In our time, more and more believers are recognizing the\u00a0urgent need for God\u00a0to move in our nation to right wrongs, bring forth justice, and raise up leaders of deep, heart-felt convictions. Built into\u00a0the very foundation of our republic has been the establishment of government for the express\u00a0purpose\u00a0of protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens to follow their own consciences freely and to lead their lives as they see fit\u2014including, if they so desire, the unapologetic and unhindered pursuit of\u00a0God’s will\u00a0for their lives.\u00a0Therefore, as we pray for kings and all who are in authority, we need to recognize that multitudes of lives are connected to their decisions,\u00a0keeping in mind\u00a0that it is God\u2019s will for all of them to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (see 1 Timothy 2:1-4).<\/p>\n
But in a culture like ours,\u00a0caught up\u00a0in\u00a0gross sin of all kinds,\u00a0more than\u00a0political change\u00a0will be\u00a0needed. Unfortunately, at this point in our history, reformation\u00a0and “dialing things back”\u00a0simply won’t cut it. What\u00a0we need\u00a0is sweeping revival.\u00a0We need\u00a0a nation-wide awakening to God to hit\u2014hard<\/em>.\u00a0We need a\u00a0genuine move of God\u2014the real<\/em> thing, not just\u00a0stirring music, thrilling messages, awesome programs,\u00a0or prominent name-recognition.<\/p>\n I read a book years ago with a message that was both ancient yet strikingly current. The book was Revival,<\/em> by Winkie Pratney, published in 1983. The back cover asked:<\/p>\n It went on to say, \u201cIn an age where values are questioned, families are falling apart, and where quality is being replaced by quantity, there is an ever-growing need for a revival of the morals and beliefs of a more stable time.\u201d<\/p>\n I agreed with it then; I agree even more now. These thoughts are more pertinent today than they were in 1983; without God\u2019s intervention, our culture will continue to deteriorate at an alarming rate. Without divine interference, neither the best programs nor projects good men have to offer will be adequate to stave off the eventual collapse of our culture or return us to kinder, gentler days, saner days. We must have revival.<\/p>\n Pratney wrote about revivals, reformers, and revivalists spanning history from before the Great Reformation in the 1400\u2019s up to the time of his writing. He wrote that “true revival is marked by powerful and often widespread outpourings of the Spirit.”\u00a0 He also pointed out that in past revivals “many times preaching had to cease because the hearers were prostrate or because the voice of the preacher was drowned by cries for mercy” (page 16).<\/p>\n Quoting In the Day of Thy Power<\/em> by Arthur Wallis, Pratney shares concerning revival, “It is God revealing Himself to man in awesome holiness and irresistible power. It is such a manifest working of God that human personalities are overshadowed and human programs abandoned. It is man retiring into the background because God has taken the field” (page 17).<\/p>\n “Revival is periodic; evangelism is continuous,” Pratney quotes from an April 9, 1965 article in Christianity Today.<\/em> “Revival will always vitalize God’s people…but revival is not always welcome. For many the price is too high. There is no cheap grace in revival. It entails repudiation of self-satisfied complacency. Revival turns careless living into vital concern…exchanges self-indulgence for self-denial. Yet, revival is not a miraculous visitation falling on an unprepared people like a bolt out of the blue. It comes when God’s people earnestly want revival and are willing to pay the price” (page 19).<\/p>\n It is interesting to note that the article in Christianity Today<\/em> was written two years before a double-barreled blast of God’s intervention hit this nation. Both the Charismatic Renewal, starting among Catholic seekers and spreading into Protestant denominations, and the Jesus Movement, capturing disenchanted and disenfranchised young people for Christ by the tens of thousands\u00a0and more, are said to have started in 1967, two years after the Christianity Today<\/em> article was printed. Hunger for more than what they were currently experiencing in their churches and relationships with God was driving believers to seek God’s intervention in the mid 1960’s.<\/p>\n Pratney also warned, “Evil as well as righteousness can have a ‘revival’; there can be an unholy uprising as well as a holy outpouring” (page 21). Proverbs 28:28a declares, “When the wicked rise, men hide themselves<\/em>” and Proverbs 29:2b says, “when the wicked rule, the people groan.<\/em>” One strategy of the devil is to use intense widespread ridicule, derision, and scorn of godly values and faith in Christ to discourage believers from confidently persisting in prayer for a sweeping, mighty outpouring of His power and holiness. Satan accomplishes this through stirring wicked men, rulers, and ungodly popular thought to coerce believers to retreat in fear from voicing their convictions or confident profession of faith. Perhaps<\/em>, they think, if we don’t ruffle any feathers and we just play nice, those who hate our values will simply forget we are here and leave us alone<\/em>. However, such fear works to the enemy’s advantage; when good men are silent, evil increases and gains leverage. Like it or not, this describes our time.<\/p>\n That is why we need God’s intervention. As a friend of mine used to say, “The devil’s not playing whiffle ball.” We find ourselves facing the big leagues, now\u2014ready or not. But we have a God who is<\/em> ready to intervene in a big way for the asking. It’s time now to let go of distractions and any fear we may have for our own safety and reputations. It’s time seek the Lord on behalf of our nation. It’s time for a move of God.<\/p>\n May God help us to take our stand\u00a0before Him without shrinking back.<\/p>\n Dorothy<\/p>\n\n