Restoring Jesus’ Promise as the Hope for Revival
By Brad Bush
Most of us have been to a prayer gathering where we are presented with a variety of things to pray about, including family, the nation, healing, and revival. But have you ever been to a prayer meeting where the sole purpose was to pray and ask for the Holy Spirit?
In the first New Testament conference on prayer, led by the Lord Himself in Luke 11:1–13, we find Jesus teaching His disciples to pray (vv. 2–4), to persevere in prayer (vv. 5–10), and to pray in the assurance that His Father will give His children the Holy Spirit (vv. 11–13):
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
The asking for and receiving of the Holy Spirit was to be the very means by which His Kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven (v. 2). The giving of the Spirit to His followers in answer to prayer would result in the expansion and acceleration of the coming of the Kingdom.
The disciples became active participants in answer to their own prayer in Acts 2 and Acts 4. It began with praying a promise (Acts 1:4, 14; 4:24, 29–30). The result of these outpourings of the Spirit are what we call revivals—fresh impulses of spiritual life revitalizing the Church. Revival is characterized by rapid expansion of the reign of God in hearts, homes, churches, cities, and nations as men and women come into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. This is why revival is often referred to as “days of heaven on earth.”
Today, in settings where believers from different denominational and theological backgrounds come together to pray, it seems that praying for the Comforter to come can make some uncomfortable and others confused. I remember leading a citywide prayer gathering and being challenged by a dear older brother because I had led in the singing of the hymn, “Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart.” His concern was that we should not be asking for the Spirit in prayer because the Spirit already “descended” at Pentecost.
“Don’t ask for what you already have,” he said. “It’s unbelief!”
Or is it? He didn’t understand that even though the Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, He has been continually poured out in a similar way in answer to prayer throughout the history of the Church.
Do you share his concerns or have questions of your own such as, “Will praying for the Spirit detract from my focus on Christ? After all, He came to glorify Jesus and not Himself.”
It may be encouraging to know there was a time when praying for the Comforter to come was a common occurrence in the Church.
Historical Prayers for the Spirit
During periods of great spiritual awakening in America, the focus of prayer was on asking the exalted Christ for the Holy Spirit rather than for “a revival.” People petitioned the Lord for “outpourings of the Spirit” or for “copious effusions” of the Holy Spirit.
During the Second Great Awakening (1790s–1830s), one of the most widely circulated pamphlets was printed in London by Rev. James Stewart called, Thoughts on the Importance of Special Prayer for the General Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Pastors preached sermons such as “The Outpouring of the Spirit Essential to a Revival of Religion,” by William Yates. In New York City, during the 1857–58 Prayer Revival, you would likely have been handed a tract written by a well-known Presbyterian clergyman entitled simply, “Pray for the Spirit.”
For much of our nation’s history, a large portion of the praying Church had no problem asking for the Holy Spirit. To them there was nothing confusing or uncomfortable—and keep in mind this was decades before the Azusa Street Revival of 1906 with the birth of the Pentecostal and the later Charismatic movements. Notice that their praying was for the coming of the Reviver more than the revival. The focus was on Christ’s promise, His provision, and His prerogative as Head of His Church.
We need not fear that praying for the Spirit is taking the focus off of Christ or asking for something we already have, for the following biblical reasons:
When we pray for the Spirit we are petitioning for the personal presence of Jesus Christ.
All revival is ultimately relational. The Holy Spirit is the divine executor of revival and He is Jesus’ personal representative (John 15:26; 16:7, 13–15). The Holy Spirit’s principle purpose is to give people a regenerated heart and to continue to fill and revive the new heart that He gave. He is the giver and the reviver of our relationship to the Lord Jesus. He is the Spirit of life—Jesus’ life in the believer (John 14:6).
When we ask for the Spirit we are asking for a divine Person to come among us and to do what only He can do—reveal more of the presence and power of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the true agent in all revival and always for Jesus’ sake. To recognize that we are petitioning for this Person to come among us in His manifest presence and power is to realize we are placing ourselves under the Lordship of Christ because the Spirit is poured out by Christ’s authority (Acts 2:33).
We petition in prayer for outpourings of the Spirit because we deeply desire the very presence and power of Jesus to fill our lives and churches, thereby submitting to His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
When we pray for the Spirit we are promoting the glory of Jesus Christ.
What is our primary motivation in praying for revival? Is it the moral disintegration of our nation or the spiritual lethargy of the Church? To be sure, these should move any follower of Christ to cry out to God. But are we truly grieved that Christ is being robbed of His glory in His Church? Are we saddened that our nation refuses to yield to the Savior’s royal scepter and receive the true freedom that comes through submission to Him?
To be grieved and saddened by these things is to be in harmony with the heart of the Holy Spirit. He grieves and His power is quenched when Christ is robbed of His glory. The Holy Spirit comes to glorify Jesus Christ and testify to Him (John 15:26, 16:12–14). The Holy Spirit is so closely identified with Jesus and His mission that He is called the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:7). The Holy Spirit is ultimately the only One with the almighty power to promote the glory of the Son, and in turn, delight the heart of the Father.
We can pray for the Spirit to be poured out because we are devoted to promoting the glory of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.
When we pray for the Spirit we are pleading the New Covenant promise of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus of Nazareth wanted His followers to ask with expectation for the gift of the Spirit (Luke 11:13). After His death, resurrection, and ascension, the exalted Lord Jesus—now seated at the right hand of His Father—was given the authority to fulfill the very requests He taught His followers to pray (Acts 2:32–33, 38–39)! The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was the first provision the exalted Lord gave in response to prayer, based on the New Covenant promise of God (Acts 1:14). The ascended and exalted Lord Jesus is now the Church’s head over all things (Eph. 1:22).
