Revival is our first and greatest need. The pursuit of revival has animated countless individuals down through the centuries of Christian history. Many of these people penned touching thoughts on the subject, which will be shared here on an ongoing basis. Be encouraged and join many others in seeking revival!
Matthew 20:21-24 And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.” 22 But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They said to Him, “We are able.” 23 So He said to them, “You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.” 24 And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers." (NKJV)
"Before giving us the baptism of the Holy Spirit, our heavenly Father will try us, to see if we can live without dishonoring Him. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Do not think, my children, that you have received all the spiritual help you need. And do not think that you can have great spiritual blessings without complying with the conditions God Himself has laid down. James and John thought that for the asking, they could have the highest place in the kingdom of God. Oh, how far short they fell of understanding the situation! They did not realize that before they could share Christ’s glory, they must wear His yoke and daily learn His meekness and lowliness." Letter 22, 1902, pp. 8, 9.
2 Chron. 29:5 "and said to them: “Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry out the rubbish from the holy place."
"We must humble self, today, tomorrow, and constantly. With a willing, sanctified heart, we must cooperate with God. We are living in the time when Satan has come down in great power. He is walking about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. But the Lord is ready to take away the sin that hinders us from yoking up with Christ. If we wear the yoke of Christ, he will be our Immanuel, - "God with us" supplying every weakness with his strength, every inefficiency with his power and success. But if we take glory to ourselves, he removes his excellency from us, and we no longer ride prosperously." {SpM 89.1}
Ps. 85:6 "Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?"
"From the day of Pentecost, there has been not one great spiritual awakening in any land which has not begun in a union of prayer, though only among two or three; no such outward, upward movement has continued after such prayer meetings have declined; and it is in exact proportion to the maintenance of such joint and believing supplication and intercession that the Word of the Lord in any land or locality has had free course and been glorified." A. T. Pierson
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. Acts 2:17
"Floods of spiritual power are to be poured forth upon those prepared to receive it." Testimonies, Vol. 8, p. 46.
"Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place." 2 Cor. 2:14
"We are a supernatural people, born again by a supernatural birth, kept by a supernatural power, sustained on supernatural food, taught by a supernatural Teacher, from a supernatural Book. We are led by a supernatural Captain in right paths to assured victories.”—Hudson Taylor, Founder, China Inland Mission
"Awake out of the snare of the devil, who are taken alive by him [Satan] at his will." 2 Tim. 2:26, margin.
“If Satan had HIS way, there would never be another awakening, great or small., to the end of time. Satan is working with unfailing perseverance and intense energy to draw into his ranks the professed followers of Christ. If some who profess to believe present truth, could understand their TRUE position, they would despair of the mercy of God. . . . They have been doing the work of Satan. Many have become so infatuated by his deceptions that they will never recover," "The spiritual stagnation that prevails is TERRIBLE."
1 Cor. 15:28 "Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all." 1 Cor. 15:28
"The truth is, that we never feel Christ to be a reality, until we feel Him to be a necessity. Therefore, God makes us feel that necessity. He tries us here, and He tries us there. He chastises on this side, and He chastises on that side. He probes us by the disclosure of one sin, and another, and a third, which have lain rankling in our deceived hearts. He removes, one after another, the objects in which we have been seeking the repose of idolatrous affection. He afflicts us in ways which we have not anticipated. He sends upon us the chastisements which He knows we shall feel most sensitively. He pursues us when we would fain flee from His hand; and, if need be, He shakes to pieces the whole framework of Our plans of life, by which we have been struggling to build together the service of God and the service of Self; till, at last, He makes us feel that Christ is all that is left to us."
