I would guess high on the list of prayer objectives for most any evangelical Church is the prayer for revival. But then, what is revival? If you ask God for revival what are you asking him to do? And what will that do to you?
For one thing, if you were to experience real revival there would likely be a radical change in your personal life. Listen to Zacchaeus after his personal revival, John 19:8. "I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I had cheated people on their taxes, I will give them four times as much!" That's radical.
Or consider the village of Maentwrog, north of Wales, in the 1850s, just before the great Welsh revival. There was all manner of mischief, reviling, and all sorts of sin; but after the revival, young men fifteen and twenty years old were so full of fire they met in private homes after Church to pray, read, and sing, sometimes for hours. Is that what you really want? The fact is, neither you nor I may really know for sure. We might all be surprised how we would react if faced with the real thing, much like Peter when he told Christ he would gladly die for him and then denied him three times.
The real thing might be like meeting Jesus face-to-face; and we would probably be surprised how we would handle that too. To illustrate what I'm thinking, I suspect if He were to return to earth today and start a Church, the number of regular members would be relatively small. At first the crowds would flock to see their Savior. But then, one by one He would ask us to take another step away from our old life; away from even much of our old Church life and toward something new. Remember the rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-23.) He approached Jesus excited, confident he could do whatever the Master might ask. After all, he was an exemplary churchman. But it all came crashing down when he realized Christ asked for something different and far more costly than he imagined. The Bible says his face fell and he walked away sadly; and sadly, we never hear from him again.
I think we can now agree revival is not just a week of special meetings with a visiting evangelist. The object of true revival is a changed life. This kind of change comes from deep within, through much prayer. Our plea is not just that God will bring revival. We are to wait upon Him for change, one that will develop a new appetite; will allow us to let go of all our worldly concerns and ask Him to do through us whatever He wills, now and forever.
Also, Valid evidence of revival is more than an expression of emotion, a show of hands, or recitation of a prayer. In any true revival there is evidence, but of a different sort.
There should be observable evidence in our personal lives. We saw how Zacchaeus' life was changed. Chapter 17:6 of the Book of Acts says, "These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also."
A more contemporary example is the Welsh revival of 1859 where not only were individual lives visibly changed; entire communities were transformed. It is reported that drunks and infidels left at taverns in order to spend time in church. The young men, 15 to 20 years old betting houses to read, sing, and pray sometimes for hours. A Welsh newspaper reported, "... not one person in every 50 of those who have assumed a profession of religion within the past 4 to 6 months has relapsed into the world."
And now to a personal level. What change when you and I likely experience in our lives if we were an object of revival? Likely there would be a change in appetite; a new hunger for God. In our free time we would probably prefer to sing, evangelize, study the Bible. We would likely demonstrate a high entity and new passion for souls.
We would likely also experience a new sense of urgency to pray; not just four minutes, but for hours. And I think we would find ourselves passing over that threshold that divides hanging on from "letting go"and a corresponding willingness to allow God to do through us whatsoever he wills, now and forever. The result of all of that would be a radical change in our personal lives.
This raises an interesting question. You might say it even brings us to a moment of truth. in light of all of this and our natural inclination to resist change, do we really want true revival?
For one thing, if you were to experience real revival there would likely be a radical change in your personal life. Listen to Zacchaeus after his personal revival, John 19:8. "I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I had cheated people on their taxes, I will give them four times as much!" That's radical.
Or consider the village of Maentwrog, north of Wales, in the 1850s, just before the great Welsh revival. There was all manner of mischief, reviling, and all sorts of sin; but after the revival, young men fifteen and twenty years old were so full of fire they met in private homes after Church to pray, read, and sing, sometimes for hours. Is that what you really want? The fact is, neither you nor I may really know for sure. We might all be surprised how we would react if faced with the real thing, much like Peter when he told Christ he would gladly die for him and then denied him three times.
The real thing might be like meeting Jesus face-to-face; and we would probably be surprised how we would handle that too. To illustrate what I'm thinking, I suspect if He were to return to earth today and start a Church, the number of regular members would be relatively small. At first the crowds would flock to see their Savior. But then, one by one He would ask us to take another step away from our old life; away from even much of our old Church life and toward something new. Remember the rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-23.) He approached Jesus excited, confident he could do whatever the Master might ask. After all, he was an exemplary churchman. But it all came crashing down when he realized Christ asked for something different and far more costly than he imagined. The Bible says his face fell and he walked away sadly; and sadly, we never hear from him again.
I think we can now agree revival is not just a week of special meetings with a visiting evangelist. The object of true revival is a changed life. This kind of change comes from deep within, through much prayer. Our plea is not just that God will bring revival. We are to wait upon Him for change, one that will develop a new appetite; will allow us to let go of all our worldly concerns and ask Him to do through us whatever He wills, now and forever.
Also, Valid evidence of revival is more than an expression of emotion, a show of hands, or recitation of a prayer. In any true revival there is evidence, but of a different sort.
There should be observable evidence in our personal lives. We saw how Zacchaeus' life was changed. Chapter 17:6 of the Book of Acts says, "These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also."
A more contemporary example is the Welsh revival of 1859 where not only were individual lives visibly changed; entire communities were transformed. It is reported that drunks and infidels left at taverns in order to spend time in church. The young men, 15 to 20 years old betting houses to read, sing, and pray sometimes for hours. A Welsh newspaper reported, "... not one person in every 50 of those who have assumed a profession of religion within the past 4 to 6 months has relapsed into the world."
And now to a personal level. What change when you and I likely experience in our lives if we were an object of revival? Likely there would be a change in appetite; a new hunger for God. In our free time we would probably prefer to sing, evangelize, study the Bible. We would likely demonstrate a high entity and new passion for souls.
We would likely also experience a new sense of urgency to pray; not just four minutes, but for hours. And I think we would find ourselves passing over that threshold that divides hanging on from "letting go"and a corresponding willingness to allow God to do through us whatsoever he wills, now and forever. The result of all of that would be a radical change in our personal lives.
This raises an interesting question. You might say it even brings us to a moment of truth. in light of all of this and our natural inclination to resist change, do we really want true revival?