ODJ: prayer for revival

June 26, 2014 

READ: Acts 4:23-31 

After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness (v.31).

Blasio Kugosi was tired. This schoolteacher from Rwanda was tired of simply sitting back in quiet discouragement over the lack of spiritual fervour in the church and his own spiritual life. So, in 1935 Kugosi fasted and prayed for a week. During that time God transformed him.

He began boldly preaching the gospel in the school where he taught, and revival broke out in Rwanda. Then, just days later, God used him to spark a similar revival in Uganda. But suddenly Blasio died of a high fever. His ministry lasted but a few weeks. His impact? Decades!

The early church prayed one of the most dramatic prayers of the New Testament. They began by acknowledging God as sovereign Creator (Acts 4:24). They continued with the theme of God’s revelation through His Word, as written down by David (vv.25-26). A third theme of this prayer was Jesus the Messiah (vv.27-28). In the past God had spoken through the prophets, but now He spoke through His Son (Hebrews 1:1-3). Just as He spoke through David and Jesus, the believers wanted God to equip them with greater boldness. Their prayer wasn’t for relief. The focus was on total faith and dependence on the sovereign power of God.

How did God respond? The room shook and He filled them anew with the Holy Spirit—sending them out to speak the Word of God boldly (Acts 4:31).

Praying a prayer like this is still very applicable for believers in Jesus today. Let’s gather together and pray powerful prayers. And let’s acknowledge that the Creator, who sent His Son to earth to die and rise again, will give us the boldness and courage we need to carry out the building of His kingdom. —Marvin Williams
365-day plan› John 5:1-47