If you’re like us, you’ve been thrilled about the reports coming out of Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. It warms your heart to hear of revival breaking out among students as they held continual prayer and worship services for days on end. But as others hopped on planes or drove hours upon hours to experience this event for themselves, maybe you feel left out. The good news is that revival isn’t limited to people in a specific geographic location for a limited period of time. Revival can happen in your life today, too.
RECOGNIZE YOUR NEED FOR REVIVAL
According to A. W. Tozer, the very first step in personal revival is to “get thoroughly dissatisfied with yourself.” If we want revival in our lives, we can’t keep doing the same thing we’ve been doing, going through the motions of our faith, expecting God to do something different. However, when we see our sin as God does, our complacency transforms into hatred. We suddenly recognize what’s keeping us from experiencing the fullness of a life committed to Christ:
It’s us.
To experience revival and the best parts of knowing God, we must take a long uncomfortable look at the worst parts of ourselves. Fortunately, the mourning in the face of our own sin doesn’t last forever. But it’s got to start there so revival can follow.
HUMBLE YOURSELF AND REPENT
For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
As we see in Isaiah and at Asbury, reviving of hearts comes with humility, confession of our sin, and repentance. If we want God to do something new and amazing in our lives, doesn’t it make sense for us to be in a right relationship with Him? Set Him in the proper place of authority in your heart and set aside the sin that so easily entangles. Submit to the Lord, let Him mold you as a potter does the clay, and then become a vessel He can use.
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
SPEND TIME IN PRAYER
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
After confession and repentance, prayer is absolutely vital for revival. When a righteous person spends regular time in prayer, giving thanks, making requests of the Lord and submitting to His will, “wonderful results” always happen. Incredible things won’t only be hoped for, but can be fully expected. E. M. Bounds beautifully describes the impact of a life spent in prayer:
The men and women who have most fully illustrated Christ in their character and have most powerfully affected the world for Him, have been those who have spent so much time with Him as to make it a notable feature of their lives. Over a period of time they come to the place where they become like Him and, consequently, they reflect His Glory. To be little with God is to be little for God. To be much with God is to be much for God.
BE DEVOTED TO THE WORD
The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
In the Psalms, King David understands the need for revival. He sees a nation that needs it and he would need it in his own life, too. But David also knows that the only place he can get that refreshing of the soul followed by wisdom and joy was the Law. Today, we’ve got a lot more than the first five books of the Law. We’ve got an entire Bible that reveals God’s character and the kind of holy lives He desires for His people.
Don’t leave such a gift to gather dust on your side table. Open it. Study it. Continue to glean nuggets of truth to further refine and revive your heart.
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WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH OUR REVIVAL? SPREAD IT
If the events at Asbury were to stay only within those old chapel walls, then realistically, it would be nothing more than a pretty cool extended worship service. To make a real difference, that adoration of the Lord needs to spread. Not just to other locations around Wilmore or the nation, but to other individuals who’ve never known the love of God before. The gospel needs to be shared.
Our own Craig Thomas said it best:
Fire that doesn’t spread is quickly extinguished.
Don’t keep the revival the Lord brings to your life to yourself. The good news is meant to be shared.
DO YOU NEED REVIVAL?
Do want to experience revival in your own life? Let us know in the comments!
Or do you need to know God in the first place? Find out more here.
