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OPEN HEAVENS
Position Yourself to Encounter the God of Revival
by Bill Johnson

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1
WHAT IS REVIVAL?

Chapter 2
PRAYING FOR REVIVAL

Chapter 3
THE KEY TO REVIVAL

Chapter 4
THE PURPOSE OF REVIVAL

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 Chapter One

W H AT IS REVIVA L?
What we call revival is simply New Testament Christi-
anity, the saints going back to normal. —Vance Havner

The safety and integrity of any building is founded on the prin-

ciple that the building itself must stay true to the foundation. The
foundation of any building sets the parameters for what is to be built.
And while there are times when the building itself will reach beyond
the footprint set by the foundation, it is always held in place by that
foundation. This is a simple yet critical point when we consider what
the normal Christian life should look like. The Church was birthed
in revival: the outpouring of the Holy Spirit with the overwhelming
presence of God upon a people that changes us individually and cor-
porately until it eventually impacts a city. This was our beginning,
our foundation. Why should we expect to build upon anything less
than God’s heart revealed on that day? Everything built upon that
foundation must live in honor of those same boundaries/values. But
then, because that foundation can take greater weight, it must be
built upon to take it to higher levels, as God always takes us from
glory to glory.

THE NATURE OF REVELATION

God reveals things to us to increase our understanding of in-
heritance, as revealed truth draws us into a relationship with Him

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where our understanding illustrates the nature of His covenant with
us. Revelation leads to experience, which in turn leads us to greater
revelation. Truth stewarded well attracts greater truth. God always
intended that stewarding truth well would take us to new levels of
glory.
The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the
things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever,
that we may observe all the words of this law (Deut.
29:29).

Revelation leads to experience, which in turn leads us

to greater revelation. Truth stewarded well attracts
greater truth.

This really is an astonishing statement. Whatever has been re-

vealed in times past is our present possession. And that promise is
eternal. This promise is God’s perspective on what has been given to
us, meaning it is settled in His mind. And yet if we look at history,
we’d have to admit that some things were understood and practiced
at previous times that are not as clear today. Any breakdown in the
effectiveness of this promise is not on God’s end of the equation. It’s
on ours. And the breakdown continues as long as we fall for the lie
that our inferior demonstration of the power, purity, and love is what
God ordained for this season. It’s simply not true. He did not ordain
lack. He stated that truth was to belong to us, and truth experienced
always leads to freedom and liberty. These are the expressions of true
citizens of His Kingdom. Somehow what they knew then was not
kept at the forefront of their thinking or managed well in their life-
style for the next generation to inherit. Truths are to be a part of our
spiritual inheritance, revealing what God is calling us into.

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 “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which
I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your
mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from
the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord,
“from now and forever” (Is. 59:21).

This promise overlaps the previous one from Deut. 29:29, in that
even the prophetic words were never to depart from our mouths, nor
the mouths of our descendants, forever! God has always had a plan
to incorporate the gifting and experiences of multiple generations
into one ongoing expression of His purposes on earth. This is never
clearer than in revival. Revival is truly where Heaven invades earth.

God has always had a plan to incorporate the gifting

and experiences of multiple generations into one on-
going expression of His purposes on earth.

It probably needs to be stated here that when I talk about revela-

tion, I’m not talking about adding to Scripture. The Bible is complete;
don’t add, don’t take away. But we need revelation to understand
what has already been written. When the Holy Spirit comes upon a
person in revelation, it is a most wonderful experience. Sometimes it
is extreme, usually with some sort of power encounter involved that
expands our understanding of a subject or issue. And sometimes
revelation comes in a very subtle way, which is usually primarily a
cognitive level. Obviously extreme moments are easier to remember.
But it is often the subtle that is where we are tested most, in that
the prevailing question is this: Will we steward what was given until
God has accomplished His purposes in us through that truth? These
moments are primarily cognitive, in that they touch our mind/per-
ception.

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 First of all, there is a level of truth that is common for all people
with no need for additional revelation. As I understand it, there are
three different witnesses that testify of our understanding of truth: 1.
Creation itself speaks of the nature and existence of God. It reveals
Him for all who are interested. 2. The laws of God are written on
our hearts. You don’t need to grow up in a civilized country to know
that stealing is wrong. We carry that realization in our heart. 3. Je-
sus enlightens the heart and mind of every person who comes into
the world. (See John 1:9.) It seems that this may be where due north
is established in the heart, which is the absolute sense of right and
wrong. Everyone receives that when they are born into this world.
But there is more, and the Holy Spirit is needed for such increase.
“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the
truth” (John 16:13).

Every truth reveals the nature of God and is ultimately an in-

vitation to enter into a relationship with Him in order to enter the
promised lifestyle that illustrates the revelation given. Whenever
God reveals truth to us, He is inviting us into ongoing experience
that testifies of Him.

Whenever God reveals truth to us, He is inviting us

into ongoing experience that testifies of Him.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, illustrates this reality quite well.

I love the study of revival in Scripture and in Church history. The

Old Testament story of Nineveh, addressed in the book of Jonah, is
mind-boggling, even for New Testament times. It might be one of
the most underrated moments in all of history, certainly worthy of
focused attention. And then there’s the story of Ephesus in the New
Testament, found in Acts 19. Each city saw an invasion of God’s pres-
ence that brought transformation of life for their entire city.
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 Each story in Scripture and in Church history provokes me to
a pursuit of all that God has made available in my lifetime. But the
problem I have with most studies on revival is that conclusions are
made based on the history of revival, and not on the nature or prom-
ises of God. That means that when a revival ended due to greed,
competition, self-promotion or the like, it is assumed that it was
God’s will for it to end. And while it is God who can bring an end
to such an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, it was not because God no
longer wanted a revival. It was because He refused to align His out-
pouring with the soulish attempts of His people to control and direct
Him. Perhaps the best illustration for this is the biblical responsibil-
ity of priests of the Old Testament, with the fire on the altar. It was
God who lit the fire on the altar, but it was the priests who kept it
burning. It is the same today. God initiates the mighty outpouring of
His Spirit (fire), and we sustain or correctly steward the outpouring
for His glory and the transformation of cities and nations, which is
still in His heart.
And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it
shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on
it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on
it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings.
A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never
go out (Lev. 6:12, 13).

