WHAT IS SPIRITUAL REVIVAL?
By Ezekiel Kimosop
INTRODUCTION
This is perhaps the million dollar question for every child of God and for every communion of people who place their hope in Christ.
There is absolutely no time that our quest for revival should be greater than in our day. What with a world in which wickedness and spiritual rebellion reigns galore?
We daily need the kind of spiritual revival that drives us to hunger more for God and for a deeper fellowship with Him who first loved us.
So what is spiritual revival? There are perhaps as many answers to this question as there are people.
Revival is certainly not about emotional excitement or ecstacy; it is not about speaking in strange tongues as some claim, or dreaming dreams or seeing great visions unfold... neither is it about material increase or prosperity.
The Bible is the only reliable source for understanding the mind of God regarding this question.
Several passages of Scripture demonstrate God's terms for a true revival. This article is dedicated to exposing the biblical principles of biblical revival that can be identified in the passages of 2 Chronicles 7:14-16.
This passage appears to answer this question in part. It contains God's prescription for the return of God's covenant people to obedience. Revival is about returning to God in truth and seeking to worship and serve Him.
Here is the message:
"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually."
Three pillars of revival that can be identified in this passage:
HUMILITY AND SUBMISSION TO GOD'S WILL
First, is humility, perhaps a prerequisite for the other two pillars. A person who walks in humility recognizes that they are living under God's grace and mercy and that they are accountable to God for their thoughts and actions.
They submit to God's sovereign will and will readily acknowledge their sinfulness and disobedience without disputings. They will not explain away their indiscretions but will express brokenness and remorse for their disobedience.
David was remorseful for his sins of adultery and murder. He deserved death. His brokenness however touchedthe heart of God and he was spared by God (Psalm 51:10-17).
PRAYER FROM BROKEN HEARTS
Prayer is the second pillar in 2 Chronicles 7:14. This scripture speaks of the prayer that is focused on restoring a broken relationship with God.
What kind of prayer stands out a person as revived?
It is the prayer of brokenness; an acknowledgement that one has departed from the ways of God and is undeserving of God's grace.
This may be similar in some aspects to the so called "sinner's prayer" by which a person is led to Christ. It is however far different in dimension and context.
The prayer of brokenness can be identified in Nehemiah 1:5-11 and in Daniel 9:1-19.
Notice the correlation between Nehemiah 1:5 and Daniel 9:5-12. Nehemiah and Daniel acknowledged the sinfulness of their people and pleaded on their behalf for God's mercy. The two were exercising a priestly obligation for their people.
Notice also that both men considered themselves as part and parcel of their sinful society. They were no less sinful than the people on whose behalf they stood in prayer.
The prayer of a revived heart is a "no-holds-barred" outpouring of one's heart which is smitten before God. This is the prayer that drives us to reconciliation, restoration, renewal and devotion to God. It is a powerful reminder of how far we had walked away from our Master.
TURNING FROM OUR WICKED WAYS
God gave specific conditions for His response to the people whenever they turned from their sinfulness and disobedience and returned to Him in truth.
We have examined two of these, namely, humility and prayer.
The final pillar of revival is the act of turning away from or forsaking our wicked ways. This demonstrates a change of heart and mind. It marks a new direction in which God's leading shapes our thoughts and actions, going forward.
Someone may say that a believer cannot be possessed of wickedness because his sins have been nailed to the cross.
That claim is providentially true. However, the odds stand against us. We live in a sinful and wicked world and scripture reveals that we are not perfect and that we are never without sin (1 John 1:8-10).
Our eternal security in Christ is however not in doubt (Ephesians 4:30). However our fellowship with God can be ruined by our disobedience and stiffneckedness when our devotion to Christ wanes or is lost!
This is the reason that Scripture speaks of our chastisement as sons of God (Hebrews 12:3-11). God may permit some afflictions to cause us to discover the narrow path (James 1:2-4).
CONCLUSION
So what is spiritual revival?
My concluding view is that spiritual revival is the divine impact in the souls of God's people that results in more consciousness of God's presence with us; more yearning for His word and greater obedience in walking in spiritual and moral truth.
True revival impacts not only our mindsets or worldview but our devotion to Christ as well. It reengineers the order of our priorities so that the things of God are uppermost in our lives.
It results in the restoration of our fellowship and intimacy with Christ and with God and a greater discernment of the leading of the Holy Spirit.
John 15:7 says "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."
True revival cultivates a deeper sense of our consciousness of Christ's working within us, and the mission of His works through us.
It results in the celebration of God's grace and the mystery of the finished works of the cross.
Simply put, revival causes us to tremble at the voice of God.
Isaiah 66:1-2 says:
"Thus says the Lord:
“Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
2 For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,”
Says the Lord.
“But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at my word."
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