Pray for revival! We need revival! We hear this many times in Christian assemblies. Many people feel a need for their faith to be renewed and for the Holy Spirit to do a work in them.
Revivals, or spiritual awakenings, are very important for Christians. They are started by God Himself and they turn our hearts and minds back to Him. Revivals bring life and energy. God’s Holy Spirit is very active during a revival and, when taken seriously, a revival can achieve a lot.
Revivals that lose power
But we see that most religious revivals die down after a time. They begin full of power, but after some time they all die down, and then another revival is necessary.
One of the biggest religious revivals was in Europe and America in the 18th century and lasted about 20 years before dying off. During this “Great Awakening” as it was called, thousands sought a personal relationship with God. A second and third “Great Awakening” took place during the 19th and 20th centuries but also died away after a time.
But why is that? If revivals are started by God, why do they stop?
Do you walk in the Spirit?
One of the most important things we can see during a Christian revival is the presence of the Holy Spirit. During a true spiritual revival, the Holy Spirit speaks powerfully, and drives us to action in our Christian lives. The working of the Holy Spirit during a revival is usually so strong that people are deeply moved, both spiritually and emotionally.
Unfortunately, there can be a great danger in such a time if we just want to enjoy these excited emotions without listening to what the Spirit is actually speaking.
Paul writes, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Galatians 5:24-25 (ESV). It isn’t enough for us to “live by the Spirit” and enjoy the feelings and emotions that usually come with a revival. We also need to be obedient to what the Spirit works in our hearts, mainly (as the Bible puts it) that we crucify our flesh, which is our sinful human nature, with its passions and desires.
This means that we say No to ourselves and give up our own will, passions and desires so that God’s will can be done in our lives. We make a conscious decision to do God’s will in every situation, even when it means that we can’t do what we want. This is walking in the Spirit: that we are obedient to God’s Word and will in our lives, to let the Spirit control our lives and follow the leading of the Spirit in every part of our lives.
Many people only come to the forgiveness of the sins they have done, but they never start living in obedience to God and His Word, they never start “walking in the Spirit”. Then the Spirit will withdraw from their life and the revival will stop. How can we expect God’s Spirit to continue working powerfully in us, if we are not obedient to Him?
Personal revival
It isn’t God’s intention that a Christian revival should stop. He wants us to have a personal revival every day in our heart. “So we do not give up. Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16 (NCV).
Revival is kept alive by walking in the Spirit, by being obedient to God’s Word, and by fighting against our self-will, which is the same as the sin in our human nature, until the sin bit by bit “dies”. (Hebrews 12:4.) If we are obedient to God’s Word and Spirit in our daily life, it is clear that revival will never come to a stop in our lives!
This doesn’t mean that we will always have the same feelings and emotions that often go with an outward revival. But it does mean that we can be awake for God’s will each day. Instead of becoming “slow to hear” to what the Spirit is working (Hebrews 5:11), the Spirit gives us a desire to do God’s will every day, and we are quick to do God’s good and perfect will.