Asking God to Revive His People

Leslie Basham: There’s something so freeing about being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Tom Elliff: Father, we thank You for the wonderful psalm that touched his heart and touches ours today: “Know ye that the Lord is God, and it is He who has made us and not we ourselves” (Psalm 100:3 paraphrase).

Lord, may we enter into Your gates with thanksgiving and into your courts with praise (Psalm 100:4). We pray, Father, that as a lamb in the Old Testament, may we offer ourselves today, asking You to consume our lives; as it’s already been said in Your Word, that we might exchange, be exchanged, Christ in us, the hope of wonderful glory (Colossians 1:27 paraphrase).

Leslie: This is Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss for Friday, November 23.

All week, Nancy’s been focusing our attention on the Holy Spirit. What does it mean to live a Spirit-filled life? This is a crucial question all of us need to answer, especially in light of our current series, Seeking Him.

We’ve been looking at personal revival. To be revived involves humility, honesty, repentance, and purity. We’ve looked at all these marks of revival and more over the last several weeks.

This week, the focus has been on the power that allows us to grow in these areas: the Holy Spirit. During the Seeking Him series, we’ve been inviting you to pray every Saturday with Nancy and other Christian leaders, asking God to revive His people.

We’re calling it Seeking Him: A National Prayer Meeting for Revival. You can join this prayer meeting tomorrow. Get more details at ReviveOurHearts.com.

Right now, we want you to see what this kind of prayer can be like. Let’s join Nancy, along with Byron Paulus, Bob Bakke, Shirley Dobson, Barbara Blanchard, and Tim St. Clair.

To start things off, here’s Tom Elliff.

Tom Elliff: Let’s turn our hearts toward the Lord in prayer. A command has substance in our lives because we acknowledge the authority behind it.

It might be good for us right now to begin our prayer time by worshiping the Lord, expressing our adoration and praise to Him, and acknowledging that what He says, we’re going to take seriously. Let’s begin our prayers with that thought.

Shirley Dobson: Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God (Psalm 90:1-2 paraphrase). We praise You that You care about us; that You want to indwell us; that You want to be completely in control of us as we yield to You.

This is not something far off. Your Word is not far away. It is close. It is near. It is our life. So we believe Your Word, and we submit ourselves to You today with joy.

Tim St. Clair: Lord, O Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth; and what is man that You are mindful of him? (Psalm 8:1,4 paraphrase). You are great. We are small, and we begin today by acknowledging that You are worthy to be obeyed, that You are worthy to receive our praise.

We surrender ourselves to You. This great command to ongoingly be filled, we acknowledge this command. We receive this command, O God. We receive it, acknowledging Your authority over our lives, and whether we feel like being filled or not, we will obey.

So we surrender ourselves before You, O God. This is our vow, this day, that we will be filled in obedience to Your command.

Barbara Blanchard: O Lord, we humbly come before You on this day in prayer. We thank You so much for Your precious Holy Spirit; that You did not leave us down here when You left this earth to meander without direction, without an anchor.

Lord, You sent Your blessed Holy Spirit. You sent Yourself in the Spirit to dwell within us—not with us, but within us. Lord, we praise You and we thank You for that. Even when we’re not faithful, You are always faithful.

Lord, we praise You and thank You for this wonderful gift that You’ve given mankind, that You Yourself would come and indwell man, that we might be able to live the Christian life in power.

Bob Bakke: Lord, we think of the cry of Jim Elliot, years and years ago, who wanted to be so consumed by the Holy Spirit, aflame for You. We thank You for the wonderful psalm that touched his heart and touches ours today: “Know ye that the Lord is God, and it is He who has made us and not we ourselves” (Psalm 100:3 paraphrase).

Lord, may we enter into Your gates with thanksgiving and into your courts with praise (Psalm 100:4). We pray, Father, that as a lamb in the Old Testament, may we offer ourselves today, asking You to consume our lives; as it’s already been said in Your Word, that we might exchange, be exchanged, Christ in us, the hope of wonderful glory.

