Revival: Fresh Water in a Dry Land

In this Revival UPGRADE, Dawn reminds us that revival is highly personal before it ever passes to others.

Yesterday (6/20/23), I chatted with a good friend about revival. It’s a topic I’ve always loved. But it’s more than just “a topic.”

God is everywhere-present; but when biblical revival comes, God’s people sense His manifest, holy presence in greater, deeper ways.

I so long for that, but I don’t pray for it enough. I don’t cry out for it, desperate for God to move among us. It’s not even a matter of getting weary in well-doing. To be honest, for me, it’s the problem of not wanting it enough—not being willing to pay the price of earnest, fervent prayer for revival.

The church as a whole needs revival, not more “revival meetings”—though God may choose some godly servants to help bring revival.

I’m convinced our nation needs to see God’s holiness and power in His people once again. It’s already seen enough of hypocrisy and lukewarmness.

We are like dry land, parched in wickedness.

Revival is fresh water—Living Water—coursing through us and enlivening everything again.

When revival comes to our heart, the change in us will be a powerful witness to a watching world.

I remember the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10). The non-believer needs this living water, and the Samaritan woman had only to “ask Him” for it. (She did, and the inhabitants of her village noticed the difference! She had a changed heart.)

Likewise, the Christian needs to ask for a revived heart. More than ask. Cry out for it!

Why? One reason is our witness. As one old saint said, “The world waits for a daily demonstration of the Christ who lives in you.”

But also, the Christian desperately needs the freshness of revival because “Christian living” can grow old and stale. Sins can pile up. Selfishness can creep in. Self-sufficiency (independence from God) can take over.

I once heard something like this:

Let’s stop looking around at the world and others and saying, “Oh my.”

Let’s allow God’s Spirit to search us until we cry in repentance, “OH, ME!”

In other words . . .

• We can’t wait for our brothers and sisters to bow in humility. Revival is personal—we need to hoist our own white flag in surrender to God.
• We can’t wait for others to clean up their act; we need to allow God’s Spirit to sweep our own heart clean.
• We can’t wait for our church to cry out for revival; we need to cry out for it ourselves.

Del Fehsenfeld, Jr., the founder of Life Action Ministries—who first whet my appetite for revival in the church—said it this way:

“Revival, no matter how great or small in its ultimate scope, always begins with individual believers whose hearts are desperate for God, and who are willing to pay the price to meet Him.”

It indeed involves surrender. As Bill McLeod—a pastor whose church experienced revival in the great Canadian Revival in 1971—said, “When I ask the Lord to fill me with His Holy Spirit I am, of course, relinquishing all rights to the control of my life for that day.” I would add, “and every day.”

Revival is a blessing, not the sad, negative experience some make it out to be. God loves us and He is good. He longs to draw us to Himself.

The only sad, negative thing about true revival is coming face to face with the ugliness of our sin.

What joy comes when fresh water is poured over a parched soul, trickling down to the depths of sin and washing it away.

God longs to do that in us. He will do that (Isaiah 44:3). Jesus came for that (John 4:14).

There’s nothing like a Christian’s joy when Christ reigns within. We have the river of life within us. Unlike anything the world offers, Jesus satisfies our thirst with Himself; and as we believe in Him, “rivers of living water will flow from within” (John 7:38)

It’s not about DOING more for God to make us love us more or to bring Him pleasure. It’s not about activity.

It’s about simply BEING with Him and allowing Him to do His work.

The psalmist says, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). God is God and we are not. We cannot imagine what He might do when we seek our Father God for revival.

• Set aside all distractions.
• Bring your restless soul to the throne of God in prayer—cease striving.
• Offer Him your flag of surrender. Come in humility, desiring only His will.
• Confess all known sin—agree with Him that you have sinned (1 John 1:9).
  
• Cry out for revival. Begin (and keep on) crying out in prayer until it comes.
• Proclaim how wondrous God is, and the marvelous salvation He designed.
  

The psalmist continues (46:10), “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” That will be completely true someday; but we can still exalt Him—praise Him, worship Him, obey Him, live sold out lives for Him—today.

And we can best do that with a revived heart.

Here’s the kicker:

It’s not enough to read about revival or listen to messages about it. It’s not enough to acknowledge we need it. It’s not enough to preach and teach and write about it. No. We need to CRY OUT for it.

It’s not just another activity to add to an already busy life. It’s part of our “be-ing” with God.

And yet we are content to let others take on the challenge.

Revivalist Leonard Ravenhill said, “The only reason we don’t have revival is because we are willing to live without it!”

Sad, but true. For the church and for individuals.

So what are we going to do about it? I don’t know about you, but the Holy Spirit is telling me there is nothing more important for me to do today but to begin crying out for revival in my own life.

Are you crying out for revival? Yes? Praise God! No? Will you begin today?

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Today, is a speaker and author, and the creator the blog, Upgrade with Dawn. She is a contracted researcher/reviewer for women’s teacher and revivalist, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth at Revive Our Hearts, and is a regular columnist at Crosswalk.com. She and her husband Bob live in sunny Southern California, and Dawn has traveled with Him in Pacesetter Global Outreach. They have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

Graphic adapted. Original is a photo on Soundscapes’ television music channels.