Revival

I will never forget Your precepts,

For by them You have revived me and given me life. Psalm 119:93 AMP

In today’s Midweek Manna I want to navigate in a different direction, I want to utilize this devotional space for reflection. Last Wednesday and Thursday the St. Paul Chapel Baptist Church where I serve as pastor hosted two nights of revival with Dr. F. Bruce Williams. We were blessed by the worship, word, and warmth of fellowship amongst the body. After taking time to reflect on last week’s encounter I looked up the word revival and found several definitions. Revival[1]- an improvement in the condition or strength of something, a reawakening of religious fervor, especially by means of a series of evangelistic meetings, and a restoration to bodily or mental vigor, to life or consciousness, or to sporting success. Each of these definitions spoke to the heart of what I believe happens when revival occurs. Our condition should become better when reviving encounters take place, the spiritual fervor should be awakened, and restoration should come.

As I reflect upon revival, I’m drawn to wrestle with the question of how do we shift from reconvening to being revived? How do we avoid slipping back to the norm after a reviving encounter? Do we just go back to business as usual? One of the missteps of fully encountering revival is that we attend revivals but don’t allow revival to take place within us. I’ve felt a difference already since revival began last week. Those two nights were just a start, because real revival is not limited to just a worship encounter, but revival takes place even after the benediction. What needs to be revived in you? What vigor have you lost, or fervor needs to be reawakened so that you can operate at maximum altitude? Have you been praying revival in areas of your life or are you so accustomed to attending New Year, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter Revivals in name form that you don’t need to seek God for authentic revival? Revival shows us what may be dried up, but we can be moistened by the Holy Spirit, the flames that have been deemed can burn anew. I hear the words of W. P. Mackey:

Revive us again, fill each heart with thy love. May each soul be rekindled with fire from above.

Hallelujah! Thine the glory, hallelujah! Amen! Hallelujah! Thine the glory, revive us again.

[1] Google Definition Search