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." John 14:26
"Until our churches honor the Holy Spirit, we shall never see it abundantly manifested in our midst. Let the preacher always confess before he preaches that he relies upon the Holy Spirit. Let him burn his manuscript and depend upon the Holy Spirit. If the Spirit does not come to help him, let him be still and let the people go home and pray that the Spirit will help him the next service.... We must honor the Spirit; unless we put him first, he will never make crowns for us to wear. He will get victories, but he will have the honor of them, and if we do not give to him the honor, he will never give to us the privilege and success. And best of all, if you would have the Holy Spirit, let us meet together earnestly to pray for him. Remember, the Holy Spirit will not come to us as a church, unless we seek him. "—Charles Spurgeon
"And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." Acts 2:42
“I supposed for a time that the parish was then in a state of special religious excitement. I asked, ‘How long has this excitement continued?’ ‘About seventeen years,’ was the reply, ‘ever since Pastor Harms came among us.’ A stranger is apt to regard the villagers as living almost altogether for the church and missions. ‘Are there not some unbelievers in the parish?’ I asked my landlord. ‘There is one, only one,’” was his reply." —spoken of revival in the parish of Louis Harms. (Read his story at path2prayer.com)
"Revive us again...."
"The secret of the success of the Apostles lay, not in what they did and said, but in the presence of Christ in them and with them. They saw with the eyes of Christ, felt with His heart, and worked with His energies. They were nothing, Christ was everything. Christ was living, breathing, and triumphing in their personal lives. Their entire nature being replete with His light, and their souls kindled with the fires of His love, they moved in the midst of men as embodiments of supernatural power." (Read the rest of Griffith John's powerful thoughts on what made the apostles such power-filled Christians)
“What do we want I will express it to you in one word. We want a great revival of personal piety. We want a great effusion of the Holy Spirit. We want another Pentecostal season. Then the numbers of Gods servants who will be prepared to go forth as missionaries will be multiplied; the silver and the gold will be multiplied, too. The same blessed Spirit which stirs up the hearts of men to go and minister to their fellow-creatures will stir up the hearts of His people also to supply the silver and the gold. Therefore I close with the prayer: “ Awake, O north wind, and come thou south wind, blow upon our garden, that the spices thereof may flow forth”—Daniel Wilson.
"In every age and every land the greatest and most constraining stimulus to labour and sacrifice in the cause of evangelism is loving loyalty to Christ, a sensitive concern for His honour, enthusiasm for the coming of His kingdom, and a determination that His will shall be done on earth, even as it is done in heaven."—James Gall.
“When the heart is emptied of self, it will be ready for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and then you will be fitted to strengthen the sheep and lambs of the flock of Christ; for self will be hid with Christ in God. The Spirit of Christ will be manifested in your daily life.”—E. White (Read the rest of the sermon)
"Oil …. for the light." Ex. 25:26
"This is our real need — more oil, a greater supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” Oh, we need more divine illumination. More “oil for the light.” More oil in the closet; then our prayers will be more real, our petitions more urgent, our intercessions more frequent. More oil in the study; then our reading of the Scriptures will be more profitable, and we shall know more of the mind of God and the better able to teach Christ"—Frank White
"Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually." 1 Chron. 16:11
"We have lost much in our meetings by our own indifference. There is much unprofitable talk, but little earnest, sincere prayer. Such prayers would bring strength and grace to resist the powers of darkness. God wants to bless. He is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him than are parents to give good gifts to their children. But many do not feel their need. They do not realize that they can do nothing without the help of Jesus. Therefore they labor hard, but see little accomplished. Satan is working with all his power to block up the way, and without special help from God, the cause of truth will not go forward." Review and Herald, July 24, 1883
"To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." 1 Cor. 9:22
“I am ready to burn out for God. I am ready to endure any hardship if by any means I might save some. The longing of my heart is to make known my glorious Redeemer to those who never heard.”—William Chalmers Burns
"I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." John 14:16-18
"Christ has promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to His church, and the promise belongs to us as much as to the first disciples. But like every other promise, it is given on conditions. There are many who believe and profess to claim the Lord’s promise; they talk about Christ and about the Holy Spirit, yet receive no benefit. They do not surrender the soul to be guided and controlled by the divine agencies. We cannot use the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is to use us. Through the Spirit God works in His people “to will and to do of His good pleasure.” Phil. 2:13. But many will not submit to this. They want to manage themselves. This is why they do not receive the heavenly gift. Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch for His guidance and grace, is the Spirit given. The power of God awaits their demand and reception. This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train. It is given according to the riches of the grace of Christ, and He is ready to supply every soul according to the capacity to receive."—Desire of Ages, p. 672 (Read the rest of the chapter on path2prayer.com)
"Deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and come follow Me." Luke 9:23
“God has no interest in our mechanics. He isn’t looking for methods, He is looking for men. He isn’t after our plans, He is after us. He isn’t calling for our talents or our possessions. He is calling for ourselves…. Some people think there are certain favored ones who have been granted a monopoly on God. But the truth is the other way around; God has a monopoly on them. And it is the immeasurable privilege, not of the favored few, but of whosoever will give God the utter control of his (or her) life, to be possessed by Power.” J. E. Conant, Divine Dynamite, pp. 23, 25.
