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Can we Pray for Revival?For intercessionCAN WE PRAY FOR REVIVAL? This very readable book of seven chapters seeks to answer two more grammatically relevant questions hidden beneath the title, namely, may we pray for revival and should we? The answer to both is a re-sounding, though carefully qualified, 'yes'. In the first five chapters, which focus on the Old Testament, the author seeks to justify his contention that revivals not only occurred in the Old Testament but were prayed for as well. Chapter 1 surveys the work of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament; chapters 2 and 3 deal respectively with examples of revival and the experience of revival in the Old Testament, while chapters 4 and 5 examine the Old Testament expectation of revival. Chapter 6 looks at the expectation of revival in the New Testament, and the final chapter contains helpful practical advice on praying for revival. The author concludes wisely by pointing out that revival is not the be-all and end-all of the church's existence, and that the regular on-going work of the church, and even persecution could well be its most blessed times. At the beginning of chapter 1, the author mentions three arguments that are often urged against applying 2 Chronicles 7.14 in prayer for revival. Surprisingly, he fails to mention the most obvious objection, namely, that in its context that verse is not about spiritual revival at all, but concerns seeking deliverance from God's judgments through natural disasters such as drought, locusts and plague (see v. 14). It can be used with regard to revival only by metaphorical interpretation, that is, by spiritualising it. This is all the more surprising since in the final chapter the author argues cogently against 'hermeneutical presumption' such as taking verses out of context and misapplying Scripture passages (p. 176). In the introduction the author seeks to define revival by showing that it is not to be confused with mission, phenomena, excitement, restoration, reformation, renewal or church growth. He then gives an excellent definition of his own, followed by Duncan Campbell's aphorism, 'a people saturated with God'. In the light of the last chapter he might also have added that revival is not to be confused with normal church progress and obedience to God. However, in chapter 2 he includes as examples of revival in the Old Testament almost every Godward move such as the exodus, the settlement in the promised land, incidents in Judges, Samuel's prophetic ministry, Hezekiah's (but not Josiah's) movement, and the return from the exile. One cannot help but detect an inconsistency between the exclusiveness of the introduction and the inclusiveness of chapter 2. These caveats apart, this is a most stimulating book and would make an excellent study text for a prayer group, Bible class or house fellowship. Reading it should stimulate prayer for revival in both the individual and the church. Stanley Jebb, Truro© Evangelicals Now - July 2001 |