It’s a new day for America. We have a new president and administration.
Many are optimistic and hopeful, and I share that outlook.
Americans are tired of the woke ideology that has been forced on them for the last 4 years, and rightly so. Many are hoping our best days are ahead of us, and they may be if we remember one thing: We need God.
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We must return to Him and ask for His blessing on our nation.
Our prayer should be the same as the song we all love to sing, “God bless America, land that I love.”
We need a spiritual awakening or, as it is sometimes called, a revival.
We throw around the word revival, but what do we mean by it? Some might envision a bunch of people crammed into a church, yelling and screaming, hot and sweating, with maybe a few snakes being passed around.
For others, a revival might be a sign or reader board at the local church on the corner saying, “Revival meetings, this week only, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.” But these meetings do not represent true revival in the classic sense of the term (Especially with the snakes!).
The great British preacher C. H. Spurgeon defined revival as “to live again, to receive again a life which has almost expired; to rekindle into a flame the vital spark which was nearly extinguished.” A revival, then, means to come back to life. Another said, “Revival is when heaven comes closer to earth.”
And who is revival for?
Revival is for the Church. When we speak of a revival, we are really saying that God’s people need to get back to living the Christian life as it was meant to be lived. If Christians across America are truly “revived,” they will impact our country and its future direction.
Revival is for only the believer. As Spurgeon said, “To be revived is a blessing which can only be enjoyed by those who have some degree of life. Those with no spiritual life are not, and cannot be, in the strictest sense of the term, subjects of revival.” A true revival is to be looked for in the church of God.
One person defined revival as “a beginning of new obedience to God.” It begins when we take an honest look at ourselves and ask questions such as, how am I doing right now spiritually? Was there a time when my faith was stronger than it is today? When my relationship with Christ was closer? Was there a time I loved the Word of God — reading it, memorizing it, thinking about it, and hearing it taught — more than I do today?
Maybe you loved praying. Maybe you talked to God throughout the day and even woke up in the middle of the night thinking about Him, speaking to Him, and listening for His voice. Prayer was second nature to you, like breathing. Is it still that way today?
Look back on a time when you loved getting up on Sunday mornings and being in church with God’s people. Maybe you used to attend a midweek Bible study in someone’s home, and you couldn’t get enough of it.
Is it still like that for you? Could it be that you need revival? Perhaps you need to “come back to life” and allow the Lord to kindle a fresh fire in your spirit.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones defined revival this way: “Revival awakens in our hearts an increased awareness of the presence of God, a new love for God, new hatred for sin, and a hunger for His Word.”
Does that describe you right now? Do you have a hatred for sin and a hunger for His Word?
Some might say, “Greg, I’m actually happy the way I am. I don’t think that America needs revival, and I don’t think I need it either.”
That is your choice. You don’t have to be revived if you don’t want to be. Leonard Ravenhill said, “As long as we are content to live without revival, we will.” Nevertheless, the heart cry of every child of God ought to be for the Lord to send an awakening to our nation.
Habakkuk 3:2 says, “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.”
The prophet said, “Lord, we want to see it again. We want to see Your strong hand at work around us. We’ve heard about the good old days and all those great awakenings of the past, but we want to see it in our day, Lord. Revive Your work.”
Have you ever prayed a prayer like that?
Psalm 85:6 says, “Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?” Another translation says, “Why not help us make a fresh start — a resurrection life? Then your people will laugh and sing!”
If any of these reflections or Scriptures have stirred your heart and led you to wonder if you and your church need a revival, ask the Lord to reveal himself further to you and impart what he asks of you today. Remember, revival isn’t passive. It’s the responsibility of each believer to take stock of their faith and consider where they may need to be restored.
This is an adapted excerpt from Greg Laurie’s new book “Hope for America”. Copyright © 2012, 2024 by Greg Laurie. Used by permission of Harvest Ministries https://harvest.org/.
Greg Laurie is the pastor and founder of the Harvest churches in California and Hawaii and Harvest Crusades. He is an evangelist, best-selling author and movie producer. “Jesus Revolution,” a feature film about Laurie’s life from Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company, releases in theaters February 24, 2023.
