The Desire for Revival

By Toby Crowder

Mitchell County

Psalm 85:6 “Wilt thou not revive us again: that they people may rejoice in thee?”

“What would need to take place for the Church to experience revival today?” is a question that every Christian should prayerfully consider. The answer to this question cannot be found in man and must be found in Scripture. I believe that revival will not be found in a preacher, a church, a best-selling book, or a movement. It seems that we, as Christians and church members, have equated “revival” with a series of meetings. We acquaint it with a temporary thing that we do when time permits, and we pray that God blesses our efforts. If this is our mindset, I fear that we do not have an accurate picture of revival at all. Revival should be viewed as a time of brokenness before God when we become sincere about the gravity of our sin and our standing before the holiness of God.

As with many other issues in life, I personally believe that God is more willing to bless than we are to receive, and He wants His people to experience and have true revival. There are many places in Scripture where we see God beckoning His people to come to Him and we are made to realize that the invitation is open to us. Many of us are familiar with the call of 2 Chron 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” What is needed for revival in our land today, is for the church to commit verses like this to their heart, and not only to their memory. There must be an action that accompanies this desire and plea for revival. Instead of thinking about humility, we need to humble ourselves. Instead of thinking about prayer, we need to pray. Instead of suggesting a seeking and turning to Him, God’s people need to repent of their sins!

Before any of these things can happen, I believe that there must be a sincere desire to see God move in our lives and our churches. This desire for revival must be on His terms and not our own. We must look for God to bring revival HIS way and not ours, yet the desire for revival must be real and sincere. I see this in the words of the Psalmist in chapter 42 of the Psalms. While not addressing revival specifically, the writer cries out for the presence of the Lord in verses 1-2: “As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”

This thought describes for us a picture of great thirst, yet the image goes deeper than we first realize. The image that comes to mind is of a young female deer in pursuit. She is being followed by a dog or a predator, and she is running for fear of her life. If she stops to drink, she will surely die and so she must continue until the thirst is unbearable and she is panting and bursting for a life-sustaining drink. This is a very vivid picture to me of the type of desire that we must have for God before He will see our sincerity and shed revival abroad in our hearts. When we come to Him, and recognize His majesty and holiness, as well as our sin, we can only be humbled and broken by the comparison. I believe that this is the brokenness that God is looking for and that He will honor it with a revival of His presence among His people. This Psalmist was withering away while desiring the presence of God and cried out for God to hear!

This kind of desire for God will override all other desires that we may have. The desire for rest, leisure, popularity, comfort, and material things will subside when our spirit and soul thirst for the presence of the Almighty! Are we willing to unite our hearts in prayer, for a true God-sent revival?

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Toby Crowder serves as Pastor of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Spruce Pine. He and his wife Leslie have been married for almost 30 years and have two daughters, Emilee, and Katy. Feel free to contact him at MCfamilyforChrist.org or mtcarmelsprucepine@gmail.com

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Read more from Toby Crowder here.