Are We Too Busy For Revival?

Over and over again I hear people praying for revival - in their own hearts, in their churches and in their communities. We are a dry, thirsty people these days, and we are desperately seeking the Lord's Living Water so we can keep going.

He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings. Psalm 107:35

But once we're prayed for a spiritual jump-start in our lives, what are we doing after that? Do we go right back to our normal routine and hope that God will perform some miracle? While He doesn't need our help to do anything, He would appreciate our participation.

We pray that we'll be burdened for lost souls. We pray for enthusiasm and excitement over His Word. We pray for the Spirit to move in our services and for friends, loved ones and strangers to come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. Then...we sit back and wait.

Revival is supposed to shake things up, make us change our ways of thinking and serving the Lord. The key to staying in a revival state of mind is being willing to schedule our time around God, not just wait for Him to move in some mystical way. What do I mean by that?

1. Why do we expect the Lord to show up when we're not taking the time to be aware of what He's already doing? If we go through the day with our lips dragging the ground, we're in a terrible heart attitude. We have been blessed exceeding abundantly above and recognizing that will bring us closer to a revived soul. We expect preachers and musicians to get us all stirred up once a week, when God is trying to move in our lives every moment of every day. It's our responsibility to bring the Holy Ghost with us, not show up trying to see if we can get Him to move.

2. How can we get closer to God when we're already thinking ahead to the rest of the day? Sure, we may schedule some Bible reading time in the morning or have a few minutes of prayer once or twice a day. But how many times are we half-hearted because our thoughts have already strayed to the next item on our to-do list? If I'm not 100% focused on how I'm interacting with the Lord at this exact moment, it's no wonder I;m not feeling Him working and moving. My time is simply borrowed from God's timeline for my life, which means I need to turn each minute back over to Him.

3. Where is it written that only the preacher and Sunday School teacher do Bible study? If we're not immersing ourselves in God's Word, we'll never understand it, we'll only be repeating what we've heard someone else say and we'll never grow the ways God wants us to. My Bible study time each morning is desperately important to me, and I can really tell the difference in the days I don't get very much. This is part of my bonding time with the Lord - imagine what your marriage or your friendships would be like if you only spent a couple of minutes every day with those people. God deserves so much more of our time and attention than that.

4. When will we make time to simply be happy in the Lord? When we've been in a really great church service, we feel like we're floating on a cloud. We're so excited that someone was saved or the message was a shout-her-outter. Then, instead of taking that feeling and putting it to good use, we're disappointed when it doesn't last. Faith and joy aren't about feelings, but about rejoicing in the Lord. That alone provides us with what we need.

5. Who is in charge of your time? Are you allowing others and other things to dictate when you will focus on God? We can't spend a couple of hours in church on Sunday morning and expect other people's feelings and emotions to help us get through the next week. A close relationship with the Lord requires daily maintenance and upkeep. You know what your home looks like when you don't clean it for a week - that's what your heart and soul turn into, too, when you're not faithful in your time with God.

Each of us as individual women makes choices every day about how she'll interact with the Lord. Those decisions make the difference in how we feel His presence in our everyday lives, not just when we're sitting in a service. We need to be fed form God's Word as frequently as we can, and that means making time for Him whenever possible. That's how we'll bring revival to our soul.

Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation. Psalm 85:6-7

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