It’s time to wake upĀ to the need for church revival and spiritual awakening. It’s time to answer the Holy Spirit’s wake up call!
“Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.āĀ Ephesians 5:14
“The Christian world is in aĀ deep sleep. Nothing but aĀ loud voiceĀ can waken them out of it!” George Whitefield, 1739
Think about the potential of a church revival. There were just 120 members of the original church in Acts chapter one, but these believers were calling out to God for his Spirit in a 10-day, non-stop prayer service! God answered their prayers in Acts 2. The Spirit came and their little church exploded from 120 to well over 3,000 in attendance in an instant!
And unlike the early church in Acts 1, we don’t have to pray to receive the Spirit…we already have Him (Ephesians 1:13,14). The question is does He have us? Are we yielding ourselves to him in full surrender? If we were, our churches would be exploding with new disciples! The indwelling Holy Spirit is calling us and giving us His wake-up call! Will we answer that call?
5 Truths We Need for Church Revival
1. Wake up to the power of prayer!
“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers,Ā intercession and thanksgiving be made for all peopleāfor kings and all those in authority,Ā that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godlinessĀ and holiness.Ā This is good, and pleases God our Savior,Ā who wantsĀ all peopleĀ to be savedĀ and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1-4
When prayer becomes the engine, not the caboose, of our ministry efforts then our churches become an unstoppable train that advance the Gospel in unimaginable ways!
To experience this we must learn how to pray with passion, focus and faith. We must pray for the lost. We must pray for each other. We must pray for this nation. We must pray for the world. We must pray that God intervenes to break up the hard soil of unregenerate hearts and send forth seed-chuckers who will spread his message everywhere to everyone!
Let’s wake up to the need to pray!
2. Ā Wake up to the need for holiness!
“‘Everyone who confesses the name of the LordĀ must turn away from wickedness.’Ā In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use.Ā Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”Ā 2 Timothy 2:19-21
God only serves church revival on clean plates, so we must purify our hearts! If there is sin in the camp we need to address it. If there is sin in our lives we need to confess it.
We need to have people in our lives that keep us accountable in these areas so that, together, we can walk in purity. As James 5:16 reminds us, “Therefore confess your sinsĀ to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.Ā The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.“