Preparing the way

Political parties use "advance men" to organize and prepare the way for the leader's visit to a city or a big rally.  Without them, parties would get poor results.

Similarly, prayer warriors are needed to prepare the way for God to bring revival to a community or nation.  As Christians, we are called to be "advance men and women" for God.

Wesley L. Duewel, a missionary leader and author, declares in his book Touch the World Through Prayer that a great ingathering of people into the kingdom of God in our country or any country will only happen supernaturally through the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit moves as we pray.

"When God desires to do a mighty work of salvation and spiritual harvest, he calls his people to their knees," writes Duewel.  "The Holy Spirit places a deep hunger in the heart of those of God's children who are close enough to him to hear his voice."

Stories in the Bible back Duewel up.  For instance, in Acts 4:23-31, the young church prays for boldness in sharing the gospel while under the shadow of persecution.  A fresh influx of new believers follows.

Prayer has laid the groundwork for other great revivals in recent centuries - millions becoming believers in the United States in the mid-1800s and in Wales in the early 1900s to name just two examples.  Prayer plays a central role today in the explosive growth of the church in China and India.

So, prayer warriors play a key part in advancing the kingdom of God.  They may be virtually invisible, but they have an exciting task - an important task in God's eyes.

Duewel has some suggestions for our personal preparation to pray for revival:

• We can prepare ourselves by reading biblical and historical accounts of revival;
• We can collect information showing the need for revival in our country or others;
• We can meditate on scripture passages in which God promises great blessing, harvest and revival; and
• We can make sure there is nothing in our own hearts that would hinder prayer.

Then, he suggests guidelines for us as we pray specifically for revival in our country or other countries:

• We can make sure we pray daily for revival in a particular country;
• We can make a list of specific prayer requests, such as giving a new awareness to God's people of the urgency of this need;
• We can be prepared to accept whatever God has decided in terms of his timing, his methods, and the people he will use;
• We can schedule special extended times of prayer for the community, country or countries we are praying for;
• We can pray publicly for these matters in church prayer services;
• We can mention this to others as an encouragement to pray in this way;
• We can encourage revival as a theme in periodic prayer gatherings;
• We can file material we find on revival in different parts of the world for later use; and
• We can fast as an added way to focus on revival prayer.

In our prayer times, we should include times of thanksgiving, meditation on God's word, and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit's leading.

This is a wonderful task for prayer warriors - with eternal results and value.