When
considering the subject of revival and spiritual awakening in the twenty-first
century, this question, as the title suggests, is often asked. I have certainly
given thought to it myself. Why would we pray when we know that according to
Scripture things in the world will get worse and worse just before Jesus
returns to this earth? What is the motivation or inspiration for any such revival
prayer activity?
In
his book, Revival, Richard
Owens Roberts answers this question under the heading of “General Hindrances To
Revival.” He lists three hindrances. I commend a reading of this book to you. I
will quote here only a portion of the first of the three hindrances, “The
hindrance of erroneous interpretation” (the other hindrances being Prayerlessness
and Faithlessness):
Have you heard someone say, ‘These
are the last days. No revival of religion can ever again be hoped for. We can only expect things to grow
worse and worse’? Obviously, such a viewpoint
can have a devastating effect on revival interest…
We must not let our
observations on the condition of society and the degeneration of the hearts of men block our earnest seeking of
God’s face. God is as able to send revival
now or at any time during
the history of His Church. While on the surface, things do seem to be getting worse and
worse, a balanced perspective on history clearly suggests that the Bible is absolutely right in declaring
men of all times and in all places are ‘deceitful and desperately wicked.’ There have been times
in the past when it looked as if the world could not survive another generation, and yet it did. This
may well be the last generation, but then again, our great-great-grandchildren may be the ones to see Christ’s
coming in the air. Since the possibility
exists that this may not be the last generation, we should, with ever-increasing fervency, seek a mighty
outpouring of the Spirit of God in revival blessing for the sake of both our own and future generations,
and for the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
Roberts
goes on:
To hinder revival by
arbitrarily announcing that it cannot come because of the late hour of history in which we live is to abandon our
role as faithful servants of Jesus Christ and to pose as God. If God
chooses to revive us again, who has sufficient authority to say He cannot? Time after
time, in the dark seasons of the past, God has stepped into the stream of history and sent revival. Why shouldn’t we expect Him
to do it again?
Compiler’s Summary
It is clear to me that it is a matter of even greater
urgency that we fervently
pray for revival and spiritual awakening in these “last days.”
We could be praying for the last great revival,
the last great awakening the world may ever know
Could it be that hundreds of thousands of people might be
swept
into the Kingdom of God in one final great move of God
and then
comes the end of history, as we know it, followed by the
return of Christ?
If we believe prayer works, why wouldn’t we watch and
pray?
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS POST? CHECK BELOW.
