Prayer has not only preceded revivals throughout Biblical times, but it's been at the inception of every great historical revival of the church. God's hand was mightily upon John Wesley and George Whitefield during the 1700s. God used them to bring multitudes into the kingdom of God. Mr. Whitefield was especially used of God to spark revival in the early history of the United States.

Arnold Dallimore, biographer of Mr. Whitefield, wrote of what took place. Mr. Whitefield said, "Early in the morning, at noonday, evening and midnight, nay, all the day long, did the blessed Jesus visit and refresh my heart. Could the trees of a certain wood near Stonehouse speak, they would tell what sweet communion I and some others enjoyed with the ever blessed God there....I would be so overpowered with God's Infinite Majesty that I would be constrained to throw myself on the ground and offer my soul as a blank in His hands, to write on it what He pleased."

And what was the result of such praying? Whitefield described how God captivated the hearts of the people. "I preached about five times a week," he said, "but the congregations grew, if possible, larger and larger. It was wonderful to see how the people hung upon the rails of the organ loft, climbed upon the leads of the church, and made the church so hot with their breath that the steam would fall from the pillars like drops of rain. Sometimes almost as many would go away for want of room as came in."

The secret to the great revival of the 1700s was that God found men and women of prayer. But God has not changed. What He did then, He is more than willing to do today. The only question is whether we've changed. We live in a time when we tend to think that it's by our human talent and ingenuity that we'll reach the world rather than by God's power. However, I've found that the great growing churches around the world are the praying churches.

Many years ago, I was in Cairo, Egypt in a large Presbyterian church. The church has experienced phenomenal growth. Nearly 7000 attend services during the week. There are multiple services that take place on different days. I asked the senior pastor why the church had grown in the rapid manner that it had grown. The first thing he cited to me was that the first pastor that the church ever had was a great man of prayer.

That's not only true in Egypt, but also India. The large Hyderabad Baptist Church in India has grown to over 20,000 members. It's located in a Muslim city, but the pastor who began the church built it upon the foundation of prayer. As you enter the church, there's a prayer tower. God's people can be found day and night seeking the face of God in that prayer tower.

God is still upon His throne. He has not changed. He revives His people when they pray and seek His face. It's been true historically, and it's still true today. The Bible says, "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (2 Chron. 7:14 NIV). God hasn't changed. He will revive His people today just as He's done throughout history. But there's one condition - we must pray.