For a simpler example, consider this: Since revivals rarely last

past two years, the common thought is that revivals are to be the
occasional visitation of God to give a boost to an otherwise failing or
weak Church. It rarely takes into account that God lifted the anoint-
ing for revival because of the sins or compromises of those leading it,
which none of us would support.

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 God will often bless the unbeliever before He blesses the carnal-
ity of the Church. The blessing of God upon the unbeliever is His
invitation, or calling card, for them to come and taste more of His
goodness. As it is written, it’s His “kindness that leads us to repen-
tance” (see Rom. 2:4). Blessing upon the unrighteous calls them to
the source of that blessing, the Father. But if He blesses the carnali-
ty of the Church, He strengthens our independence, rebellion, need
to be in charge. Throughout history He lifts His favor and blessings
from the group of people who have entered into self-promotion,
jealousy, and building personal empires from the move of God. Re-
vivals have more than their share of such careless responses to the
favor of God given in times of outpouring. He lifts the glory from us
for our protection.

PENTECOST, THE TRUE FOUNDATION

The Scripture says that the apostle and prophet are the foun-
dation of the Church. (See Eph. 2:20.) But Pentecost is the founda-
tion of church life, in that it was their introduction to the filling and
empowerment of the Holy Spirit. That made everything that was
thought to be impossible for the child of God now quite doable. This
was most likely the greatest paradigm shift in all of history. Now,
frail humanity had access to the divine in which, through grace, they
were enabled to do what only the Son of God could do. That in es-
sence is what grace is: divine favor given through the enabling pres-
ence of God. This was sure to change everything for all who see it as
it really is.

It could be said that if there was ever a meeting that people didn’t
control, defile, or redirect according to their opinions or religious
preferences, it would have to be the gathering of 120 persons on the

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day of Pentecost. (See Acts 2:1-21.) No one knew enough to get it
wrong. Those involved in this life-changing event first invaded Heav-
en with their prayers and intercessions for ten days. And yet they had
no clue what God was about to do. They just knew they were to pray
and then He would do something new. As a result, they became the
target of Heaven. And Heaven hit its mark by taking a small crowd of
hungry and humble people and changing the known world through
them. Should it not be of concern to us that we have not continued
with the nature and Spirit of our beginnings? Obviously, I believe it
should be a primary concern. We can’t guilt or shame our way back
to the foundation. But we can repent, confess, and earnestly pray our
way back.

Yielded people are the greatest tools in the hand of the

Lord.

When Jesus addressed the issue of first love that was missing in
the Church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:4, He told them to return to
the deeds they did in the beginning. Perhaps that would be good
advice for us as well. Again, we see the biblical emphasis on sus-
taining what got us here—our foundation. Our beginnings must be
recognized, honored, and valued for them to be of use in all that
we’re building. We must not forget what got us here. It wasn’t tech-
nology, brilliant programs with lighting and sound. Neither was it
through great campaigns and united endeavors by multiple church-
es involved, as valuable as these things are. It was Him. He became
pronounced and conspicuous in and upon the Church through the
outworking of the Holy Spirit, in and through His people. Yielded
people, sometimes ignorant and simple, are the greatest tools in the
hand of the Lord.

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LEARNING FROM CULTURE
One of my all-time favorite commercials is a United Airlines
commercial from 1990. I bring it up on YouTube every once in a
while, to watch again. I’ve even played it for our staff. In the com-
mercial the owner of a business announces, “I got a phone call this
morning from one of our oldest customers. He fired us. After 20
years, he fired us. He said he didn’t know us anymore. I think I know
why. We used to do business with a handshake. Face to face. Now it’s
a phone call. Then a fax. ‘I’ll get back to you later.’ With another fax,
probably. Well folks, something’s got to change. That’s why we’re go-
ing to set out with our little face-to-face chat with every customer we
have.” One of the guys objects saying, “But Ben, that’s got to be over
200 cities!” To which the boss responds, “I don’t care.” At this point
someone comes in with a stack of airline tickets. He then hands them
out to each of his team members. Then one of the guys asks the own-
er where he was going. He answers, “To visit that old friend who
fired us this morning.”

I have to admit tears come to my eyes at the most embarrassing

times, not always when it would seem reasonable to others in the
room. And this is one of those times. It moves me in ways that are
hard to explain. It is so easy in ministry to forget what got us to the
place where we are tasting some measure of the blessing and favor
of God. Our problem is that we supposedly become experts, leaving
behind the simplicity of childlike faith and obedience that brought
us to that place of breakthrough. It is the honest and authentic, face-
to-face connection with God and His people that He values. This
example, silly as it may seem to some, illustrates what is important
in Church life in general and is critical in revival. We must maintain
the simplicity of devotion to Christ that brought us into a place of

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significant outpouring. That role of continually placing ourselves on
the altar of His mighty work is what keeps the fire burning.

ORIGINAL DESIGN
Many years ago, I heard a great leader in the Body of Christ re-
count a fun story he experienced as a pastor. The congregation was
growing wonderfully and had run out of room. In response, they
were building a new sanctuary. Personally, he had no building skills,
whatsoever, but wanted to be involved somehow. Finally, the con-
tractor found something he could trust the pastor to be able to do. (I
don’t remember the actual numbers for this story, but the principle
is untouched.)

He asked the pastor if he could cut 100 two-by-fours to a length

of eight feet. The pastor was excited to be involved. So, after every-
one left for the day, he began to work on his assignment. He took
the first board, measured eight feet in length with his tape measure,
marked it with his pencil and cut the board. He then put the tape
measure away and used the newly cut board to measure his next one.
He figured it would be a lot easier than having to use the tape mea-
sure 99 more times. He drew a line at the end of the board. He then
removed the previously cut board, put it in a stack and cut the one
with the fresh pencil line. He then took that newly cut board, placed
it on top of the next one and cut it. The problem with that method of
measurement is that each time he measured from the previously cut
board and drew a line, it was about one eighth of an inch too long.
That wouldn’t be much of a problem if he was only cutting two or
three boards. But having each of the 100 boards about an eighth of
an inch longer than the previous put the boards at the end of the job
around nine feet in length. His assignment was to cut them to eight
feet. Small deviations amount to great errors over time.

