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

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]

Did you catch that? That, “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 of the moment facing our generation.

Like 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 last year? 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 abundant more that He alone is able to do in and through us.

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.

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!

Pray for revival!
To be succinct, we want more of you to take up the discipline of praying for revival. Add it to your morning times of prayer. Pray for revival throughout the day. Put together a group of prayer partners who will meet regularly and with the single focus of seeking the Lord for revival.

Why would you not take up this calling in the New Year? Is it because you don’t believe revival is needed? Is it because you don’t believe God is able to revive? Is it because you are quite satisfied with the state of things in your faith, the Church, and our world?

For the New Year, order a copy of our book, Restore Us! Here you will find all the guidance, reason, and resources you need to pray daily for revival and to encourage others to join you in it. Order this book, read it, start praying for revival – and resolve to “take no rest” as you do – and then order some copies for friends, and challenge them to take up this calling as well.

Let us be a community of friends who are committed to praying for revival. Already five groups of men meet regularly, under the auspices of The Fellowship of Ailbe, to pray for revival. Let’s quadruple that number next week, then quadruple it again during the month of January, and then keep increasing it more and more – more watchers on the wall taking no rest, giving God no rest, and demaning that, in His mercy, He send revival, renewal, and awakening now.

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