Does God want Revival? Just ask Him!!
Revival (def) – restoration to life, consciousness, vigor, strength. Boy, we need some o dat don’t we? Yes we do. Does God want revival? Maybe we need to appeal to him like the psalmist did in 85: 1 O Lord, You showed favor to Your land; You restored the captivity of Jacob. 2 You forgave the iniquity of Your people; You covered all their sin. Selah. 3 You withdrew all Your fury; You turned away from Your burning anger. 4 Restore us, O God of our salvation, And cause Your indignation toward us to cease. 5 Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations? 6 Will You not Yourself revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You? Mention the word Revival to any Christians over the age of 50 and they think of “meetings.” They might not have realized that the revival that came years ago was about one meeting. Us meeting with God….on His terms. The psalmist wrote in the first three verse of Psalm 85 letting God know how much they remembered his favor on their lives at one point. Of course, God knew all of those things before they said them, but them proclaiming them showed that they had not forgotten God was their strength and that they wanted Him to be that way again. The nation of Israel, the people of God, needed God’s hand to move in their midst and in the midst of their trouble God did move…..again. In The next two verses, four and five, they implored God asking for His restoration of their salvation and to cease his indignation toward them. The writer was apparently fearful that God would continue to be angry with the generations to come and they wanted to get things right now. In other words, they realized, “if we don’t get this right now, it may continue on with our children.”
In political circles you will hear again and again politicians saying, “We don’t want to pass down this national debt to our children.” It’s a noble thought, but in spiritual terms much more devastating. The sins of the present can directly affect the results of the future, even with a God of grace not seeing us as having sin because of the blood of Jesus. We need revival. Our nation needs revival. Our churches need revival. Does God want revival? I believe scripture shows God does want revival, but revival must be on God’s terms, not ours. 2 Chronicles 7:14 and 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, will forgive their sin and will heal their land is a word from God to Solomon after God had showed up in His Shekinah glory just after Solomon had prayed to God and God consumed the burnt offerings in the temple. The glory of the Lord was so strong the priests couldn’t enter the Lord’s house. When the people saw the glory of the Lord they bowed down low to the pavement with their faces to the ground and worshipped and gave praise to the Lord (verses 1-3). Shekinah (def) – the glory of the divine presence. God’s way of sending revival is always centered around His glory and presence among His people, and He is the one who is glorified. THAT is revival!!!
There is no doubting that we need revival. There is no doubting that the Lord’s church is dry and lifeless without Him. There is no doubting that we are a stiff-necked people who need to be loosened up by God. There is no doubting that we are living a compromised life. So we must change! NOW!!
Our life course should be more centered on God’s Will and we must get back on track if we want to experience God in His fullness. Paul warned about the times we are going through in 2 Timothy 3: But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. Boy, Paul sure hit today’s world on the head with this up-to-date warning from the Word of God and we need to take heed to what God did in the past in our country in the area of revival. Please read below:
A group of people in New England began to pray for revival. In 1734 in Northampton, Mass., Jonathan Edwards preached his famous sermon on the judgment of God, and in a single service, hundreds repented of their sins and sought God. People everywhere returned to Christian decency and righteous living. In a short time, nearly one-sixth of the nation’s population was won to Christ. The churches were filled with devout worshipers, and revival made its impact on the social life of early America.
In 1783, liquor manufacturing began in the United States. Saloons sprang up everywhere. The nation went on a colossal binge. Home life degenerated, morals plunged, gambling was widespread, infidelity thrived and corruption was prevalent in high places.
But in Richmond, Va., prayer meetings broke out. God’s people became concerned about the evil forces that were thriving to the utter peril of the nation’s spiritual life. Revival fires began to burn across the land. Sobriety was restored, homes were rebuilt, infidelity lost its grip and thousands of lives were transformed by the power of Christ.
American-based foreign missions had their birth in this awakening, and the nation was saved from a fate worse than death. In answer to the cry of His people, God revived His work “in the midst of the years.” (Taken from the Billy Graham evangelistic Association Newsletter.)
God can and will still move and revival will come, but we must do it on God’s terms and only on God’s terms. We need to ask God to bring us revival as never before and continue to pray fervently for it at all times. When revival comes the generation of “NONES” will become a generation of “DONES”. They will once again have purpose and meaning in their thinking and that will make the revival last for many years to come. They will rise up and “get ur done!!” Doing all of this on God’s terms will result in a lasting fruit bearing church that is once again alive and vibrant. This call to action may begin with Christian ministers challenging their congregations, but the actual change will be generated by the Holy Spirit filling God’s people once again, driving them to prayer and action. May our prayers line up with the prayer of Habakkuk in chapter 3 verse 2 where he says Lord, I have heard the report about You and I fear. O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy. In other words, DO IT NOW LORD!!
Be a part of the Early Landing Group and set the stage for the mass attack on satan and his angels. Hit the beach now and bring your weapons with you!!
The Pilgrimage continues……
David Warren