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 The resurrected Christ is our example: Jesus is perfect
theology.

This is a powerful lesson for me personally, as it speaks about

adhering to the original standard for what God intends to do in our
lifetime. The resurrected Christ is our example: Jesus is perfect the-
ology. We often approach Church life this way, comparing ourselves
with the previous generation with only an eighth-inch difference. But
after 2000 years of eighth-inch differences, we have a Church with
values, priorities, and lifestyles that don’t look anything like the orig-
inal standard found in Jesus Christ. And to top it off, many consider
it a virtue not to pursue deliverance, healing, salvation and cultural
transformation. Jesus described His intent this way:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the
works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than
these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever
you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father
may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in
My name, I will do it. If you love Me, you will keep My
commandments” (John 14:12–15).

That passage, backed by our Master’s personal lifestyle of love,

miracles, and purity, is the eight-foot-long board. What we have in
most of our churches is the board that keeps getting cut an eighth of
an inch longer than the previous generation and/or movement until
2000 years later, we end up with Church life that bears little resem-
blance to the standard. To make matters worse, we leaders redefine
what we’re supposed to be doing to fit what we’re good at. That way,
we can feel good about ourselves and our success. I’m not in this to
feel good about myself. I’m in this because He called me to Himself
and gave me life. And now I am responsible to do what He said, be-
lieve what He promised, and obey His commission, all in the context
of love and purity.
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 When I say these kinds of things, it is never to bring shame
or guilt. That doesn’t help. In fact, my desire is quite the opposite.
Making such decrees is to give each one an invitation to true King-
dom-like hunger. It’s an invitation to pursue and embrace all that
God has promised and purposed for our lives and ultimately for this
generation. We just can’t get away with reducing our assignment to
what we’re good at. For example, I may never be good at a miracle
lifestyle. It makes no difference. We are called into this and must take
it seriously. And in response to the call, I must embrace it with my
whole heart.

JESUS, THE PERSON OF REVIVAL

Jesus is revival personified. So many things stand out in exam-
ining the life of Christ, each of which testifies to the life of revival:
His compassion, wisdom, powerful teaching and insights, miracles,
and His ability to draw those who seemed to be the least deserving
to Him. Volumes have been written just describing His life and His
impact. Revival is rediscovering the beauty and wonder of Jesus. He,
through the working of the Holy Spirit, comes to the forefront of
our thinking once again in every great move of God. For me it is
His power, His love, His wisdom, and His purity. Those four things
express to me who Jesus is. And they express the nature of revival. As
Leonard Ravenhill puts it, “God is one pent-up revival.”1

I believe it is natural for us to be drawn to different aspects of His

life. We find ourselves attracted to what has impacted us the most.
The way He treated the woman caught in adultery illustrates His
compassion beautifully and is an expression of revival. His love for
children, unwilling for the disciples to make it all about the grown-
ups, stands out to others. The point is, we are all attracted to differ-

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ent things about Jesus. And while I am especially moved by specific
stories, I don’t have the luxury of deciding what parts of His life I am
willing to follow.

Jesus is revival personified.

I’ve heard people react to an emphasis on healing by saying,

“Healing is not the whole Gospel.” And my response is, “Yes, that’s
true. But neither is it whole without it.” It’s a part of a much bigger
message: Salvation is to touch the whole man—spirit, soul, and body.
But sometimes when something is ignored, or set aside because it
causes controversy or pain, then it’s time to emphasize it for a sea-
son until it’s healthy enough to be sustained as a normal part of our
lifestyle. But until then, it receives extra emphasis to bring it into its
rightful place. We do that with our diets. Sometimes we’re lacking
in certain things, so we boost our intake of vitamin C, for example,
until our health becomes more stable.

Often when things are emphasized by a certain group or person,

another person will say, “That teaching is out of balance.” I remem-
ber when I first heard someone teach on balance; it was a liberat-
ing word, because it carried with it the understanding that we often
need to embrace conflicting ideas or practices to come into a place of
health. But to be honest, most of the time I hear the word used today,
it’s to tell me what I can’t have. It’s prohibitive, not inviting. For many,
balance is middle of the road, somewhere in between joy and depres-
sion, or between hot and cold. That’s not the Gospel. But if balance to
you means “red-hot for the power of the Holy Spirit,” and “red-hot
in your passion for the Word of God,” then call me balanced. That is
my pursuit. It’s never to be either/or.

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HE BECOMES CONSPICUOUS
Revival is a season where God’s presence becomes manifested
much more openly. His presence and His will become what the hun-
gry are preoccupied with. In revival, it is the nearness of God that
becomes the most dominating factor. Some would argue that God
is with us always, and that revivals are mere hype over what already
exists. It is true that He is with us and will never leave us. But as true
as that statement is, it is equally incomplete in every way. He makes
Himself conspicuous to those who hunger for Him, as it was He who
promised, “I will be found by you” (Jer. 29:14).

I’ve seen times when the presence of God is so pronounced in a

gathering that musicians couldn’t play, singers couldn’t sing, preach-
ers couldn’t preach, and the need for Christian activities all but van-
ished. Why? He is among us, and nothing else matters. The aware-
ness of His presence is so pronounced that everything else fades into
obscurity. Schedules dissolve, anxieties disappear, and reconciliation
is in the air. The need to do something to satisfy our definition of
a good meeting goes away while confession, repentance, and resto-
ration in relationships become common, although they are seldom
the direction given from the platform. In such moments I’ve had
people ask me to invite people to faith in Christ. “When are you
going to give an altar call?” Others have been miraculously healed
when no one is praying for healing. And still others obtain the sound
mind that was promised to them in their salvation. The mightier the
manifest presence of God is among us, the less there is for us to do,
except, of course, respond to Him. He leads in the dance, and ours is
to follow. Our role in directing the meeting ceases. He is here. And
He is Lord.

