Your Prayer Challenge: Revival

As I’ve grown older, I’ve truly seen the amazing power of prayer. The results of prayer can be sincerely humbling. God is waiting on us right now to draw near to Him, so He can draw near to us.  

Yet we are human, and we struggle. We struggle to become close with God, or we refuse to do it, or we make excuses about not having time to do it. And we wonder why there is so much frustration in the world… why we are always looking for something more that always seems just out of our reach. There’s a reason for this…

Our world needs Revival. America needs Revival. Churches need Revival. Families need Revival. I need Revival. And you need Revival, too.

Everyone knows this but how many are striving for it?

God says in His word that “we have not, because we ask not” (James 4:2-3: "yet ye have not, because ye ask not.”  Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts”). And in Matthew 7:7 the scriptures state, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

My church is holding revival from April 30^th–May 3^rd, and we need your help!

I’m challenging you, asking you, and pleading with you to join me and my church in praying for Revival at Kerwin Baptist Church in Kernersville, NC.   
Here is all I’m asking:

1. Pray 5 minutes a day.
2. Pray 5 days a week.

That’s it! It’s pretty simple… just five minutes a day, five days a week.

In preparing for Revival prayer is the first and most important ingredient. It establishes our communication with God. 

But what keeps us from seeking Revival?

Pride and stubbornness. We convince ourselves that we know better. Then reality sets in but we struggle coming back to God because what will God think?

Know what? God already knows every sin I’ve committed. Even those only committed in my mind! He also knows your every sin. When God sent Jesus to die on the cross He knew we were all sinners who had fallen short of the glory of God.

But why do we need Revival?

First, because life takes over. Our flesh fails. Our heart fails. Our mind fails. Life literally wears us down. We are exhausted and tired of dealing with everything. Without realizing it we set God to the side and become complacent. We simply go through the motions of being a Christian but aren’t engaged and don’t care. We are physically tired and spiritually tired.  

Are you currently in this situation? You aren’t alone. 

Everyone, I mean everyone, goes through this. What we must be aware of is staying in the rut. The longer we stay away from God the more likely we are to make a mistake. Our guard is down. We start to find comfort in things and activities that don’t involve God. It could be just watching TV to forget all your worries or it could be something much worse. 

When this happens we know it and the Holy Spirit convicts of us it. But as time goes on our guilt is numbed.  It literally becomes easier and easier to do it every time.

Second, to be a witness to others.  We say we are Christians but what do others think and say? Are we leading by example for our spouses, our children, our family members or those at work?

It’s time for our words to match up with our actions. I am 100% sure I don’t want to stand before God and be told my actions turned someone away from God. I want my life and actions to be pleasing to God. I want others to say I need what Nathan has in my life! As Christians we are called to have joy in all circumstances. We are called to show the love of Christ to others. 

You do NOT have to walk around with a bullhorn! 

You do NOT have to carry your Bible under your arm! 

You do have to carry God’s word in your heart. 

But it’s hard to carry God around with us when we aren’t focused on Him.  When we aren’t actively “drawing near” to him.

This is why Revival is needed. It requires us to turn back to God, to examine our heart and actions. As we do this we start to humble ourselves before God and earnestly seek His forgiveness.

I hope you will accept my challenge and pray for our Revival. Pray that we will lay down our pride and humble ourselves before God, and allow God to work in us and through us!

Now I want to challenge you to do the same. Pray for Revival in your heart, your household and your church.

Remember, God says "WE HAVE NOT, BECAUSE WE ASK NOT." 

Nathan Tabor lives in Kernersville with his wife and daughter. He has founded and owned over two dozen businesses since 1999. Some of these ventures have been wildly successful while some have been epic failures. He is passionate about applying God's word to his personal and professional life and helping others do the same as an executive coach and business growth consultant. Learn more about Nathan at NathanTabor.com.

Image courtesy: Unsplash.com

Publication date: April 4, 2017