Praying for Revival

The following is the article I wrote for the August 2008 edition of our monthly newsletter, The Way.

An author named Raymond McHenry says that a lot has changed in America since the last time we experienced revival across our land. Leaders were making plans to connect our country, east to west, by railway. The first flight would not occur for another half century. The light bulb was still just an idea in the mind of a child named Thomas Edison. The civil war had not yet been fought. Needless to say, it’s been some time since we have seen a true great awakening in America.

We talk a lot about revival in our churches, as we should. And there have been pockets of revival in individual churches and regions from time to time. We have seen what might be called tremors of revival that never materialized. But the real thing? Unless you have traveled the world, none of us have ever seen it. We can read about it in the Bible. We can read about it in church history...times when the hearts of people were turned to the Lord on a mass level…times when an entire culture was transformed by the effects of unusually large numbers of people being converted in a short time period…times when sudden decreases in sin and a sudden increase in righteous living brought about forcible changes in society. We can speak of this is in the past. We can speak of this among others. But we cannot speak of this in the here and now. We cannot use the first person.

All of that being said, we are still to pray for revival. Psalm 85:6 says “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?” We should pray for revival in our churches, our nation and in our own lives as well.

Many say that the word “revival” is outdated. However, as long as the word “revive” appears in the Word of God, it will never be outdated. (And for the record, it does, five times to be exact. This does not include the many biblical examples of revival in which the word is not technically used.) Some say that new church growth methodologies have rendered all concepts of revival as useless. However, our human efforts and strategies will never be able to do what God can and will do with a revived church full of holy people.

Unfortunately, it's been so long since most Christians have seen revival that I'm convinced many Christians wouldn't even pray for it if they knew what it involved. In fact, I agree with Voddie Baucham, that true revival would initially result in a decline in our churches, followed by long term, sustained growth. If revival were to take place in every Bible believing church in America, holiness would be emphasized and sin would be addressed, leading many carnal Christians and nonbelievers to stay at home. But in the log run, our homes would experience God’s presence and blessings. Our pulpits would be filled with renewed power. Our witness would be renewed and there would be drastic increases in genuine conversions and baptisms. The world would look at the church and see the difference that is all too often missing today. Few churches would have problems meeting their budget and the number of missionaries accepting the call to serve, as well as the dollars contributed to support them, would surge. Teenagers would not “graduate from God” when they get to college because they would have been trained by godly moms and dads. We would stop losing the next generation to the world. No church growth methodology can produce these kinds of results. And that is why we must never stop talking about, praying for and planning for revival.

As your pastor, I am asking you to do just that. Would you take the next few weeks and months to pray for revival in your life and in our church? Would you pray both individually and corporately?

We will be setting aside a few precious days in September to focus exclusively on revival. We are blessed to have Dr. John Sullivan preaching for us Sept. 19-21. Dr. Sullivan is the executive director/treasurer for the Florida Baptist convention. He has been a servant-leader among Florida Baptists for many years. He is also a "voice crying in the wilderness," so to speak, beckoning the people of God to submit to God's conditions for genuine revival. But let me make this clear: Revival will not take place because an able preacher came a blessed us with a few good sermons. It will not take place because a rousing singer or choir came and entertained us in song.

God makes it abundantly clear what the prerequisites for revival are. Second Chronicles 7:14 tells us that we must do four things. First we are to humble ourselves. That means asking God to help us see ourselves as we truly are. That means confessing and forsaking our pride. There is a chorus we sing at First Baptist from time to time (we’ll probably be singing it again real soon!) that says “This is what I ask, Lord, this is what I need. I fresh new look at You and an honest look at me.” Second, we are to pray. I am not aware of a single revival that has taken place in the Bible or church history that did not involve God’s people praying fervently. On the other hand, I am aware of one revival that took place in which there was very little preaching, but prayer is indispensable! Would you make a special effort to pray both individually and corporately for revival? We gather as a people to pray on Tuesdays at 5:30 AM (yes, in the morning) and on Wednesdays at 6:30 PM. Third, we are to seek God’s face. That means that we pursue the knowledge of Him. We devote ourselves to knowing His Word. We ask God to reveal Himself to us in a fresh, new way. Finally, we must turn from our wicked ways. Just as revival never occurs apart from prayer, it is also true that it never occurs apart from repentance. Next month I’ll talk more about this part, but for now, let me encourage every member to do something. Two years ago, our church provided a copy of the Gregory Frizzell’s book Returning to Holiness to every member. In that book, Frizzell identifies seven categories of sin and uses Scripture alongside penetrating personal questions to guide the Christian through a process of spiritual cleansing. Dust off that book if you still have it. If you need a copy, plenty of free copies are available at our welcome center. Just drop by and ask. Spend these weeks reading up on these seven categories of sin and asking God to show you the unconfessed sin and the unyielded areas of self in your life. And if you’re really serious about God bringing about personal revival, combine that with scheduled days of fasting. The late Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ wrote a marvelous work on fasting. You can link to it from our church website (www.fbchomestead.org) under the “sermons” section.

Needless to say, I am also asking you to guard September 19-21 on your calendar. We honestly aren’t treating these meetings as a “crusade” in which the majority of time is spent evangelizing the lost. I have asked Dr. Sullivan to focus on the church. Come expecting God to work in your life in a wonderful way.