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 The beauty of this kind of gathering, that we cannot conjure up,
is that the glory experienced in the corporate meeting often follows
us home. Peace and joy fill our homes in new ways, while our work-
place goes through a transformation of its own. Sometimes people
want to know what is different about us. They can sense something
has happened, but can’t put their finger on it. There are other times
that His presence is upon me in such a strong way that I can’t sleep.
Sometimes it’s the fire of His presence, sometimes it’s His raw power.
I don’t analyze it. But neither will I ask Him to remove it. I assume it
is His way of summoning me to Himself, and I must say yes.

I suppose it also needs to be said that in such times of glorious

presence, He equally leads us into the disciplined study of the Word,
into small groups for meaningful relationships, and wonderful times
of thanksgiving, praise and worship. He’s the one who leads us into
the most meaningful parts of life, each in their own place and in
their own time. We can and must always trust His lead.

There are many ways to describe this mysterious but wonderful

grace that is released over the people of God. We usually define it by
what we value most in the Gospel, whether it be souls saved, bodies
healed, or a new grace for worship and the priority in the gathering
to delight in His presence. All of this, and more, is true. But it’s best
to leave the direction up to Him and learn to follow His lead.

ACTS CHAPTER TWO

Many would agree that the Church was born on the day of Pen-
tecost in Acts 2. This whole chapter is revival. I personally believe
that at least 11 of them were already born again, as Jesus released the
Holy Spirit to them in John 20. This happened before Pentecost.

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 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and
said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22).

Since every believer receives the Holy Spirit when they are born
again, it seems to me that this was the moment when the eleven re-
maining disciples were converted. So, when they were instructed to
stay in Jerusalem for the “promise of the Father,” to be clothed with the
“power from on high,” and “baptized in the Holy Spirit” (see Acts1:4;
Luke 24:49; and Acts 1:5, respectively)—different wording for the
same experience—it was to help them to obtain what they didn’t get
in their conversion.

In order for these disciples to function as Jesus had planned, they

would need both power and authority. The disciples were given au-
thority in their commission, in Matthew 28:19. But they also needed
power, which could come only through an encounter. I know many
will differ with me on this point of the baptism in the Spirit being a
second touch, which is fine. Just don’t miss that fact that power comes
in the encounter. Being “clothed with power from on high” was never
meant to be reduced to a doctrine or a point in our statement of
faith. It was an experience. An encounter. It was the beginning of a
relational journey that would introduce His followers to a lifestyle of
superior reasoning in every possible way. It was the kind of reason-
ing that had as its anchor, “nothing is impossible with God” (see Luke
1:37). And having that as a foundation changes everything.

Our encounter in the baptism in the Holy Spirit is the outpour-

ing that forever changed the course of human history. Now, instead
of Jesus, the anointed Son of God walking the earth, demonstrating
the wonder of God’s Kingdom through revealing the Father’s heart,
potentially millions of His followers can be clothed with the same
power. It is all made possible because of this day called Pentecost. It

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is a beautiful gift of God’s grace. But the errors of some have caused
many to back away from this kind of lifestyle, convinced that it is
too dangerous to try. To my way of thinking, it is too dangerous not
to. After all, His will reigns over all of our wills—”on earth as it is in
Heaven.”

A BRIDE IS BORN
In a very real sense the birth of the Church, which is the Bride
of Christ, was made possible with the prophetic act of a spear pierc-
ing the side of Jesus. As Eve was taken from Adam’s side, when the
Father took a rib and fashioned woman, even so the Bride of Christ
was taken from Jesus’ side when He was pierced with the spear. The
basis for the Church’s existence came forth when blood and water
poured forth. Of this the prophet spoke: “In that day a fountain will
be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
for sin and for impurity” (Zech. 13:1). Blood deals with sin and wa-
ter, as in, “the washing of the water with the word of God” (see Eph.
5:26), deals with impurity and the contamination of living in a sinful
world. Those two expressions of grace from God make the Church,
His spotless Bride, possible.

The Old Testament priests had a similar practice we can learn

from. When they entered the tabernacle grounds, they first encoun-
tered the brazen altar upon which animal sacrifices, with the shed-
ding of blood, were made to postpone the penalty of sin for one more
year. But following the need for blood to be shed, they still needed
the washing of water. This was done at the next station called the
laver. It was here that they dealt with the contamination that comes
from their ministry assignments. It wasn’t about their sins. That was
dealt with in the shedding of blood at the brazen altar. It was because

18
they lived in an impure environment. If ever there was a lesson for us
regarding the need for the continual input and cleansing of the Word
of God, it is here. It cleanses. And at the same time, like a sword it
cuts deep, mysteriously bringing healing to where it cuts.

In essence, revival is made possible by encountering God. That

encounter, regardless how extreme or how subtle, carries with it the
seed of revival, which is the seed of reformation—that which could
change a nation if stewarded well. Look at it this way: There’s an oak
tree in an acorn if the acorn is taken care of properly. But there is also
a forest of oak trees available through the seeds of the one oak tree.
The outcome is written into the nature of the seed, but it requires
proper stewardship by the caregivers, in this case, those affected by
the revival. So it is with one touch from God. It carries the seed of
transformation, not only for our lives, but is enough for a nation.
This is the responsibility that comes with encountering God.

Revival is made possible by encountering God.

CHARACTERISTICS OF REVIVAL
• They occurred in times of moral darkness and national de-
pression;
• Each began in the heart of a consecrated servant of God who
became the energizing power behind it;
• Each revival rested on the Word of God, and most were the
result of proclaiming God’s Word with power;
• All resulted in a return to the worship of God;
• Each witnessed the destruction of idols where they existed;
• In each revival, there was a recorded separation from sin;
• In every revival the people returned to obeying God’s laws;

19
 • There was a restoration of great joy and gladness;
• Each revival was followed by a period of national prosperity.2

SO, WHO WAS OFFENDED?

