What Might Revival Look Like?

Since the moment God took hold of my whole heart when I was seventeen I have maintained an interest in the subject of Revival.  This was partly because I had grown up in a church where I had been taught the gospel faithfully in Sunday School but where, it seemed to me, there was no real experience of the presence or power of God within the church.  The minister of the church was a good man but was being careful what he preached as he didn’t want to split the congregation.  For me, as a critical teenager, the church seemed pretty dead.  Together with some other Christian young people we decided to do something about this and started a weekly prayer meeting for revival.

Over the following few months the church changed radically.  Many of the teenagers who attended youth club made commitments to Christ.  The weekly church prayer meeting attendance grew and there was new passion in the prayers.  The minister and deacons experienced an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  There was new life in the church services.  God heard and answered prayer.

Our prayers at this time were based upon Habakkuk 3:2

“O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known;
in wrath remember mercy.” (KJV)

Contemporary translations tend not to use the word “revive” but speak of God repeating his deeds.  The only other explicit references to national/spiritual revival in the Bible are in Psalm 80:18 and Psalm 85:6.  God describes himself as a reviver in Isaiah 57:15.

While there have been numerous localised revival experiences the UK experienced two major regional revivals during the 20^th century.  One of these affected people in south Wales and the other affected people in the Hebrides. Both had wide reaching affect upon the spiritual and social life of the areas.  In Wales crime seemed to disappear and the pit ponies were confused when the men working them treated them with kindness!

As a young man I read avidly anything I could find on revival.  Significant among this were the writings of Charles Finney and reports of his meetings in the USA. In his Lecture II “When a revival is to be expected” he includes a section on “When a Revival of Religion is Needed”. Here he lists seven situations including where there is a lack of brotherly love and Christian confidence, where there are jealousies and dissensions, where there is a worldly spirit in the Church, where there is gross or scandalous sin among church members, where there is a spirit of controversy, where the Church is mocked, and where people in society are careless about sin.  I guess this could be summed up by saying when things within the churches are not what they could and should be and our impact upon society is weak.

Revival is not about some ‘new thing’.  It is about the recovery of the way things should be.  Recently I have been unwell having succumbed to a virus that impaired my breathing and speaking, gave me pains and sore throats, and left me feeling bereft of energy.  Now my health is slowly reviving – getting back to normal. While for several weeks I have been acutely aware of the need for my health to revive, I suspect that the spiritual malaise which afflicts so many churches all too easily becomes accepted as the norm.

“Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?“ (Psalm 85:6)

Revival brings a renewal of passion. But that is not mere emotionalism. It is a passion for all that God longs to bring into our lives.  It is a passion for prayer and the reading of scripture.  It is a passion for sharing the gospel and seeing men, women and children put their trust in Jesus.  It is a passion for the coming in of the kingdom of God within the world as it is today.

Jesus promised the presence of God in a new way.  This involves the Holy Spirit within us.  That is within ordinary believers: male and female, young and old, rich or poor. The New Testament reveals the importance of this experience of the Holy Spirit so that we might live holy lives and be effective witnesses to the gospel.  While the early Church was never perfect (or at least not for long) it is revealed as a Church with real and deep experience of the Holy Spirit possessing God’s people.  This is the norm against which we should measure our own experiences.  But we do well to note that it carries a cost.

Revival is most definitely a need today.  It is not so much about how much of the Holy Spirit we possess as how much of us he possesses.  Revival usually seems to start when a few men and women become dissatisfied with the status quo and realise that things could be better.  One person burning with a love for Jesus can catch others on fire. Oh, that it might be me… or you.

From the Diary:

For almost all this month so far I have been unwell with a chest infection and other viral problems.  Consequently there is little to report.  My colleague, Monica Cook has also been unwell and I commend her to your prayers.

The Week of Prayer at Yelvertoft, Crick and Lilbourne was a great success.  Some information is available on the Yelvertoft website and will be updated further.

We are holding a series of Lent Meetings on the theme “Faith through Other Eyes”.  More details here.  The first one starts this Thursday morning.

Because of the health complication I have deferred the online seminar on tailoring mission strategies for rural churches.  Please watch out for information.

We value your prayers for “Get Messy in Yelvertoft” which is a form of Messy Church.  We meet again this Saturday 21^st February in the morning.  Please pray for numerical growth.

Sunday 22^nd February I will be speaking about “Holiday at Home” at the Parish Church in Great Bowden, Leics.  H@H is a wonderful mission programme but we need additional involvement from local churches in the Market Harborough area.  Please pray as I seek to share the vision.

Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer.  Please drop us a line.

Barry