Revival! (5)

For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6.8, 9

Ministers of Scotland: Lectures on Revival VI
The Rev. Alexander Cumming, Minister of Dunbarney Parish
“If any believer here present should say that his hours are so crowded with the avocations of business that he has no time to allot to prayer for the extension of the Saviour’s kingdom, I would remind him that he should act towards Christ as Christ did towards him. The Saviour had room for all his people in his heart when he was going to endure the floods of the divine wrath in Calvary and Gethsemane: in his intercessory prayer which he put up when on the verge of that terrific scene of  misery which wound up his gloomy pilgrimage, he makes mention not only of his personal followers, but of all who in every age believe in his name, and every individual here present who is united to him in the bonds of the everlasting covenant must have been then in his mind. It might have been supposed, that when his hour of withering desolation was impending, he could have had room for nothing but the anticipation of his anguish; but so deeply was our immortal happiness entwined with the strings of his heart, that he could not dismiss that pleasing subject from his meditations, even in the hour of his dreary abandonment. And if he could think of us when the fire of God’s wrath was about to scorch him, and pray for the prosperity of his cause amidst the multiplicity of the human pursuit; if he could think of us not only when the dark cloud was about to burst upon his head, but when the thunderbolts which lay hid in its bosom were expending on him all their fury; if the hope of our eternal felicity was so sweet and soothing as to uphold him amidst the bitterest throes of his anguish, surely amidst the greatest hurry and distraction of business, and amidst the most saddening vicissitudes of life, we should separate some intervals to concert schemes for his glory, and to implore speedy prostration of every antichristian authority.”

Surely, we should. Will we?

How do you respond to the challenge of this excerpt?

Pray for Revival
Join us online once a month to pray for revival. We meet for 30 minutes, once a month, pray a psalm and seek the Lord together for revival. We’re looking for men who will commit to seeking the Lord for revival together. If you’re interested, write to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and I’ll give you a list of available times. Or we can discuss beginning a new group to pray for revival at a more suitable time.

To help you in preparing for revival, we have two brief books that won’t take you more than an hour to read. Preparing Your Church for Revival tells you what to expect as the Lord begins to move, and shows you how to get ready even now (click here). Restore Us! provides the rationale and means for praying together for revival. It includes 12 psalms to guide your times of praying together (click here).

All quotations in this series are taken from Ministers of Scotland, Lectures on Revival, Richard Owen Roberts, ed. (Wheaton: Richard Owen Roberts, Publishers, 1980). Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.