I found it interesting that many of the manifestations that we
were told would offend the unbeliever only offended the believer
unwilling to change. I was somewhat surprised that most unbeliev-
ers hardly took note of what makes many Christians angry. They
seemed to expect the supernatural (things they couldn’t understand)
to be present if God is there. People expect it to drive unbelievers
away. For the most part, the outpouring only drove believers away
who were taught that anything outside of their regular church at-
tendance and personal disciplines was not from God. If we could
learn anything from the outpouring of the Spirit in Acts 2, it’s that
even among those who mocked and were confused, there were 3000
souls added to the Church in one day. If we want the same fruit and
breakthrough seen in the early Church, we’ll have to take our hands
off the reins of what God is directing.

If we want the same fruit and breakthrough seen in

the early Church, we’ll have to take our hands off the
reins of what God is directing.

Notes
1. Leonard Ravenhill, Why Revival Tarries, (Bloomington, MN: Bethany House Publishers,
2004), 140.
2. Winkie Pratney, Revival: Principles to Change the World, (Christian Life Books, 2002), 13.

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 Chapter Two

P RAY ING FOR

RE V IVAL
Every outpouring of the Spirit is preceded by earnest,
agonizing, intercession, accompanied by a heart-broken-
ness and humiliation before God.—Leonard Ravenhill1

Prayer is, without question, the number one ingredient or tool

used to bring about revival. In book after book on the history of
revival, this feature is highlighted as the premier issue. I believe this
to be absolutely true. A wonderful verse in this regard is, “Ask rain
from the Lord at the time of the spring rain” (Zech. 10:1). Prophet-
ically speaking, this rain is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit also
addressed in Joel 2. I do find it interesting that we are commanded
to pray for something that is either already happening or is supposed
to happen in the season we are in—day of latter rain. Praying in this
manner properly aligns us with God’s heart, which is a core value of
prayer.

Prayer is, without question, the number one ingredi-

ent or tool used to bring about revival.

But I must admit that I have difficulty with this as well, as I’ve read
of countless great leaders in the body of Christ who have prayed for
revival, some for decades, but died without ever experiencing one.
Many wonderful men of God in England, for example, prayed for a

21
move of God, and even visited the outpouring that was happening
in Wales, and yet never experienced it for themselves. I don’t want to
criticize any of them, as they have rightfully gone down in history as
leaders who truly lived for Jesus and impacted nations through their
holy lifestyles and powerful ministries. Yet I don’t believe it was the
will of God for these men and women to miss out on what they were
praying for.

CHARLES FINNEY SETS A STANDARD

Charles Finney was one of America’s greatest revivalists. His
personal journey seems to set a pattern for entering into the greater
things of God, especially as it pertains to prayer followed by break-
through. I want us to walk together through a small part of his story
to help see the testimony of this world changer, understanding that
the same God of Charles Finney lives in us.2 We can and must expect
more.

Finney wrote about his first encounters with prayer meetings

and their apparent lack of answers to their prayers. This was in his
pre-conversion state. Those attending the prayer meetings once
asked him if he’d like for them to pray for him. He told them no.
He said it was because he didn’t see God answering their prayers.
He confessed he probably needed prayer, as he was aware of his sin-
fulness. But it didn’t appear that it would do any good for them to
pray for him, as they were continually asking things of God, but they
never seemed to receive. In fact, they had been praying for years for
a revival, but still complained of their leanness of soul. He said, “You
have prayed enough since I have attended these meetings to have
prayed the devil out of [their city]. But here you are, praying on and
complaining still.”3 He later acknowledged that he realized that these

22
were genuine and sincere people who were true followers of Christ.
But no one had ever taught them how to pray and get results.

Finney stated, “This inconsistency, the fact that they prayed so

much and were not answered, was a sad stumbling block to me.”4
Please take note, one of the great witnesses to our being people of
faith is that we have answers to prayers. In fact, I like to challenge
our people with this charge: You owe God answers to your prayers,
and you owe people answers to your prayers. I know it sounds like a
wrong statement to make. But consider this. We tend to think state-
ments like that are wrong because we think our unanswered prayers
are God’s fault, which we call

“God’s sovereignty.” I say it isn’t. We must come to the realiza-

tion that the lack of answers to prayers is not on God’s end of the
equation. It is on ours. God’s covenant and promise are more than
adequate for us to have a lifestyle filled with answered prayers. The
adjustment is up to us.

FINNEY’S BAPTISM OF FIRE

Finney would later experience a dramatic conversion and bap-
tism in the Spirit that positioned him to impact a nation with the
Gospel. He describes that experience:
I must have continued in this state for a good while…. I
returned to the front office, and found that the fire that I
had made of large wood was nearly burned out. But as I
turned and was about to take a seat by the fire, I re-
ceived a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost. Without any
expectation of it, without ever having the thought in my
mind that there was any such thing for me, without any
recollection that I had ever heard the thing mentioned
by any person in the world, the Holy Spirit descended

23
 upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me,
body and soul. I could feel the impression, like a wave
of electricity, going through and through me. Indeed it
seemed to come in waves and waves of liquid love; for
I could not express it in any other way. It seemed like
the very breath of God. I can recollect distinctly that it
seemed to fan me, like immense wings.
No words can express the wonderful love that was shed
abroad in my heart. I wept aloud with joy and love; and
I do not know but I should say, I literally bellowed out
unutterable gushings of my heart. These waves came
over me, and over me, and over me, one after the other,
until I recollect I cried out, “I shall die if these waves
continue to pass over me.” I said, “Lord, I cannot bear
any more”; yet I had no fear of death.5

Throughout history, people have had life-changing encounters

with God. Again, some of them are power-centered and some cog-
nitive. But each injects the life of the believer with a grace to bring
about transformation to the world around them. Finney became
such a carrier of the presence of God that he became known as one
who could affect his surroundings without ever saying a word.

