What fosters a revival in your community?
* God wants to be invited to our communities. He invites us to do so through prayer. If we need God to increase our spiritual appetite, we should ask Him. But first, we must be emptied of satisfaction with the status quo.
* Nothing draws God's presence more than holiness and humility. We must renounce pride, arrogance, being opinionated and pretenses of piety. Sin in the camp will stop God's hand.
* Revival is not borne out of a mass movement, but out of a series of solitary decisions. Corporate revival begins with solitary decisions, personal revival. What we are praying for the city must first be in our own hearts. After you have made that commitment, search out a core group who have also made that commitment.
* Biblical unity commands the Blessing of God. But it neither infers nor requires a city-wide majority. Unity in the core group of even as few as two is enough.
* Breakthrough prayer releases Destiny! Effectual, fervent, persevering, travailing prayer avails much. Pray for God's work on our hearts. Pray for God to give us His heart for the city. Pray for God to give the community His heart.
* God's work is always unique. God's timing and means are not predictable. That way He can surprise the devil. Our own pride and impatience would have us set a strategy and program for God to show up. No, we must go to where He shows up.
* Leaders are essential to revival preparation. God uses servant leaders. They must be committed to the community, even if it is evil. The measure of the leaders is not whether they have influence with the public, but if they have influence with God. They must persevere through apathy and active opposition. They must covenant to intercede for the community.
What hinders community revival?
* Theological mis-understandings. Many believers are under the impression that revival is a mysterious, divine process that we don't have a part in. This is contradicted by scripture. All God's promises are "yes" and "amen." But we must obey all promises.
* Reliance on programs. We often misinterpret God's silent deliberation as a sign He expects us to take matters into our own hands. No, guidance from God is critical.
* Lowered expectations of what God can & will do. We are satisfied with 'just a little more' of the status quo. But what the book of Acts shows is possible today.
* Misplaced motives. Examine your motives. Is God a handyman or a lover? Are you seeking the gift or the Giver? What is our highest object of devotion? Idolatry will stop God's hand.
* Ignorance of history. Family and ancestral sin. Community-wide sin. National sin. Even these must be confessed and repented of.
* Curses on the land. Curses on the neighborhood. Curses on the nation. These evil influences must be told to leave.
* No sense of corporate membership. Unity and harmony is necessary. God called us to be a Body, committed to one another in love. We often let our personal pride cause fragmentation and "church hopping."
*Lack of hunger. The tyranny of the urgent, the distractions and our fast-paced lifestyle tend to become our highest devotion, while we give God a "time slot." No, we must remove ourselves from the distractions of life.
The above came from a speech by John Mulinde of Uganda
"Heavenly Father, we come before You in our poverty. We ask you for hunger, a desperation in our hearts for Thy Kingdom to come, for Thy will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven. Please awaken our slumbering spirits from the comforts and enchantments that have held us down. Save us from our weaknesses and sins. We confess & renounce the sins of our ancestors, our community and our nation. We command any evil influences in our households, neighborhoods, cities, states and nation to leave now and not come back. Anoint us with humility and brokenness. Raise us from our reasons and excuses. Mold us after your loving image. Give us your wisdom and guidance that we might do your will. Place your heart within our heart. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, our master and savior, Amen."

Revival Prayer

Order of Saint Patrick
By Tim Temple