Our text still remains 2Chron;7:14- If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
We have looked at the first condition of revival which is ‘humble themselves’,today we’ll see the second criteria ‘pray and seek my face’.If there must be revival then prayer is inevitable.Revival cannot take place without prayer,this is one of the reasons why we are not seeing revival because we are not praying.And when we even manage to pray for it,we either do it half-heartedly or for wrong reasons.James4:2b-3 says Yet you do not have because you do not ask.You ask and do not receive,because you ask amiss… Revival is very much possible,only let us begin to pray alright and we will see God ushering-in the greatest revival the World has ever known.Let God be true and every man a liar,Roms 3:4.I have heard many people write-off revival,some even saying there’s no such word in the bible and some others thinks they don’t have any part to play in it.Please don’t join any of this group of people and if you have, repent and ask God to forgive you.Revivals have occurred several times throughout history and we believe God for a great revival now,just as he had said to us.In Ezra 9:8,the word ‘revival’ is mentioned and in synonyms expressions in so many other places in the old and new testament.
More than ever before,we need to pray and seek the face of God.Jer 29:12-13 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.God is raising up Jacob generation of men and women who will travail and prevail in prayer before the Throne of God.People who ‘ll wrestle with God and seek Him (go deeper into prayer)just like Jacob ,until His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.Psa 24:6 This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Gen 32:24,28-Then Jacob was left alone;and a Man wrestle with him until the breaking of day…And He said,”Your name shall no longer be called Jacob,but Israel;for you have struggle with God and with men,and have prevailed. Jacob name means supplanter or cheater and his life history speaks much about his name but a time came he decided to travail before God and he prevailed,and his name was changed to Israel.So God is raising up ‘Jacob-like’ people in this generation,it doesn’t matter how bad or ugly your past must have been, and I hope and pray you will be one of them.
Out of the three conditions,’pray and seek my face’ is in the middle which is to let us know the value of prayer.Prayer is the secret thread that binds everything together,it is the antidote to pride and sin.We need to commit to the practice of praying unceasing for revival in our private,as well in the public with other believers.This is the reason why God has led us to start a prayer movement of this magnitude so we could experience revival in our lives,families,Churches and in this Land.
History has showed us what the weapon of prayer can achieved and I can confidently tell you that prayer works because we serve a praying answering God.Psa 65:2 O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.Through prayer plagues were released on Egypt,red sea was divided,water came out of the rock,river Jordan parted,Sun stood still,rain stopped for 3½years,fire came down from heaven,mouths of Lions shut,dead came back to life,souls saved,deliverances,victories and great testimonies wrought through the instrumentality of this weapon.So therefore REVIVAL is very much possible through PRAYER.
Jesus our Lord,was a Man of prayer,it was recorded that at a time He prayed for forty days and nights,he prayed all night before choosing His disciples,through prayers He performed a lot of miracles,shortly before He was arrested He prayed to the extent that the sweat coming out of His body was tick as blood.While dying on the cross He was still praying,what a perfect example He left for us to follow.No wonder He said in Luke18:1…that men ought always to pray and not to faint.
Lord, teach us to pray!
travail2prevail 