The presence of God upon this man was so strong that he once
walked into a factory and stood before the workers, but said nothing.
One by one they fell to their knees, confessing their sins, turning
their hearts to Jesus. Here is the story in his words:
I approached slowly, looking on each side at the ma-
chinery, as I passed; but observed that this girl grew
more and more agitated, and could not proceed with
her work. When I came within eight or ten feet of her, I
looked solemnly at her. She observed it, and was quite
overcome, and sunk down, and burst into tears. The
impression caught almost like powder, and in a few

24
 moments nearly all in the room were in tears. This
feeling spread through the factory. Mr. W__, the own-
er of the establishment, was present, and seeing the
state of things, he said to the superintendent, “Stop the
mill, and let the people attend to religion; for it is more
important that our souls should be saved than that this
factory run.” The gate was immediately shut down, and
the factory stopped; but where should we assemble? The
superintendent suggested that the mule room was large;
and, the mules being run up, we could assemble there.
We did so, and a more powerful meeting I scarcely ever
attended. It went on with great power. The building was
large, and had many people in it, from the garret to the
cellar. The revival went through the mill with astonish-
ing power, and in the course of a few days nearly all in
the mill were hopefully converted.6

This is truly one of my favorite stories in revival history. It under-

lines the absolute dependence upon the presence of the Holy Spirit
upon us to accomplish His purposes while illustrating the critical
factor of pointing people to Jesus in repentance. It is truly beautiful
as it underscores that the purpose of prayer is to be possessed by
God.

There are a great number of stories of how God supernaturally

used this one man. Many of them are hard to believe as we have be-
come accustomed to lack.

His stories are spectacular. And while Finney is a household

name among students of revival, not everyone knows the name of
Daniel Nash. This great man of prayer would go ahead of Finney
to the towns he was about to visit. He went there to pray. Period.
The impact of his prayers was so great that the revival they would
soon experience would convert the whole town. The impact of the
revival and the corresponding conversions brought about cultural

25
changes and improvements to society in general. As has happened
throughout revival history, crime would stop, alcoholism ended, and
the police had little to do. In some places, even the jails were empty
for years following the Finney revival. Interestingly, Finney stopped
traveling and doing revival meetings after Nash went to be with the
Lord. Why? He knew. The strength and breakthroughs of his min-
istry were brought on by the intercessions of this mostly unknown
man—unknown here, but well-known and celebrated in Heaven.

ARGENTINA—OMAR CABRERA PRAYS

I had the privilege of meeting Omar Cabrera in the late ’90s
while traveling to Argentina with Randy Clark. He was one of the
great revivalists there, who also knew how to pray and get results.
Some of the miracles of his meetings still stand out in my mind today
as some of the greatest acts of God in Church history. It was such a
joy to hear from this giant in the faith. Miracles filled his life, and he
planted churches all across the great nation of Argentina through the
revival he carried.

Randy often talks about the times he spent with Omar, as well
as when he spoke in the churches he planted. They didn’t have to
be convinced of God’s goodness or His power. These churches were
started through the miracle invasion of God into their impossible
situations through Omar’s ministry. And as glorious as those stories
are, I am most deeply moved by his stories of how he prayed.

Omar explained how he would go to a given city, get a hotel room,

and pray. Sometimes he prayed for thirty days before starting his re-
vival-type meetings. It’s not a formula. He didn’t pray to fill his quo-
ta. He prayed until he sensed a breakthrough in the Spirit. We often

26
don’t pray until there’s breakthrough because we haven’t yet learned
to recognize the presence of God in ways that He has made available
to us. Once Omar sensed the breakthrough in the Spirit, he would
start the meetings. It’s important to understand that these meetings
didn’t necessarily start with large crowds even though Omar had felt
the breakthrough anointing. But such a strong miracle breakthrough
would take place with the small crowd that great numbers of people
would soon flock to the meetings. These meetings ignited the spirit
of revival in city after city, with the ongoing testimony of the miracle
works of God flourishing in those cities.

PRAYING INTO BREAKTHROUGH

My brother Bob is ten years younger than me. When he was 11
months old, he almost died. In fact, the doctors said he came within
hours of death. My grandparents, my mom’s parents, had a little boy
die when he was 11 months old. Needless to say, they were deeply
moved by my brother’s condition and our family’s situation. I’ll nev-
er forget how my grandfather knelt in the living room to pray. He
started in the morning and was there for hours. He got up around 2
in the afternoon, and said to the family, “Bobby will be fine.” When
my parents arrived back at the hospital, the doctors greeted them
with the good news. “Something happened today around 2 o’clock,
and Bobby will be fine.” Praying until there’s a breakthrough is the
secret. But learning to recognize the breakthrough is the challenge.

How can we grow in our ability to recognize the breakthrough in

the Spirit before it is worked out in our circumstances? It’s complete-
ly through recognizing His presence. The four methods God uses
most often to train us in this area are prayer (two-way conversation),
the reading of Scripture (where we recognize Him highlighting a

27
passage or phrase), listening to the preaching of the Word (where we
learn to sense a shift in the atmosphere through the word spoken),
and worship.

We often pray enough to ease our conscience, but not enough to

make a difference. Revivals are never the result of token prayers. If
the prayers don’t move me, they won’t move Him. How do you know
when you’ve prayed into a breakthrough? By doing it, over and over
again. It’s in the process, with Him, that we learn to recognize His
heart in a given situation. His presence changes in the ebb and flow
of our prayers. It’s possible to learn to recognize Him in the same
way we can recognize whether our dearest friend is happy or sad,
concerned or at ease. We are on a relational journey with God. We
can learn to recognize His heart.

Revivals are never the result of token prayers. If the

prayers don’t move me, they won’t move Him.

It’s vital that we learn how to recognize the spirit of breakthrough.

This happens first because we’ve learned to carry the burden of the
Lord in prayer. When that burden lifts, we know it is finished or at
least something has changed. Sometimes you can see breakthrough
because your requests turn into decrees. Sometimes it’s because you
are unusually thankful for the answer before you see it manifest fully.
Giving thanks always is a huge part of our life of faith. But I’m not
talking here about thanksgiving as a calculated, disciplined response
to Him to show you trust Him. I’m referring to the fact that unfath-
omable joy has sprung up in our hearts, and there is no other expla-
nation, except the prayer has been answered. In the place of a burden,
there is joy. In the place of cries of intercession, there are decrees of
God’s great promises and assured victories. All of us can learn these

28
various ways of recognizing when the spirit of breakthrough is upon
us. And it is at this time we must act!

