Isaiah 64:1–4
Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, That the mountains might quake at Your presence— As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil— To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence! When You did awesome things which we did not expect, You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence. For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.

Today being Singapore’s National Day reminds us that we should pray for our nation because this is the day our nation was redeemed and it is God’s will to find His people and establish His Kingdom and nation through them. Thus, need to pray for the spiritual redemption of our nations.

The book of Revelation speaks of nations and kings rising up with the authority of the dragon and beasts. We need to pray that our nations will not become a nation on the side of the antichrist! Prayer has great power.

The great prophets in the Bible like Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezra, and Nehemiah all received God’s revelation as they were praying for their nation! And the revelation and prophecies that God has spoken and written through them were not only about their nation but eventually about the Kingdom of God.

Without God’s blessing and protection over our nation, our churches, our homes and families cannot exist, and even individuals will lose our identity. But when we truly sincerely pray for our nations, please believe that God will change things around and inspire the leaders to protect it from the beasts’ philosophies and deceptions! One important fact that we need to know is that every nation and culture that has departed from God degrade, go backwards, and become barbaric. It’s because they follow the ways of the beast.

Romans 1:21–23
For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

There are more and more people throughout the world that have rejected the One True God of the Bible and replaced Him with the image of the beast. The result is barbaric forms of entertainment, immorality, and perversion.

Any culture that puts idols in the place of God will always devolve and fall morally, socially, spiritually, and sexually.

The country that was once great will always fall after they reject God and His Word and serve the images of the beast. Think about Egypt and Babylon. And think about the modern countries. America and Korea enjoyed great blessings and flourished when they feared the Word of God. But now the culture is changing so fast and it is going backwards! They used to be the nations that represented Christian faith and revival! But the fact is that the number of churches and Christians are diminishing and the number of atheists is increasing.

Korea is ever developing in terms of technology and different industries, but ask the people if they are happy. They have ranked the top 10 highest suicide rate in the world for the past decade. They used to have the highest divorce rate, too, but now it’s the Maldives, the place where newlyweds go for a honeymoon! People seek happiness in the wrong places and the use the wrong methods, and so they only meet with despair and hopelessness at the end of that path.

In the book of Ezekiel, we have learned that the glory of God departed from the temple because they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God with images of the beast (literally), and so the nation perished and the people were taken into exile. Yet, even after the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem, God heard the prayers of Daniel, Ezekiel, and the people and restored them.

I believe now is the time we Christians need to make our prayer for the nation the priority and first on the list. We need to sincerely pray for our nations! There need to be more and more nations that rise up as a nation of God!

Look at the world today, India (Hindu), Indonesia (Muslim), Thailand and Sri Lanka (Buddhist), Philippines (Catholic). We need to pray that they will all become Christian nations!

When we pray, I believe that God will hear!

We have been talking about the end-time signs, but the clearest and most necessary sign that Jesus spoke of is in Mat 24:8-14.

Matthew 24:8–14
All these are the beginning of sorrows. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

There will be one great revival movement! The proclamation of the Word! Let us pray that this will take place through our nations! This needs to become a national and international movement!

Let us do two things for our nation:

(1) Let us repent for our nation

Blessed are the nations that have men and women of God praying and repenting for their people! Israel was restored because they had a man of God who was alert and awake to understand the times and prayed for the people. Please read through the entire chapter of Daniel 9.

Daniel 9:16–19
“O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us. “So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary. “O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion. “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

(2) Let us pray for revival in our nations

The term ‘revival’ has been used to refer to growth and expansion, but its meaning is to come back to life.

Habakkuk 3:2
LORD, I have heard the report about You and I fear. O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy.

Let us pray that there will be reports about God and that people will fear Him again. In today’s passage, the Prophet Isaiah also prays this prayer.

Isaiah 64:1–3
Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, That the mountains might quake at Your presence— As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil— To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence! When You did awesome things which we did not expect, You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.

God is sovereign over history. I believe He’s doing work even in the midst and through this COVID-19 pandemic. God is working in all parts of the world 24/7! When God’s Kairos time comes, God will let people witness His presence amongst us.

Isaiah prays, “that You would rend the heavens and come down! Make your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence!”

Let us pray that our people will be able to see God’s presence in our midst! He will come and make changes in our history and our people! When revival takes place, God’s authority will become so real and His glory will be so amazing! Both Daniel and Isaiah prayed for the name of God to be made known and glorified.

Isaiah 64:4
For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.

This is the true revival. There was one time when such amazing things happened. That’s when Jesus came to the earth. He was so extraordinary and amazing that it was unbelievable. Not only the miracles that He did but the fact that God came to the earth! And the more mind-boggling thing is when God died on the cross! He died as a small cult leader. He only had 5 left at the bottom of the cross when He died. The great God who created the universe died the most shameful death on the cross with only 5 left following Him!

This story could have ended there. But when did the revival begin? The resurrection? Many did not believe in the resurrection. It is when the eyewitnesses began to feel the need to share this truth. When the Holy Spirit came upon them, they could not keep quiet even when they were faced with death! Why? It’s because what they have seen is too great and too extraordinary! And they had extraordinary testimonies to share! That’s when the great revival occurred and Christianity is where it is. Then, there were other smaller revivals like the reformation and these were led by those who saw something in the Word of God through the guidance of the Holy Spirit! Now, I believe, we are living in the time when we need that revival! I pray that there will be people in each of your nation that will wake up and pray!

Conclusion

Have you witnessed the extraordinary love and power of Jesus? Is He real? Is He real and alive enough for you to testify? Can you die to defend that truth? This fire of the end-time revival will burn in all nations! It will continue on until He returns!

Matthew 18:18–20
“Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

May God our Father listen to your prayers and save our nations!

AMEN