What is Revival?

What is Revival?

1 Kings 18:38 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

Ask anyone and they will have their own thoughts, ideas, and beliefs as to what revival is. Ministers have preached countless sermons on what it takes to have revival. There has been a reoccurring question that I have heard for the past decade: “Can God send revival to us again?”

The nation of Israel, under the reign of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, was steeped in Baal worship and in desperate need of a spiritual awakening. However, no country or individual is past being reclaimed by God; it’s often the darkest moments in society when God chooses to send revival.

The polls show only 18% of Americans go to church and 1 in 4 churchgoers haven’t returned since the pandemic. There is a spirit of apathy that has infiltrated our churches. Despite these grim facts, this nation is poised for another Great Awakening.

There must be a zeal that supersedes man’s priorities; a passion that will not cower in the face of opposition. Now more than ever there is an attempt to silence the men and women of God, to be politically correct, to approve of sin. Understand, the fire of God never falls from heaven if Elijah doesn’t obey God and take a stand against wickedness.

We must rebuild the altar of the Lord and then expect God to do the impossible. As if fire from Heaven were not a great enough miracle, Elijah wanted to leave no doubt that the Lord is God. Elijah chose to make an impossible situation even more impossible by wetting the sacrifice and the wood. Can you imagine the looks and scoffs Elijah received? In the eyes of the wicked you always look like a fool - until God shows up.

Elijah prays a simple prayer and fire from Heaven fell and consumed everything. Revival is not attained by fancy words, the perfect sermon, or the fiery evangelist, but by men and women that obey God out of a pure and obedient heart. The church of today needs a fresh encounter with God or the next generation will have no desire to pursue God.

I asked my Sunday school class if they had ever looked up to a man or woman of God and said “I want to be like them.” I watched as one boy in my class adamantly shook his head no. The feeling of failure swept over me, not that they are to idolize me or another man of God, but the fact that I have failed to show them what it means to be on fire for God!

If we give ear to all the statistics that the church is declining, and gaze at the empty pews, we begin to accept survival as our goal. Settling for survival is simply sacrilegious. We may feel like we are outnumbered and outflanked, but the Word of God assures us that nothing is impossible for God.

Revival starts with faith, and with faith comes expectation. Desire the fire, expect the fire, and watch God send the fire!