Revival Begins in the Heart of God
By: Rev. Chris Bannon - Area Coordinator North, Revive New England
Across the generations, history comes to us in waves of human and spiritual flourishing: Blessing, followed by presumption and decline, followed by rescue/renewal and blessing. God is good, and then we forget. We set ourselves against Him, reject His leadership and presence, and so drive our lives, cultures, subsequent generations, and the world for which we are responsible into spiritual and social decline.
Sin speaks a real word in history. But, our savior God has never and will never permit sin and its results to have the LAST word. In Zechariah 7 and 8, Israel has fallen into generational unfaithfulness and decline. Their covenantal blessing has been lost to them. They’ve been overrun by the nations and scattered. Their legacy and witness to the world is in tatters. These are the real consequences of their unfaithfulness. And, that could be the end of their story. But…
(Zech 8:2-3) “Thus says the LORD of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath… I will save my people from the east country and from the west country, and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God…”
This is where revival begins: in the heart of God. The savior God, rich in mercy. God, who in the very fibers of His own eternal being cannot and will not ever abide sin and decline and death and the Accuser to have the last word. Such that, when and as we pray for rescue - as we pray for revival and awakening and a new day in the midst of a world that has become spiritually dead and dark - we do so according to God’s own heart. And THAT is where power in prayer is found. When our hearts and prayers align with God’s own heart and prayers, we can pray with faith and power and expectation.
(Zech 8:20) “…Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the LORD and to seek the LORD of hosts; I myself am going.’ Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the LORD.”
Revival begins in the heart of God. So, when we pray for revival, we pray in agreement with God Himself. Additionally, Zechariah also has an awareness that when the need is bigger than ourselves, the prayer should be bigger than ourselves.
Notice: Zechariah isn’t content - really, the LORD isn’t content - that this heart cry for the renewal of God’s people should remain a private burden. It certainly BEGINS there, and praise God for every person who is crying out for the spiritual renewal of our region in the secrecy of their own prayer closet. We need that! But the vision Zechariah offers is not just a movement of isolated intercessors, praying in private. Rather, he paints a picture of a multi-congregational, multi-city, regional groundswell of agreement and concert in the seeking of the Lord for his favor.
Israel is in trouble, Zechariah is saying, so ISRAEL should pray. Not just one or two extraordinary people FOR Israel; but the region, the nation itself, should rally unto a concert of extraordinary, united prayer for a fresh move of the Spirit of God in their midst. There is exhortation, here: “Let US go!”… There is a model in this for meeting the spiritual need and opportunity of our own day.
We commit to seek God in unity AS a region, because we know that the heart of God is FOR our region.