CANDIDATE FOR REVIVAL

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
Thou will revive me:" (Psalm 138:7a)

   The word of God predetermines the candidate or the one who is eligible for personal revival. To 'revive' means to nourish up, preserve, quicken, or restore. A person in need of revival finds himself or herself in a fallen state due to unconfessed sin, excessively heavy burdens, or a prolonged period of unbelief concerning the will of God. Although a person can pray, confess sin, and seek God's face, they may not yet be a candidate for revival. 
    So many of us, preachers included, put up a stiff barrier against God's intervention in our lives and expect Him to meet with us on our terms. Pride or self-consumption either puts us above the need for personal revival, or our close examination of others causes us to view them as better candidates for God's intervention. 
    For others, the effort is made to pacify ourselves with a week of special meetings intended to give us an emotional boost or spiritual jolt for the work of God. We would do well to take heed to the edict of God proclaimed in Isaiah 55:7-9, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
    The person who is a sincere candidate for revival understands and submits to the qualification set forth in Isaiah 57:15 "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and revive the heart of the contrite ones." Let us be careful to note that God promises to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. 
    My friend, God blesses and uses 'broken things' but not partially broken things. He intends to break us into 'pieces', so that when we allow Him to put us back together He might get all the glory. Please be reminded that in Isaiah 48:11 God gives the following warning to Israel, "I will not give my glory to another." The renowned evangelist Charles Finney proclaimed revival to be a "renewed conviction of sin and repentance, followed by an intense desire in obedience to God. It is giving up one's will to God in deep humility."
    The real candidate for revival finds themself in the crucible of testing and the furnace of fire by the hand of Almighty God. If we submit to God's purging we can experience the truth of Proverbs 25:4, "Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer." 

Do you really want revival? 
Do you really want God's power?
Do you really want His Spirit to control your life this hour?
Oh, repent and turn to Jesus,
Seek His face and humbly pray; 
Do you really want revival?
Are you willing to obey?


"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart,
​O God, though will not despise" (Psalm 51:17)
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