Both scripture and church history give testimony to this truth — prayer always precedes revival. When a mighty outpouring of God’s Spirit is poured out resulting in a great harvest of souls and refreshing for the church, prayers have gone ahead to break open the way. Many prophets (including myself) have been declaring the coming season of harvest, and this precipitates the need for prevailing prayer. The greater the unity in prayer, the greater the outpouring. This means YOUR prayers are essential as we cry to the Lord of the harvest for his refreshing rain of revival to sweep our world.

Scriptural Precedent: Prayer Precedes Revival

God indeed answers our prayers and He hears us when we call out to Him. Scripture is full of examples of God responding to the cries of His people—sending deliverance, salvation, boldness, refreshing, and His glory.

• Exodus 2:24-25 — “God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob, so God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.”
• Psalm 22:4-5 — “In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.”
• 1 Samuel 7:9 — “Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.“
• 1 Chronicles 5:20 — “They were helped in fighting them, and God handed the Hagrites and all their allies over to them, because they cried out to him during the battle. He answered their prayers because they trusted in Him.”
• 2 Chronicles 7:1-2 — “When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it.”
• Joel 1:13-14 — “Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come; spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God. Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.”
• Acts 1:14 & 2:1-4 — “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers…When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”
• Acts 3:19 — “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord…”
• Acts 4:31 — “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
• Hebrews 5:7 — “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”

Quotes from Prayer Warriors: Prayer Precedes Revival

Many prayer warriors from church history knew this truth all to well. It is time for us to join their voices and cry out to the Lord of the harvest! Consider these quotes from those who have gone before us.

• Charles Finney: “Revival is no more a miracle than a crop of wheat. Revival comes from heaven when heroic souls enter the conflict determined to win or die—and if need be, to win and die.“
• Matthew Henry: “When God intends to do great mercy for his people, the first thing he does is sets them a praying.”
• Leonard Ravenhill: “At God’s counter there are no sale days, for the price for Revival is ever the same—Travail.“
• E.M. Bounds: “The wrestling quality of importunate prayer does not spring from physical vehemence or fleshly energy. It is not an impulse of energy, nor a mere earnestness of soul. It is a wrought force, a faculty implanted and aroused by the Holy Spirit. Virtually, it is the intercession of the Holy Spirit in us.”