Looking back, the summer of 1988 determined the course of my life more than any other.  That summer I read two books.  The first was Why Revival Tarries, by Leonard Ravenhill.  The second was Prayer: Key to Revival by David Yonggi Cho.  The first book stirred my passion and hunger for revival.  The second introduced me to prayer empowered and directed by the Holy Spirit.  Through the pitfalls and mistakes of the past 24 years, the core of these two books has stayed with me, and I have returned to their messages again and again.

In 1992 I heard an interview with Leonard Ravenhill, and at that time he felt that the amount of prayer happening would result in a worldwide revival in less than 10 years.  He was partially correct.  Throughout the world there is revival happening.  Toronto burst on the scene two years after that interview.  At the same time, things in the United States have seemed to get worse.

Truthfully, there is more prayer happening in this country than anytime in my lifetime.  Throughout the late 1980’s and early ’90’s I committed to fasting one day a week and praying at least an hour a day for revival.  My friends thought I was nuts, and it was not uncommon for people to say “Why are you fasting?  You need to eat or you will die!”   No one ever envisioned that one day scores of people would make extended fasts a part of their normal life.  Outside of Mike Bickle’s church no one envisioned round the clock prayer either.  Now both are on the verge of becoming mainstream.

So why hasn’t the Third Great Awakening happened?  I think there are a few reasons.  As a note, I believe that there is a worldwide awakening happening–and I even believe that a broad revival has been quietly happening in the United States for some time.  But, as yet, there has not been the spark that erupts into a culture changing move of God.

The first reason is simple.  You can’t “whoop it up.”  There are men and women out there who believe that if you spend extended times in prayer, or “contend” for a “breakthrough,” or any number of other activities, you can move God to cause revival.  The primary reason to spend extended time in prayer is to spend time with God, and the second reason is to minister to God.  Prayer is ultimately about building a relationship and getting to know a person.  That Person happens to be the Creator of the Universe.  Unfortunately, many folks get into extended prayer to get something from God.  I think that’s why a lot of prayer for revival has produced so little fruit.  The truth is, God wants revival more than you do.

You can’t manipulate a revival into existence through prayer because that is performance based religion.  It is not based in grace.  We have grown so accustomed to “making things happen” through all sorts of techniques, but we have neglected the reality that it is the Holy Spirit who makes revival.  He is the one who brings the move of God, and we can’t make Him respond to our whims.  Manipulating the spiritual realm through our activity is one thing, and one thing only–witchcraft.  Paul even said this in Galatians 3:1 when he reproved them for trying to finish the work of the Holy Spirit in the flesh.  We can’t finish a work of the Spirit in the flesh.  Neither can we start a work in the Spirit in the flesh.

The second reason relates to the first, and has to do with the kind of work God is beginning.  God is looking at the interior, at the heart.  He is looking for those who will go low.  This new move of God is about God working from the inside out, not the outside in.  I mentioned in an earlier post that we are not going to see a sin-based revival this time.  Since the nineteenth century, most of the revivals have been marked by the public confession of sin.  As Bill Johnson has noted, the problem with this kind of revival is it depends on sin to continue.  That is not to say that repentance and turning to God will not be part of what happens–there is grave sin all around us, and repentance will be necessary.

I believe that the next move of God is going to be marked by a deep humility, and an acceptance of the truth that many in the church fail to understand.  It is the Presence of Jesus, the Word made flesh in us that will change us as individuals, and in turn change culture around us.  This isn’t a new teaching, but it is one that has been neglected.  In order to embrace it, you have to surrender.

For years when I heard the word “surrender” I thought it meant coming forward at a meeting.  That’s not surrender.  Surrender is admitting that you are in a mess that is bigger than you can solve.  It is admitting that only God can get you out of the mess, and only God can show you what to do next.  It means that one more prayer meeting, one more study course, one more program, or one more conference won’t make it any better.  Only letting the presence of Jesus out to flow through me can make it better.   Coming to that place is fundamentally different than trying to “whoop up” a revival.

II Chronicles 7:14 instructs us that if we humble ourselves and pray God will hear from heaven and heal our land.  For 24 years I have seen people quote that verse, but they only followed the “pray” part, and not the humble yourself part.  Ah, “there’s the rub.”

A month ago I repeated a little exercise that I did in college.  I took a white piece of paper out of my desk, I signed and dated it, and I presented it to God.  It was my contract.  That white piece of paper is the outward sign that I am surrendered to letting Jesus live through me.  Honestly, everything isn’t better, but I am more aware that Jesus is in me and living through me than ever before.  More and more, I feel less dull and under the spell of the world around me.

I encourage you to join me in this “white paper revolution” of surrendering to God.  If you  are in, send me an email at belonginghouse@gmail.com.

O Holy Spirit, come like a mighty rushing wind and awaken us out of our complacency, our apathy, and our indifference.  Disturb us, for we are too content to let people go on not knowing you.  Penetrate the closed gates of our hearts and make us live again.  O Holy Spirit, create among us a mighty Christian revolution and cast the fear of the unknown out of our lives.

Thanks for reading my posts, the past few have really touched a nerve.  My hit numbers have gone up dramatically.  If you like what I am writing, I encourage you to subscribe.