Tom Elliff: As we continue our prayer, let me just mention, for those of you who might be just now joining us, that our focus today is on this wonderful privilege we have of living in the fullness of God’s Holy Spirit.

We’ve been focused on the fact that He’s our Sovereign, and this is a command. Because of that, it’s something that can happen in our life. We think of Bunyon’s poem, which later became a hymn:

Run, John, run, the Law demands,
But gives me neither feet nor hands.
Far greater news the Gospel brings:
It bids me fly and gives me wings.

We’re going to turn our attention and our prayer time now to the actual process of not only worshiping the Lord, but of emptying ourselves of ourselves.

Of course, if we’re filled with ourselves, filled with man (which we are), refusing to release, the fullness of the Spirit is an impossibility. Let’s focus our prayer time in these next few moments on going before the Lord, not only on our behalf but on behalf of our nation in confession and repentance.

Tim St. Clair: Father, I’m reminded that we have two options: that is, either to walk in the Spirit, or to walk after the flesh. My desire, Father, is to be empty of everything that is not pleasing to You and to be filled with all the fullness of God available through Your Spirit.

Thank You that as You, Lord Jesus, in the upper room told Your disciples; You’ve left Your Spirit here to teach us, to guide us, to bring all things to our remembrance, and to indwell us and to empower us.

Spirit of God, may You have freedom; have control this day, I pray.

Bob Bakke: Show me, Lord, the measure of my days and how frail I am. Father, just show us today that our hope alone is in Thee, is in You alone.

“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give heed ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, from Thee once and be no more” (Psalm 39:12-13 KJV).

Lord, we are desperate this morning, desperate for Your sovereign control in our lives. We thank You for the Word which You used this morning to prick our hearts.

We thank You for the person of Your presence in our lives today. Move us, Father. Empty us. We confess, Lord, that we want to know You today in fullness, that You might be praised and glorified in the midst of our frailties. In Jesus’ name.

Shirley Dobson: O Lord, we know that we are sinful people. We know that our nation has grieved Your Holy Spirit. O Lord, we come before You today in humble repentance, not only for our nation, Lord, but for our own individual sins.

Lord, we know that there is much sin in the church today, and that’s why we in some ways are not as powerful as we could be. We’re not accomplishing what we could be because we have sin among us.

We pray, Holy Spirit, that You would turn Your searchlight on each one of our hearts. Lord, if there’s anything in our hearts that’s displeasing to You—any sin, any darkness—oh, we ask You to convict us!

We ask You to help us to turn and repent and cry out to You, O Lord, that we might be a holy church, that we might be a holy people, that You can come and begin a revival in us.

Lord, we pray for our church leaders all across the nation. O God, we pray that You would come to them in a fresh way and that they would cry out for themselves, for their church, for families, for this nation.

We need a cleansing, Lord, and we pray that Your Thy Holy Spirit would sweep across this nation, beginning with the church and then with homes and then with our government leaders; Lord, that we all might be drawn to You, that we all might be a holy bride to You.

I feel like we should put on sackcloth and throw ashes on our head and lie prostrate before You and cry out for the sins of our nation. We thank You for Your mercy, and we thank You for Your compassion. We thank You for Your steadfast love. In Christ’s name.

Byron Paulus: Lord, I can’t help but remember someone saying that we’re so self-satisfied that we don’t want to pray, and we’re so self-sufficient that we don’t think we need to pray, and we’re so self-righteous that we can’t pray.

God, all of that centers on self and the materialism and the entertainment that takes away our sense of need and desire. Then all those righteous, perceived righteous acts we do and credit ourselves instead of You for . . .

God, would You deliver us from ourselves? Would You empty us of all those wrong motivations, of receiving glory and thinking that we’re satisfying when there’s so much more?

God, what You want to do on behalf of Your people so exceeds anything we could ever imagine. Deliver us from earth-bound thinking and selfish thinking, and cause us to enter into the realm of the Spirit that exceeds everything.

