PRAYING FOR REVIVAL
Opening Prayer
God of Grace and Glory, I thank You for the Holy Spirit, who enables me to live in confidence and joy.
Read PSALM 80
1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
come and save us.
3 Restore us, O God;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
4 How long, Lord God Almighty,
will your anger smolder
against the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;
you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
6 You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors,
and our enemies mock us.
7 Restore us, God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it,
and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea,
its shoots as far as the River.
12 Why have you broken down its walls
so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
13 Boars from the forest ravage it,
and insects from the fields feed on it.
14 Return to us, God Almighty!
Look down from heaven and see!
Watch over this vine,
15 the root your right hand has planted,
the son you have raised up for yourself.
16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;
at your rebuke your people perish.
17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from you;
revive us, and we will call on your name.
19 Restore us, Lord God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
God does not abandon us, but have we abandoned God? Do we seek God’s restoration?
This communal lament follows on directly from Psalm 79. The historical setting is ambiguous and the content is general enough for its application to be universal. The question it addresses, with a prayer of desperation, is why God, who went to such pains to form a people for himself, now seems to have abandoned them. Why did he, who at one time gave them fresh water and manna, now give them salty tears? What has happened to the deliverance they knew when they left Egypt, the sustaining they experienced in the wilderness and the presence of God when they conquered the Promised Land? Has God abandoned them? Does he no longer care for his “vine” (8), his people?
As Christians we know that he will never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13:5). “I am with you always” were Jesus’ last words, after the resurrection, at the end of Matthew’s Gospel (Matt. 28:20). We pray the priestly blessing that God will “make his face shine upon us” (Num. 6:25) and we long for his presence.
As a church, whether our local church or the church in the West, we have sinned and grievously broken the commandments he gave us as our part of the covenant. It will not do to quote a Bible verse that promises revival and mechanically “claim” those words for our own context today as though we could force God’s hand. God looks for a response in our behavior. The church as we know it may have to change radically. Judah was carried into exile and we also may face testing. There is discipline as God trains us in righteousness (Heb. 12:4–11). Let’s submit to his discipline and his timing, living as faithful Christians as we pray that God’s kingdom will come.
Apply
In what ways do you feel you need God’s restoration? What is your “bowl of tears” (5)? Share honestly with the Lord your deepest longings.
Closing prayer
Loving Lord, I constantly need renewing, I need to be brought back to the pathway of Your will. I resolve once more to seek Your kingdom above all else.
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