"The Spirit, though the ever-blessed and abiding Occupant of the church of Christ, and of the individual believer, may not always be manifestly present. The prayerless, unholy and trifling walk of a believer will cause Him to withdraw His sensible presence. The coldness, formality, worldliness and divisions of a church will compel Him to withhold the plentiful rain or the gentle dew of his precious influence. He may be so disowned, dishonoured, wounded and grieved as to retire within the curtains of His secret glory, leaving for a while the scene of worldliness and strife to the curse and the reproach of barreness."—Octavius Winslow
"O LORD, I have heard Your speech and was afraid; O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy." Hab. 3:2
“There is need of a great revival of spiritual life, of truly fervent devotion to our Lord Jesus, of entire consecration to His service. It is only in a church in which this spirit of revival has at least begun, that there is any hope of radical change in the relation of the majority of our Christian people to mission work.” Andrew Murray
"Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord," Acts 3:19 "
"God is simply waiting for us, and waiting, not passively, but actively, wooing and stimulating and helping us in all possible ways. When He can pour out the fullness of His blessing, He will; when every requisite condition is present. He will descend into and fill His Church, and send her forth to achieve the final triumphs of the Cross; His arm will be made bare in the sight of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see His salvation." William Crosbie
"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you" Acts 1:8
"It is the incoming of God’s life that raises the level, that freshens and invigorates the springs of progress, that improves society, that elevates and strengthens the moral tone, that gives success to the Gospel, that fits and qualifies the Church for the triumphant accomplishment of her mission in the world. And the lesson of the last century—and the lesson of Pentecost and the lesson of all similar seasons of blessing—is that the incoming of God’s life is conditioned by prayer. The preliminary is prayer. The law is prayer; and it is not arbitrary, but in the very nature of things necessary…When, therefore, God’s people “give” themselves to prayer, compelled by the heart’s longings after God and after the salvation of men, genuine revival is near…. Shall we not, then, supply the condition? Observe the law? Prepare the way? Cast out the stones”? Make it possible for God to bless us and to "revive His work in the midst of the years”? He is summoning us to the duty, and will therefore help us if we strive to do His will. He is eager to fill us with the Holy Ghost, and is just waiting for us. Oh how much longer will He have to wait? How we are wronging our own souls, and hindering God, and standing in the way of the salvation of men! Let us prostrate ourselves before Him, and acknowledge our offences, and seek the forgiveness that is never denied to the penitent, and ask for the gift unspeakable; and we shall rise up “endued with power” and instinct with the life of God.” William Crosbie, The Evangelization of the World
“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6)
James McConkey said at one time that he believed that a few men had a monopoly on the Holy Spirit. ‘But now,’ he said, ‘I know that the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on a few men.’” Quoted in Promises of God by H. M. S. Richards
"In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise...." Eph. 1:13
"I was converted in November 1825, but I only came, into the full surrender of the heart four years later, in July 1829. The love of money was gone, the love of place was gone, the love of position was gone, and the love of worldly pleasures and engagements was gone. God, God, God alone became my portion. I found my all in Him; I wanted nothing else. And by the grace of God this has remained, and has made me a happy man, an exceedingly happy man, and it led me to care only about the things of God. I ask, affectionately, my beloved brethren, have you fully surrendered the heart to God, or is there this thing or that thing with which you are taken up irrespective of God?"