Fill us to overflow us, that our reflexive response is simply that of You and You alone.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Lord, as much as we grieve over the sins of our nation, it’s no surprise that the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah should act as the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. But, Lord, the thing that really weighs on our hearts more heavily is that the inhabitants of Zion should act like the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah— that Your people, who have the indwelling life of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, should walk in the flesh.

Lord, as we look into our churches and our homes—our Christian homes and our own hearts—we see the corruption of flesh there. How unthinkable and grievous it is that we should not be living in the pure, righteous, sweet fullness and power of Your Holy Spirit, that we should be clinging to the sins of the flesh, and that Christian marriages should be breaking up!

Lord, these are the things that are heavy on our heart—the immorality in the church, the contentment with the status quo, and the fact that the world looks at the church and doesn’t see enough difference to create any hunger or thirst for Christ.

Oh Lord, have mercy on us and forgive us and cleanse Your church! May we be emptied of self. The world doesn’t have the power to be emptied of self, but we do. So Lord, we pray for forgiveness and cleansing and healing and restoration of Your holy bride.

May we be without spot, without blemish, lovers of the Lord Jesus; and as brother Tom spoke of that picture of the bridegroom and the bride, may we be those who quickly say to Your overtures of love, “Yes, Lord; yes, Lord, have Your way and make us a holy bride,” for Jesus’ sake we pray.

Tom Elliff: Lord, I recall the Psalmist saying, “If it had been my enemy who did this to me, this offense, I would have expected it; but it was you—it was my own familiar friend” (Psalm 55:12-13 paraphrase).

Lord, how it must grieve You when Your bride, the very one for whom You gave Your life that You might present us to You, pure and holy and spotless—this stealing away at night and chasing through the streets and consorting with all kinds of lovers, and having slept when You knocked at the door. We now arise and find You having been there, but gone.

It’s theological rape by those who are supposed to be the watchmen. We, of all people, who should be shut up to You in faithfulness and love, have been wicked and have been wayward, and it is we more than anyone who deserve Your judgment.

Barbara Blanchard: Lord, we sense among believers there is a judgmentalism, a turning on one another, even as national leaders speak against others. We just know that there needs to be more of a spirit of love among believers—of kindness, of thoughtfulness, of understanding, of compassion.

You have commanded us to love one another and to love You with all our heart. We sense not only that there is a judgmentalism, but that there’s also a complacency that keeps believers from keeping You all in all; just a sense of moving on with life, keeping busy, but not making You the whole focus of our attention.

We ask forgiveness, Lord, for each of us individually and for the whole body of believers in the United States. O Lord, we ask You for forgiveness. We know this grieves You, because You said in the Old Testament that those who were in the desert rebelled against You and grieved You and put You to the test and vexed You, the holy One of Israel.

We marvel that You have been so good to us. You have borne with Your people. We pray again that this very week, You might visit each believer in the United States, that You might speak very strongly and firmly as to who You are and how we ought to be before You, the holy One.

Tim St. Clair: Father, we are so grateful that Your Holy Spirit is not limited to buildings and phone calls and radio and Internet, as the Lord Jesus responded to Nicodemus and said, “ The wind blows where it will. You hear the sound, but you can’t tell where it’s coming from or where it’s going. So also is the Spirit” (John 3:8 paraphrase).

We are in desperate need for Your Holy Spirit to invade the privacy of our lives and our homes, beginning with those who know You and claim You as our sovereign Lord and Savior. Father, might You do that?

Judgment must begin at the house of God; and if the righteous shall scarcely be saved, where should the ungodly and sinner appear? (1 Peter 4:17-18 paraphrase)

Lord, begin with us, Your people. Purify us. Cleanse us. Make us a holy people, where the overflow will be that Your Spirit will draw lost people to You.

Tom Elliff: On that note, for those of you who may have just joined us for this time of prayer, we have turned our attention to the Spirit-filled life, and the fact that God’s Holy Spirit will certainly not fill our lives if we’re filled with ourselves.

In these closing moments, it would be well for us now to cry out to God, claiming by faith His fullness. He says that if we confess our sin, He’s faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us (1 John 1:9 paraphrase). That being the case, I think we can, with joy, claim His fullness. Let’s do that in prayer.

