When Do We Need Revival?

When do we need revival?

• when we do not love Him as we once did.
• when earthly interests and occupations are more important to us than eternal ones.
• when we would rather watch TV and read secular books and magazines than read the Bible and pray.
• when church dinners are better attended than prayer meetings. when concerts draw bigger crowds than prayer meetings.
• when we have little or no desire for prayer.
• when we would rather make money than give money.
• when we put people into leadership positions in our churches who do not meet scriptural qualifications.
• when our Christianity is joyless and passionless.
• when we know truth in our heads that we are not practicing in our lives.
• when we make little effort to witness to the lost.
• when we have time for sports, recreation, and entertainment, but not for Bible study and prayer.
• when we do not tremble at the Word of God.
• when preaching lacks conviction, confrontation, and divine fire and anointing.
• when we seldom think thoughts of eternity.
• when God’s people are more concerned about their jobs and their careers, than about the Kingdom of Christ and the salvation of the lost.
• when God’s people get together with other believers and the conversation is primarily about the news, weather, and sports, rather than the Lord.
• when church services are predictable and “business as usual.”
• when believers can be at odds with each other and not feel compelled to pursue reconciliation.
• when Christian husbands and wives are not praying together.
• when our marriages are co-existing rather than full of the love of Christ.
• when our children are growing up to adopt worldly values, secular philosophies, and ungodly lifestyles.
• when we are more concerned about our children’s education and their athletic activities than about the condition of their souls.
• when sin in the church is pushed under the carpet.
• when known sin is not dealt with through the biblical process of discipline and restoration.
• when we tolerate “little” sins of gossip, a critical spirit, and lack of love.
• when we will watch things on television and movies that are not holy.
• when our singing is half-hearted and our worship lifeless.
• when our prayers are empty words designed to impress others.
• when our prayers lack fervency.
• when our hearts are cold and our eyes are dry.
• when we aren’t seeing regular evidence of the supernatural power of God.
• when we have ceased to weep and mourn and grieve over our own sin and the sin of others.
• when we are content to live with explainable, ordinary Christianity and church services.
• when we are bored with worship.
• when people have to be entertained to be drawn to church.
• when our music and dress become patterned after the world.
• when we start fitting into and adapting to the world, rather than calling the world to adapt to God’s standards of holiness.
• when we don’t long for the company and fellowship of God’s people.
• when people have to be begged to give and to serve in the church.
• when our giving is measured and calculated, rather than extravagant and sacrificial.
• when we aren’t seeing lost people drawn to Jesus on a regular basis.
• when we aren’t exercising faith and believing God for the impossible.
• when we are more concerned about what others think about us than what God thinks about us.
• when we are unmoved by the fact that 2.5 billion people in this world have never heard the name of Jesus.
• when we are unmoved by the thought of neighbors, business associates, and acquaintances who are lost and without Christ.
• when the lost world around us doesn’t know or care that we exist.
• when we are making little or no difference in the secular world around us.
• when the fire has gone out in our hearts, our marriages, and the church.
• when we are blind to the extent of our need and don’t think we need revival.

Used with permission
Copyright ©1998 Life Action Ministries