"Men are not going to be impressed by our nicely worded sermons or our essays on the ethical interests of human life. We need to pray the prayer of the Prophet: "Oh that Thou wouldst rend the heavens, that Thou wouldst come down, that the mountains might flow down at Thy presence" (Isa. 64:1). Our need is for a demonstration of the supernatural, lifting men from the plane of the ordinary to the realm of the extraordinary — to the higher heights of God-realization." Duncan Campbell
"Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said...." Acts 4:8
“When the Spirit enters into the heart, He fills it entirely, so that the world finds no more room or place in it, because this Guest makes Himself sole Lord and Master of it. The first disciples and believers were so entirely taken possession of by this blissful dominion of the Pentecostal Spirit that they were no longer masters of their own tongues or any other member. They were compelled, as it were, to speak, even as the Spirit gave them utterance. They could not long speak according to their own judgment, knowledge, and learning. No! They were constrained to do and speak as the Holy Spirit would have them. Thus it is with every one with whom the Holy Spirit takes up His residence. He then experiences the blissful dominion of our Lord Jesus Christ in his heart. The Holy Spirit is then the scepter which is sent forth out of Zion into our hearts. He takes possession of all our will and desire, all our actions and deportment, all our inclinations and affections and makes us entirely subject to Him. He dwells in our hearts like a king in the realm of his palace. He ordains and accomplishes in us that which is pleasing and acceptable to Him. He creates in us another principle and beginning of life. He becomes to the soul, as it were, the life of her life. He renews her daily more and more in the image of Him that created her, and forms her into a temple of truth and righteousness—yea, to a living temple of God in Jesus Christ. All the glory of earthly kings and princes are only vain shadows and child’s-play compared with the single Pentecostal heart which is deemed worthy of receiving the Sprit of Jesus Christ in such plenitude.” Gerhard Tersteegen
"With my whole heart I sought you...." Ps. 119:10
"In the life of man things sacred and secular are to be done, some in business lines, some in the ministry of the Word, and some in various trades; but when a man gives himself to Christ and loves God with the whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, he serves with a devotion that takes his whole being.... He recognizes the ownership of his powers and the ownership of himself. This consecration invests his whole life with a sacredness which makes him gentle, kind, and courteous. His every act is a consecrated act.... He is under Christ, being trained for the higher grade above." Heavenly Places p. 58
"If you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your gift." Matt. 5:24
"It is vain for us to pray while conscious that we have injured another. Let us first make amends to the inured one before we dare approach God at either the private or the public altar. I am confident hat revival would break out in most churches if this were done.” Jonathan Goforth, By My Spirit, p. 16
"I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me." John 17:23
"When the laborers have an abiding Christ in their own souls, when all selfishness is dead, when there is no rivalry, no strife for the supremacy, when oneness exists, when they sanctify themselves, so that love for one another is seen and felt, then the showers of the grace of the Holy Spirit will just as surely come upon them as that God's promise will never fail in one jot or tittle. But when the work of others is discounted, that the workers may show their own superiority, they prove that their own work does not bear the signature it should. God cannot bless them.--Vol. 1 Selected Messages, p. 175
"But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst." John 4:14
"Shall never thirst." To know that 'shall' means shall, that 'never' means never, that 'thirst' means ANY unsatisfied need, may be one of the greatest revelations God has ever made to our souls." Hudson Taylor
"A child does not ask, 'How am I to take the gift?' but, "Is it for me.'" Andrew Bonar
"A Christian minister is a person who in a peculiar sense is not his own; he is the servant of God, and therefore ought to be wholly devoted to him. By entering on that sacred office he solemnly undertakes to be always engaged, as much as possible, in the Lord’s work, and not to choose his own pleasure, or employment, or pursue the ministry as a something that is to subserve his own ends, or interests, or as a kind of bye-work. He engages to go where God pleases, and to do, or endure what he sees fit to command, or call him to, in the exercise of his function. He virtually bids farewell to friends, pleasures, and comforts, and stands in readiness to endure the greatest sufferings in the work of his Lord, and Master. It is inconsistent for ministers to please themselves with thoughts of a numerous auditory, cordial friends, a civilized country, legal protection, affluence, splendor, or even a competency. The flights, and hatred of men, and even pretended friends, gloomy prisons, and tortures, the society of barbarians of uncouth speech, miserable accommodations in wretched wildernesses, hunger, and thirst, nakedness, weariness, and painfulness, hard work, and but little worldly encouragement, should rather be the objects of their expectation." William Carey (Missionary to India), from Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens
"The great question between our souls and God is not whether we admit the truths of the Scripture into our understandings--but whether they are so applied to our hearts--so as to have wrought a change, and become vital principles of faith and practice. Nothing short of this can afford evidence of a saved and safe condition." Legh Richmond, from a letter to his dying son
"The best mirror is not that which is most gilded; but that which shows the truest face.That preaching is to be preferred which makes the truest discovery of men’s sins and shows then their hearts." Thomas Watson
"At all times and in all places, in all sorrows and in all afflictions, when the outlook seems dark and the future perplexing, and we feel helpless and alone, the Comforter will be sent in answer to the prayer of faith. Circumstances may separate us from every earthly friend; but no circumstance, no distance, can separate us from the heavenly Comforter. Wherever we are, wherever we may go, He is always at our right hand to support, sustain, uphold, and cheer.—The Desire of Ages, pp. 669, 670
"In every age seasons of spiritual revival and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit have been followed by spiritual darkness and prevailing corruptions.... God's blessing will not rest upon the church in advancing still more light until they use the light as God has directed in His Word." Selected Messages, Vol. 1, p. 129, 130
“The great battles, the battles that decide our destiny and the destiny of generations yet unborn, are not fought on public platforms, but in the lonely hours of the night and in moments of agony. All great soul-winners have been men of much and mighty prayer, and all great revivals have been preceded and carried out by persevering, prevailing knee-work in the closet.” Samuel Brengle
“The men that will change the colleges and seminaries here represented are the men that will spend the most time alone with God… It takes time for the fires to burn. It takes time for God to draw near and for us to know that He is there. It takes time to assimilate His truth. You ask me, How much time? I do not know. I know it means time enough to forget time.” John Mott
“We also grieve the Holy Spirit, when we bind his hands, as it were, by our faintheartedness, by our unbelief, and by the constant consideration of our wants and infirmities. For instance, when we are conscious of our great and manifold weaknesses, together with the utter inability of our own power, and we then continue lying in utter despondency, and do not confide in the Holy spirit and his power and goodness, that he is able and willing to deliver us entirely from our infirmities, and that it is an easy matter for him to make something entire of us, and to bring us to perfection. O how many well-meaning souls often lie and complain, weep and lament, and do not even once rub their eyes, so as to be able to see what the Holy Spirit purposes respecting them! He, my dearest friends can do abundantly more than we can ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. We ought, therefore, filially to resign ourselves to his guidance, and not grieve him further in this manner, since he has already bestowed so many beneï¬ts upon us." Gerhard Tersteegen (Click to read more of Tersteegen)
“That our watching and waiting may be of a proper kind, and be successful, we must turn entirely away from all created things, and appear in the presence of God, with a heart entirely empty, and hungering and thirsting after grace, so that we may boldly say, ‘Lord, here is my vessel, here I wait, here I continue lying on the brink of the waters; here, O my God! I expect the promised power from on high, with perfect resignation and in child-like confidence, that thou wilt, in due time, fulfill thy promise! Thou hast promised thy Holy Spirit to me; and thou wilt also perform. Do not look at my poverty and wretchedness, my nakedness and destitution; for it is for his very reason I need thy grace the most; on this very account I am worthy of compassion.’ It is thus that a soul, which is entirely turned away from the world, and directed to God, and which hungers and thirsts after God, waits in a right and proper manner, and therefore shall be filled with the blessings of salvation, and most assuredly made partaker of the Holy Spirit." Gerhard Tersteegen, Spiritual Crumbs from the Master's Table (read more of this quotation here)
“When I reflect, that God is so rich in grace and mercy-that the latter have been so dearly purchased for us by the blood of Christ-that such a super-abundance of grace and measure of sanctification may be attained, even in this life, by the impartation of the Holy Spirit-ah! I am truly grieved, and my heart breaks, when I call to mind the many precious souls, who after having been called, in the beginning, frequently manifest such great earnestness, and afterwards, suddenly become so satiated, and so lukewarm, as though they had already attained to fullness and perfection. When I reflect how many have such a noble attraction and vocation, so that they possess the greatest capability of becoming truly good and spiritual, but who, nevertheless, as soon as they have attained, though but a small particle of grace, rest satisfied with it, and stop short, as it were, half way-it is enough to pierce me to the heart. How would it pain us, dearest souls! in the eternal world, to see that we had had the water of grace at our very lips, and might gave enjoyed it, in its most abundant fullness, and yet notwithstanding, shamefully neglected to do so?
