Revival

One summer while in graduate school I was volunteering one weekend a month in Nashville, Tennessee as a chaplain. A few times I would take the back roads to bypass heavy traffic or construction, and I would pass a number of churches along the way. Invariably one of these churches would be having a revival, at least according to the sign in front of the church, and then the next time I passed by another church was having revival.

As a young boy, I remember our churches having revivals, which were essentially a full week of services each evening by a special speaker brought in from out of town. Yes, there were some people revived, there is no question about that. To say there was full blown revival, however, was not necessarily the case.

It struck me driving past the Tennessee churches that very little was different about them after the revival was over – the parking lot was just as full or empty, large crowds were not thronging to the door, and other churches in the area seemed unaffected. These churches are not alone. It strikes that churches schedule revivals, but afterwards having little to show for it.

In one particular revival in a church where my father was the minister, I can remember the speaker eating breakfast with us, and then spending almost all day hidden in a small room in the basement of the church. I peeked in on him once, and he was on his knees praying out loud. He was laying a foundation for revival, and the image struck me and stuck with me all these years.

In his book the Power of Prayer, R.A. Torrey notes that the major revivals in the late 1800s and early 1900s in the U.S., England, Ireland, Australia and elsewhere were the product only of prayer. In some cases, he remarked that preachers got up to preach and nothing happened, so the services were closed and everyone went back to praying.

As a seminary student ministering in a small church, I would spend the better part of one day a week at the church, either in the sanctuary or in the church study praying and allowing the Holy Spirit to bring to my mind the needs of the individual people and of the messages they needed to hear. The church grew by 20%. In my next church, once it became clear that there were some deep-seated but well hidden conflicts, I dedicated an hour around dawn one day a week to pray while walking through the pews of the entire sanctuary. Over time, I began to sense that there were problems with a few individuals and began praying vigorously for them. When it came time for me to move on, I was disappointed that I did not see the results of my prayers. A few months later, I received a phone call from the minister who informed me that two of the people who came to my mind in those times of prayer confessed their sins and rededicated their lives to Christ.

Oh how I would love to see revival, but all too often we hold revival meetings without any particular results to show for them. R.A. Torrey often called these tarrying meetings, and I believe his terminology is correct. Why are we tarrying? Are we tarrying for something in particular or are we tarrying because that’s the right thing to do?

When I think of revival, the image of a fire that has gone out comes to my mind. If enough hot coals remain, even a little of the right firewood will create a new flame. Too often, though, all that remains are a few embers, not enough on their own to start a new flame. Scheduling revival meetings is like throwing logs on a few embers — the embers alone will not create enough heat to burn the log. To bring back a flame, a fresh wind is needed. Even with a few embers, new flames can burst forth, but only with fresh wind, an abundance of new oxygen. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. As a few embers on a windy day can spark a raging forest fire, so the Holy Spirit’s influence on a few people in a dying church can win a whole town for Christ.

If only the Holy Spirit would come more often, we would have more revivals. Recently, I began studying the Holy Spirit in greater depth, and was immediately convicted in my heart when I read a book by R.A. Torrey and reached the part where he wrote that even a small sin harbored in my heart will prevent the Holy Spirit from moving in my life. Torrey went on to write that as we spend more time with God, He will reveal to us those areas in our lives that need attention.

If I can bring any kind of fresh message about sin, sanctification and transformation into the likeness of Jesus Christ, it is this. Our sin is comfortable. We know what life is like in sin. Life may not always be pleasant, but we know what to expect. Letting go of our sin is difficult because one of the first questions that comes to mind is how will we get along without the crutch? This is the trap of addiction, and it is our first evidence of the bondage that sin drags us into. Unfortunately, it acts like a pile of leaves thrown on a few smoldering embers. The leaves never burn but only release smoke into the air. The smoke gives the appearance that there is a substantial fire, however, on closer inspection there is no real fire burning.

Letting go of our sin is also difficult because it means surrendering to God, and this is scary. What will God call us into? Will life be boring without our sin? What about our former friends? What about the time we spent during the week engaging in our sin? What will people think about us? Will God call me to be a foreign missionary?

Sin is bondage, and bondage smothers. In sin we have no opportunity to develop into the person God wants us to be. There is no opportunity to do great things for God. Surrendering our sin (and our hurts or pain) to God creates opportunity. God is love, and love works only in our best interests. It creates opportunity for God to use us in a way that is meaningful not only for Him but for us as well. It releases all of our creative energy and brings fulfillment.

Do you want revival? Then get close to God. And when God begins showing you things you would rather not look at or unearth, that is the time to start dealing with them. Surrender those things to God. After awhile, you will begin to feel the wind of the Holy Spirit blowing across your ember. And not long after that, new flame will burst forth, and you will not able to contain yourself. Revival has begun, and if you continue on this pathway, it is only a matter of time until you spark revivals in those people who are closest to you. This is how true revival comes.