As we look out over the church today, we are experiencing a move of God that has come to our nation. Universities like Asbury and Lee experienced sovereign moves of God as students gathered for spontaneous worship and prayer. I want to share a few things about Revival, what it brings, and how it comes to the body of Christ.
First, Revival is a divine move of God for the church. Though we long to see people saved during a revival, reviving means bringing something that was dead or near dead back to health. The purpose of any move of God that brings Revival is to bring His people back to spiritual health. Revival is to ignite the fire that has gone out or to fan the embers that have cooled off in the church. Revival refocuses the church on Jesus and what He has called us to do, and it motivates us to move and share the gospel. As we do that, then souls are saved, and the Revival then results in the kingdom of God expanding. The result of any great revival has been the expansion of the kingdom of God through the winning of souls.
Second, when Revival comes in a big way, it usually starts with the younger generation. In almost every great Revival or awaking in the history of the church, we can see that the roots of the Revival were in the younger generation. I believe the reason for this is that the younger generation is open to the way God wants to move in that present time. For some of us who have been in the church for a long time, we can become trapped by the past and begin limiting the way God can move. We begin to think it has to happen the way it did back then, and we miss what God is doing today. The younger generation does not have retrospect, and so they are open to the way in which God may be moving today. I have found the generation that is in their twenties, and younger is hungry for a move of God. They are no longer interested in the lights and the smoke, but they are looking for a real encounter with the Holy Ghost. When this happens in one generation, it spreads to the other generations so that young men have visions and old men begin to dream dreams.
Third, though God may move in a different and new way, there are common themes to every Revival throughout history. Revival comes when we humble ourselves, pray, seek after God, and turn from sin (2 Chronicles 7:14). Revival happens when a group of people focus on God and do not care about anything else. If you study church history, you will be amazed to know that most great revivals did not occur in large churches, but rather most started when small humble groups came together seeking more of God. Most Revivals were not birth out of some great worship service or with thousands of people in the building, but most revivals started with a small group that came together hungry for more of God and willing to do whatever it took to receive Him.
I believe that God is moving in our land, and we are seeing hungry people who desire to see a genuine move of God. God will revive us if we seek Him and become obedient to what He is doing. I find myself saying what David said, “Revive us again, oh Lord.”
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