It is therefore a false and highly sinful humility for a person to say, he would gladly be the meanest in the kingdom of heaven, that he would be heartily satisfied with the crumbs, which fall from the gracious table of our Lord; that every thing is unmerited grace, and every one must be satisfied with what is distributed to him. For he that does not thirst after the best things that are placed upon the gracious table of our God, is not worthy even of the crumbs. He that can attain the highest state in the kingdom of heaven, and does not desire it, is also unworthy of the lowest. We do not, by merit, receive the least measure of divine influence, much less the fullness; but because it is promised and purchased for us by grace; we ought therefore to hunger after it, and strive for it with all earnestness.” Gerhard Tersteegen, Spiritual Crumbs From the Master’s Table, pp. 234,235
"And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father."
Regarding this preparation...
"Observe what they did. They assembled, the men and women, for prayer. They accepted the commission, and, doubtless, came to an understanding of the nature of the commission, and the necessity of the spiritual enduement which Christ had promised. As they continued day after day in prayer and conference they, no doubt, came to appreciate more and more the difficulties that would beset them, and to feel more and more their inadequacy to the task. A consideration of the circumstances and results leads to the conclusion that they, one and all, consecrated themselves, with all they had, to the conversion of the world as their life-work. They must have renounced utterly the idea of living to themselves in any form, and devoted themselves with all their powers to the work set before them. This consecration of themselves to the work, this self-renunciation, this dying to all that the world could offer them, must, in the order of nature, have preceded their intelligent seeking of the promised enduement of power from on high. They then continued, with one accord, in prayer for the promised baptism of the Spirit, which baptism included all that was essential to their success. Observe, they had a work set before them. They had a promise of power to perform it. They were admonished to wait until the promise was fulfilled. How did they wait? Not in listlessness and inactivity; not in making preparations by study and otherwise to get along without it; not by going about their business, and offering an occasional prayer that the promise might be fulfilled; but they continued in prayer, and persisted in their suit till the answer came. They understood that it was to be a baptism of the Holy Ghost. They understood that it was to be received from Christ. They prayed in faith. They held on, with the firmest expectation, until the enduement came. Now, let these facts instruct us as to the conditions of receiving this enduement of power." Charles Finney, Power From On High, "Enduement of Power"
“It costs much to obtain this power. It costs self-surrender and humiliation and the yielding up of our most precious things to God. It costs the perseverance of long waiting and the faith of strong trust. But when we are really in that power, we shall find this difference: that, whereas before it was hard for us to do the easiest thing, now it is easy for us to do the hardest…. As we become deeply instructed in this matter, we shall learn to pray less about the details of duty and more about the fullness of power.” A J Gordon, quoted in They Found the Secret, p. 64
Speaking of his desire to walk closely with Jesus while traveling on a ship, he noted the following in his diary: "Probably there is only one man on board this ship now who can spoil that which God would do, and that man is I!"
"Many a so-called revival is only a drive for church members, which adds more unsaved sinners, starched and ironed but not washed, to a fellowship where even the true believers have not been aroused for years." Vance Havner
"Revival comes from heaven when heroic souls enter the conflict determined to win or die—or if need be, to win and die! "The kingdom of heaven sufferenth violence, and the violent take it by force." Charles Finney
“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." 1 Jn 4:8
"But the words of Jesus . . . have a deeper meaning—not merely pure in the sense in which the world understands purity, free from that which is sensual, pure from lust, but true in the hidden purposes and motives of the soul, free from pride and self-seeking, humble, unselfish, childlike. Only like can appreciate like. Unless you accept in your own life the principle of self-sacrificing love, which is the principle of His character, you cannot know God. . . . " Maranatha p. 88
"Supreme love for God and unselfish love for one another—this is the best gift that our heavenly Father can bestow. This love is not an impulse, but a divine principle, a permanent power. The unconsecrated heart cannot originate or produce it. Only in the heart where Jesus reigns is it found. 'We love him, because he first loved us.' In the heart renewed by divine grace, love is the ruling principle of action. It modifies the character, governs the impulses, controls the passions, and ennobles the affections. This love, cherished in the soul, sweetens the life and sheds a refining influence on all around. John strove to lead the believers to understand the exalted privileges that would come to them through the exercise of the spirit of love. This redeeming power, filling the heart, would control every other motive and raise its possessors above the corrupting influences of the world. And as this love was allowed full sway and became the motive power in the life, their trust and confidence in God and His dealing with them would be complete.—The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 550-552
Cleanse Me
J. Edwin Orr
Search me, O God, and know my heart today,
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray;
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.
