Let me have a part to play in your great work. Please send it to me and through me. Yes, to us and through us — a biblical revival and an authentic awakening.
“Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” (Psalm 85:6)
It was a bright Spring day and I found myself headed down the hill to go surfing in Dana Point with my wise high school football coach, Randy Ziglar.
He was a 4A rated surfer from Hawaii and would just tear it up, so I always listened to him when his mouth opened.
On this particular day Randy kept talkin’ about his love relationship with Jesus Christ and I never knew he was the “religious type” but I still took it in.
Little did I know, but he wasn’t religious at all, but he was the Saturday night evangelist up the coast at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.
I think some seeds where planted as he spoke from the heart to my heart. And you know, it really wasn’t too long after that day that I turned and trusted Christ in that area.
My life of unbridled folly had been disrupted by this coach who cared and the fourth Great Awakening in America a.k.a. the Jesus Movement. Am I where I want to be with wisdom today? Nope, haven’t yet arrived but I trust by His grace that I will arrive.
Can godly wisdom arrive via the Holy Spirit due to people repenting and praying for a mighty outpouring? Sure.
“This is a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth: O LORD, I have heard the report of You; I stand in awe, O LORD, of Your deeds. Revive them in these years; make them known in these years. In Your wrath, remember mercy!” Habakkuk 3:1–2
“I will remember the works of the LORD; surely I will remember Your wonders of old.” (Psalm 77:11)
Have seen many young people delivered from very destructive lifestyles and they took hold of Jesus. There was such an outpouring during that great revival and God would heal those willing reprobates, or addicts of folly like myself. Fresh winds, and now they valued God and His wisdom instead of what they had before.
How many have there been? Four. Yes, we’ve had four Great Awakenings in America. The first, from about 1740 to 1742, was led by men such as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield. Around 50,000 people were added to the churches of New England during the First Great Awakening, which was indeed significant for a U.S. population of about 300,000 at that time.
The Second Great Awakening, from the 1790s to around 1840, was led by many, including that on-fire Charles Finney. This was during the days of the shoot em up Wild West, when camp meetings were often held in tents with sawdust floors, and different itinerant preachers came through sharing the Gospel. Thousands and thousands of Americans came to faith during this time.
America’s Third Great Awakening, from 1857 to 1859, which had a unique beginning. A 48-year-old businessman named Jeremiah Lanphier began a humble prayer meeting over in New York City. Though small, it just exploded after the stock market crashed, and within six months, 10,000 New Yorkers were gathering daily for prayer. Around one million people came to believe in Jesus during that Third Great Awakening.
Then we had the Fourth Great Awakening and this last one in American history went from the late 60s and early 70s. I along with many was privileged to have a front-row seat for it..on the carpeting. Church historians call it the Jesus Movement. In So Cal turned and trusted Christ back in 1977. Who knew? There I found myself in the middle of a full-blown spiritual awakening. Could it ever happen again? I pray it will cuz what else can properly address this mess here.
The serious problems of our culture can’t be cured by ballyhoo, endless boycotts, or even at the ballot box..though I tend to go there too.
This world today always seems to be in a state of disequilibrium. The problems are too numerous to mention and mounting higher. Our friends let us know when many news channels won’t. But there is a good treatment for what ails us. It’s not found in a pill or a protest or a political candidate. It’s found in the Christ — the wisdom and power of God the Father.
“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” Romans 13:11
After being asked regarding the possibility of another future awakening or revival, Pastor Chuck Smith Sr. responded with, “Well, people were desperate for revival back then. I am not sure people are desperate enough right now.”
That may be true. How desperate are you and me — we? Will be still and wait upon the Lord in prayer? Will we commit to praying for an awakening?
The reality is that often we pray for prosperity in our nation and in our own lives. But the fact is that revival often explodes when there is calamity. Again, the Third Great Awakening happened after the stock market crashed.
“I have a theory.. that there is not a church, chapel, or mission on earth where you cannot have revival, provided there is a little nucleus of faithful people who will hold onto God until He comes down.
First, Let a few Christians — there need not be many — get thoroughly right with God themselves. This is the prime essential. If this is not done, the rest I am going to say will come to nothing.
Second, let them bind themselves together in prayer groups to pray for revival until God opens the heavens and comes down.
Third, let them put themselves at the disposal of God for Him to use them as He sees fit in the winning of others to Christ.
That is all. This is sure to bring revival to any church or any community. I have given this prescription around the world. It has been taken by many churches and many communities, and in no instance has it ever failed, and it cannot fail.” — R.A. Torrey
Revival starts with me, and you — us and then it affects the church and then it impacts the nation and then other nations. Can you believe God for revival and awakening inside you and then through you to others who are dead and asleep?
Here are five principles for an awakening:
-In the 70’s I remember a sense of expectancy in every church service. No one was ever late for church because you wouldn’t find a seat if you were, and you came expecting God to work. There was a sense of openness like what’s the Lord gonna do today?
-The Word of God was always taught the Word of God was always thought that keeps stability to us affect.
-Number three, people participated in the worship? We effectively saw what we know as just worship from the heart. Contemporary worship stated from this revival. Now, we have worship bands. Now, that was not happening in the late 60s. By the way, there were no electric guitars for the most part on church stages.
There were no drums. It was a whole different thing of his choirs and there’s nothing wrong with that. But I’m just saying it was different culturally and this is when all of this started to happen things that we’d take for granted now. But people engaged in worship, they would lift their hands and worship they would participate and worship.
-Number four, people brought non-believers to church and invitations were extended and kids were coming to Christ. Not just kids, people of all ages every week. There was that sense that God wants people to be saved, and fifth. And lastly there was a belief in and Constant teaching of the eminent return of Jesus Christ.
We believed that Jesus was coming back again (I think that God wants every generation believing that now due to the purifying affect) and some of you are thinking well you got that wrong by a long shot.
Didn’t you How many years has it been? Oh, quite a few but hey, we weren’t wrong. What is 40 years? 45 years to God. The Bible says to God, a thousand years are as a day.
So what is it? A millisecond. And by the way, the Bible says God is not late as some men count lateness, but he’s long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance True. We were praying for Jesus to come back in 1970, but aren’t you?
Glad he didn’t answer our prayer.
We shouldn’t live in the past, but we can learn from it.
Now, we can look at this generation and realize we need another Jesus movement now, more so than in the 60s and 70s.
Today we have riots in the streets, we have severe racial unrest, and we have a drug epidemic. There’s a sense of hopelessness in the air again.
How desperate are we for another Jesus Awakening? How desperate are we for another spiritual revival? The Prophet Habakkuk could understood this, when he prayed his prayer.
I’ve heard all about you. Lord, I filled with all by the amazing things you’ve done but in this time of deep need revive your work, as you did in years gone by show us your power to save us and in your anger.
Remember your mercy Have a good thing? Lord have heard. All these stories about the old days, do it again. Revive your work again, the Psalmist says, in Psalm 85:6, will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you?
So let’s try to understand what revival is.
Let’s strip the mystery away from the Word. What is it? Here’s a simple definition: It’s to come alive again, yes, nothing more or less than a new start of obedience to God. See, we’re not praying that non-believers have a revival. They don’t need a revival. They basically need to be vived — they’ve never been born again with salvation. The church needs revival.
This is a church word. This is for believers. Only who once were perhaps more alive than they are today and they need to be revived again.
