Praying for revival

During this holiday I've been getting some good reading time and have just finished a short book call Praying for Revival by Eric Hayden.
Eric Hayden is described on the cover as a retired Baptist pastor, who has served in Metropolitan Tabernacle in London (Charles Haddon Spurgeon's church).
Without a lot of ado I want to share some powerful quotes from the book.

How honest Gideon was with God. 'Preacher's count' is an expression for those who can always count more heads in a congregation than anyone else! Many ministers when asked 'How is your work going?' reply in vague terms such as 'Oh, not too bad; we're seeing some blessing' (although the blessing is not specified) and so on. If we were as honest as Gideon we would specify 'all this', the loss of everything dear to us; the helpless feeling of being 'foresaken' or cut off, as if God had removed His presence from ys.
Naturally it is humiliting to have to confess all this. Our sinful pride makes us loath to do it. So we try to bolster things up and make out the situation is not as bad as it appears on the surface.

Change--or revival--will always come after we admit our desperate need for change, or revival. And that means honesty before God and, I would suggest, man.

We must confess our worldliness, our materialism, our love of positions and possessions; our love of academic attainments in the ministry instead of a sound knowledge of the Word of God. We must admit that we have relied on personality, rather than spirituality.

Confess of weakness and humility is a necessary precondition to being touched by God.

God as Father is One who protects and provides for His children; as husband He is also provider and protector of His bride, and more, He is lover and companion.
Revival begins in our own hearts when we begin to experience this special relationship we have with the Lord.

Intimacy and a felt close relationship with the Lord are much, much more than a warm fuzzy--although they can be limited to that--they are a first step to a vibrant spiritual life, which touches others.

Sometimes the older church members are too set in their ways to change. Then let us concentrate on the next generation and pray for their eyes to be opened that they might not be content with the nominal, formal religion of their parents but yearn and long for great outpourings of the Spirit of God upon the churches. They need to know that it is not 'pop' groups strumming their guitars, religious dance and drama, and all the rest of the modern 'crazes' that will bring revival. This is only 'candy floss' religion, effervescent Christianity.

I would only add that I firmly believe older believers can also be touched, changed and set on fire and walk into greater joy, power and obedience.

When revival comes to the heart of Christian people it will be the most natural thing in the world for them to go with enthusiasm to seek the lost. They will 'gossip' Christ like the early Christians. Revival turns tongue-tied believers into eloquent evangelists quicker than anything else.

It will take an entire church of Christians gossiping Christ to turn communites around.

Many Christians think revival is going to be some sort of experience. Certainly experience plays an important part in revival: an experience of the sovereignty, majesty, glory and excellence of God as a Person. Others think that revival is fulfilling certain conditions...But revival is often when God speaks to us through His word, simply and plainly, feeding us until our spiritual hunger is satisfied.

Give me that deep soul hunger, Lord.

Every preacher knows that when people say at the end of the service, 'I did enjoy your sermon' it means that they have not been convicted about anything in particular. Sermons are not meant to be enjoyed.

Ouch!!!!. Again, I say ouch!.

Only a continual conciousness of the thrice-holy nature of God prepares the way for revival. Modern Christianity is so frothy, effervescent, of a candy-floss nature, that the awesomeness that our forefathers felt in worship has departed.

We need to hear the true word of God, preached with convicting, life-changing power. God is alive. He is real and He can change lives and communities today like He has in the past. But we must be people of prayer and hunger and thirst and obedience.
Send revival to Your church Lord, so that this poor, broken world might see You in Your glory and believe.