“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust—My great army which I sent among you.”
Joel 2:25 (NKJV)
“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:19 (NKJV)
According to Scripture, God’s restoration of lost opportunities and glory—whether for individuals, families, churches, or nations—is deeply rooted in a return to Him. Throughout the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament, we see a recurring cycle: decline caused by sin and disobedience, followed by repentance, and then divine restoration through God’s mercy and grace.
National and personal decline is often attributed to rebellion, idolatry, injustice, and departure from God’s covenant. Yet, the heart of God has always been restoration. When His people turn back to Him with sincerity, God responds by restoring what was lost, healing what was broken, and renewing glory where shame once existed.
The prophet Joel captures this hope powerfully when God promises not only to restore what was lost, but to restore time itself—the years consumed by devastation. Likewise, Isaiah reminds us that God is not limited by past failures or barren seasons. He is able todo a new thing, creating pathways where none existed and releasing life in places of dryness.
Key Biblical Elements of Restoration
1. Repentance
Restoration begins when God’s people acknowledge wrongdoing, turn away from wicked practices—such as idolatry, injustice, and disobedience—and seek His forgiveness.
2. Obedience to God’s Covenant
Restoration is closely tied to rededication to God’s covenant. When His people return to His Word and walk in obedience, they position themselves to receive His promises.
3. Divine Intervention
Once repentance occurs, God intervenes by His mercy and grace. He delivers His people from oppression, restores their land, renews their strength, and re-establishes peace and prosperity.
4. God-Ordained Leadership
Throughout Scripture, God often raises righteous leaders—prophets, judges, and kings—to guide His people back to Him and implement reforms that lead to restoration.
Prayer points:
1. Acts 3:19–21 — Pray that God will grant us hearts of repentance as a nation, church, family, and individuals.
2. James 5:16 — Confess our sins and pray for one another, that we may be healed.
3. 1 Peter 5:10 — Pray that the Lord will restore, establish, strengthen, and settle us in His glory.
4. Job 42:10 — Pray for double portions of restoration and blessing where loss has occurred.
5. Joel 2:25 — Declare that whatever the enemy has stolen must be restored.
6. Psalm 23:3 — Pray that the Lord will restore our souls, passion, zeal, and love for God.
7. 2 Chronicles 7:14 — Pray that our nations will return to the Lord, that He will forgive our sins and heal our land.
8. Ruth 4:15 — Pray for the restoration of health, strength, and vitality.
9. 2 Kings 8:6 — Declare that everything lost—lands, opportunities, honour, and provision—is restored by divine decree.
Declaration
I declare that the Lord is restoring every lost opportunity, every stolen season, and every measure of glory that has been taken from me. What the enemy meant for destruction, God is turning for my good. The years are restored, new paths are opening, and rivers are flowing in dry places. I walk in restoration, favour, and renewed glory, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
1 Comment
Jabulani Mwale
Thank you for the devotional. I think the change begins with the individual first and spreads to the nation – very much like prayer starting with a small group of people in church and growing into a nationwide movement.
On a different note, I sense that we must not forget the character of our Father that we are praying to.
Jeremiah 10:6-10
6 There is none like You, O Lord;
You are great, and great is Your name in might.
7 Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?
Indeed it is Your due!
For among all the wise men of the nations
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.
8 But they are altogether stupid and foolish
In their discipline of delusion—their idol is wood!
9 Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,
And gold from Uphaz,
The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith;
Violet and purple are their clothing;
They are all the work of skilled men.
10 But the Lord is the true God;
He is the living God and the everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth quakes,
And the nations cannot endure His indignation.
That’s the way to pray.
In the face of trouble, in whatever shape or form it takes, our God surpasses it. Sometimes our praying is nothing but a cry of desperation in the dark, sometimes just to keep up our own courage.
The antidote to that is to stop and to recollect and realise the true character of God. His great Might, the Lord God almighty who has created the whole universe and sustains everything by the word of his power. The more we remember this and the more we praise God for being who and what He is, the more effective and efficacious will our prayers be.