Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
—2 Chronicles 7:14
Scripture:
I think we can all agree that the United States needs a spiritual awakening. Over the years, God has done a powerful work through the Harvest Crusade—through worship, the preaching of the gospel, and many responding in faith. And we look forward to another crusade this coming July. But our role doesn’t end there. We can also pray for a spiritual awakening.
Look at God’s Word in 2 Chronicles 7:14: “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land” (NLT).
In the Old Testament book of Jonah, we see what happens when a national spiritual awakening is ignited. When the prophet Jonah went to Nineveh, he delivered a message of judgment, according to God’s instructions. The message was this: If the people of Nineveh didn’t repent of their wickedness, their city would be overthrown in 40 days (see Jonah 3:4). There was no explicit promise of forgiveness in Jonah’s message nor any mention of God’s love. Jonah basically was saying, “You’re all going to die.” And he was okay with that outcome—more than okay, actually. The Ninevites were the despised enemies of Israel. Their wickedness was well-known. Jonah believed that judgment and destruction were exactly what they deserved.
But a funny thing happened on the way to judgment. The people of Nineveh listened to Jonah and repented, much to the prophet’s bitter disappointment. Jonah 3:10 says, “When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened” (NLT).
Nineveh’s turnaround may have been the greatest revival in human history. And it started with a message from a flawed messenger.
Like Jonah, we are flawed messengers. But we have a perfect message. It’s the Good News of Jesus Christ. We can tell people that God loves them, that God will forgive them, but that they are separated from Him by their sin. We can tell them that if they will turn from their sin and put their faith in Christ, they can be forgiven.
To do that, however, we must be willing to go to our own figurative “Ninevehs.” One mistake many Christians make when it comes to evangelism is “staying in our lane.” We look at the people in our orbit, decide which ones might be receptive to the gospel message, and focus our efforts on that specific group. But as Jonah discovered, genuine, impactful revival comes when we step out of our comfort zone and into situations we never would have imagined possible.
If we can’t do that physically, we can do it with our prayers. So, here’s my challenge to you: Don’t isolate. Infiltrate. As I’ve often said, Jesus didn’t call the world to go to church; He called the church to go to the whole world.
Reflection question: What would a quest for revival look like in your life?Discuss this with believers like you on Harvest Discipleship!
Harvest.org | Greg Laurie
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