The Upper Room Diaries

I believe with all of my heart that this generation will live to witness one of the biggest revivals ever. Even thinking about it makes my whole body tingle with excitement. Never had one topic captured me oozing with so much anticipation as this. It thrills me to no end.

I recall diving into the history of Revivalism for a school research paper last year. I read about the many recorded revivals in history, some bigger and some smaller, but always something good and powerful will flow out of it. I realized that God specifically chose to intervene at various points in history when society is going wayward in order to keep His Church alive and to make it grow. That I figured must be what the Holy Spirit is about! When Jesus ascended to heaven, the Church is heavily out numbered. I remember Ravi Zacharias saying that the proportion was something like 1:30000. There were Greek philosophers around, Judaism and so many other world views contrary to Christian teachings; but yet Christianity conquered the ideas of the world at their time. Movements of this scale can only be done via the Holy Spirit. This is the true nature of Christianity.

So what is a revival?
In simple terms, a revival is a greater-than-usual outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Out of all possible times, God specifically chose certain points in the timeline to pour out the Holy Spirit in a greater-than-usual intensity. The effects of those times always turn out so great that they became pivotal to the development of the universal Church. The nature of revivals could be understood as the restoration of the Church to a vital and fervent relationship with God after a period of decline.

It is quite common for people to be skeptical about revivals especially when critics like to term them as “religious enthusiasm”. This is not new. In response to that, Jonathan Edwards produced one of his greatest work during The First Great Awakening called “A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections” published in 1746. He emphasized in the preface that one of Satan’s favorite strategies was to simulate genuine religious experiences in extreme ways that were caricatures of the real thing, hence making people discredit the whole.

Do not be deceived by the evil one. Do not be disillusioned. It is my belief that a big one is coming, and it is coming really fast.

So how can we prepare ourselves for this revival?
I am writing this as a mere leader serving among many other gifted leaders. Within this contextual framework, I see three really practical ways that we can prepare ourselves for the upcoming revival (which btw, will be MAJOR!).

1. Get your Perspective right.
Having a right theology on Revivalism is crucial for revival to happen. When I was growing up in the youth ministry I see too many disillusioned youths (leaders) who became skeptical about revivals because they see it as a momental “high”. Thus this explains their total lack of motivation after observing a pattern of repeated rise and fall. Now that I have grown up and learned the truth, I see such thinking as a lie directly from Hell. In actual fact, there is nothing wrong in chasing after revivals. This actually really speaks loud on faith. If a person really wants God so much, he or she would go anywhere and do anything just to get “a touch” from the Lord. This desperation is biblical.

Flawed theology spreads fast. If you are a leader, you got to get your perspective right. The last thing we as leaders would want to do, is to be against the move of God when revival really happens.

2. Get your Prayer life right.
Revivals happen only when believers pray. God allows the spiritual landscape to be changed by the prayers of His people (James 5:16). So if you are a leader and you are not praying for revival, then what are you doing? A ministry that prays together stays together and grow together. The keyword here is “together”, and this is what Church is for. If the Church is not important to God, then Jesus need not die in order to give it to us. Speaking of unity in prayer, I like this line by Jim Cymbala that I often find so convicting.

“Christians pay all kinds of money to watch people do something, thats wonderful; but doesn’t it awaken us that when a prayer meeting is called, nobody would come when Jesus said that ‘My house will be called a house of prayer’ ?” – Jim Cymbala

This is a sobering reminder that we are all serving in God’s house and it has to be run God’s way. Preaching is good, worship is good; but above all these Jesus says that “My house will be called a house of prayer.” This means that the element that is supposed to distinguish the Christian gathering is the atmosphere of prayer. It is to be noted that the Church was not borne when someone was preaching but when people were praying. In Acts chapter 2 we see the disciples gathered in the upper room praying and worshiping. There, the Church was borne and the Spirit was poured out.

If we want to see revival happening, we would need to pray. Nothing we do can change the hearts of the people. However we can bring them to the Lord through prayer. Pray for revival to happen.

3. Get your Physical life right.
By this, I mean exercise, sleeping and eating. So you may ask, “why is this important?” This is important because when the Spirit of God starts to flow, the usual ministry duration would be forcefully extended. Two possible scenarios would be, a two-hour service extending to six-hour long; and an increase of follow-up due to a sudden influx of new converts. There can be many more examples but the bottom line is that our bodies need to be able to sustain the sudden increased strain of ministry. Sure, God can bring revival; but the real question is, are we ready for it?

After talking to my lecturer regarding the typical (negligent) minister’s lifestyle, I am so convicted of my own. Some new habits that I have adopted are that, I have started to sleep early, eat light dinners, exercise, and craft sermons on a bi-weekly basis regardless of the existence of speaking engagements. The results are amazing. I wake up to a very sharp mind in the morning, I need lesser sleep, I move faster, and most importantly, I hear God so much clearer.

So why are all these preparation so important?
To conclude this post, I shall answer the big question on the minds of everyone. These preparations are important because we all want to be used by God. If we are not ready when the Spirit of God begins to move, God would simply use other people — those who are ready. We are not indispensable in ministry. God will raise up people (and this means anyone, or anything [remember Balam's donkey?]) to take over from you, and you of all people do not want to be left out of all the action.

Let us be properly prepared for the soon-coming big move of the Holy Spirit which people often term as “revival”. Singapore is ripe for revival!