What Is Revival? What the Bible and History Teach About Spiritual Awakening
Adapted from Chapters 9 and 11 of Seven Seeds for Flourishing.
Revival is a season when God's presence comes in unusual power on His people, awakening the church and spilling out into the surrounding culture. It usually brings deep repentance, fresh love for Jesus, renewed hunger for prayer and Scripture, and large numbers of people coming to faith. Revival is a work of God, but history shows it is almost always preceded by ordinary people who give themselves to extraordinary prayer.
The Bible calls it "times of refreshing."
“Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord,
Acts 3:19, World English Bible
The Biblical Pattern
God gave His people a promise that has fueled prayer for revival for centuries:
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14, World English Bible
Notice the order. Humility, prayer, seeking God's face and turning from sin come first. Healing follows. The prophet Joel called God's people to the same thing: "'Yet even now,' says Yahweh, 'turn to me with all your heart'" (Joel 2:12). Repentance is not only turning away from sin. It is returning to a God who is gracious, merciful and slow to anger.
Revival in Ephesus
Acts 19 reads like a revival report. Paul taught daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus for two years, and the whole region heard the word of the Lord (Acts 19:10). God worked unusual miracles. New believers confessed their sins and publicly burned their books of sorcery worth fifty thousand pieces of silver (Acts 19:19). The sale of idols dropped so sharply that the silversmiths started a riot.
So the word of the Lord was growing and becoming mighty.
Acts 19:20, World English Bible
That is what revival looks like: changed lives, restored families and a city whose culture begins to shift.
Revival in History
The Fulton Street Revival (1857-1859). A businessman named Jeremiah Lanphier started a noon prayer meeting for workers in New York City. Six people came to the first one. Within months, thousands were gathering daily, and businesses closed at lunch so employees could pray. The movement spread across the country, and historians estimate close to a million people came to faith in two years.
The Welsh Revival (1904-1905). As a young man, Evan Roberts prayed for revival for more than ten years, choosing prayer meetings over leisure with his friends. When revival came, more than one hundred thousand people came to Christ in less than a year. Taverns emptied, and reports say some courts had no cases to try. Roberts' message was simple: confess all known sin, put away anything doubtful, obey the Holy Spirit promptly, and confess Christ publicly.
The Hebrides Revival (1949-1952). On the Isle of Lewis off the coast of Scotland, two elderly sisters, Peggy and Christine Smith, ages 84 and 82, prayed three nights a week by their peat fire. One was blind and the other bent with arthritis. They held onto one promise:
For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring:
Isaiah 44:3, World English Bible
One night in a barn prayer meeting, a young man read from Psalm 24, "Who may ascend to Yahweh's mountain? He who has clean hands and a pure heart." The presence of God fell on the room. Revival spread across the islands, and people were found weeping by the roadside under conviction of sin.
What Revival Has in Common
Across Scripture and history, the same seeds show up again and again: people coming to salvation, devotion to prayer and God's Word, the power of the Holy Spirit, unity among believers, generosity, impact on the culture and growth of the church. And beneath all of them is extraordinary devotion. David vowed not to rest until he found a dwelling place for God (Psalm 132:3-5). Paul served Ephesus "with many tears" (Acts 20:19). Revival begins with uncommon faithfulness and a willingness to seek God at any cost.
Think of a desert super bloom. Seeds lie dormant in dry ground for years, and when the rains come, the whole landscape bursts into color. Revival is like that. The truth of God's Word has been planted in people's hearts, and when the Spirit pours out, what was dormant comes to life.
How to Pray for Revival
1. Start with your own heart. Ask God to search you (Psalm 139:23). Confess sin quickly and fully. Revival begins with "my people."
2. Pray the promises. Pray 2 Chronicles 7:14, Isaiah 44:3, Acts 3:19 and Habakkuk 3:2 back to God.
3. Gather with others. Revival has always been born in shared prayer, from six people at Fulton Street to two sisters by a fire. Don't neglect meeting together (Hebrews 10:25).
4. Stay hungry and persistent. Evan Roberts prayed for more than a decade. Keep asking, seeking and knocking.
5. Pray for your city by name. Ask God to make His church a dwelling place for His presence where you live.
Go deeper. This post is adapted from Seven Seeds for Flourishing by Hazen Stevens, a look at the seven seeds of Acts 2 that cause the church to flourish in revival. Get the book on Amazon, start the free Seven Seeds for Flourishing Bible plan or the Preparing for Outpouring plan, watch the Manifest series on the person and power of the Holy Spirit, or pray with us online Monday through Thursday.
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (public domain).