Shirley Dobson: Lord, I thank You that we do not have to be in bondage to sin. You said in Your Word that if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away and all things become new (2 Corinthians 5:17 paraphrase).

Lord, today, for our listeners out there who have repented of their sin, they can walk away a new creation in Christ. The old sins and the old bitterness and attitudes can be cut loose from them, and they can be free, and they can walk in the fullness of the Spirit.

Lord, how we praise You for Your gift of forgiveness, Your gift of restoration, Your gift of redemption! Lord, we just thank You for that today, in Christ’s name.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Lord, Your Word says that everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened; and if our fathers know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more will our heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:10-13 paraphrase).

So, Lord, knowing that we have Your Holy Spirit within us, we pray in faith that You would pour out the fullest possible expression and anointing and fullness of Your Holy Spirit.

Flow through us. May our family members, our fellow church members, our friends and neighbors and co-workers be touched and aware and conscious of Your presence, as the fullness of Your Spirit flows through to them.

Barbara Blanchard: I can’t help thinking of Evan Roberts, who prayed a hundred years ago in Wales in that little school room: “Come, Holy Spirit; come now; come now,” he prayed through the night with just a few.

So we come today on the radio just now, together, praying, “Come now; come now, Holy Spirit.” We know You have come into us. We know You are with us. Come upon us. Flow over us, flow through us, as the Scripture says, “rivers of living water” (John 7:38).

Lord, we are waiting corporately for something that we have never yet seen in our lifetime. We’re asking You for another Pentecost experience for the church, that You might be made known as never before in our generation.

O God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—come upon us. We cry out to You, O God. We cannot do the things that we seek. Only You can, and we only seek this for Yourself. Make Yourself known fabulously among us.

Tim St. Clair: Father, I do pray that You will begin it in the men and women of God who give leadership in this nation; that You will create in our hearts a holy dissatisfaction with business as usual, and that “good enough” will no longer be good enough.

Father, I dream of the day when men of God will stand in the pulpits across our land and cry out for something more than just rote, liturgical services.

Lord, may we know—may I know, Father, even tomorrow—what it is to be sensitive, to be yielded to Your Spirit, and for Your Spirit to have freedom in the hearts of our people. God, do it for Your glory.

Tom Elliff: God, we come now together, having knit our hearts with thanksgiving. Lord, You’re grieved, deeply grieved over our hearts, our lives, our church, our nation, our need, and the need of people around the world; yet we are excited, Lord, by this wonderful truth, that we can be filled with Your Spirit. You would fill us with Your life.

Father, we thank You that You have said in Your Word that You’re working to conform us to the image of Your dear Son (Romans 8:29 paraphrase). We’re content to believe that even in this hour that we have spent together in prayer, You have been chipping away at us. You’ve been working on us, here in this place and there another, and in one corner of the world and in another corner of the world. Your bride, Lord; You have been at work.

How excited we are to believe that just now we might live in the fullness of Your Spirit, that You might fill us with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19 paraphrase). Father, we thank You for that. We thank You for that promise. We claim it by faith.

Lord, as we bring this prayer time to a close, we do so with a doxology of praise and gratitude and thanksgiving in our heart. We praise You, Lord, and we thank You for these things. In the wonderful name of Jesus we pray it, amen.

Leslie: That’s Tom Elliff, praying that God’s people will live by the power of God’s Spirit and experience revival.

The prayers you heard today offer just a taste of what you can experience tomorrow during Seeking Him: A National Prayer Meeting for Revival.

Each Saturday for 12 weeks, our host, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, has been joining with others to pray for revival. There are only two more of these prayer meetings scheduled, and you can listen and pray over the Internet.

In certain areas you may be able to listen on the radio, as well. For more details, just visit ReviveOurHearts.com.

Nancy has been leading us through a hard-hitting series on personal revival called Seeking Him. She’ll wrap it up next week with one more aspect of living a revived life: developing consistent personal devotionals.

Please be back for Revive Our Hearts.

Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss is an outreach of Life Action Ministries.