The Kindling of Revival: Prayer and Faith
Last week we were in the book of Acts, and we saw that Holy Spirit is the great revivalist. This week we will continue in the book of Acts and look at another key component of revival. We will be talking about prayer and faith. These two might seem like they are two different things, but they work hand in hand. For our prayers to be effective we need to start applying faith to them. A lot of our prayers are not answered because we genuinely don’t believe what we are praying for. We treat prayer as a hail Mary pass. We treat prayer like a blindfolded person playing darts. We just wish something hits the board.
James 5:14-15 (NKJV), “14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”
James 5:15 (CJB), “15 The prayer offered with trust will heal the one who is ill — the Lord will restore his health; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”
The prayer was offered with trust. In other words, we must have faith in what we are praying for. For us to be used effectively in this revival we must start believing what we are praying for. Look at the similarities between prayer and faith.
Romans 10:17, “17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
John 15:7, “7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
Faith comes by hearing the word of God; and prayer is answered when we abide in Jesus and His words abide in us. Prayer and faith are two sides of the same coin. You cannot have one without the other.
Matthew 7:7-11, “7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”
We all know that this passage is talking about prayer; but it is also talking about faith. You cannot ask anyone anything if you do not believe they will give you what you are asking for. The intimacy between a father and his son is what prompts the son to ask his father for anything. If we do not have an intimate relationship with the Lord, then our prayer and faith will always come short.
James 4:3-5, “3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?
The reason why we ask amiss is because we are not intimate with the Lord. In this case with James, we are not intimate with the Lord because we are being lured by the pleasures of the world. Look at verse 5. He yearns jealously for us. He wants us all to Himself because He loves us so much.
Why are prayer and faith significant? In the Acts 1:14, the apostles offered prayer and supplication. Two things happened after this verse, they chose the 12th disciple and then Holy Spirit came, and revival began. If you look at all past revivals, they have all been preceded with prayer. Nothing in the kingdom of God happens without prayer. Faith is the fuel to our prayers. Faith is what gives us the confidence that whatever we are praying for will come to pass. Without faith, then our prayers are powerless. For us to be effective in this revival we must pray in faith, expecting God will answer all our prayers.
