Revival — the word means many things to many people. To some a "revival" is a week long series of meetings, duly organized, scheduled, promoted, and produced. Others look upon it as a lively church service, complete with the proper mixture of hand-clapping, praising, and singing. Whenever a church begins to experience sudden and rapid growth, the cry is often heard: "Revival has come!"

The truth is, the Bible does not actually contain the word "revival." The word "revive" is found in several places, however, and expresses the idea of a restoration to life, health, and vigor. Traditionally revival has had a special connotation for the people of God, being used to describe the greatest outpourings of the Holy Spirit that God has mercifully granted to His church. Since the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has never stopped working in the church, but at certain seasons and in certain places He has worked in extraordinary measure, producing extraordinary results. These seasons of great blessing may differ in size, scope, and the personalities involved, yet there are certain features that stand out again and again as one reads of those times when God arose and had mercy upon His church.

As we consider the primary characteristics of revival, it is important to distinguish between revivings and revival. Throughout the history of the church, God has revived and quickened local churches and groups of believers by His Spirit through many different operations. These revivings do not necessarily share many common features. But when we limit our attention to the greatest awakenings the church has seen—those times when whole communities and entire nations were dramatically impacted by the gospel of Jesus Christ—we find that a divine pattern emerges. Let us then consider that pattern.

PREVAILING UNGODLINESS

The history of revivals reveals a perplexing paradox: those conditions that seem the least conducive to revival are frequently observed just prior to the greatest spiritual awakenings the church has seen. Normally one would think that the more spiritual life a city or a nation possesses, the greater the hopes of a mighty spiritual awakening to follow. In actual practice, however, the reverse is usually the case.

The eighteenth century awakening in England is a prime example of this. Before the revival, lawlessness abounded in the world and deadness in the church. Deism had gained a powerful foothold on the nation, dismissing the personal and holy God of the Bible and substituting a vague deity found in nature. The Church of England had largely stopped teaching the necessity of the new birth, and salvation had become a matter of church attendance and proper conduct. Licentiousness and pleasure seeking were the obsessions of the rich, crime and survival preoccupied the poor. Crime was so prevalent that the authorities made as many as 160 offenses punishable by death.

If ever a nation seemed an unlikely setting for a powerful work of the Spirit of God, it was England. Then, a 22 year old youth named George Whitfield began to preach in the churches of London that "Ye must be born again." This simple message, adorned with Whitfield's natural eloquence and the Holy Spirit's supernatural convicting power, shook the nation and began one of the most remarkable revivals the world has ever seen.

Why is it that the greatest outpourings of the Spirit seem to be preceded by the most ungodly conditions in the church and in the world? The Scriptures tell us that God "satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness." It seems to be one of God's fixed laws that if His children pray and do not faint when they experience the prolonged deferment of their hopes, their desire will reach such a level of intensity so as to provoke God's heart into the release of blessings that far exceed the petition requested.

So it is that when God's children are forced to live in a time of great deadness and lawlessness, if they do not succumb to the prevailing spirit of the land, their prayers and longings will ultimately result in God pouring out His Spirit in extraordinary measure. As our Lord put it, "Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled" (Luke 6:21).

A BURDENED REMNANT

Even in the worst of times, God has always had a holy remnant who refused to bow the knee to the Baal of the age. When these faithful few begin crying out in earnest to God, desiring Him to "make bare His holy arm," and when this burden for a divine visitation reaches the point where it has shaped and affected the whole of their lives, it is a pretty good indication that the rain of revival is not far off. As far as can be humanly determined, every major outpouring of the Spirit has been preceded by the prayers of God's chosen watchmen. As one studies the history of revival in the church, one fact stands out with dramatic clarity: prayer and revival are an inseparable duo. It is difficult to find one without the other.

Most Christians have heard of the Welsh revival of 1904. The name most frequently associated with it is, of course, Evan Roberts, whose anointed ministry served as a powerful catalyst to the revival. Long before Evan Roberts began to preach, however, God had His watchmen at their stations.

Dr. Peter Joshua was a little boy in school during those significant years prior to the awakening. Certain mornings he would slip away to a nearby park rather than go to school, and there he would see a tall man walking along the banks of the bordering river. Back and forth the figure would pace. Not wanting to be seen, young Peter would climb one of the leafy trees and hide as the tall familiar figure approached. As he would pass under the tree, Peter would hear a voice, a cry, and a sob, and then the man would disappear until, a short time later, he would reappear headed the other direction. That man was Peter's father. He asked his mother, "Is there anything wrong with Daddy?

Sometimes I hear him as if he's groaning." She patted his head and said, "Don't you fret about it dear, you're too young, but someday you will understand."

Years later Peter read a passage from his father's prayer diary. In it were these words: "I knew a man who for the space of five years was carried out in the Spirit and was made to weep and pray along the banks of the Welsh River, flanged with trees and hawthorn bushes. This same man wrestled God and saw the hawthorn blossoms come and go for five seasons while the cry went up for revival upon my sinful land. At last the travail ceased and a calm expectation followed my soul pangs, and I knew my prayer was answered." The movement that followed such prayer would add 100,000 members to the churches of Wales and ignite revival fires all over the world.

