Time for Revival

Where are we? Isn’t that what God asked man in the Garden of Eden?

Genesis 3:9 – Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

With everything going on in the world today, God wants to know where we are, where we stand in Him. Are we in a place that needs reviving? This brings us to revival.

So what does revival mean? It’s defined as:

1. an act or instance of reviving, the state of being revived, such as a renewed attention to or interest in something
2. a new presentation or publication of something old
3. a period of renewed religious interest
4. an often highly emotional evangelistic meeting or series of meetings
5. restoration of force, validity, or effect (as to a contract)

Synonyms include: reanimate, recharge, regenerate, rejuvenate, rekindle, renew, resurrect, resuscitate, revitalize, revivify, rewake, rewaken

I would suggest that something can’t be revived unless it has first been viable. It’s bringing life back to something that is dead or dying.

What comes to mind when you think of revival? In a lot of church circles, a “revival” is a week of meetings initiated by a person, rather than a spontaneous move of God.

Do we need revival? Yes!!! We need it personally. The church needs it! The nation needs it, as does the entire world. No economic trouble can bring revival. Elections can not bring revival. It can’t be stirred up and generated by any person or situation on earth.

Why haven’t we seen revival? Why is there no revival? Is it because of liberalism in the world? Or in the churches? Is it division among God’s people? Could it be we have become worldly? Have we compromised with the enemy and the world?

May I submit to you this is not the reason. All of these things while true, are actually the results of NOT HAVING REVIVAL! We should be seeking God for ourselves, asking Him to light the fire within us personally!

Are we compared to anyone in the Bible? Could it be we are compared to the people in Isaiah 64?

Isaiah 64:1-12 – Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
 that the mountains might quake at your presence – as when fire kindles brushwood
 and the fire causes water to boil – 
to make your name known to your adversaries,
 and that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
 you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From of old no one has heard
 or perceived by the ear,
 no eye has seen a God besides you,
 who acts for those who wait for him. You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
 those who remember you in your ways.
 Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
 in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? We have all become like one who is unclean,
 and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
 We all fade like a leaf,
    and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name,
 who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
 and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
 we are the clay, and you are our potter;
 we are all the work of your hand. Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
 and remember not iniquity forever.
 Behold, please look, we are all your people. Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
 Zion has become a wilderness,
 Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and beautiful house,
 where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
 and all our pleasant places have become ruins. Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
 Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?

The people of God were taken into captivity, God’s work looked in vain and the people were disheartened with broken spirits. Many in the body today have fallen into captivity. Many have fallen into the traps of satan, compromised by the flesh which has led to discouragement of no return. For those revival does not seem possible.

But let there be a sound! One that says God would you rend the heavens and come down!

Should we cry out to God? Yes we need to cry out!

Psalms 85:6  Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?

I’m talking about God’s people! If you are not a Christian, you can’t be revived because you must first be “vived” or made alive in Christ as in Ephesians 2:5.

Ephesians 2:5 …Made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.  

It is time for us to pray and seek God as in 1 Chronicles 7:14.

1 Chronicles 7:14: If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

What is revival? Revival is when God comes down! “Oh, that you [Almighty God] would rend the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might shake at Your presence.” (Isa. 64:1)

Revival is meeting with the God of All, “The Great I AM!” We seek God to do something for us. We seek His hands and not His face. Our heart needs to yearn for God. We should be saying, “O God, will You come down?” He has come down before. He came when Jesus stepped on this earth! The Holy Spirit came down at PENTECOST! When God shows up things happen!

It is His presence that will bring Revival.

Understanding Revival

In the Bible and in church history, you can see its regularity. In American history approximately every 40–60 years we see God has shown up!

• The First Great Awakening: 1735
• The Second Great Awakening: 1800
• The Third Great Awakening (The Prayer Revival): 1857
• The Welsh Revival (worldwide in scope): 1904
• The Jesus Movement: 1970

It is time for America!

We need to get out of our own way. Many have walked around doing church instead of being the Church. Many have become righteous in their own eyes. We have to recognize that God is God and call upon Him. We need to respect Him, His Glory! Revival is coming!! I believe for more than a revival but for a movement that will evolve out of it. A new sound is being released. Some will awake from sleep and others from the dead. When new life comes there will be a desire to finish the race.

I hear run runner, run.