If We Want to See a Revival . . .

A revival is a spiritual awakening. And though we can’t bring about a revival in our own strength, we can prepare the way for one.

I was around for the last great spiritual awakening, the Jesus Revolution of the late 1960s and early 1970s. And I can identify five things we did regularly.

(1) We went to church with a sense of expectancy. In other words, no one ever came late to church, because we were there to meet with the Lord and worship Him. Yes, we need anointed preaching today, but we also need anointed listening. That means going to church and listening to God’s Word with expectation.

(2) We participated in heartfelt worship. Back then, contemporary Christian worship was effectively coming alive before our very eyes. We sang simple choruses, usually Scripture set to music, and we engaged in genuine, whole-hearted worship.

(3) We had a hunger for the Bible. The Bible was taught in all of our church services, not merely referenced. We studied it, and we consumed it. When we’re doing well spiritually, we’ll be hungry for the Bible every day. We need to start every day with the Word of God.

(4) We invited people to come to Christ in every service. And they did—ultimately by the thousands.

(5) We believed that Jesus was coming back. Yes, that was more than 40 years ago. But I still believe that Jesus Christ is coming back. We’re just 40 years closer. In fact, we’ve never been closer to the return of Christ than we are at this moment. And if we really believe that Jesus is coming back, then it will impact the way we live.

If we want to see another Jesus Revolution in our nation, if we want to see a revival, then we need to do revival-like things.