Vision is as important in praying for the world around us as it is in everything else.
Great revivals in history began small with God planting a hope and desire in a few praying people's hearts. As the movements grew, the visions expanded.
Now, we are at a time when the body of Christ needs a vision for the world - starting with our own small worlds.
I have been re-reading Flames of Revival: Igniting the Hearts of a Nation through Prayer by Elana Lynse. It's a book written in 1989 about great revivals through history, beginning in the Bible and continuing to the late 1800s.
Towards the end of the book, Lynse runs through all the discouraging things that are going on in our Western society today - anti-God movements, drugs, unfaithfulness among Christians and so on.
But she is not discouraged. She builds her faith by picturing how revival - spiritual renewal - could change the city she lives in.
I need that faith. So do other believers.
I believe it is God who gives us the desire to see our world transformed for Christ. And then, it is up to us to seek God's vision for our little corner of the earth.
An example is the young Christian church in Antioch in Acts 13. The people were praying and fasting - seeking God. God responded by telling them to commission Paul and Barnabas to carry the message of Christ to the broader world.
Always, Paul sought God's direction before moving on to his next destination. In one case, God even stopped Paul from doing what he thought he should be doing - evangelizing in the province of Asia. Instead, the Lord gave him a vision to enter Macedonia, taking Christ to Europe.
It is inspiring to see how the Holy Spirit has moved around the world over the years since Christ's birth, death and resurrection.
Lynse describes what happened in what she calls "The Prayer Century" - the 1700s - a time when the great French philosopher Voltaire predicted the death of Christianity in 30 years.
Many churches had become corrupt and a lot of clergymen did not believe in the power of God. There was widespread drunkenness, robbery, violence, and oppression.
But God was at work in Europe and North America.
In Germany, Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf sheltered a persecuted Christian sect - the Moravians - on his estate and launched a 100-year daily prayer vigil for evangelizing the world. The Moravians sent missionaries throughout the world - including the American colonies.
One of those affected by the Moravians was John Wesley who launched the Methodist revival in England in the mid-1700s along with George Whitefield. Wesley was a strong advocate of the power of prayer.
Later in the century, a "concerts of prayer" movement began in England. A group published a short tract, calling for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, church unity, and prayer for the worldwide advancement of God's kingdom. One denomination after another dedicated the first Monday of every month to prayer for revival.
This led 23 ministers of New England churches to band together in prayer for outreach to the world. Revival broke out which spread rapidly to other parts of the young United States.
As revival sped throughout the U.S., society changed. Drunkenness, violence and robbery declined.
Lynse's book details the impact of other revivals over the years, always at times when the outlook looked grim.
I sense that a growing desire to pray in the Western world may be a step towards another revival.
May it be so.
Great revivals in history began small with God planting a hope and desire in a few praying people's hearts. As the movements grew, the visions expanded.
Now, we are at a time when the body of Christ needs a vision for the world - starting with our own small worlds.
I have been re-reading Flames of Revival: Igniting the Hearts of a Nation through Prayer by Elana Lynse. It's a book written in 1989 about great revivals through history, beginning in the Bible and continuing to the late 1800s.
Towards the end of the book, Lynse runs through all the discouraging things that are going on in our Western society today - anti-God movements, drugs, unfaithfulness among Christians and so on.
But she is not discouraged. She builds her faith by picturing how revival - spiritual renewal - could change the city she lives in.
I need that faith. So do other believers.
I believe it is God who gives us the desire to see our world transformed for Christ. And then, it is up to us to seek God's vision for our little corner of the earth.
An example is the young Christian church in Antioch in Acts 13. The people were praying and fasting - seeking God. God responded by telling them to commission Paul and Barnabas to carry the message of Christ to the broader world.
Always, Paul sought God's direction before moving on to his next destination. In one case, God even stopped Paul from doing what he thought he should be doing - evangelizing in the province of Asia. Instead, the Lord gave him a vision to enter Macedonia, taking Christ to Europe.
It is inspiring to see how the Holy Spirit has moved around the world over the years since Christ's birth, death and resurrection.
Lynse describes what happened in what she calls "The Prayer Century" - the 1700s - a time when the great French philosopher Voltaire predicted the death of Christianity in 30 years.
Many churches had become corrupt and a lot of clergymen did not believe in the power of God. There was widespread drunkenness, robbery, violence, and oppression.
But God was at work in Europe and North America.
In Germany, Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf sheltered a persecuted Christian sect - the Moravians - on his estate and launched a 100-year daily prayer vigil for evangelizing the world. The Moravians sent missionaries throughout the world - including the American colonies.
One of those affected by the Moravians was John Wesley who launched the Methodist revival in England in the mid-1700s along with George Whitefield. Wesley was a strong advocate of the power of prayer.
Later in the century, a "concerts of prayer" movement began in England. A group published a short tract, calling for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, church unity, and prayer for the worldwide advancement of God's kingdom. One denomination after another dedicated the first Monday of every month to prayer for revival.
This led 23 ministers of New England churches to band together in prayer for outreach to the world. Revival broke out which spread rapidly to other parts of the young United States.
As revival sped throughout the U.S., society changed. Drunkenness, violence and robbery declined.
Lynse's book details the impact of other revivals over the years, always at times when the outlook looked grim.
I sense that a growing desire to pray in the Western world may be a step towards another revival.
May it be so.
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