As we looked at in the last blog post, revival is a personal matter. I hope that you have decided to seek and strive for a revival in your personal life. If you have made that decision, I want to give you three charges that you must now realize about revival in order to pursue that revival.
1) It takes Desire
I truly believe that the main reason Revival does not happen in our churches and across this country is because Christian do not actually think it’s possible anymore. They believe the days of great movements of God are behind us, never to be seen again. In Mark 9:23 Jesus plainly and boldly stated, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” He is talking to a man whose son had been possessed by a devil for quite some time. When the man asked if Jesus would help – after the disciples were unable to – Jesus said that the key was belief. I believe this can apply to revival also. Think of the story of the death and resurrection of Lazarus. Mary and Martha had sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick. As Jesus tarried, Lazarus passed away. When Jesus finally arrived at Bethany, He met by a distraught Martha who asked why He had delayed His coming. She knew that Jesus was able to heal Lazarus, but seemed ignorant of the fact that He could also revive Lazarus. John 11:40 states, “Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” Jesus asks Martha of the conversation between them when He first arrived. I want you to notice this phrase “if thou wouldest believe.” Could Jesus heal Lazarus with or without Martha’s belief? Of course He could! But it does seem from this statement that He wanted her to believe before He would raise her brother. I honestly think that between verse 40 and verse 43, Martha had a change of heart…that she truly believed that she would see her brother again on earth.
Perhaps that’s what Jesus wants from us; a belief that He can send revival in our lives, our churches, and our country, before He sends revival. Mary and Martha were looking for a physical revival in their lives, and we likewise should be looking for a spiritual revival to sweep across first our own hearts, then our churches, then our city and county, then our state, and then our country.
Ask yourself, “Do I truly and earnestly desire to see revival?” If you can answer “Yes” then you are on the right path. You have taken the first step in the right direction. If you cannot honestly answer “Yes”, then perhaps you need to ask God to create a desire in your heart to see revival first in your own heart!
2) It takes Dedication
Many Christians do not have any dedication when it comes to the things of God. They neglect their Bible Reading, brush off the necessity of Prayer, and mock when a Pastor suggests they should be faithful to church. I don’t want to sound harsh, but I must state this clearly; if you are unwilling to be dedicated to the things of God, then you will not see revival, and if a revival does come, you will miss it and say it’s not a “true” revival! This is the problem with contemporary Christianity. In an attempt to get away from the “old fashioned” things, they loose a grip on the requirements God puts on revival. Then when a small revival comes to the lives of these “old fashioned” Christians, they write it off as just a “show” of what used to be.
To see a true, personal (and perhaps widespread) revival, a certain dedication to God’s Word, God’s ways, and God’s work must be had!
3) It takes Determination
Once you’ve developed a desire for revival and a dedication to the things of God, you must then realize that seeing revival is going to take some determination. This generation of Christians has become very lazy. When we do something for two days without our desired result, we decide that God wants something different or we change our minds as to what we should do.
However, many times, God wants us to prove our dedication by making us show some determination!
Let me encourage you, stick with it. Get some determination for the things of God. The saying goes, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” I can assure you – not everything is going to fall into place exactly how you plan when it comes to revival. But, in the same breath I can say – turning from your dedication to your Bible, your Prayer life, and your faithfulness to church is not the next step to see revival in your life.
Our lives, our churches, our communities, our country, and the world all need to see revival. It starts with us – you and me personally seeking it in our lives. I pray that we can develop a desire, a dedication, and some determination in our lives in order To See Revival in the time that remains!
SamGeckler.com 