What Revival IS--What It IS NOT

"Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?"  Psalm 85:6 (NIV)

Many think of revival as a week of church meetings with a guest evangelist, scheduled far in advance and focused on reaching the lost. Some do get saved. The rest of us are fired up for a few weeks, then things settle back to "normal". This is not what revival is. Most of the people I know, myself included, have never witnessed the real thing. The fact that the word itself starts with "re" should tell us something--bringing back to life something that was dead or close to it. Vance Havner says, "Revival is a work of the Spirit among God's own people whereby they get right with God and with each other." This, clearly, is not the same thing as evangelism, although salvation of the lost should result from revival. It starts with God's people--maybe in the heart of just one person--realizing just how far from God they have drifted. God has so much more for us than we typically experience--we are content with crumbs, when God wants to invite us to a banquet! Prayer plays an essential role--it's been said that no great movement of God takes place without it. When people get things right with God, they will get right with others: marriages and family relationships are restored, forgiveness is asked for and given, genuine love for each other overflows. When the church looks nothing like the world, people of the world will be drawn to God. That is revival!