World Prayer - Touching a nation with global revival
How can we see global evangelization and global revival? Don’t forget - this is possible! If the glory of God is going to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, then… (See my previous blog called “God’s Glory Not Conditional - Your Participation is.”)
It starts one nation at a time! Okay - now let’s get real technical - it starts one person at a time, you. What kind of church do you want to see raised up in, say, Tonga or Ecuador? If you’re envisioning a vibrant, life-giving, glorious church, then I guess we as individuals better become vibrant, life-giving, people who carry the glory of God wherever we go. (Get REAL revival here!)
With that established, when we want to pray for a nation, I think of Psalm 48 where it says “Walk about Zion, go around her, count her towers, consider well her ramparts, view her citadels…” In other words, KNOW GOD WELL, so that you can speak of Him. Well, I translate that over to nations and encourage missionaries and others interested in global evangelization and revival, to KNOW THE NATION YOU’RE PRAYING FOR! Find out all you can about this nation, using the resources that are out there (including Operation World which I’ve mentioned before and have made a required textbook in the World Revival School of Ministry where I serve as an instructor for Cross-Cultural Ministry, etc.)
Look at the demographics of the country, find out the history of it, and see what’s been going on spiritually in that nation. I tell my students they need to be like a good farmer that KNOWS HIS FIELD. Find out where there are rocks that need to be removed, where the shallow places are that maybe need some cultivation and possible more soil moved in,,, KNOW where the best soil is to plant in (because you may want to start there, if you’re a missionary!).
Once you’ve “walked around” this nation, then you can start discerning the strongholds - let’s think of them as weeds - that need to be UPROOTED, torn down, and destroyed. (Jeremiah1:10) No good farmer is going to plant among weeds, and you shouldn’t either. Recognize the spiritual warfare going on and move against it so that the good seed of God’s word can really take root.
That’s probably enough for now. I want to encourage you again to check out the Operation World resource and also, I’ll see if I can give you a link to a great message by Pastor Steve Gray on Jeremiah 1:10. If you want your prayers for the nations to be effective, you’ve really got to understand the warfare that’s involved and what your participation in it is meant to be. - Laura Woodworth