Psalm 80:18 states, “Revive us, and we will call on your name. Restore us, O’ Lord God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.” The Old Testament songwriter prayed for revival to occur. Psalm 85:6 reads, “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?”
We read in Isaiah 57:15, “For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I will dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” God promised to “revive the spirit” and to “revive the heart.” Without question it is God’s desire to revive His people, and it ought to be the burden of God’s people to be revived.
Notice that in Psalm 80:18 & 85:6, that the writer uses the pronoun “us.” These were cries for God to revive His people. We cannot program revival, however, we can place ourselves in the position for God to do the work He desires to do in and through us. As God’s people intentionally come together to worship and seek Him, we place ourselves in His presence, to worship Him and to hear from His messenger the Word that we need to hear.
Revival is a renewed, radical commitment to Jesus Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit. True revival will result in dynamic evangelism, conversions, worship, purity, joy, fellowship, obedience, peace, fulfillment, and devotion in the life of the believer. Revival seldom occurs in the life of a Christian without an intentional positioning and confrontation. More times than not, those times of confrontation come through what we traditionally call revival services.
As you come each evening, Sunday through Wednesday, consider gathering with others to pray, rather than visit and talk, and ask God to move mightily in all of our hearts.
God’s people at Hillcrest stand in need of a genuine revival.