Revival is not an event. It’s an invasion.
While many have heard the word ‘revival,’ few understand what it truly means, the cost it requires, and why it is so desperately needed today.
Since our church’s vision is to see revival across the valley (Isaiah 61:11), we must recover the biblical and historical meaning of the word—not merely to increase our knowledge, but to stir a hunger in us for God to move in our day.
Revival is God drawing near.
Revival is a sovereign work of God. It begins when God draws near to awaken dead faith in the church, bringing deep conviction, genuine repentance, and a renewed love for God that restores his people to vibrant spiritual life. When that renewal overflows into the surrounding community, revival has come: the lost are drawn to Jesus and cities, regions, and nations are transformed.
REVIVAL IS
A sovereign act of God
When God draws near in a tangible way
The church being awakened to God and rediscovering their purpose.
A return to the way of faith as seen in the New Testament.
Lasting transformation (a permanent change in how people live and treat others).
REVIVAL IS NOT
Something we schedule or manufacture
People working themselves into an emotional state
An outreach campaign
Emotional hype (manufactured feelings or excitement)
A spiritual high or temporary ‘rush’ that fades.
Revival in the Bible.
From beginning to end, the Bible tells a story of God drawing near to awaken spiritually dead people, restore hearts, and renew communities through his presence and power.
A close study of the Scriptures reveals a pattern for revival:
- A hunger for God
- A time of preparation and seeking God
- God draws near
- The church is awakened
- People, cities, regions, and nations are transformed
A HUNGER FOR GOD
Revival begins with a deep awareness of spiritual need. Time and time again, the Bible shows people crying out for God to move and restore what has grown cold.
Exodus 2:23-25
23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.
Isaiah 64:1
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains would tremble before you!
Psalm 85:6,7
6 Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your unfailing love, Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
Revival often begins with a deep dissatisfaction with the way things are. When the current situation becomes unacceptable and we have no power to change it ourselves, hunger for God begins to stir.
This hunger for God fuels a desperate longing for God to break in with his power and presence. As people begin to cry out to God in prayer, the seeds for revival begin to be planted.
A TIME OF PREPARATION AND SEEKING GOD
Revival is ultimately something God does but we can position ourselves for revival and prepare our hearts for him to move. The clearest biblical pattern for this process comes from 2 Chronicles 7:14:
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.’
The Pattern of Revival
- Humility
- Prayer
- Seeking God
- Repentance
As God’s people turn to God and seek him humbly and prayerfully, hearts are prepared for God to draw near and seeds are planted for revival.
The Word of God and the Spirit of God
In John 4, Jesus makes the comment that God the Father is looking for people to worship him in Spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24), meaning that worship is ignited by the Holy Spirit and shaped by the reality of who God has revealed himself to be in Jesus and the written word of Scripture.
Together, the Spirit and truth help us encounter and worship the living God. In revival, God’s written Word in the Bible and the Spirit of God’s activity are brought together.
The Word of God
As people rediscover and align their lives with Scripture, repentance, obedience, and spiritual renewal begins to come (2 Kings 22). As Scripture is read, taught, and obeyed, hearts are awakened (Acts 2:37).
The Spirit of God
Revival occurs when God does what we cannot do for ourselves: bringing life where there is only death). As the Spirit fills and breathes life into his people, not only are people transformed but they grow in desire to live for God and in God’s ways. (Ezekiel 37:1-11
GOD DRAWS NEAR
When God draws near to his people and reveals himself, revival has begun. The spark is lit when the presence of God becomes tangible and people encounter God himself. Revival is not manufactured by human effort, it flows from encounter the person of God.
Joel 2:28-29
28 “And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
Through the prophet Joel, God promised a day would come when the Spirit would be poured out on all people. The age of the Spirit begins with God himself drawing near and his Spirit being poured out.
Isaiah 61:1-3
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners…’
Isaiah looked to a day when the Spirit Anointed One would come as God’s agent of healing, freedom, and renewal. Jesus identified himself as the Spirit Anointed One of Isaiah 61 who came to rescue his people (Luke 4:18-19).
Acts 2
‘When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.’
The church was born when God came near in the Holy Spirit and moved in power. At Pentecost, the church - the community of the Spirit - was founded when thousands believed and were baptized. The church’s origins lie in God drawing near to spark revival.
THE CHURCH IS AWAKENED AND REVIVED
When God draws near to his people, the church shifts out of religious routine into a living, vibrant faith. People who had cold hearts and lukewarm faith come alive to God again and experience a change in how people think, act, and love. It's as if a sleeping giant wakes up; the church comes awake again to the reality of Jesus and, fueled by God’s supernatural power, what normally takes years begins to happen in a moment.
Acts 2:42-47
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.’
When the Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, the church was born and people came alive. Filled with the Spirit, the church -
- Devoted themselves the teaching of the apostles and to prayer
- United in love and bold in witness
- Generous to the poor
- Experienced the supernatural work of God
- Lived in community
As the church lived together in this way, a movement was born: every day people were coming to faith and the surrounding region was turned upside down.
PEOPLE, CITIES, REGIONS, AND NATIONS ARE TRANSFORMED
When revival comes, it does not remain confined within church walls. It transforms people, communities, and entire regions. When what is happening in the church spills outside the church walls, revival has come.
Throughout the Bible revival is marked by:
- A renewed hunger for God
- Repentance and prayer
- God drawing near (Spirit is poured out)
- A renewal of worship
- An awakened church and transformed communities
Revival is not more fervent religious activity or mere emotional excitement, it is God awakening his people to vibrant spiritual life so that the world might encounter Jesus through them.
Isaiah 61:11 describes revival like a garden bursting to life:
"For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations."
Revival produces accelerated spiritual fruitfulness - righteousness, worship, and renewed devotion to God - in both the church and in society.
Markers of Revival.
Across centuries and continents, genuine revival shares the same markers:
THE NEARNESS OF GOD.
The unmistakable, often overwhelming sense of God’s presence descends on individuals, congregations, and sometimes entire communities. People become aware that God has come near and are stirred to respond. Revival begins when the living God breaks into time and space to reveal himself in a tangible way.
THE SPIRIT’S WORK ACCELERATES.
In revival, the normal work of the Holy Spirit accelerates. What he does ordinarily - conviction of sin, bringing life, producing fruit, giving gifts to the church - he does with extraordinary speed and scope. The normal pace of the kingdom’s advance intensifies. What normally takes a year or more happens in a moment in revival.
A RADICAL INCREASE IN PEOPLE TURNING TO GOD.
Revival always moves outward and draws people closer to God. What begins in the church spills into the surrounding community and region. People who have grown cold towards God return to him with fresh hunger. Those who were far from God encounter him and put their life in Jesus’ hands. Churches fill and the city and region are transformed in a lasting way.