5 Scriptural Steps to a Spirit-Filled Revival

Proverbs 4:23 tells us, ‘Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.’ If we sincerely desire revival, we have to begin with an honest examination of our own spiritual condition. It is much easier to recognize problems in a church, family, community, or nation than it is to recognize what has happened in our own hearts.

Preparing for revival means coming before God without excuses and allowing His Word to expose what needs attention. Have we tolerated sin that we once would have quickly confessed? Has prayer become little more than a routine? Has our desire for Scripture weakened? Perhaps bitterness has been allowed to remain toward another person, pride has quietly taken root, or we have simply become comfortable with a distant relationship with God. These are not questions intended to make us examine everyone around us. They are questions we should ask ourselves.

A church prepared for revival is ultimately a church made up of people who are willing to let God deal personally with them. We must be willing to confess what He reveals, forsake what is wrong, and obey what He commands. Revival in a congregation begins with revival in individual hearts.

Jeremiah 33:3 says, ‘Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.’ Prayer should be far more than something added to the beginning and end of a revival service. If we believe we need God to work, then seeking Him in prayer should begin long before the first meeting ever takes place.

A pastor can encourage his congregation to begin praying weeks ahead of scheduled meetings. Families can pray together at home. Church members can pray specifically for their pastor, the visiting preacher, lost people who may attend, believers who have grown cold, broken families, and those who need encouragement. Most importantly, each of us can pray about our own heart and ask the Lord to show us anything standing between us and Him.

Prayer also changes what we consider a successful revival meeting. Instead of measuring success by attendance, excitement, or how much people enjoyed the preaching, we begin asking a much more important question: ‘Lord, what do You want to do in us?’ When that becomes our concern, our attention moves away from producing an event and toward genuinely seeking God.

Paul’s instruction to Timothy was simple and direct: ‘Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine’ (2 Timothy 4:2, KJV). Revival does not require a new message. It requires faithful preaching of the message God has already given.

The Word of God must remain central because Scripture exposes sin, strengthens believers, points lost people to Jesus Christ, and gives us the truth by which our lives must be measured. A revival meeting should never become a performance designed to manufacture an emotional response. Emotion may certainly accompany conviction, repentance, salvation, or a renewed love for Christ, but emotion itself is not revival.

The preacher’s responsibility is to open the Scriptures faithfully, preach Christ, confront sin when Scripture confronts sin, encourage obedience, and trust God with the results. Clever methods cannot accomplish what only the Holy Spirit can accomplish through the Word of God. We do not need to make Scripture more powerful. We need to faithfully preach it and allow God to use His Word.

James 1:22 warns us, ‘But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.’ We can sit through powerful preaching, agree with everything that is said, and even feel deeply convicted without anything actually changing. Hearing truth is important, but hearing must eventually lead to obedience.

When God deals with us through His Word, we should respond. If there is sin that needs to be confessed, we should confess it. If someone needs our forgiveness, we should forgive. If a relationship needs to be made right, we should take the necessary steps. A lost person who realizes his need for salvation should trust Jesus Christ. A Christian who has neglected prayer or Scripture should not merely feel bad about it, but begin again.

This is where revival moves beyond the church service and enters everyday life. Instead of leaving a meeting asking only whether we enjoyed the sermon, we should ask, ‘What does God want me to do with what I have heard?’ Sometimes the answer may require a difficult decision. Sometimes it may involve something seemingly small. Either way, truth that is never obeyed will produce little lasting change.

First Corinthians 15:58 says, ‘Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord...’ One of the greatest mistakes we can make is treating the final night of a revival meeting as though revival has ended. If God has genuinely worked in our hearts, the end of the meeting should actually be the beginning of something.

If God renewed our prayer life during the meetings, we should continue praying when the evangelist is gone. If He restored a burden for lost souls, we should continue witnessing. If families began spending time together in Scripture, they should continue. If relationships were repaired, those relationships should be protected. If we dealt with sin, we should not casually return to it a few weeks later.

The evidence of revival is not simply what happens during several special services. Its fruit should still be visible afterward. A church that has genuinely been stirred should have a renewed love for Christ, a greater concern for the lost, a stronger commitment to Scripture, and a desire to faithfully serve the Lord long after the meetings have ended.

We cannot command God to send revival, and we cannot create spiritual power through methods or enthusiasm. What we can do is humble ourselves before Him, pray, obey His Word, deal honestly with sin, and make ourselves available for whatever He desires to do.

Revival is easy to talk about when we are thinking about what needs to change in someone else. It becomes much more personal when we stop looking around the room and begin looking within our own hearts. Perhaps one of the most sincere prayers we could pray is simply, ‘Lord, begin with me.’

Prepare the heart. Pray earnestly. Preach the Word. Respond when God speaks through His Word, and continue faithfully after the meeting is over. Then trust the Lord to accomplish what only He can do.