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When the winds of revival blow across a church or community there's
always a revival of the prayer meeting. People come together to seek
God's glory. Wales experienced a remarkable outpouring of God's Spirit
in 1904-1905. One of God's instruments was a young preacher, Evan
Roberts. Roberts was warned by a deacon at his church "not to miss the
prayer meetings in case the Holy Spirit would come and you would be
missing." Roberts prayed for thirteen years for an awakening.
When the awakening did come, it was wrought and sustained by prayer.
One can sometimes discern the spiritual depth of a work by what it takes to get a large audience. In America we have bowed to the god of entertainment. If we want a crowd, we bring in a professional entertainer. We now even have musicians and comedians who see themselves as "Christian entertainers." They may bless some Christians, but this will not produce an awakening that will shake the nation. A politician fiddled while Rome burned, and he blamed the Christians. Today Christians entertain while the world burns, and we blame the politicians.
We must see that the battle is the Lord's. The enemy is not politicians, humanists, or liberals. The enemy is that "angel of light" who deceives the nations. He can be defeated only by the kneeling church. As the church bows to the lordship of Christ, "we are more than conquerors."
When I had traveled Eastern Europe, I met a praying people. I attributed their victorious living and spiritually awakened churches to their willingness to suffer for Christ. But there are also many places in Eastern Europe not experiencing revival. The difference is God. In the churches that are spiritually awakened, He is their life! He is their power! The God of Eastern Europe is the God of Western Europe and North America. He is no different. He is simply waiting for us to seek Him.
The victorious church around the world is on her knees in prayer meeting. In Korea thousands of Christians come together at 5 a.m. for prayer. When the church in the West begins to rise from her slumber early to seek His face, we, too, will experience revival.
We have developed a commitment rooted in comfort and convenience rather than in the cross. Churches are filled on Sunday mornings but Sunday evenings we normally find only a sparse crowd. And only a handful attend prayer meeting. Where are the men and women willing to wrestle in prayer for the souls of mankind?
Andrew Murray said, "God's child can conquer everything by prayer. Is it any wonder that Satan does his utmost to snatch that weapon from the Christian or hinder him from the use of it?"
The church must be awakened to the power of this weapon. No dictator, government, or foe will be able to stand against it.
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