I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
Fulfill Thy word and make me pure within;
Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame;
Grant my desire to magnify Thy name.
Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine;
Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine;
Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;
I now surrender, Lord, in me abide.
O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee;
Send a revival, start the work in me;
Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need;
For blessings now, O Lord, I humbly plead.
"….Within a month Robert Evans felt compelled to share his message of the reality of God and the possibility of complete forgiveness of sins with his home youth group at Moriah Loughor. Summing up the message in 4 parts, Evan pressed home to the astonished church the need to...
1. Confess all known sin.
2. Deal with and get rid of anything ‘doubtful’ in one's life.
3. Be ready to obey the Holy Spirit instantly.
4. Confess Christ publicly.
By the end of the first week over 60 responded. By the end of the second week Evan had already started on a whirl-wind tour of the South Wales valleys with his team of 5 girl singers and within a year or so 100,000 converts were said to be added to the Welsh Church…." From the Welsh Revival Web Site
In vain we seek priestly consecration and priestly purity if our heart is not also set upon offering up our entire being to God in priestly service. We cry in vain for the Pentecostal fire unles we bring to God the Pentecostal fuel." Gregory Mantle, Better Things From Above, p. 112
We have found in our experience that if Satan cannot keep souls bound in the ice of indifference, he will try to push them into the fire of fanaticism. When the Spirit of the Lord comes among His people, the enemy seizes the opportunity to work also, seeking to mold the work of God through the peculiar, unsanctified traits of different ones who are connected with that work. Thus there is always danger that unwise moves will be made. Many carry on a work of their own devising, a work which God has not prompted. ... We have felt the need of guarding (the work of God) on every hand with the greatest care; for if the enemy can push individuals to extremes, he is well pleased. He can thus do greater harm than if there had been no religious awakening. We know that there has never yet been a religious effort made in which Satan has not tried his best to intrude himself, and in these last days he will do this as never before. He sees that his time is short, and he will work with all deceivableness of unrighteousness to mingle errors and incorrect views with the work of God and push men into false positions. E. White, Testimonies, Vol. 5, p. 644
“Revival is not some emotion or worked-up excitement; it is rather an invasion from heaven which brings a conscious awareness of God.” Orr, Heart Cry for Revival, p. 48
Pass Me Not
Lord, I hear of showers of blessing,
thou art scattering full and free;
showers the thirsty land refreshing;
let some drops now fall on me;
even me, even me,
let some drops now fall on me.
Pass me not, O God, my Father,
sinful though my heart may be;
thou mightst leave me, but the rather;
let thy mercy light on me;
even me, even me,
let thy mercy light on me.
Pass me not, O gracious Savior,
let me live and cling to thee;
I am longing for thy favor;
whilst thou'rt calling, O call me;
even me, even me,
whilst thou'rt calling, O call me.
Pass me not, O mighty Spirit!
thou canst make the blind to see;
Witnesser of Jesus' merit,
speak the word of power to me;
even me, even me,
speak the word of power to me.
Have I been in sin long sleeping,
long been slighting, grieving thee?
Has the world my heart been keeping?
O forgive and rescue me;
Even me, even me,
O forgive and rescue me.
Love of God, so pure and changeless,
blood of Christ, so rich and free;
grace of God, so strong and boundless
magnify them all in me;
even me, even me,
magnify them all in me.
