Revival
“LORD, I have heard the report about You and I fear. O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.” Habakkuk 3:2
The “Jesus Movement” of the late 60’s and 70’s was the last true national revival our nation has seen, and many senior pastors leading congregations today were products of, or a witness to, that revival. For those of us born in the late 70’s and beyond, we’re yet to see and experience a true revival, and I wonder if God is looking to move once again in this generation for all to see. Pastor Bill Elliff led a teaching series on Habakkuk 3 where he defined revival as a ‘necessary, extraordinary’ move of God, and I think we would all agree that our nation is now at a point of absolute necessity. I’ve wondered, though, if we’ve gone too far and turned our backs on God for too long, and He’s turned away as He’s now focused on doing extraordinary work in both Israel and some of the most persecuted places on earth. I’ve heard reports that there’s a great repopulation of Israel from Jews all over the world as Israel’s wealth, technology and stability draws the Jews back, and at the same time, there’s an extraordinary move of God for His glory in places like Iran, which is currently Israel’s greatest existential threat. Consider the verse in Romans 11 of ‘provoking the Jews to jealousy’. Can you imagine a greater provocation of the Jewish nation than to watch their Iranian enemies come to faith in Christ, their Messiah that they rejected! It’s been told that those coming to faith are praying fervently for the nation of Israel as God has laid a great love of Israel on their hearts, and many are led to pray fervently “Maranatha!” in longing for the return of Christ. All the while, in America we’re drunk with abundance and praying God bring us another proverbial pillow for our comforts.
I wonder if we’ve gone too far to see any real move of God in these last generations. Have we grieved the Spirit too much with pride and unconfessed sin, and/or quenched the Spirit too much with our church programs and ‘strange fire’? In my own logic, I would say we have, and it’s a shame too because America is the only other nation to establish itself in covenant relationship with God. God chose Israel to be in covenant with Him, but America chose to be in covenant relationship with God as we established ourselves on Judeo Christian values. God blessed us greatly, and we predictably fell victim to the warnings of Deuteronomy 8:13, Hosea 13:6, and others.
Many would suggest the demise started with prayer being removed from schools, and that’s certainly a big deal, but it had to start somewhere else. At first glance, I’d say it started in the homes, because any legislation of government in a democracy is merely the ‘Will of the People’. The traditional family unit is a core strength of a vibrant and unified democracy, and if the family unit discounts it, then the government will too. But digging even further, I wonder if the core catalyst for the moral decline and the lack of the necessity of fervent, specific, continual prayer began in the churches. Prayer seems to have become humanistic in its practice and petitions, and it became unnormalized outside of religious gatherings. Wouldn’t this be perfectly in line with the ‘schemes of the devil’, and wouldn’t it perfectly work in making us helpless against the reality of Ephesians 6:12 that says ‘our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places”. We’re praying for a proverbial pillow of comfort when we should be praying continually with fervency against rulers, powers, world forces of darkness, and spiritual forces of wickedness. It’s clear we’ve been serenaded to sleep by the one who ‘masquerades as an angel of light’, and now prayer is reduced to ‘praying hands’ on social media. We’re all ‘praying’, but not really, and we’re praying amiss at best.
I’m convicted even as a write this. The problem isn’t the government, the schools, the homes, or the churches. It starts with me, and as the prophet Habakkuk says, “LORD, I have heard the report about You and I fear”. By God’s grace and through eyes of faith, I have seen the Lord ‘sitting on a throne, high and lifted up’ as the prophet Isaiah saw, and the only response is ‘woe is me… a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips’ (Isaiah 6). The report I’m currently hearing is not just the extraordinary move of God in Israel and the surrounding ‘enemy’ empires, but also in the hearts of pastors all across our country. There’s a unified burning heart for authentic, fervent, unceasing kingdom focused prayer, and there’s a burning heart in praying for the ‘necessary, extraordinary’ move of God.
Praise God for His steadfast love and mercy for His church, and that He is leading pastors in fervency to call on Him in such a unified way. It seems the church is picking up the pieces it let go of years ago, and God is ready to move. May revival sweep this nation once again in this generation. We’re at a point of necessity, and without revival I see no other hope. As Henry Blackaby shared, “Watch to see where God is working and join Him in His work”. I now see that He’s clearly working in the hearts of pastors all across our nation in a unified way to lead us in fervent, kingdom focused prayer. May we all join Him and pray like the prophet Habakkuk, “O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy”.
Almighty God, this generation longs to experience Your fire. Do what only You can do. Amen
