Revival for What?
National Prayer Conference “The Lord Revives”
This is an extract transcription of Pr Dr Chew Weng Chee’s message at the recent National Prayer Conference held annually in conjunction with Merdeka Day. Pr Chew spoke passionately on the purposes of revival and how to achieve it, and made an impassioned plea to senior pastors to take the lead in prayer in their churches.
Why pray? Prayer unleashes the power of God. I see this in history, in the Bible. Prayer precedes revival. Without prayer, there cannot be revival. History tells us that. Even in our own country in East Malaysia, the revival in Ba Kelalan (Sarawak) in the mid-70s and 80s started because schoolboys started to pray, and when schoolboys started to pray, God poured forth revival. And the cry today is, "God, pour forth Your revival."
Ephesians 6 says that ultimately, we do not battle against flesh and blood but against principalities and power. The battle is in the heavenliness. It is not the size of our church or the way we do church. Everything has to do with prayer. Yes, efficiency is important. Effectiveness is important. But we've passed that. We should be going for efficacy, that is doing the right thing at the right time, in the right way, to the right people, giving the right result. We have to sense what God is doing.
It's time the church wake up, not even for ourselves but for our children. The best time to plant the seed was 30 years ago and we missed it. When I was in Sabah for 14 years in the late 70s and early 80s, they stopped 1,000 bibles from Indonesia at the Customs. The bibles were meant for SIB churches in the interiors. We sent a message to the West Malaysian (Church) to do something, help us. Nobody did anything and they made a public bonfire of the 1,000 bibles. God is giving us a second chance. Are we going to sleep again, to be indifferent again, to guard our turf again with every church doing her own thing. The best time to plant the seed was 30 years ago. We missed it.
The next best time is today.
Eph 6:10 exhorts us to be strong. Strength is in the finished work of the cross and in the Word of God. Everything has to be anchored in the Word of God. Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armour of God but be undergirded by prayer and the Word of God.
Having done all this, pray, pray, pray. We have to continue to pray. If you are too busy to pray, we are finished. And it is my thesis that prayer has to be anchored by the senior pastor, not the intercessors. Yes they (intercessors) are important, but senior pastors, you have to take the lead. You have to pray and don't relegate it down to the intercessors. You have to take the lead, hear from Him.
One of the best books I have read on prayer is Pr Edmund Chan's book, "Growing deep in God, integrating theology and prayer". He says, "Without the power of God, the Church is as powerless as a man armed with a rubber band in the face of a charging rhinoceros." That's what prayer-less churches are trying to do.
The battle is in the heavenlies; it's not in the way we do things, the mechanics. It's not efficiency but efficacy. There are many ways to work for God but only one way to work with God - through humble and contrite prayers. You want revival, you have to pray.
There are so many things happening in this nation, but the good news is the atmosphere has changed. I tested it in June when I wrote a letter to a local English daily touching on a sensitive issue. I wrote that June 4 was a historical date for the US when Barack Obama became the first Afro-American presidential nominee of a major political party in the US. Fifty years after our independence, our politicians are still arguing and trampling the cause of the supremacy of one race over the other in Ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy). No matter how we twist and try to explain the phrase, it still sounds patronising.
I wrote, "When can I, an ordinary Malaysian, born and bred in this country and know of no other country, ever see my dream of a Malaysian Malaysia fulfilled." I had no confidence my letter would be published but it was. It shows time has changed. The results of the recent general election have given me the confidence that I may see this dream fulfilled in my lifetime.
Times have changed, and all the more now, we need to understand the signs of times and take the lead.
The Church cannot be contemporary but we must be prophetic. The difference is this - if we are contemporary, we are just playing catching up. When we are prophetic, we take the lead to understand the signs of the times, and discern. We are not to be an echo but to be a voice to the nation.
Why pray? Prayer unleashes the power of God for revival. The second question is: "Why revival?" The conventional thinking is that when revival comes, the Church will be revived, souls will be saved, miracles will happen and communities changed. That has happened through history. My question is: "Is that all?"
Revival is only a means to an end, and not an end itself. Therefore, what is revival for? Joel 2 says that for your children's sake, pray, speak up, do something. Let's discard our personal agenda, territorial space. And Joel said look at the locusts, they have invaded the land, laid waste to the vine, fig tree. It's a symbol of the Church and Israel. Locusts were a metaphor of evil forces. They have ravaged the land; priests were mourning; and the productivity of the land destroyed. God laid it upon Joel at that time to sound the trumpet and call the elders.
Look, pastors and leaders if you don't take the lead, how can the sheep follow? You got to pray and not just talk about the prayer. Take the lead, call the elders and sound the trumpet. Men, go back to your churches and inspire the people to cry to the Lord. Don't stop praying.
Three postures we need to adopt - wake up, weep and wail. This is a posture of repentance. Judgement begins in the house of God and the Church of Jesus Christ in Malaysia got to repent, beginning from us pastors. There's so much ungodly flesh things happening.
Revival has three purposes:
- Judgement for Israel and the nations. First, judgement begins with the house of God because only a cleansed Church can judge the nations. Revival cleanses the Church so that God can prepare us for judgement (of the nations).
- Warfare - it's not for the weak, not for the uncommitted, the masses. It's not the number, but there's a war to be fought. Not for churches to enjoy the goosebumps of revival, and be so comfortable and snug. God needs people who are watchful, resilient, committed and alert. Revival has already come but it's not the end. God needs us to fight. Will you fight for Jesus? Will you be counted for Him in the days to come for the survival of this nation? I'm committed, not to build a strong, dynamic church, but to build strong churches everywhere. Many big churches are weak. It's not about size; it's about strength and our strength is in the Lord.
- Harvest - ultimately God's concern is that those who do not know Him will be saved. God's heart is for the salvation of souls. Evangelism still has to be a prevailing dynamic in your church. So, it's not revival for revival's sake. The role of the Church has still to be saving souls, not just community transformation for its sake, but for the lost to be saved.
There's work to be done. Inspire your people to pray. Senior pastors, take the lead. Turn your churches into houses of prayer because ultimately, the battle belongs to God. It's for His glory.
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