At the end of Charles Finney’s powerful lectures on revival, he exhorted the listeners. “It is not my design to preach so as to have you able to say at the close: ‘We understand all about revivals now,’ while you do nothing. Or will you spend the time in learning about revivals, and do nothing for them? I want you as fast as you learn anything on the subject of revivals, to put it in practice, and go to work and see if you cannot promote a revival…”. Let me gracefully agree with him in also exhorting you. Is it not time to be about Christ’s business? The church is saturated with incredible seminars, books and teaching about revival. Yet, we should not just learn more on revival, but walk in it.

The church doesn’t need more knowledge of revival but what it needs is to experience revival! It is imperative that we have a move of God beginning with the community of believers. Only with a true revival can there be any hope for this world and for us!

Here are some characteristics I feel come out of revival. First, revival is a

Revival shakes the dust off of us and restores God’s fire within us

refreshing of God upon our lives. It’s God breathing back into His church a breath of freshness. God revives the church, bringing it back from a state of complacency and apathy. In Psalms 85:6 it says, “Will You not revive us again”.

Secondly, revival is a renewing of the passion in us for more of God. It puts in us a hunger and thirst for the things of God. Bringing us to the point of restlessness, motivating us to a deeper walk with the Lord. Matthew 5:6 says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” The promise from the Word of God is we will be filled with his righteousness.

Thirdly, revival helps us to respond to God’s call on our lives. He has called us to be the salt of the world, a preservative in a rotting society. In Matthew 5:14 we read, “You

Revival stirs us so that we cannot keep silent!

are the light of the world.” Revival shakes the dust off of us and restores God’s fire within us, causing us once again to line up with God’s call to become a fragrance of beauty before Him.

Fourthly, revival gets us to a place of reproducing ourselves. In other words, it stirs us so that we cannot keep silent. In Acts 4:20, the apostles responded to the religious leaders by saying, “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” We come to a place that we must share the goodness of God and lead others to Christ.

Let me end with a statement from Winkie Pratney’s book, Revival. “Do not think God has yet done all he intends to do. Revival is an act of mercy, and if ever the West needed mercy, she needs it now. God has too much of an investment in the West to easily hand her over to the Destroyer.” What are we waiting for? It’s time for revival! Don’t wait for another seminar or someone else to bring revival to the church. Let it begin with you! Ask the Lord right now to begin to stoke the fires of revival in your life, as well as, let a passion for revival burn in your hearts to the point of being contagious to whomever you come in contact with. Then and only then will we truly see a move of God in our churches and in our land! God start the Fire of revival!