05/20/2026
When we say the word revival, as it pertains to our Christian faith, what comes to our minds? Do we imagine tent meetings that run late into the night? Is it a guest Pastor who preaches fire and brimstone to us, or as he directs the Church towards some new endeavor? Is it the return of calm to our chaotic world? No, although we might experience a sense of revival in these things, revival is actually the reawakening of the divine within our souls, our churches, and the world... it is the reinvigoration of our faith through the Holy Spirit, God’s presence, and the gospel Jesus Christ as He is served to us upon God’s table as living water, Holy blood, and His broken body.
“Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?”
Psalms 85:6 ESV
Revival can come in bold fashion to large groups of people, such as nations, cities, or churches, and these are the most celebrated and remembered, but more often, revival comes to an individual, and is apparent to others by a changed life... or a recaptured holiness that is realized in prayer. Someone’s efforts being invigorated in the church might be a sign, but this is not necessarily revival... revival is a renewal or reinvigoration of our faith in Jesus Christ, and a fresh instilling of God’s divinity. All the other things come as a result.
“Most would prefer to have a revival as the result of their programs and efforts. God’s way is the opposite. Out of death, acknowledged as the wage of sin, and confession of utter helplessness, God revives.” – Pastor Andrew Murray
We look around ourselves, and even into ourselves, and find sin. We see hopelessness and chaos in the form of personal iniquity, the stagnation of God’s Church, nations doing ungodly things to their citizens, and even such things as citizens perpetuating mass shootings, murder, and debauchery upon one another. In confronting these things, we are inclined to ask ourselves how we can fix them, and we develop plans, and institute new laws... but they all fall short. Churches begin to hold meetings and come together in what is advertised as revival, but this too fails. It is hard for the sick to heal themselves; it is hard for a falling person to catch themselves. Only God can do these things.
Revival comes from God, and it begins with His response to confession, and prayer. When revival comes to us there is nothing we as people can do to stop it, just as there is nothing we can do to make it happen. In our reading from Psalm 85 we heard the plea for revival... not the institution of one. Are we ready to make that same plea today? Are we ready to go to our prayer closets and lift up that heartfelt cry to God as individuals, churches, nations, and the world as we plead for revival?
The righteous prayers of one man can bring revival to his soul through the merciful answer of God, and the ripple of that one divine response can change an entire family, then a church, a community, a city, a nation, and eventually the world, but all of this comes at the hand of God. We have seen great movements in faith, and often attribute them to a man... Luther, Calvin, Johnny Graham, and the like, but no man reforms, or institutes change in the church without the divine hand of God being placed upon him, just like no soul can save itself. Naming great revivals and reformation after men is convenient as we record human history, but it is a travesty to faith.
“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 ESV
As a child, I loved to stand dominoes on the floor in a line so that I could topple one and it would begin a chain reaction that would eventually cause them all to fall... one falling into the next. We would like to think that revival is like this, and to a degree it is, but God controls the process, and at any moment he can place his finger atop a domino and say “Stop”… Just as he pushed one over and said “Start!” He has a purpose, a will for us, and revival is a manifestation of His will. Should revival ever be claimed by man then it is false; it is given to mankind, but by and for the glory of God alone. Are we pitching a tent and calling it a revival to serve our own purposes, or has God initiated a revival that requires us to erect a tent to house an explosion of the Holy Spirit that has overflowed our church? Search your soul for that answer, and then pray in earnest for the return of revival.
God’s purpose in revival is to reinvigorate our souls by filling them with His divine nature, His Holy Spirit, and a renewed faith in Jesus. When this happens, the other things come… like peace, tranquility, and yes, even tents. All of these being byproducts of what God sets in motion. How are we praying for revival? Are we asking for God to change and renew us and those larger entities, like churches and countries, for His glory... or are we praying for something more personal and worldly? Are we praying for God to bring revival or something else?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for revival, and for drawing us closer to you by your presence in our lives. I pray Holy Father that you never let us confuse our need for your rescue with our need to feel a reinvigoration of faith in you by your divine renewal of our relationship with you. Help each of us to seek you in prayer, and to listen for your voice as you call for revival in our hearts, and lives. Holy Father, our churches, cities, and countries are a mess because we, your people, have lost our personal relationship with you that brings your peace and joy into our daily lives. I pray Merciful Father that you revive our individual relationships with you, and by so doing, the faithfulness of your Church. In this way Gracious Father, let all the other things of a godly existence fall into place. My prayer this morningLord is for your revival to begin anew in my heart and soul, and that you hear this same plea being prayed by many others as they cry out together for your presence. When your revival comes to one, then two, then seventy, then more... our world will be changed, and your glory will shine brightly within its midst. Come Holy Father, come Lord Jesus. Let Revival and the Return of your presence thrill our hearts and quicken our souls in faith. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God, my Father, in whom I desire the revival of your Divine Spirit, and the outpouring of your grace and our forgiveness through Christ.
“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,”
Acts 3:19-20 ESV
Rich Forbes