21 Days of Prayer and Fasting - DAY 18

DAY 18 - REVIVAL

“Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.”

– Hosea 6:1-2 –

Revival is always a result of cutting. God told Hosea that He couldn’t heal and revive Israel until He has torn and struck her down. Like Israel, the church needs to be convicted of sin. When we are down on our knees victory will come. It’s on the third day that God will raise us up! When God’s people respond to the cutting of the Lord, revival and victory are sure!

What is the difference between Revival and Awakening? Revival is pertaining to the church and awakening to the world. Revival is often the catalyst for awakening. Leonard Ravenhill once said, “Save the church, save the world.” When the Holy Spirit wakes up sleepy Christians from their slumber to the reality of their calling and begins to draw unbelievers to the Father, the world is in for a show. 

In 1904, after Evan Roberts had been praying for 13 years for the Holy Spirit to awaken the church, God answered, and the Welsh Revival began. It transformed the streets of Wales. There was virtually no crime and pubs were being shut down for lack of patrons. 

Many in the church are asleep. May we pray as Even Roberts did for four specific

prayers: that those in the church would confess all known sin and receive forgiveness through Jesus Christ, to remove anything that is causing doubt or uncertainty, a willingness to obey the Holy Spirit and, finally, to publicly confess Jesus Christ as Lord. May God hear the cries of the church and respond with great revival in the hearts of His own people that will spark another Great Awakening!

“Revival is the visitation of God which brings to life Christians who have been sleeping and restores a deep sense of God’s near presence and holiness. Thence springs a vivid sense of sin and a profound exercise of heart in repentance, praise, and love, with an evangelistic outflow.”

– J.I. Packer –