Paul prayed that the church in Ephesus would know “his incomparably great power for us who believe” (Eph. 1:19). This “great power” is available to the Church because “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Eph. 1:7).
The promise of the Spirit to be poured out in response to believing prayer is as good today as it was on the day Peter preached: “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. . . . I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy” (Acts 2:17–18).
Note the plural days. I believe we are in the last days—a period of outpourings of the Holy Spirit!
In the Second Great Awakening, The American Quarterly Register in 1832 reported for the opening of the year 1831: “During this, and several succeeding months, an unusual interest was exhibited on the subject of religion, in all parts of the United States. Thousands, who had before lived in a great measure heedless of their duty, and of their immortal destiny, were awakened to the subject of personal salvation. It is estimated, on credible evidence, that within five months, from February 1, a special interest was felt in scarcely less than 1,500 towns in the United States, and that more than 50,000 individuals professed to have become partakers of the blessings of salvation through Jesus Christ.” This was 1,831 years after Pentecost!
We can pray with confidence for the Spirit to be poured out because the exalted Jesus is the purchaser and provider of the promise made by God until Christ returns in the fullness of His Kingdom at the end of this age.
Spiritually Stagnant and Leaky
Most of us are familiar with Revelation 3:20: “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (NKJV). In this verse the Lord Jesus is appealing to His people. Some dimension of His life, His power, His truth, His influence, His fellowship with His people is missing. And He knows it, but apparently the Church does not! If the Church begins to recognize its need, hear His voice, and open itself up to Him in humble repentance—how is it that the Lord Jesus comes in?
He comes into His repentant Church just as He has always come in since the day of Pentecost. He comes in the outpourings of His Spirit. The Church is once again filled and empowered with fresh dimensions of Christ’s life, new expressions of Christ’s power, more enamored with the truth of Christ, sensitized and under the sway of His influence, and enjoying a renewed relationship with Him.
All believers have the Holy Spirit and should be filled with the Spirit, so why ask for what we already have? Because we can become spiritually stagnant. Someone once asked D. L. Moody, a well-known evangelist in the late 1800s, why Christians need to be repeatedly filled with the Holy Spirit. His reply: “Because we leak!”
A church can have a reputation for being alive though it is actually dead (Rev. 3:1). A congregation can become satisfied with its life and ministry, yet the Jesus they’re singing about Sunday morning is standing outside the main doors and no one seems to notice (Rev. 3:15–20). When the Spirit is poured out, spiritual stagnation gives way to overflowing fullness. Churches once dead become alive. And the Jesus who stood outside the door is now standing in the sanctuary in His manifest presence—and now everyone notices!
For Jesus’ Sake
Evan Roberts had it right. As the most prominent human leader during the Welsh Revival of 1904, he would often exhort congregations to pray: “Send the Spirit now, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Send the Spirit powerfully now, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Send the Spirit more powerfully now, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Send the Spirit still more powerfully now, for Jesus Christ’s sake.” An estimated 100,000 came into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and entire communities were transformed in the principality of Wales.
The New Covenant gift of the Holy Spirit and the glorifying of Jesus Christ in His Church cannot be separated—nor should prayer for the pouring out of the promised Holy Spirit be marginalized or maligned. The Lord Jesus Himself left us no options. Let’s restore the power of His promise in prayer!
To paraphrase Evan Roberts: For Jesus’ sake, let’s pray for the outpouring of the Spirit!
BRAD BUSH is the senior pastor of Maple Ridge Community Church in West Lafayette, IN, and an executive leadership team member of the National Revival Network. Brad also works with International Awakening Ministries and will be the host of a conference on revival at the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College in October.
The Sum of Blessings By Jonathan Edwards
The Spirit of God is the chief of blessings, for it is the sum of all spiritual blessings: which we need infinitely more than others, and wherein our true and eternal happiness consists. That which is the sum of the blessings Christ purchased, is the sum of the blessings Christians have to pray for—but that, as was observed before, is the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, when the disciples came to Christ, desiring him to teach them to pray (Luke xi.), and he accordingly gave them particular directions for the performance of this duty, he adds, ver. 13, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” From which words Christ, we also observe, that there is no blessing we have so great encouragement to pray for, as the Spirit of God. The words imply that our heavenly Father is especially ready to bestow his Holy Spirit on them that ask him. The more excellent the nature of any benefit is, which we stand in need of, the more ready God is to bestow it, in answer to prayer. The infinite goodness of God’s nature is the more gratified, the grand design of our redemption is better answered; Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, has the greater success in his undertaking and labours; and those desires which are expressed in prayer for the most excellent blessings, are the most excellent desires, and consequently such as God most approves of, and is most ready to gratify.
The Scriptures do not only direct and encourage us, in general, to pray for the Holy Spirit above all things else, but it is the expressly revealed will of God, that his church should be very much in prayer for the glorious outpourings of the Spirit which is to be in the latter days, and for what shall be accomplished by it.
–Jonathan Edwards, theologian, 1703–1758. Excerpted from “An Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agreement and Visible Union of God’s People, in Extraordinary Prayer, for the Revival of Religion and the Advancement of Christ’s Kingdom on Earth, Pursuant to Scripture Promises and Prophecies Concerning the Last Time.”
