A Lot of People Say They Want Revival: Will They Pay the Cost?

 You hear a lot about revival. Many Christians say they want it. I have been a part of four genuine revival movements. I have witnessed first hand two others. I have learned a valuable truth that has led to a deep conviction. REVIVAL IS COSTLY. Most people are not willing to pay the price. People want revival on their terms. God sends revival on His terms. Those terms include brokenness over sin, repentance, prayer, and evangelism. 

A 13 year old boy received a heavy burden from the Lord for revival in his country. Imagine that. A young teenager becoming so burdened for his country that he begins praying God send revival. Nothing changed after a year. Not even after five years. A decade passed without any signs of revival. This young man continued to pray. He testified he would be awakened around 2:00 a.m. and pray until about 5:00 a.m. He would go to work in the coal mines praying. The burden never left. He went to a Bible college, but felt so burdened for revival he left to devote himself more fully to prayer. After 13 years, he preached a simple message to some teenagers. That was the spark that ignited the Welsh Revival of 1904 where God saved 100,000 people in six months!  That move of God spread all over the world. Would you have persevered in prayer for 13 years before the revival came?

Roberts' life changed. He was in high demand in churches all over the country. He never announced where he would show up not wanting to draw attention to himself. Revival services were happening everywhere. The services were not centered around a preacher. The people sang, they testified, the sang more, they prayed, and God wondrously saved many. Even when Roberts did attend local meetings, he did not always preach. He prayed and waited on God. If God prompted him to preach then he did. If he had no message he would just pray. The prayer burden took a toll on his physical and emotional health. 

After the revival ended, Roberts withdrew from public ministry devoting himself exclusively to a ministry of intercession in private. He died alone in a hospital unknown and forgotten. He devoted his youth to the pursuit of God for revival. The cost was high. Higher than most would pay. 

Genuine revival is not just costly on the ministers. It is costly on the church members. They still have to work and do household chores. On top of that, they add attending revival meetings late into the night for weeks, months, and in some cases years night after night. It is costly on church facilities. The wear and tear on the building from continual use for extended periods of times takes a toll. Just ask Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, FL or Asbury College in Kentucky. 

A lot of people say they want revival. Few are willing to pay the cost in prayer. Few are willing to inconvenience their schedules. Few are willing to let go of control so God can freely move. Three times in my ministry God has broken out revivals. He called me to preach all of them. All three lasted for weeks. My days were devoted to prayer, message preparation, and preaching. It cost time with my family. It cost time in extra preaching and study. It cost physically as most of those services lasted a minimum of two hours and some longer. It cost spiritually praying through spiritual warfare. It cost emotionally seeing people encounter God night after night, pleading with people to trust Jesus for salvation. It cost sleep deprivation as morning prayers were kept after late night ministry. I've experienced God's powerful revival movement. I can tell you it is costly. A cost I'm willing to pay all over again if God will just come move in power. Lord, please do it again. 

Living on Mission

 There is no question that my favorite room in this church is the prayer room. I frequent it regularly. I learned from researching church history that a group of ladies started a prayer ministry in this church back in 1993 with a room they designated as the prayer chapel. I'm not suggesting that is the first time this church prayed together in the past seven and a half decades. They started on April 15, 1993 with two ladies. They kept records of the numbers of intercessors, the regular prayer requests answered, and the number of hours people prayed during that year for a decade. So much of what I get to enjoy at FSBC Fritch is because God answered the prayers of those faithful intercessors.

We have a newer prayer room now. Isolated. Quiet. A sacred spot to seek the Lord. I was in the prayer room last Tuesday praying over various things. I felt a strong compulsion from the Lord that I needed to share my faith at Refuel with some athletes. Refuel is our ministry to high school students where we serve a free lunch to them once a week on Tuesdays. I waited for the students to show up later, but only one athlete came and he sat by himself. I recognized him because I served as the team chaplain during football and basketball seasons. I approached and struck up a friendly conversation with him with the mission of sharing Jesus. 

I asked if he knew where he would spend eternity at the end of his life. He contemplated and commented, "That is an interesting question." He had no idea. I asked if I could tell him something very important that someone told me when I was 17 years old. He seemed eager to listen. I told him an abbreviated version of my testimony. Sharing how Jesus took my sin away and saved me. His time was abbreviated before needing to get back to school, so I did not have time to press the issue. He did get to hear a clear gospel presentation. 

Today, we fed students again. God orchestrated three athletes showing up about 25 minutes before anyone else came. I had the chance to do the same thing with those students. I pulled up a chair and sat down with them. I told them up front that I cared about them. I shared my testimony and assured them that I would not pressure them. I just wanted to make sure they heard that message especially since two of them are seniors and my time with them is growing short. 

It is an intentional choice to live on mission for Jesus. Over the years God has opened doors to share the good news of Jesus with my children,  waiters and waitresses, doctors, nurses, coaches, students, drug addicts, alcoholics, law enforcement officers (when pulled over for speeding), and people dying. The man who led me to Christ and discipled me, Eli Bernard, led me to Christ because he lived and still lives on mission. He came to a junior varsity football game not to watch the game but with the mission of sharing Jesus with whomever he could. God sent him to me. God prepared my heart to receive that message. Nobody had ever sat me down and clearly explained the gospel to me before that night in October of 1983. I had a great uncle and a distant cousin who were preachers. They never explained the gospel to me even once. I used to play football with friends in the yard next to where a pastor lived. He never told me about Jesus. Eli lived on mission. God used his bold witness to introduce me to Jesus. God used that conversation in a football stadium during a football game to convert me. He can save anyone anywhere no matter who they are or what they have done. Hallelujah!

Eli continued living on mission by teaching me and others in our youth group to actively share our faith. I did so with my brother, cousins, sister, mother, aunts, best friends, and guys I played with on my football team. I just thought that was what every Christian did. I learned much later few people in churches actively share their faith. I'm not saying it has always been easy to follow in Eli's footsteps. I can say over the past four decades, God stirs me, gives the boldness and the ability to tell others the greatest news in the world.  God has enabled me to share my faith thousands of times both behind a pulpit preaching and in one on one conversations. It fires me up to get to be present when Jesus brings someone to faith and saves them. Baptisms ignite my soul. We are supposed to baptize two more this Sunday. Hallelujah twice. 

Imagine if we all chose to live on mission for Jesus. It is not our job to convert people. Only the Lord can do that. Our job is just to tell the good news. The Lord does the rest. Imagine if what Eli did for me by sharing the gospel, investing in me to teach how to do the same thing, and then releasing me to do it on my own, we did the same. He made a disciple [Matt 28:19] who has gone and made other disciples. That simple truth if acted upon could have profound impact on the community we live in and the church we call home. May God propel us to live on mission for Him.