prayer and fasting. More than 100 individuals associated with Wilkesboro Baptist have already committed to pray. As of the time I’m writing this, more than 60,000 people across our nation have committed to pray!

Thousands of believers all over our country will be praying at 10 am on Tuesday May 5. If you are able, would you give at least an hour to prayer at 10 am? If your job or responsibilities make the 10 am time untenable, would you commit an hour at another time during the day to prayer? Oftentimes fasting and prayer are connected. By fasting on May 5 you are acknowledging your complete dependence upon God. Would you consider fasting as well and giving even more than an hour in prayer?

You can reply in the comments of this blog or on the social media platform you read this from that you are going to pray with others for revival and awakening in our land. 

Revival is for God’s people. Praying for revival is praying that God will bring his followers to repentance, surrender, and holiness.

Spiritual awakening is for unbelievers. Praying for spiritual awakening is praying that God will open blinded eyes, soften hard hearts, and bring sinners to salvation.

Here are some specific ways you can pray for revival and awakening: 

  • Father, you are holy. Would you help me to bow before you as King and Lord? 
  • Father, I am in need of revival. Would you show me my own sins? Help me confess and repent. 
  • Father, your people need revival. We need to have a renewed vision of your holiness, a renewed pursuit of your glory, and a renewed surrender to your will. Will you bring your followers all across our world to a place of surrender and repentance? Would you send us revival? 
  • Father, our land is hurting from a pandemic. Would you intervene in this pandemic by healing the sick, providing treatments and vaccines, and granting strength to those who are caring for the sick? 
  • Father, would you use the disruption caused by this pandemic to bring us back to you?
  • Father, many millions in our nation and billions in the world are dead in their sins. As bad as this pandemic is physically, our sin is far more terrible spiritually. Would you reveal your holiness and love through Jesus Christ and bring a spiritual awakening to sinners all over the world?
  • Father, would you give wisdom to our government officials (local, state, and national) that they might make the best decisions for the health and prosperity of our communities, states, and nation? 
  • Father, would you continue to bless our churches with wisdom, provision, and spiritual growth through the midst of these trying days? 

You don’t have to wait until May 5 to begin praying. Let’s seek God together for revival and spiritual awakening.

Photo by Amaury Gutierrez on Unsplash

A Mountain Top Prayer Meeting

Before the Exodus, God spoke to Moses in a burning bush. Before Ezekiel prophesied life to dry bones, God met with the prophet. Before the Holy Spirit fell at Pentecost, the disciples met together for prayer in the upper room. Before the revivals in Europe and the Americas centuries ago, Christians met in prayer seeking God’s intervention. 

While our prayers and pleadings and preaching do not guarantee the work of God in revival, they are our only recourse. God alone can send a revival among his people and an awakening among the lost. Our part in God sending an awakening is prayer. 

Recently, my mentor and friend, Dr. Greg Mathis invited me to join him and other pastors for a special time of prayer on Tuesday May 5. I plan to attend. On Monday May 5, pastors from across North and South Carolina will gather on the property of Rev. Fred Lunsford to pray for a spiritual awakening. 

Fred Lunsford is a 95 year old preacher who believes in prayer. A WWII veteran who stormed the Normandy beaches on D-Day, Lunsford earned several medals in the service of his country. As Lunsford led several pastors to his place of prayer on a cold January morning, he did not discuss his military service. Rather, he talked about the burden God had given him to pray. He said, “The reason I am still here is because God has left me here to pray for a spiritual awakening.” 

This May 5 prayer gathering is a time to pray together. Private prayer is important for our individual lives, but corporate prayer is vital to the church. When the gathered church prays, God intervenes (see Acts 4). Praying together is a humble, corporate acknowledgement of our desperate need for God. 

This May 5 prayer gathering is an opportunity to pray together in a certain place. We can pray anywhere, but having a certain place is biblical. I’ll never forget one of Dr. Kenneth Ridings’ most famous sermons in Luke 11 where he emphasized the “certain place” where Jesus was praying. Fred Lunsford has a certain place where he goes to pray regularly. Every day when Fred wakes up, he takes the two mile drive to his “certain place” to pray.

On May 5, pastors and church leaders will gather at Vengeance Creek Baptist Church in Marble, NC at 10 am. From there we will trek to Rev. Lunsford’s special place of prayer atop the mountain for a time of concentrated prayer for revival and spiritual awakening. The event has been organized by Perry Brindley, JD Grant, David Horton, Michael Horton, Greg Mathis, Ralph Sexton, Jr. and Don Wilton. You can find out more information or register at the Mud Creek Baptist Church website.

What if you can’t make it? Will you take your lunchtime on that Monday May 5 to add your voice in asking God for a spiritual awakening in our land? 

You can read more about this invitation from Milton Hollifield, the Executive Director-Treasuer at the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina here.