“You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives…” (James 4:3 NASB)

We don’t have the answer because we ask amiss, with the wrong motives. We are not asking God for the revival He truly wants to give us. We are not preparing for the revival He truly wants to give us. Maybe we don’t even have a glimpse of the revival that He wants to give us. We must cease asking amiss and begin to ask according to His heart, His desires, and His plans.

What does real revival look like when it comes? There is brokenness. There is unity. God’s servants are putting the needs of others above their own. There is true fellowship. There is hunger for God and thirst for righteousness. There is prayer before, during and after every step. There is desperation. And there is obedience to that which is closest to God’s heart: the saving of souls, the Great Commission.

We ask amiss when we pursue a word from a prophet of flesh rather than trust in the Word God has already given. We ask amiss when we run to an event, a church, or a geographic location expecting to receive it there rather than in a closet humbled before God in repentance. We ask amiss when we make an idol out of manifestations rather than coming into His throne room with holy hands and pure hearts lifted in bewildered gratitude for His grace. We ask amiss when we want to own a revival so that we can make ourselves a spectacle in the eyes of man. We ask amiss when we say we want to get closer to God but we have no love.

So let us not ask amiss. Let us ask Him for true revival. Let us ask to be broken and crushed under the weight of His Mercy. Let us ask to finally grasp the cost of our sin. Let us ask to be living sacrifices. Let us ask to serve others rather than seek for ourselves. Let us ask to love and forgive unconditionally. Let us ask for the fire of God’s grace to consume our flesh and burn away all of the chaff so that we can be more acceptable to Him. And let us ask to reach the nations with the blood of the Cross and the Only Name by which mankind can be saved, and that is the precious name of Jesus.

Yes, let us ask, and let us pour ourselves out until we are completely empty so that we can be filled by Him.

“… Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that He may come and shower righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12 NLT).