“Awaken my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I awaken the dawn. I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. For your mercy reaches unto the heavens, and your truth unto the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be above all the earth” (Psalms 57:8-11).
AWAKE & ARISE TO WORSHIP THE LORD!
Would we not be a generation that is asleep to what the Spirit of the Lord is doing. Don’t listen to the lullaby that culture is signing. Don’t get swept away by the waves of the world, instead lift your head from your phone and gaze upon the beauty and majesty of the Lamb of God who is worthy!
In Revelation 3:3, Jesus says, “Remember therefore how you have received and heard: hold fast and repent. Therefore if you do not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.” I pray that we as the Church would be a Bride that is ready for Jesus, our Bridegroom, to come. That we would hear His voice and respond in obedience. Jesus continues later in the chapter and says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). Jesus is knocking, the question is will you hear His voice? Or will we be too asleep to hear it?
If we want to see revival in this generation, if we’re going to see our Lord return, then let’s pray like it. Pray as our lives depend on it. The more helpless we feel, the more desperate we will pray. Don’t let prayer be your last resort; instead, let it be the first and most important thing that you do. When we recognize who we are praying to, it should lead us to pray more often. When we realize that we are praying to the author and sustainer of life, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the God who spoke and the universe obeyed, the Alpha and Omega, the Way the Truth and the Life, our Savior, our strength, and our refuge, it changes our whole perspective!! Jesus is currently sitting at the right hand of God, interceding on our behalf (Romans 8:34)!!! There is power in prayer!!
When the church prays, they call on a greater power than their own. They are praying for the power of the Holy Spirit to be poured out in greater measure than what they can imagine. It is a prayer of faith, a prayer of need, and a prayer of humility. Revival is going to start first in your heart. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you and empowers you to go and be a witness to Him to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). It is the work of the Holy Spirit in you that will bring your dry bones to life!!!
Jonathan Edwards, a leader of the First Great Awakening in the 1700s, was a mighty man of prayer. He is quoted for saying that “it is God’s will through His wonderful grace, that the prayers of His saints should be one of the great principal means of carrying on the designs of Christ’s kingdom in the world.” That is why we pray, “Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10). Furthermore, the prayers of the saints in Revelation 8 set in motion to coming consummation of history!!! One commentator said, “more potent, more powerful than all the dark and mighty powers let loose in the world, more powerful than anything else is the power of prayers set ablaze by the fire of God and cast upon the earth”(Torrence).
What if God was waiting for us to pray and ask Him to awaken this generation. Jesus said in Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
And in the Old Testament the Lord spoke and said “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).What if He is waiting for us, what if He is waiting for you? I pray that we would fear none other besides the King, the Lord, the God of heaven and earth. And in His presence we would humble ourselves, pray and seek his face (Isaiah 6:1-7).
“But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. I will praise You forever because You have done it; And in the presence of Your saints I will wait on Your name, for it is good” (Psalms 52:8-9).
Let’s wait on the Lord! Wait expectantly and with eager hope for what He is going to do. While we wait would our prayers be offered as a sweet aroma to heaven.
O Lord, I pray that you would awaken this generation! Awaken our souls to sing to you, and open our eyes to see You! Wake us from our slumber and open our hearts to see, hear, touch, smell, and taste your goodness. Father, remove anything keeping us from loving you with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. I pray that you would find us faithful to the Word You have spoken to us through the law and prophets and ultimately through you Son, the Word that became flesh. Would we be faithful stewards of the mysteries of your kingdom. Lord, I desperately pray that we would decrease so that you would increase in us. We want to prepare the way for your second coming. O Lord, come! Send Your Spirit to revive this generation!!
In the name above every name, it’s in the name of Jesus that we pray!
Let it be so, Lord
Amen!
