By Greg Laurie

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)

There never has been a prayerless revival in history. Revival starts with prayer.

God said, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Notice God said, “Pray and seek My face.” We should not only pray, but we also should seek His face. There is a difference. We can pray like this: “Lord, send revival. Amen.” Now let’s get lunch. Or, we can pray, “Lord, we are seeking You. . . . Lord, we are calling out to You. . . . Lord, we are desperate for You. . . . Lord, we need You. Send an awakening to America.” It is effectively a prayer that doesn’t take no for an answer.

Are we being presumptuous when we pray that way? No, because Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7). Another way to translate this would be, “Keep asking, keep seeking, Keep knocking.” Jesus goes on to say, “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (verse 8).

When we are praying for revival, we are praying according to the will of God. When we are praying for the salvation of a loved one, we are praying according to the will of God. We need to press forward in our prayers and seek His face, not backing down.

We cannot organize a revival, but we can agonize for one in prayer. Perhaps we can prepare the ground. Better yet, we ought to “preprayer” the ground. Press on.