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Is Revival Possible in America?
Many Christians today yearn for revival. Whether in big events like the National Day of Prayer, or small prayer meetings in rural chapels or college campuses, believers are pleading with God to revive His church and send spiritual awakening to our land.
There are many things we can do politically, but that only goes so far. There needs to be a spiritual solution - a revival.
You can make a very good case that America was born in a time of revival even before we were established as a nation. People like George Whitfield and others were preaching the gospel and thousands were coming to Christ. This transformation of people’s lives was the soil that made ready the seeds of this great experiment that we call America.
God only knows if the soil is once again ripe for revival, but I would say maybe it’s more ready than ever before. Most revivals seem to happen in times of conflict, like the third Great Awakening in New York City right after the stock market crash. Chaos and desperation are far more likely to lead to revival than comfort and complacency. That’s true in the celebrated revivals and awakenings of America’s past.
Back in the late sixties, it seemed like America was coming apart. Our leaders were being killed. JFK. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. Young men were coming home from Vietnam in body bags. There were riots in the streets. The drug revolution. The sexual revolution. Everything was going crazy at once.
“God only knows if the soil is once again ripe for revival, but I would say maybe it’s more ready than ever before.”
At this time of division was when God sent the Jesus revolution. I once asked Chuck Smith, who is often called the Father of the Jesus Movement, “Chuck, do you think we’ll ever see another Jesus revolution?”
His response was, “I don’t know if we’re desperate enough.” He said, “People were desperate back then.”
It was my privilege to attend a dinner with other evangelical leaders at the White House hosted by President Trump when he was in office. I was asked to say a few words to all those in attendance, and I spoke of 2 Chronicles 7:14, which says, “If my people, which are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven, forgive their sins, and heal their land.”
When we see problems in America, everyone wants to point the finger at the White House, but God points his finger at His house, and He says “if my people.”
Do Christians today truly long for revival and awakening? Are we ready to repent and to live out our repentance? There is a cost. It is different for each person and each church community.
What might it look like for Jesus to revive us again today? It needn’t have a label, like a movement among a certain denomination. It needn’t be confined to Christians from megachurches or mini-churches. It will be where and when and with who God chooses.
God is the one who grants revival, and if we are ready for revival in America, we as Christians must pray and turn from our wicked ways. Then there can be a spiritual awakening in America.
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My Faith Votes— is a ministry that motivates, equips, and activates Christians in America to vote in every election, transforming our communities and influencing our nation with biblical truth. An estimated 25 million Christians who are registered to vote, fail to vote in presidential elections. My Faith Votes is on a mission to change this statistic by helping Christians act on their faith and vote in every election. When we pray unceasingly for our nation, think biblically about the issues, and vote consistently in every election the impact of Christians taking action from the local to the state and federal level will be unprecedented.
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