Pass me not; but pardon bringing,
bind my heart, O Lord, to thee;
whilst the streams of life are springing,
blessing others, O bless me;
even me, even me,
blessing others, O bless me.
Elizabeth Codner, 1860
“See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant” Jeremiah 1:10.
“All Christians are not in proper relationship with their Lord. The present obvious dearth of revival is largely due to the fact that the majority of Christians are out of touch with the source of Divine power. Even at conventions, the first work needed is to get things put right in the lives of those attending. To give a sick stomach an overdose of cream is to risk indigestion. Even a sick stomach prefers the taste of cream to the flavor of the bitter medicine. Still the bitter medicine is necessary, and it does not prevent the enjoying and digesting of good food afterwards-rather it creates the actual appetite of good health, which is quite distinct from the false cravings of indigestion.” J. E. Orr
And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “Which,” He said, “you have heard from Me.” —Acts 1:4
The task of the church is twofold: to spread Christianity throughout the world and to make sure that the Christianity she spreads is the pure New Testament kind…. Christianity will always reproduce itself after its kind. A worldly- minded, unspiritual church, when she crosses the ocean to give her witness to peoples of other tongues and other cultures, is sure to bring forth on other shores a Christianity much like her own….
The popular notion that the first obligation of the church is to spread the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth is false. Her first obligation is to be spiritually worthy to spread it. Our Lord said “Go ye,” but He also said, “Tarry ye,” and the tarrying had to come before the going. Had the disciples gone forth as missionaries before the day of Pentecost it would have been an overwhelming spiritual disaster, for they could have done no more than make converts after their likeness, and this would have altered for the worse the whole history of the Western world and had consequences throughout the ages to come. Tozer, Of God and Men, 35-37.
"Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord." Zechariah 4:6
"The real spiritual growth of the Church, and the development and expansion of what is of God, will depend entirely upon the measure of Divine Life present. This is God’s method; for all purposes, that is His method. There is a very great deal produced in the work of God that is no life. It is nothing of the sort. It is enthusiasm; it is zest; it is interest; it is strong emotion and feeling and overflow of natural spirits worked up, drawn out, fed and ministered to. It goes by its own momentum, and it has to be kept going from the outside — you have to give it more and more and more. God’s method is inward — His own life — and when He gets a way for His own life, there is no need for any of these externals at all; the thing just goes on." Austin Sparks
"It is my conviction that we are never going to have revival until God has brought the church of Jesus Christ to the point of desperation. As long as Christians people can trust religious organization, material wealth, popular preaching, shallow evangelistic crusades and promotion drives, there will never be revival. But when confidence in the flesh is smashed, and the church comes to the realization of her desperate wretchedness, blindness and nakedness before God, then and only then will God breathe in. Yes, there must be the point of desperation but there must also be the point of intercession. Oh, that God would bring us to this place of intercession! We cannot think or talk, let alone taste of revival, without intercessory prayer. Indeed, the reason for an unrevived church in the last analysis is the sin of prayerlessness." Stephen Olford
"As long as Christians people can trust religious organization, material wealth, popular preaching, shallow evangelistic crusades and promotion drives, there will never be revival. But when confidence in the flesh is smashed, and the church comes to the realization of her desperate wretchedness, blindness and nakedness before God, then and only then will God breathe in. Yes, there must be the point of desperation but there must also be the point of intercession. Oh, that God would bring us to this place of intercession! We cannot think or talk, let alone taste of revival, without intercessory prayer. Indeed, the reason for an unrevived church in the last analysis is the sin of prayerlessness." Stephen Olford
Psalms 139: 23,24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
1 Thess. 5:19 "Quench not the Spirit."
“God is not dead. The gospel has lost none of its power. It is we Christians who have lost OUR power with God. God is able right now to give us the same times of blessing that He gave this church one hundred years ago—even greater! Are you willing to let God search your hearts to see that there are no sins which grieve God and keep back the blessing?” From a sermon of the father of William Chalmers Burns preached at the gravesite of James Robe, whose pastoral efforts brought a great revival in Kilsyth Scotland in 1742
"Recognizing and admitting sin is not enough - Revival must result in Reform - or it is merely the expression of enthusiasm." Arthur Wallis