And not undeservedly has the merciful Lord granted the prayers of His saints, who on account of His commands have crucified their own wills, and who have so great faith that they do not doubt that they will obtain what they demand from His mercy.

  - Jonas, Life of St. Columban, Italian, 7th century[1]

I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
They shall never hold their peace day or night.
You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent,
And give Him no rest till He establishes
And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

  - Isaiah 62.6, 7

Irish peregrini like Columbanus accomplished great things, and mostly because they were powerful in prayer.

Let’s note Jonas’ comment about Columbanus and his team: “…what they demand from His mercy…”? Are we bold enough in prayer to insist that God do what He promises? Grant what only He can grant? Give what He has commanded us to seek? Answer the prayers He has written and provided for us in His Word?

The greatest need of the times is for prayer, believing prayer, prayer that takes God seriously when He says He will show us great things and mysteries that we’ve never seen before (Jer. 33.3), and will forgive our sins and heal our land (2 Chron. 7.14).

Alas, too many of the prayers we offer border on the trivial – not that any need or request is trivial to the Lord, but when we spend all our time in prayer pleading with God for this or that passing need, we leave no time for the great matters facing our generation.

Like the need for revival.

The Church of Jesus Christ our Lord is sorely in need of revival, and revival comes with the prayers of God’s people as they “give Him no rest” and pray without doubt for a fresh upwelling and outpouring of His Spirit.

Will your New Year of prayer be any different than this year that ends in just one month? Or all the last years already gone?

Only God can revive us, can shake us out of our spiritual torpor and renew our sense of His Presence and glory.

Only God can launch us out in mission once again, so that we go boldly and lovingly to proclaim the Good News to our generation.

Only God can awaken souls dead in their trespasses and sins.

Only God can take us beyond ourselves into the exceedingly abundantly more that He alone is able to do in and through us (Eph. 3.20).

Only God can revive us, and He will only do so when we rattle the gates of heaven, fill the corridors of His throne room with our pleadings, and cry out to Him day and night for the remedy we seek.

Do you pray? I mean, do you pray like this – without doubt, demanding, in the mercy of God, that He do the great things and show you the mysteries of grace and truth you’ve never dared to believe could be possible?

Do you demand of God that He do as He has promised, and then humbly but expectantly wait for Him to produce?

He will. If we will.

For Reflection
1. What does it mean for you to be bold in your prayers?

2. Why must we pray for revival? Why doesn’t God just send it?

Psalm 56.1, 2  (Morecambe: “Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart”)
Savior, be gracious, gracious unto me!
Weary, I seek the shelter of Your wings.
Till trouble passes, till my sighings flee,
I seek the Lord Who for me does all things. 

Lord, teach me to pray all over again. Teach me to pray for revival so that…

Pray for revival!
We encourage you to pray for revival. To learn how you can, download and work through the four parts of our recent ReVision series entitled, “Revived!” (click here) This series is one of the most downloaded of our free resources, and that suggests that many people are beginning to see the need for revival.

Last Week for Our Thanksgiving Challenge
This is the last week to respond to a $5000 challenge gift for new donations and donations over and above regular giving. Will you join us to give thanks to God for this, and to ask Him whether you should participate in this opportunity? If the Lord moves you to give, you can use the Contribute button at the website to give with a credit card or through PayPal, or you can send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 360 Zephyr Road, Williston, VT 05495.

T. M. Moore
Principal
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All Psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[1] Jonas, p. 31.