Is Revival coming?

There is a sense of optimism in the air despite the continuing bad economic news. I sense it talking to the Ministers of other local churches. It may be partly to do with the new coalition government - but then a newly elected administration always prompts some early enthusiasm. No, I think it is more than that. I've been reading some prophetic statements about Britain that I found on the net. The surprising thing is the consistency in what they are saying; that Revival is coming and that the Lord still has a vital place in His purposes for this nation. One even talked of Britain as being a sort of gateway nation for Revival to spread to Europe. All of them are agreed on one thing; the priority of prayer to help bring this about. The vitality and urgency of prayer are key to any substantive move of God. Don't ask my why or to explain it to you. For whatever reason, the Lord seems often times to restrict Himself to the prayers of His people. We are after all His agents, we are the ones through whom He wants to achieve His plans. Which leads me to the big question....are we up for it? Are we ready to spend hours on our faces before God, seeking Him afresh for ourselves and our nation? And when Revival comes, how are we going to cope with the massive influx of people seeking and finding Jesus? Let me know what you think.

Revival

On this election day we have the opportunity to influence and possibly change the government. But I can't help feeling a little cynical at how easy it is for politicians to tell us what they will do before they assume office when they are probably blissfully unaware of the enormous challenges and how the machinery of government really works. Churchill expressed it very well when he spoke of the qualifications required to be a politician: "The ability to foretell what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. And to have the ability afterwards to explain why it didn't happen." Reality is harder than the easy sounding policies and sound bites. If truth be told, I think we face an uncertain future and can't assume life will just carry on much as it has over recent years. I've been reading "The Perfect Storm" by Vince Cable and part of me hopes a hung parliament leads to him being appointed Chancellor because he is the only one I have read who seems to be talking sense and giving us the whole sorry economic picture. But in the end I'm comforted by the words of scripture: "Man does not live by bread alone." Real change can only come through Jesus who works on the human heart, and it would be good if, being disappointed with present circumstances, there was a return to Jesus Christ and Revival came to our land. Tha's what we Christians must pray and work for on this election day.