It seems to me that it is almost a thing of the past for churches today to conduct revivals any more. When I was in my youth revivals were much more common than today and seeing a tent setup on the outskirts of town with signs extolling the evangelist that would be preaching that night was a normal occurrence. When I was just a youngster my parents forced me to go to a couple of these services which would occur every night and often go on for hours with many public professions of faith. At the time I was more interested in flirting with any girls that may have attended and in the absence of that, in escaping that tent service, instead of turning my soul over to God, but had I paid attention I would have been mightily blessed as so many others were blessed.
What is a revival anyway? In Latin “Vive” means, “to have life”; and “Re” means, “again”, thus revive means, “To have life again”. Revivals are conducted in an effort get Christians to turn back to God and thus to live again and rejoice in the Lord. It is primarily a reawakening of faith; however a by-product is reaching non-Christians for the Lord, (provided they are listening and not flirting with girls).
I am of the opinion that we, (Christians), are all but asleep at the wheel in the United States and need a spiritual awakening and a revival. What we need is vigor and not quiescence, but how do we achieve it? The Bible is clear that revival has its origin in God, but as with every opportunity to serve Him we must do our parts. Throughout the Bible various patriarchs prayed for revival for their nation often with great success, and we should do likewise.
If you, like me, love our great country but do not like the direction it is heading, then you should pray for revival. Pray that our great country and Americans in mass will humble ourselves and return to God. Every time revival has occurred in the Bible, the Lord has blessed the nation mightily. Conversely nations that have abandoned the Lord have been abandoned. Consider the most vivid example of this the Jews. These are God’s “chosen people” and God has blessed them mightily every time there was a spiritual awakening; however when they disobeyed Him and turned from Him, He turned His back on them and left them on their own. The Jews have suffered greatly to this day including worldwide persecution and a Holocaust because they have stubbornly refused to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and turn back to God.
I believe America has been blessed as no other nation aside from the Jews during the period that God led them into the Holy land after their forty years of purification and wandering through the desert. I believe He has blessed America and its people because our great country was founded by our wise forefathers as “one nation under God” a Christian nation. There is a real and present danger for this country and it is not hiding in a cave in Afghanistan or behind a terrorist’s mask. It is when a nation turns its back on God that a nation faces destruction and we need to understand that. Keep in mind that if God will turn His back on His chosen people, the Jews, because they have turned away from Him, He will surely do so with our largely Gentile nation.
We desperately need to pray for revival, a spiritual awakening and a turning back to God as a nation and individually. Don’t look at it like you are largely ineffectual as a singular person. Revival often started with one person; Martin Luther comes to mind to prove that point. Please offer a prayer at your desk or wherever you are that God will revive Americans as never before; and when you vote again, keep this WFTD in mind will you? Who will best steer our great country back towards “one nation under God”? That person is the one that I want for my leader
Psalms 85:6
Will You revive us again,
That Your people may rejoice
in You?