Revival Prayer

Our pastor has most recently been preaching on revival. We as a church have been praying for and desperately seeking revival. Christians in America have been sleeping. We have become comfortable with the world and grown lukewarm. I know I have, and I look around and see the same thing all around me. Our pastor just posted this on our church bulletin board. It is an excerpt from Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill. God had already been working on my heart about spending more time in prayer. It was a powerful challenge to me and I thought I'd share.

"No man is greater than his prayer life. The pastor who is not praying is playing; the people who are not praying are straying. The pulpit can be a shop window to display one’s talents; the prayer closet allows no showing off." "Poverty-stricken as the church is today in many things, she is most stricken here, in the place of prayer. We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers but few fighters. Falling here, we fail everywhere.""The ministry of preaching is open to few; the ministry of prayer – the highest ministry of all human offices – is open to all. Spiritual adolescents say 'I’ll not go tonight; it’s only the prayer meeting.' It may be that Satan has little cause to fear most preaching. Yet past experiences sting him to rally all his infernal army to fight against God’s people praying. Modern Christians know little of 'binding and loosing,' though the onus is on us – 'Whatsoever YOU shall bind…' Have you done any of this lately? God is not prodigal with His power, but to be much FOR God, we must be much WITH God.""This world hits the trail for Hell with a speed that makes our fastest plane look like a tortoise; yet alas, few of us can remember the last time we missed our bed for a night of waiting upon God for a world-shaking revival.""The secret of praying is praying in secret. A sinning man will stop praying; and a praying man will stop sinning. We are beggared and bankrupt, but not broken, nor even bent.""In the matter of New Testament, Spirit-inspired, hell-shaking, world-breaking prayer, never has so much been left by so many to so few. For this kind of prayer there is no substitute. We do it – or we die!"Leonard RavenhillWhy Revival Tarries