DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT - WEDNESDAY - PRAYING FOR REVIVAL – Part 1.

When we rely upon organization, we get what organization can do; when we rely upon education, we get what education can do; when we rely upon eloquence, we get what eloquence can do, and so on. Nor am I disposed to undervalue any of these things in their proper place, but when we rely upon prayer, we get what God can do. - A.C. Dixon.

O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy. - Hab 3:2.

Australia needs revival! Many people all over the world are under the impression that Australia is in revival. I suppose one of the reasons for this, is the great music that is coming out of our country, and that our songs are being sung in Churches all over the world. Unfortunately, music accompanies a revival, it doesn’t cause it!

God causes revivals! And the only way we are ever going to see a revival in Australia, is that God’s people here, need to pray for it! if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. - 2Chron 7:14.

Australia has never had a revival, so the only way we can learn how to have one, is to look at revivals that happened in other places, like this one...

The sun was lowering and the air was like an oven when the stranger rode into town. With every step his horse kicked up little puffs of dust from the dry, powdery street. No one had seen the likes of him before. He was a stranger to these parts. no one knew for sure what to make of him. Leather creaked as he slid out of the saddle. The ground shook as the big man’s boots hit the street. He hitched his horse to the rail, looked around, stepped up on the wooden sidewalk and headed toward the saloon.

When his lengthening shadow spilled through the swinging doors a hush fell over the crowd. The bartender stopped pouring. The dealer stopped shuffling. The bar girls stopped smooching their marks. Even the piano fell silent. Chairs creaked, and necks craned as every eye tried to catch a glimpse of the stranger. "Got any praying people around here?"

Those were the first words that Francis Asbury (an itinerant Methodist preacher) asked when he rode into a new town. "Got any praying people around here?" That’s how they became the largest and most influential Christian denomination of the 19th and early 20th century. They knew that God’s work prospered when Christians prayed. – Source unknown.

THE PEOPLE’S REVIVAL
"Got any praying people around here?" We can have revival the same way as our brothers and sisters in Christ, won theirs! But the question has to be asked... "...got any praying people around here? " Where are the praying people in our Churches?" And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." - Mat 21:22.

The People’s Prayer Revival Of The 1880'S.
Throughout history there have been six major eras of widespread revival. Of these the People’s Prayer Revival is the most unique. It began prior to the Civil War, but continued unabated through the war and to the turn of the century. The estimates of conversions are listed between three hundred thousand and one million, of these, over one hundred thousand alone were in the Confederate Army.

I asked God for strength that I might achieve.
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked God for health that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy.
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for--but everything I had hoped for... Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered. I am among all men most richly blessed. - An unknown Confederate soldier.

Unique Features Of The People’s Prayer Revival.
The first startling feature was the dominance of lay leadership and the absence of the famous itinerant evangelists of previous eras. The second startling feature was that it began with prayer meetings rather than preaching services.

Distress over religious decline led to a stirring among religious leaders in the summer and autumn of 1857. Spontaneously, all over America, noon prayer meetings for businessmen, huge prayer gatherings of clergy, and extensive house-to-house visitation by lay people lead to a nationwide revival that some historians believe preserved them through the Civil War.

Oh! that we could have a revival like this today. “Where are the praying people in our Churches?" Where are the prayer meetings? Where are the noonday prayers of business people? Where are the huge prayer gatherings of clergy? Rise up people of God and pray, pray for our homes, pray for our families, pray for our workplaces, pray for our communities, pray for our country! PRAY FOR A REVIVAL!

Loving Father, help me by the power of the Holy Spirit, to humble myself and pray for my land! Help me to turn from my wicked ways and to seek your face O’ Lord, for revival in my time! Do it for the precious souls that need to come to you! Do it for the broken families and homes! Do it for the alcoholic, for the drug addict, for the homosexuals, for the abused and battered children, for the Mums and Dads whose children have gone astray, and do it Lord for your glory! In Jesus name I pray!
GBYAY