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Intention

To remind us that the heart of revival is not control, but communion with Jesus.

Scripture

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’

“‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’”

– Luke 10:38–42

Reflection

It’s easy to see ourselves in Martha. She was doing what faithful people do – serving, organizing, meeting needs, and making space for Jesus in her home. Yet in her effort to serve for him, she began to speak to him as if he were her assistant rather than her Lord – “Tell my sister to help me.” Her frustration revealed a subtle shift of the soul – from following Jesus to attempting to manage him.

This same temptation shadows our most noble intentions. Even as we pray and plan for 2033, we can begin to treat Jesus as the one who blesses our strategies rather than the One whose presence is the strategy itself. It’s not that Martha was wrong – hospitality and action are part of discipleship – but she was willing to trade good for great. Jesus wasn’t rejecting her work; he was reordering her worship.

Henri Nouwen captured this beautifully when he wrote, “Prayer is not a way of being busy with God instead of with people. In prayer we stand in the presence of God with empty hands, naked and vulnerable, open to his love.”[1]

Mary’s stillness was not passivity; it was attentiveness. She understood that love is not measured in motion but in nearness. Her posture of listening declared a deeper truth: that transformation begins not with doing more for God, but by being more deeply with God.

If we spend this month of prayer telling God what to do, we may miss what God wants to do in us. Before we pray for revival around us, we must allow the Spirit to revive what is within us.

Revival can never begin through our control, but through our communion with him.

Every movement worth joining begins with a moment of stillness at Jesus’ feet. The ‘one needed thing’ is not increased activity, but increased intimacy – an undistracted devotion that cannot be taken away.

Video

Prayer

Lord Jesus, forgive us for trying to manage you, even in the name of mission.

Teach us to sit at your feet before we stand in your service. Quiet our anxious hearts and draw us again into your presence.

May this month not be about persuading you to move, but about preparing our hearts to be moved by you.

Strengthen the Church in Australia to seek Jesus above every outcome, and her leaders to surrender their strategies and rediscover intimacy with Christ. Renew your Church, Lord, until all our doing flows from being with you.

Amen.

Author Bio

Kyle Henderson serves as an Ambassador with Finishing the Task, focusing on global partner relations and strategic planning. As Director of the Acts2Movement for the Baptist World Alliance, he helps mobilise its six regions, 283 Baptist organisations, and 53 million members toward the 2033 goals.

He also co-founded the Evangelism Roundtable, which seeks to mobilise every believer to share the gospel with every person by 2033 – emphasising nationwide evangelism roundtables, the catalytic Easter-to-Pentecost season, and evangelism training.

Prayer Points for October 2025

1. God to pour out his blessing and Spirit on every church in Australia and its leaders. Hebrews 13:7
2. All churches in Australia to grow in Christlikeness and win people to Christ. Acts 6:7
3. Widespread adoption of Reaching Australia 2033 and its plan to activate every believer in personal evangelism. Acts 1:8
4. Revival for Australia and for millions to come to Christ. Isaiah 64:1–2

We invite you to support this prayer campaign to multiply prayer in Australia for revival and see millions come to faith in Christ. Every donation to the Canberra Declaration helps us promote prayer and make a stand for family, faith, freedom, life, and the good news of God’s love through Jesus Christ.

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[1] Henri J. M. Nouwen, With Open Hands (Ave Maria Press, 1972).