Leadership Thought: Protestants and Roman Catholics Agree on One Thing: We Desire Revival

Dear Friends,

This past Saturday I did something that I had never done before. I had the privilege of speaking at an ecumenical prayer and worship service called the Revival of Hope. It was a service designed to bring Roman Catholics and Protestants together to pray for revival.

If our country needs anything today, it needs a heavy dose of spiritual revival, and pastors and worship teams from a number of area Protestant and Catholic churches came together to join their hands and hearts in praying for that revival.

There is no question that Protestant and Catholics differ on a number of significant theological issues, but for three hours on Saturday members of different faith communities overlooked their  differences as they prayed with one another for revival to sweep our land.

Prayer was the glue that bound all of us together.

Prayer momentarily transcended our theological divide, and as we worshipped and prayed together, we realized that one of the most important areas of agreement was our desire for revival to come to our land and to see people come to personally know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Prayer is always the prelude to revival, and every great spiritual revival has been formed and fashioned on bended knee.

John Bunyan, who in the 1600’s authored the famous Pilgrims Progress said, “You can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you can do no more than pray until you have prayed.”

If you and I hunger for revival, we must pray for that revival as we heed the words of scripture that promises, “If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear their prayers from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Someone said. “Prayer is striking the winning blow, and service is simply ‘harvesting’ the results.

Gypsy Smith was a 19^th century British evangelist. One day he was asked how revival might come to the land, and he said “If you desire   revival,  go home, find a room and lock the door and kneel down in the middle of the floor, and with a piece of chalk draw a circle around yourself and begin to fervently pray that revival would come within that circle.”

Revival begins with you and me.

Years ago, Sam Shoemaker, a layman who championed the cause of spiritual renewal used to pray, “Lord, revive the church, and let it begin with me.”

Revival begins with you and me, and last Saturday a group of believers came together and heard that same message-that revival begins on bended knees with nothing more than you and me.

And whether we are Protestant or Roman Catholic or something in between, I know God will hear and heed those prayers for revival.

Yes, if it is to be, it’s up to me.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

P.S. “As long as we are content to live without revival, we will.” Leonard Ravenhill