Following Judah's Lion

The Revival We Need

Is.44:3 - I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.

Is.64:1 - Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down...

The western church is in desperate need of a sweeping revival that will transform us at the very core. Have we not been entrapped by the hedonism of our culture, and are we not lethargic on many levels concerning Christ and His glorious gospel? Do we not spend more time feeding our dogs than in the prayer closet and does our concern center more on who will win the Super Bowl than on who will win the lost? Isn’t our Bible study consumed with how God can help me rather than the Person of Christ and His calling on my life? Isn’t the church of Jesus Christ fragmented into many theological groups that measure success in buildings and people rather than the approval of a Holy Lord and His call to a cross bearing discipleship?

Where are the tears for the lost and where is the bold and self sacrificing witness of Jesus Christ that cares neither for the applause of men or the monetary remuneration? Where are the all night prayer vigils waiting and begging God for the only power that can spread the gospel light, His power manifested through us by the Holy Spirit Himself? Why aren’t the church doors open at night burning the midnight oil with believers on their faces, repenting and beseeching God to empty us and fill us with the Holy Spirit so we may minister to a lost world with the power of Christ? Why do souls die and we sleep?

We metaphorically resemble the tribe of Judah, still mouthing the things of God but continuing to be carried away into Babylon. And now fully entrenched in Babylon, enamored by its glitz and glitter, and having made friends with the world, we are deaf to the beckoning of the Spirit crying for us to return unto Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple and the walls. We are like Samson, we do not even realize that our power is now gone because we are Spiritually blind. Can we not beg God as Samson did that God would bring a revival that would transform the church one last time before the Bridegroom returns?

Have we lost the reality of eternity, and do we now just espouse a doctrinal view of hell without the corresponding lifestyle that substantiates that which we claim to believe? And if we believe that prayer is the only piece of omnipotence God has granted us, why do we not cry day and night for anything and everything? Is it because we are content with the machinations and strategies of men and so we have shuffled off the antiquated ideas about intercessory prayer and the ancient stories of God’s power through dramatic revivals? Is there no thirst to see God Himself move through His church in such a way as to render the explanations of men as nothing? Where is the Lord God of Elijah, and where are the movements of the Spirit that have changed whole towns and even affected entire countries in the church age?

Talk is cheap and dialogue plenteous, but the power of Almighty God remains rare. We all are in need of revival, not the kind that advertises the talents of man, but that which calls for God seeking prayer. Is God done with sending His power, is He done with hearing sacrificial prayer? God forbid, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. It does not matter what our Calvinist friends may say about revival not being for today, and it does not matter what the new evangelicals say about revival being no more than a history lesson, the same God that spread revival fires throughout New England in the 1700’s and the 1800’s is the same God that desires to find a crucified people through which to send that same power today. The same God who filled Evan Roberts and set Wales on fire with the Spirit is willing today to duplicate that manifestation of Who He is. The same God who heard the prayers of two old and Godly women and sent revival to the Isle of Lewis in the 1950’s will hear the cry of His people today.

Is there not a cause, and isn’t the majesty of Christ worth seeking His face to use us in an unusual way to bring the salvation that was purchased on Calvary to a world that now lies in the grips of the Evil One? There will be no revival until God’s people see the need and we will never see our condition without a supernatural move of prayer. Not just “polly want a cracker” prayers that focus on our wants, but searching prayer, prayer that begs God to do Spiritual surgery on our innermost beings and transform our desires until they are one with His.

Today’s church has implemented every activity and man made organization in order to keep and attract people into their local assembly, but is no one thirsty for more than that? God promised He would send water to those who are thirsty, but still we seem content without His stream of Spiritual power that not only reaches those outside His body, but transforms the conduits as well. The revival we need must be of such supernatural power that it breaks up the incredible fallow ground that has been allowed to petrify over decades. The world sees a group of people that gather on Sunday morning, only to return to their neighborhoods and fit into a well rounded western lifestyle. They do not see urgency, they do not see the early morning light of prayer, they do not see the late night watches, and they surely do not see a sacrificial life that denies itself the accoutrements of a lifestyle that reveals a love for this present world.

And so we remain, dry and powerless, making technological strides, counting more heads, and yet without a movement of the Spirit that those who are without must confront. Only a remnant of the Babylonian Jews returned to Jerusalem because they had gotten comfortable in the Babylonian culture. They had made friends, they had established businesses, they had raised children that only knew Babylon, and because of these things they could not hear the Spirit’s call for revival. Until we get alone with God, repent of our lethargy, and open our ears we will not hear the call of God to seek His face until He rains His power down upon us.

We continue to live in Babylon and claim we live in Canaan.