Andrew S M Clark

Arran already has its equivalent of Peggy and Christine Smith – those elderly sisters who were instrumental in the intercession that fuelled the revival in Lewis. They’ve been praying for some time. They’ve dined on the promises of God and on the faithfulness of God in the past. They’ve seen his visions and sung his songs. They’ve inhabited this land and already tackled so many of its giants in prayer. They’ve broken up the hard, fallow ground with their worship and they’ve cried out ‘how long?’ And maybe…just maybe…there has been a cloud the size of a man’s fist that has been sighted on the horizon (1 Kings 18:44). A move of some sort, however minuscule. Will it become a flood? Will it bring a deluge like streams in the Negev? (Ps 126:4)

The question I hear in my spirit is, ‘who will wait for me?’ Note, it’s a different question to ‘who will go for me?’ Going feeds or activism. Waiting seems futile. Yet;

• We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield (Ps 33:20)
• Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord (Ps 27: 14)
• I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry (Ps 40:1)
• But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord. I wait for God my Saviour, my God will hear me (Micah 7:7)
• You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised (Her 10:36)
• But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait patiently for it (Ro 8:25)
• I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope (Ps 130:5)

Not a passive waiting, but a hopeful, expectant waiting. A prayerful waiting like disciples in an upper room having received and instruction and a promise. And even more than that, a determined anticipation. The pregnant wait for new birth. The wait for the dawn of spring in the heart of winter after a stormy autumn, with the promise of summer beyond. ‘The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and the blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom’ (Is 35: 1 – 2).

Who will sit and prayerfully wait until he answers from heaven…without watching the clock or preferring something else to do? Who will consecrate themselves to the Lord for something that is bigger than themselves and their own preference? Will I do it even if I wait alone?

There is no revival without prayer.