THE ACT OF FAITH

Faith comes from the heart, not the mind. And yet faith is
demonstrated through actions, for “faith without works is dead” (see
James 2:17). Here is the reason I wanted to write this chapter and
have been working to prepare you for this simple, but critical, yet of-
ten overlooked, point. Prayers of faith must be followed by an action
of faith. Prayers for revival require action consistent with the nature
of the prayers we’ve prayed.

Prayers of faith must be followed by an action of

faith.

I’ll never forget the wonderful privilege of hearing Dr. Paul

Yonggi Cho speak when I was a young man. He is the pastor of the
Full Gospel Church of Seoul, Korea, which is often referred to as the
world’s largest church. It has close to one million members. I have
since had the honor of meeting him and spending time with him
in his office with my dear friend Che Ahn. What a glorious time we
had. Especially when he prayed for us. Wow!

Asked what was the key to the incredible breakthroughs he had

seen in his lifetime, he answered, “I pray, and I obey.” That was it.
It’s almost too simple. Perhaps that’s the reason many have heard
his secret and few have followed it completely. We are much like the
leprous general who was told to dip himself in the river seven times
to be healed. He refused because it was humiliating. It was too sim-
ple to meet his great need. His servant then reminded him that if he

29
was asked to do something great and noble, he would do it. Why not
also do it when the command is so simple? He followed the direction
given and was healed. Here it is again, uncomplicated: pray and obey.

THE OLD TESTAMENT SPEAKS

There’s a story in the book of Joshua that God has used to il-
lustrate this profound lesson given by Dr. Cho. The pray-and-obey
assignment has a specific application that must be embraced for us
to see continual breakthrough in our lives. Let’s take a look at the
story of Jericho to find what we need at this point. The story is found
in Joshua 6:6-16. I’ll summarize but encourage you to study this on
your own.

The children of Israel were to march around the city of Jericho

in absolute silence for six days. The Ark of the Covenant was with
them. On the seventh day, they were to march around the city seven
times. That was also done in silence. At the end of that Joshua com-
manded them, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city!” And they
did. The walls of that city fell flat.
So the people shouted, and priests blew the trumpets;
and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet,
the people shouted with a great shout and the wall fell
down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every
man straight ahead, and they took the city.
They utterly destroyed everything in the city, both man
and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and don-
key, with the edge of the sword (Josh. 6:20-21).

This process of marching around the city is a type of our journey

of prayer. They marched (prayed) as they were supposed to. And at
the right moment there was an undeniable expression of faith for the

30
victory at hand. The shout! Then the walls fell. But what seems to be
a lost art in the Church is that we often have the prayer meetings,
and even the shout, but forget that we have to go into the realm we’ve
prayed to possess through the use of our power and authority. Israel
still had to go into the city and defeat it. The point is, our prayers
remove the obstacles to victory, but it’s the act of faith that takes us
into the city to take possession of what we’ve obtained in prayer. The
Scripture, “now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent
men take it by force” (Matt. 11:12), comes to mind at this point. Faith,
and its corresponding actions, are the demonstrations of violence in
the spirit realm. Evan Roberts knew this well when he said, “Power
ridicules the strength of the enemy.”

THE LIFE OF MIRACLES

I’m often asked about how to increase the miracle realm in a be-
liever’s life. I don’t have a 1, 2, 3-step process. But what I have learned
is patterned after the story of Jericho. I pray. I get alone with God,
where I make my requests known. Prayer is like marching around a
city. Sometimes these are extended times of prayer and sometimes
brief. But they must be genuine, in that they move me deeply to a
place of radical pursuit of, and surrender to, His will. I know break-
through is imminent when I sense my prayers turning into decrees.

Prayers of this nature must be followed by acts of faith. It helped

me so much to hear John Wimber spell faith, R. I. S. K. That was the
simple change I needed in my pursuit of the miracles that validate
the Gospel. Risk means I must now look for problems that only God
could solve. It may be cancer, it may be drug addiction, or any one
of a million other issues the enemy has brought into people’s lives.
Regardless of the problem, Jesus is willing and able to solve it.

31
 We must make room for God to act if we’re going to see this hap-
pen on a continual basis. If it’s a meeting, create time to pray for the
sick. If it’s your home or business, stay tuned to those you encounter
that have needs. The point is, He is the extravagant one. It’s vital that
we make room for Him to come and do what only He can do.

When the cancer disappears, the deaf ears are opened, or the
torment of addiction leaves, we celebrate and give thanks to God.
There must be expressions of joy. It’s unnatural not to have joy when
God is working. Throughout the Bible, praise responses to God burst
forth when a miracle happens. We must take none of the glory for
ourselves but give Him ALL the glory for the wonderful thing He
has just done. But when the cancer doesn’t leave or the addiction
remains, I must go back to the prayer closet and pray some more. As
simple as it may sound, my life is one of celebration, giving thanks
and praise for answers, and also returning to the place of prayer be-
cause of the lack of a breakthrough. Back and forth, back and forth.
Pray and obey. It is simple, yet profound.

REVIVAL PRAYING
Most everything I’ve described in this chapter is related to per-
sonal breakthroughs and victories. This is not an accident. Great
moves of God usually start with one person. And that one person
stewards what God has given them until that fire spreads, impact-
ing large numbers of people and regions, and/or movements are
changed.

We had horrific fires here in Redding a few years ago. There was
a point where it looked like almost the entire city would go up in
flames. Massive fires actually create their own weather system, which
happened in our case. It was a disaster unlike anything we had ever

32
experienced before. Thankfully, the wind shifted. And while well
over 200,000 acres burned, including nearly 1100 homes, plus busi-
nesses, it was poised to do more.

If it’s possible to picture this kind of extreme, out-of-control fire

and turn it into something positive, then you get the picture of re-
vival praying. Revival and revival praying create their own weather
system. This is where everything else in our lives is brought into this
singular focus and purpose—the move of God. Many want a revival,
if it can fit nicely in their schedule. And while there are aspects of life
that must continue, they become radically defined by this visitation
of God that is marking everyone it touches with eternal purpose.
Perhaps it can be said that our contentment in absence of revival is
the actual hindrance to revival.

