"All the true revivals have been born in
prayer. When God's people become so concerned
about the state of religion that they lie on
their faces day and night in earnest supplication,
the blessing will be sure to fall."
E. M. Bounds
Many
of us pray that God will send a revival among
us.
In revival prayer, it is good to think about what
really characterizes revival. What will it look
like? And how should we pray? My husband and I
had the wonderful privilege of living in Wales
for over a year. This was the land where a mighty
revival swept through the country in 1904, making
an impact on the nation and the world in a short
span of time. We had the added blessing of visiting
Moriah Chapel, the tiny building where the Welsh
revival broke forth. I was amazed at how insignificant
in appearance the building is. And yet, the power
of God spread around the world from that humble
place. The believers in Wales are praying for
another mighty revival to touch their land. And
we have been inspired to think, study and pray
much for revival since that time.
The topic of revival brings great interest
to most of us because we long for God to sweep
through our land. But we must realize that
it is costly, and each of us must be willing to
pay the price to prepare for it. The Bible word
that is closest to the word "revival"
is "revive" or "reviving."
It comes from the Hebrew word "chayah"
which means "to live." In Strong's
Concordance, the word is translated "make
alive, nourish up, preserve, quicken, recover,
repair, restore, save, keep alive and make whole."
Who among us does not desire that the Church be
quickened, made whole, preserved and become more
alive? We all do, and we must pray with heartfelt
passion for this to happen. And it will. When
the Church is revived, she will be stronger and
mightier against the powers of darkness. She will
be a brighter light in this dark world. She will
be victorious and attract the lost.
"The
quickening of saints is the root; the saving
of sinners is the fruit. To see the primary
effect of revival, look to the Church. Revival
marks the awakening of the Church; when asleep
one is out of touch with the world of spiritual
reality and needs to be awakened." Wallis
When
revival hit Wales, the whole community was shaken
by the power of God. Crowds would go to the
prayer meetings at 6:00 A.M. Because many people
were affected by the Holy Spirit, the entire community
was soon turned into a praying multitude. Evan
Roberts, the young man greatly used in the Welsh
Revival, would speak of four tenets or keys
to walking in revival. These are helpful as
we seek for personal and corporate revival in
our own lives. They are the following:
1.
The past must be made clear by sin being confessed
to God and every wrong to man put right.
2. Every doubtful thing in the life must be
put away.
3. There must be prompt obedience to the Holy
Spirit.
4. There must be public confession of Christ.
Because
of the seriousness of the times, we need to cry
out fervently to God, asking Him to revive His
Church worldwide. We need to be in intensive prayer
for the preparation of hearts that will enable
God to move in our cities and nations. Studying
the characteristics of revival will help us prepare
both personally and corporately for a great move
of God in His church. Understanding the deep need
to prepare our own hearts for revival and learning
how to cooperate with God as He pours into the
earth, will keep us from hindering the move of
God as it comes. The key phrase of the Welsh revival
in 1904 was, "Bend the Church and save
the world."
The
Human Characteristics of Revival
- Spiritual
preparation - Unity and prayer are two key
elements needed for revival. We must pay this
price of spiritual preparation. Revival will
not come without a hunger and thirst after God
that brings intense prayer. We cannot be indifferent
or apathetic but must rend our hearts with the
cries that are born by the yearnings in God's
heart. "Our essential trouble is that
we are content with a very superficial and preliminary
knowledge of God… we spend our lives in
busy activism… instead of realizing our
own failure, (that) we are not attracting anybody
to Christ and that they probably see nothing
in us that makes them desire to come to Him.
The inevitable and constant preliminary to revival
has always been a thirst for God, a thirst,
a living thirst for a knowledge of the living
God and a longing and a burning desire to see
Him acting, manifesting Himself and His power,
rising and scattering His enemies… The
thirst for God and the longing for the exhibition
of His glory are the essential preliminaries
to revival." Martin Lloyd-Jones
"They
all joined together constantly in prayer…"
(Acts 1:14)
-
Conviction of sin
- In true revival, men and women are seized
with an overwhelming conviction of sin. Even
the smallest sin seems big. Sin is not taken
lightly, and God deals with both the saved and
the lost. Revival is intensely personal where
God convicts you of personal sin, and your own
soul is in the agonizing grip of a holy God.
There is an encounter with God's convicting
power. "The assembly appeared bowed
with an awful conviction of their sin and danger.
There was such a breathing of distress and weeping
that the preacher was obliged to speak to the
people and desire silence that he might be heard.
Many of the hearers were seen unconsciously
holding themselves up against the pillars and
the sides of the pews as though they already
felt themselves sliding into the pit."
Wallis
"…
they were cut to the heart…" (Acts
2:37)
-
God-consciousness - In revival, there
is a consciousness of God. There is an awareness
of His holiness and power. There is a realization
that God is there. There is a divine magnetism
toward His presence. "There was nothing
humanly speaking, to account for what happened.
Quite suddenly, upon one and another came an
overwhelming sense of the reality and awfulness
of His Presence and of eternal things. Life,
death and eternity seemed suddenly laid bare."
Winkie Pratney
"Everyone
was filled with awe…" (Acts 2:43)
May God prepare each one of us personally to
pay the price for revival. May we prepare
spiritually in fervent prayer and allow God to
work deeply in our lives. Let us ask Him to make
us conscious of His Presence, and learn to abide
in Him moment by moment. Let us pray that He will
convict us of even the smallest sin in our life.
Let us press on in prayer and fasting for revival
in the nations. A worldwide end-times revival
is going to be a glorious thing, but it will be
costly. We lived on a missionary ship for years
where in some countries thousands of visitors
came on board daily. There were long hours of
hard work that consumed our full attention. Are
we ready for the demands of revival? God must
personally and corporately prepare us, His Church
for the self-sacrifice that revival entails.
May we not draw back, but prepare to lay hold
of this glorious end-time outpouring of God with
all our hearts as the radiant Bride of Christ
who is willing to sacrifice all so that men might
be saved.
"Will
you not revive us again, that your people may
rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love,
O Lord, and grant us your salvation"
Psalm 85:6-7
For
more training in revival in how to personally
prepare and the supernatural characteristics of
revival, read the book Intercessors Arise.
Training
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