What Sparks Revival?

Could the next great revival be on the horizon?

Many Christians think so, and we certainly need one. Our country has reached heightened moral decline, God is all but removed from public places, and we’re divided on many fronts.

“There’s so much anger, so much polarization, and Jesus is the answer,” said Anne Graham Lotz, after her father, the Rev. Billy Graham, known as “America’s Pastor” passed away earlier this year[1].

She prays her father’s death serves as a wake-up call for the Church and sparks a revival. Lotz believes to fill her father’s shoes we all need to step up and share the powerful gospel message with boldness.

A revival is a reawakening of people turning to Christ, usually through evangelistic meetings led by great preachers like Graham. Other notables include DL Moody, John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon, Hudson Taylor, and Charles Finney.

Yet not all revivals are led by powerful evangelists. Some are initiated through lay people and simple means. One such example is the Great East African Revival of 1929—arguably one of the most famous and influential African spiritual movements of the twentieth century.

At the helm, were John Edward Church[2], a British medical missionary to Rwanda and Simeon Nsibambi, a young Christian leader from Uganda. Both shared dissatisfaction with the low spiritual condition of the church, and had reached a personal state of “acute spiritual dryness.” After spending two days together in prayer and Bible reading, each experienced the “transformative power of the Holy Spirit.”

With renewed zeal, the two men began extending love and full sharing[3] with fellow Africans—regardless of class, station, or race—through small group fellowship meetings. Such gatherings quickly spread throughout homes and villages, as Christians met to share their testimonies and desire for the deeper Christian life.

Distinctive features of the East African Revival were:

• No famous preacher was leading its efforts. John Church never claimed to be the leader of the revival, but considered himself a co-worker with the Holy Spirit.
• Revival sprang from two wonderful Christians with a love for the people and a heart to reach them.
• Small group meetings were led mostly by lay people. Great impact spread from the grassroots level, and continued for several decades.
• Emphasis was on the saving power of Christ and daily submission to Him. Other themes were messages of sin, repentance, and forgiveness, rather than the gifts of the Holy Spirit such as speaking in tongues and supernatural healing.
• Public confession of hidden sins was common, followed by a desire for holy living.

In time, the East African Revival was presented as a model for renewal movements of the Holy Spirit to other countries, including Switzerland, France and Germany in the late 1940s, and Malawi, Angola, India, Brazil, Israel, and the United States in the early 1950s.

It’s possible the foundations of this revival influenced one of the most significant and more recent awakenings of the 20^th century in the United States—the Jesus movement of the 1960s and 70s.

Are there common attributes that spark a revival?

Yes!

Author and men’s ministry leader Patrick Morley lists 10 characteristics of revival:[4]

1. TIMING: Revivals emerge during times of spiritual and moral decline, which leads to intense prayer.
2. PRAYER: God puts a longing into the hearts of many to pray for revival.
3. THE WORD: The preaching or reading of God’s Word brings deep conviction and desire for Christ.
4. THE HOLY SPIRIT: The Holy Spirit takes people to a spiritual depth they could not achieve on their own.
5. CONVICTION: Affected sinners are inconsolable except in Christ.
6. GLORY FOR GOD: God receives praise, honor, and glory for bringing revival.
7. REFORMATION AND RENEWAL: Revival produces lasting fruit. New ministries are founded and society experiences a reform of morals as more and more people convert.
8. MANIFESTATIONS: Manifestations like fainting, groaning prayer, and miracles vary by culture and denomination.
9. MESSY: Revivals are messy–controversies swirl about miracles, abuses, excesses, suspicions, and theological disputes (to name but a few).
10. CYCLICAL: Revivals inevitably crest and decline.

 

God initiates revival as a result of deep repentance—regret or remorse and a turning to God with humility—occurring in peoples’ hearts.

In the first century church, Peter’s sermon in Acts 3 gave a powerful call for repentance: 

Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; (Acts 3:19 NASB)

Could we be on the cusp of the next great awakening here in the United States?

If our generation is going to experience revival, it starts with God’s people humbly submitting to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, confessing their sins, and seeking change where needed.

It requires remaining fervent in prayer, and seeking our refreshing in the presence of the Lord.

Then, we can rest assured that we are making a step toward sparking the next great revival.

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[1] For Anne Graham Lotz’s response to Billy Graham’s death, see: http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2018/february/anne-graham-lotz-prays-her-fathers-passing-will-spark-revival-in-the-church

[2] To read about John Edward Church and the Great East African Revival of 1929, see http://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/c-d/church-john-edward-1899-1989/

[3] “Fellowship” in the Greek is koinonia, meaning a full sharing.

[4] For the full article, see: http://patrickmorley.com/blog/2015/6/23/a-brief-history-of-spiritual-revival-and-awakening-in-america

Copyright © 2018 Cheryl Elton