GOD SHOWS UP

When Jesus raised a widow's only son from the dead, the amazed onlookers cried out, "God has visited His people" (Luke 7:16). Perhaps that is as good a definition of revival as can be given. In revival God shows up, to the surprise of most, to the dismay of many, and to the exceeding delight of a chosen few who have been looking for Him. I can already hear the theological purists: "How can you talk about God showing up? Don't you know that He is always with His people?" What they fail to understand is that there is a difference between God's omnipresence and His manifest presence. In the Psalms, David asks, "Where can I flee from Your presence?" (Psalm 139:7).

The answer is nowhere. There is no place on earth where God is not. How much more true is this for God's children, who have been promised by The Lord, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). Yet it is one thing to know by intellect and by faith that God is present, but quite another thing to have soul and body overwhelmed by the awesome revelation of God's holy presence. God had been with Job throughout his trials, but it was only when God revealed His majesty to Job that he abhorred himself and repented in dust and ashes.

This intense awareness of the presence of God, and the conviction of sin that it produces, are the primary characteristics of true revival. In Charles Finney's autobiography, "Memoirs," he tells how this Holy Spirit atmosphere prevailed in the little town of Rome, New York. The following incident typifies just how powerful and pervasive a revival atmosphere can be.

The sheriff of the county lived in the nearby town of Utica. He was an ungodly man who had laughed and mocked at the strange tales he heard about the revival at Rome. One day it was necessary for him to go to Rome. He was glad for the opportunity, as he wanted to see for himself what all the commotion was about. He drove his one-horse sleigh without any particular impression on his mind until he crossed what was called the old canal, about a mile from town. As soon as he crossed the canal, a strange and solemn awe came over him which he could not shake off. It felt as though God pervaded the whole atmosphere, and this feeling intensified the closer he got to town.

When he found the men with whom he had business, they all seemed to be in the same state, so that they could hardly attend to the purpose of their gathering. Several times, as they tried to go on with their meeting, he had to rise quickly from the table and go to the window and look out, to try to divert his attention and keep from breaking out into tears. Hurrying through the meeting, he returned to Utica, where in a few weeks he was, as Finney put it, "hopefully converted" (Finney steadfastly refused to declare or count converts).

It is significant that classical revival has never arrived gradually. In the book of Acts we read that, "When the day of Pentecost had fully come ... suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind" (Acts 2:2).

Some years ago an elderly man who had seen the Welsh revival was asked about the spiritual condition of Wales just before the awakening. His colorful reply was, "as hard as flint." Jonathan Edwards thus described the situation in New England before the Great Awakening: "How dead a time it was everywhere before this work began."

It seems as though, in that critical time before the revival, spiritual warfare is being waged in the heavenlies, with the strongholds of darkness coming under ever increasing pressure until at last they collapse, resulting in a sudden flood of God's power and glory being released in His church.

JESUS IS GLORIFIED

It is highly profitable to study the lives and ministries of those men and women God has used mightily in revival. There are several common denominators, but none is more obvious and unmistakable than a consuming love for Jesus Christ. When you read the stories of men like Charles Finney, George Whitfield, D. L.. Moody, and John Wesley, you find that their hearts had been captured by the glory of Jesus. He was central in their preaching, teaching, and writing. It was said of Whitfield that he had such a revelation of Jesus' glory that he could never speak enough about Him.

What a far cry from many Bible teachers today who teach various Bible principles, and hold lengthy seminars, but rarely mention the One from whom all truth springs. I have heard a sermon on overcoming sin where Jesus was hardly mentioned. I have seen a book on child training which had nothing to say about the grace of Jesus Christ. It was all "principles."

How can we teach on deliverance from sin and forget the Deliverer? What spiritual arrogance to think that we can raise our children successfully merely by following the right principles! Have we lost our need for the Savior? True revival preaching always lifts up and glorifies Jesus, the Head of the church.

THE GREATEST HINDRANCE

What is the greatest hindrance to revival in our day? The church's greatest enemy is not humanism, the new age, or atheism; it is complacency. There are too few "Hannahs" who are desperately crying out to God, dismayed over the barrenness of the church. We are in need of "Rachels" who will call out to the Lord Jesus, "Give us children or we die!"

It is ironic that the evangelical believers and churches may be the guiltiest of all. We look with disdain at the cold, dead church down the street and gloat, "If only they had what we have. We sing lively songs, witness on the streets, and pray for conversions. We have altar calls, attend missions conferences, and study soul-winning techniques. They sure are missing a lot." Never mind the fact that we only saw two converts last year who truly showed the fruits of repentance, or that the only revival we've ever seen has been the "one week kind," neatly organized and scheduled, which comes and goes every year leaving the church essentially unchanged.

Instead of comparing ourselves with the coldest church in town, let us hold our lives and churches up to the pattern of the New Testament. Read of the great awakenings of the past until the Holy Spirit kindles a divine dissatisfaction in your heart. Revival cannot be planned or scheduled, it cannot be worked up or manufactured; it must be conceived in holy hearts, nurtured in the womb of prayer, travailed for with intense desire, and given birth to by those whose hearts have been touched by the Spirit's fervor. The price is high, but the results are glorious.

Recommended Reading

1) Pratney, Winkie, Revival — Principles to Change the World (Whitaker House, 1983)

2) Wallis, Arthur, Revival — The Rain from Heaven (Fleming H. Revell, 1979)

3) Finney, Charles, Autobiography of Charles Finney (Bethany Fellowship, 1977)