Revival Comes

Thanks for joining us for Our Daily Bread.

I'm Sheridan Voisey and I've titled today's reading Revival Comes. Erakoon is a small town in northern Australia, its aboriginal population drawn from seven clans. While the gospel came to Erakoon a century ago, eye-for-eye retribution sometimes remained. In 2015, clan tensions grew and when a murder happened, payback required someone from the offender's family to die in return.

But something remarkable happened in early 2016. The people of Erakoon started seeking God in prayer. Repentance followed, then mass baptisms, as revival began sweeping the town. People were so joyful they danced in the streets and instead of enacting payback, the family of the murdered man forgave the offending clan.

Soon 1,000 people were in church each Sunday, in a town of just 1,300. We see revivals like this in scripture, as in Hezekiah's day, when crowds joyfully returned to God, and on the day of Pentecost, when thousands repented. While revival is God's work, done in His time, history shows prayer precedes it. If my people will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, God told Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7, I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. As the people of Erakoon found, revival brings joy and reconciliation to a town.

How our own cities need such transformation. Father, bring revival to us too. Let's read today's scripture passage from 2 Chronicles 7, verses 11-16.

When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, the Lord appeared to him at night and said, I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my name may be there forever.

My eyes and my heart will always be there. Let's pray together. Oh Lord, we look at our neighborhoods and our cities, our countries, war-torn lands abroad. God, we need a visitation of your Spirit in power and conviction, a visitation that brings peace and reconciliation to our streets, our homes, and even our own hearts. Lord, today we seek your face and we turn from our own wicked ways. Would you bring revival to our land, starting with us? We pray that in Jesus' name. Amen. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.