Sometimes praying to our Father may be difficult. We may feel cold, dry, or distant from Him. But here is a prayer of spiritual revival:
“So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.”
Psalm 80:18, KJV
The psalmist is asking God to restore spiritual life so that the people will return to Him and call upon His name again.
A man cannot truly return to God unless God first works in his heart. The psalmist does not say, “We will quicken ourselves.” He says, “quicken us.” He knows that spiritual coldness, prayerlessness, backsliding, and deadness cannot be cured by human determination alone.
The first part says:
“So will not we go back from thee”
This is a prayer against backsliding. It is a cry for God to keep the heart from drifting away from Him.
The second part says:
“and we will call upon thy name.”
When God quickens a person, prayer returns. A cold heart does not call on God with desire, but a revived heart does. One evidence that God is restoring a soul is that the person begins to seek Him again, pray again, depend on Him again, and desire His presence again.
A simple way to understand the verse is:
“Lord, revive us, keep us from turning away, and bring us back to prayer.”
When your prayer life is dying, do not merely promise to try harder. Ask God to quicken you. Ask Him to breathe life into your heart again. The cure for spiritual dullness is not self-confidence. It is divine reviving.
Reflection Questions
- In what areas of my life have I slowly gone back from the Lord?
Is my prayer life alive, weak, cold, or almost silent?
Do I truly desire God to quicken me, or do I only want Him to fix my situation?
Prayer
Lord, quicken my heart. Restore spiritual life where I have grown cold. Keep me from going back from You, and teach me to call upon Your name again with sincerity, hunger, and faith. Amen.
Further Reading
Psalm 85
