Why Praying for Revival Can Be Lazy and Faithless

I think it’s time we stopped praying for revival.

Don’t get me wrong, I love revival! My life was transformed when I was baptised in the Holy Spirit. From that moment on my heart was captured by stories of revival. I read of thousands coming to Christ, corporate repentance, villages turning to Jesus, healing and miracles flowing, and signs and wonders manifesting as people prayed. I wanted revival and I prayed for it.

However, there is a trap in praying for revival, and this more what I am concerned about. The trap is simple. Sometimes we pray for revival because we are lazy and lack faith.

You see, when Jesus taught us to pray, He taught us to pray that His Kingdom would come, and His will be done on Earth as in Heaven. That’s probably what we mean by revival. But simply praying for the Kingdom is not the end of the matter.

He also said that his Kingdom was within us. Often when we pray for revival, we have the idea that revival is something that has to come from heaven down towards us. It’s the idea that something that is not here already needs to come. However, since the Kingdom is already within us, it is now about releasing something we already have.

When Jesus sent the disciples out and about He gave them instructions to announce the Kingdom of God and to back it up by healing the sick, casting out demons, cleansing the lepers and raising the dead.

Seeing His Kingdom Come on Earth is not passive work. It is a partnership that we believers are invited into. It started with Adam and Eves assignment in the Garden to reflect the image of God and make Earth like Heaven, then when they messed it up, this task was passed on to the family of Abram, and then on to the Israelites as they were released from slavery. This project of seeing Heaven on Earth has been God’s plan for humanity from the beginning.

Therefore, seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness is not a passive waiting for God to do His thing. Rather, seeing the Kingdom come is a partnership where we get to do it with God! We get to seek His Kingdom, proclaim His Kingdom, and demonstrate His Kingdom. Now that is revival!

Praying for revival can be lazy because we expect God to come and do it all for us. When in actual fact, He’s invited us to be part of it. Praying for revival can even be an expression of a lack of faith that what we are doing right now can actually make a difference. Perhaps we should take this feeling to thrust us into Kingdom work instead?

Jesus never told us to pray for “Revival”, He told us to pray for His Kingdom to Come. He never told us to expect “Revival”, He told us that the Kingdom was within us. He never told us that it was “Revival” that would change the world. He told us that His advancing Kingdom would do that.

I want to see revival, and I will continue to pray for revival. In fact, I’d love it if even more people were going after revival! However, in our passion to go after revival, let us be sure we do not fall into the trap of praying for revival and neglecting the Kingdom. Instead, may we:

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things (including revival) will be added unto us.”