The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’ “ Ezekiel 37:1-6
Gracious heavenly Father, I’ve always prayed that I’d get to experience one significant revival before you choose to take me to the revival of all revivals…heaven itself. I renew that prayer today, and I’m going to be quite specific.
For the glory of Jesus alone, I ask you to demonstrate the truth, beauty and power of the gospel by pouring out the Holy Spirit on our church family, in a most tangible and transforming way. My hope is in knowing that you are a far more generous God than we are a desperate people, and we are desperate. We need what you alone can give, Father. Make yourself unmistakably known as the LORD in our midst.
Prophesy the gospel to our dry scattered bones. Drench our drought with the dew of heaven. Breath your life-giving breath into our empty lungs. Reattach brothers and sisters to one another as one body, for we are in great relational distress. The only “skin” we need is the covering you’ve already given us—the righteousness of Jesus. May this glorious standing in grace humble us… quite our racing hearts… bridle our wagging tongues… and send us to our faces before you, prostrate and repentant.
Father, you’ve taught us for many years that the gospel is not about saving face or building our own reputation. It is all about the name and glory of Jesus. We will never have another opportunity like this one to prove whether or not we really believe this to be true, and to own it as our central passion in life. Please, help us steward this crisis well. So much is at stake.
You are a God who gives grace to the humble, but also one who resists and knows the proud from afar. Have mercy on us… have mercy on me. I cannot imagine a better story to be a part of than for our repentance and transformation to become far more notorious than our sin and brokenness. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us… So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus’ merciful and mighty name.
