Are We "Just" Praying For Revival?

The following was taken from Ray Comfort's devotional book, "The Way of the Master Minute."

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
STAY AND PRAY
"Are you praying for revival? Many are. They aren't seeking the lost. They instead see revival as a sovereign "move of God." In doing so, they are handing the job of evangelism back to Heaven. In essence they are saying, "We know you have commanded us to preach the Gospel to every creature ... but we will stay here and pray. Your Word says, 'How will they hear without a preacher?' ... but we will stay here and pray. You have told us that the Gospel is the power of God to salvation ... but we will stay here and pray because it sure is easier to talk to God about men, rather than to talk to men about God." Don't be like that. If we love Him, we will keep His commandments, and one of His commandments is go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. There goes another minute. Gone forever. Go share your faith while you still have time."

I don't know if I agree with brother Ray completely. I do see his point, but my disagreement comes in that I think he's trying to pit two things against each other that aren't meant to be.

We should pray, then we should go. We should not go until we pray, and we should pray until God answers, and then we will go with the full assurance that God is with us.

Sometimes it's more important to stop doing things and wait, and sometimes it's more important to go. But we won't know the difference until God has heard our prayers and answered.

hulsey said,

We should pray, then we should go. We should not go until we pray, and we should pray until God answers, and then we will go with the full assurance that God is with us.

I agree that we should first seek the Lord in prayer before we go out. But I don't believe we need to wait for an internal feeling or sense of God answering us before we can know whether or not He wants us to go. He has made it clear in His Word that He wants us to seek the lost, like He did when He walked this earth. That's all we need as an assurance that He wants us to go. We just need to be obedient, and step out in faith.

One other thought that came to mind. I think there should be a proper balance of praying and going. I've been around believers(including myself), who have had a wrong balance; some who emphasize much prayer, but hardly any evangelism; and some who emphasize much evangelism, but hardly any prayer. I can testify from personal experience that when I have had more of a balance the Lord has blessed my labors more.

First it is necessary that we have
a living, personal, true encounter
with Christ as LORD. This experience
will radically change our hearts and
transform our lives. Following this
experience; Christ calls us His own
disciples and servants and sends us
forth with the message of hope, truth,
and salvation!!

Snufalapugus, i understand where you are coming from and agree to a certain extent. Prayer and waiting on the Lord is crucial in our labors for His kingdom. Other wise our effort will be in the flesh and fruitless. But I believe we can emphasize prayer so much that we get comfortable and cozy in the closet, so to speak. We can get very selfish and just want to enjoy the Lord all to ourselves.

I have been with believers who get that way, sadly to say. They seem like they want to seek the Lord diligently in prayer and fasting and the Word, spending hours upon hours at a time. Yet these same believers did not show much concern or compassion for the lost. There was no zeal or fire to get out and obey Christ's command to preach the Gospel to every creature.

Again, both elements are very important in our walk with Jesus. This is clear throughout Scripture. Christ commands us both to pray and be His witness and preach His Gospel.

There is a danger in going to an extreme in either way. I know that Ravenhill and others really emphasize revival prayer, and I agree. But you can misunderstand that to mean that we just need to really pray. Even Ravenhill shares testimonies of Him going out daily in his prime years to preach the Gospel and plant churches, etc. Yet sadly to say, I believe Ravenhill and others emphasize prayer so much, to the exclusion of going out, that many take it to mean something it shouldn't. I would just like to see more of a balance, that's all.

Amen Brother Frank - You are exactly right!!

Has anyone analyzed this "balance" in light of God's Word? Is prayer commanded & exemplified more in the New Testament, or is preaching?

How many days did they tarry in prayer before Pentecost? How many people tarried? How many preached? Was Peter unbalanced for spending so many hours & days in prayer, yet only a few short minutes preaching?

OBEDIENCE is the key! If we truly pray until we are endued with power from on high, then God will lead us to speak & eternal results will take place.

If we pray when God says pray & preach when God says preach, God will act & save sinners. If we substitute one for the other based on instructions from mere mortals, we are spinning our wheels in vanity.

Has anyone analyzed this "balance" in light of God's Word? Is prayer commanded & exemplified more in the New Testament, or is preaching?

for the many Scriptures one can give on prayer, I would argue that the same amount probably be given for the importance of preaching the cross to the lost. How much preaching did our Lord and the Apostles do? Does not Scripture say daily? If you want to pray and wait 10 days for the Holy Ghost to come upon you, I say by all means do it. But then what? Will we obey the clear commands of Scripture to go or not? I am all for seeking the Lord until we are at His presence in the holy of holies. But we do not need an audible voice or a fussy feeling to see if He commands us to go.

From what it seems, many who come to this website are more for prayer than getting the Word out, so I will leave it at that and let the Lord speak.

If one is praying, the Lord will put opportunities to witness in your path. All you have to do is open your mouth, and He will fill it.

He has had people call me. It was a wrong number but the lady wouldn't hang up because she wanted to know why I was so happy, so I told her it was because I had Jesus in my heart. Later she called me again (by "mistake") and we ended up talking about the Lord for about a half hour.

One night I was walking late at night and came upon a toilet that had shattered in the street so I started kicking the pieces to the side of the road. The next thing I knew a young man had joined me and then a police officer came and helped also. We all talked while we were kicking pieces off of the road. When we finished, the young man joined me in my walk. He walked three miles in flip-flops and we had a most wonderful time talking of the Lord.

The other day the cashier at the grocery store was concerned about going to the dentist (I overheard her talking to the lady in front of me) so I told her to pray before she went. She said she was concerned about the pain so I told her to pray specifically for that. I have no doubt that the Lord answered her prayer for He loves to show forth His power.

Just ask Him to put opportunities to witness before you and then keep your ears and your eyes open. And then when the opportunity presents itself, open your mouth and speak of Him.