Our contentment in absence of revival is the actual

hindrance to revival.

REBUILDING THE ALTAR

The restoration of the spiritual life of Israel often started with re-
building the altar. Revivals begin in the same way. The altar was the
place where sacrifices were made and deep repentance was demon-
strated. The stones of the altar were uncut stones, meaning that com-
ing before God in surrender was never to be shaped by our design
or control of the moment. Coming to God has always been through
grace. Our dreams, ambitions, sins and successes must be laid on
the altar of surrender. Do our dreams matter? Yes and no. They are
of great importance in their rightful place, as they reveal the nature,
promises, and covenant of God. But out of place they are destructive
in that they compete for the affections and devotion that are only to

33
be given to God. The words of Jesus speak to this reality: “Seek first
the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will
be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33). When the Kingdom of God is first
in our pursuit, we can be trusted with fulfilled dreams. Such values
draw us close to Him. But when our pursuit is for our will to be done,
then it’s no longer something that draws us close to Him. Instead, it
competes with Him.

In revival praying I return to verses like Second Chronicles 7:14.

They are the bedrock of such cries: “And My people who are called by
My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from
their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin
and will heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14). This provides us with some
of the clearest instructions in the entire Bible about prayer and the
potential impact of partnering with God for transformation.

• Humble themselves.
• Pray.
• Seek His face.
• Turn from wicked ways.

This kind of praying has the entire globe in mind.

Notice first that the people of God are the ones who have the re-
sponsibility to pray. Not the sinners. We often think if only those sin-
ners would repent, things would change. Our Father makes it clear
it’s up to us. Such a prayer must come from humility and be set on
one thing—the face of God. Seeking the countenance of a perfect Fa-
ther speaks to the nature of our prayer assignment in profound ways.
If He is revealed on the faces of those who seek Him, and only Him,
salvation comes to the nations. (See Psalm 67.) Secondly, there must
be a turning away from any known sin through confession and re-

34
pentance. Thirdly, God forgives us, but He also heals our land. There
is a natural healing of land that takes place in this verse, as has been
seen in different parts of the world. Almolonga, Guatemala, is one
brilliant example.7 Creation longs for us to live righteously, as is seen
in Psalm 67:6. But the healing of the land can also include restoring
a nation to its original design and plan. Many of God’s works touch
both the natural and the spiritual. The man at the gate beautiful was
healed physically and walked. But he also praised God, identifying
a spiritual healing as well. We need this in our lands—natural and
spiritual restoration to our original design and purpose.

THE SACRIFICE ON THE ALTAR

Even Roberts is a familiar name for anyone who has read about
the Welsh Revival of the early 1900s. He is one of my favorite histori-
cal figures, especially as it pertains to revival. He was so unassuming
and, in many respects, unqualified to be a leader in the great move
of God in a nation known for revival. He was too young and way too
inexperienced. But perhaps that’s what qualified him. He knew what
he didn’t know and would have to depend on God for the simplest
directions and ideas.8

Dependency on God is often taken for granted as we become

more experienced in the things of God. It becomes too easy to as-
sume we know what to do in a given moment, when in fact, God
is wanting to do something new. Doing a new thing with seasoned
saints is a rare occurrence in Church history. In our efforts to be
good leaders we have the tendency to “skate to where the puck is
going.” This insightful leadership quote by the renowned hockey
player, Wayne Gretzky, addresses one of his keys to greatness. Things
are different in revival, as one of our strengths soon becomes our

35
greatest weakness. God is looking for great followers, out of whom to
make a new kind of leader. In skating to where the puck is going, one
has to presume to know where God is going. The very fact that of-
tentimes God is wanting to do a new thing alerts us to this fact—we
don’t know what He’s about to do.

God is looking for great followers, out of whom to

make a new kind of leader.

But what grabs my attention are the prayers of Evan Roberts

that preceded the revival. He once heard Seth Joshua, a great leader
in the Church of Wales, pray this prayer, “Bend me.” Evan adopted
that prayer as his own, and it became the cry that ushered in a na-
tion-changing era.

That’s got to be one of the simplest prayers ever prayed. And yet
it moved God deeply because it came as an expression of surrender
to God and His purposes on earth. In this prayer Evan put himself
on the altar.

Once again, a pattern is given to us for revival prayers. While

I don’t believe in formulas for something of this magnitude, I do
believe that certain Kingdom values and principles are unchanging.
Evan believed he received directions from the Lord about how to
cultivate an atmosphere where the Holy Spirit would be welcomed.

• We must confess before God every sin in our past life that
has not been confessed.
• We must remove anything that is doubtful in our lives.
• Total Surrender. We must say and do all that the Spirit tells
us.
• Make a public confession of Christ.9

36
FOLLOW THE CLOUD
In the Kingdom of God, great leaders are measured by their abil-
ity to follow.

Israel’s wilderness experience offers many lessons to us that can

assist us in this revival endeavor. The most obvious is their need to
follow the cloud.

The cloud was a manifestation of the presence of God over them

as a people. This cloud became a fire by night, but was a protective
covering by day. The challenging part for them was the fact that there
were times that the cloud would begin to move and they had to pack
up their things quickly and follow the cloud. Their entire life was
connected to the cloud, the presence. Provision, safety, direction,
purpose, and so much more were connected to God Himself, the
cloud. To not follow Him meant that all that kept them alive was
gone. All the gracious benefits of God’s presence just left camp, and
to maintain that blessing upon their lives meant they had to go with
God.

Revivals provide the same challenge. It’s not that those who nev-
er enter into the new thing that God is doing aren’t really saved. I
don’t believe that at all. But it does mean that that person will never
experience what God made available for them while still on earth,
as revival is always a taste of Heaven in unfathomable ways. Revivals
challenge us at our very core.

Revivals challenge us at our very core.

37
FOLLOWING OFF THE MAP
History provides us with a lesson from a great military
leader. Alexander the Great led his armies in victory af-
ter victory, and his desire for ever greater conquest final-
ly brought him to the foot of the Himalayas. He wanted
to go beyond these intimidating mountains. Yet, no one
knew what was on the other side. Senior officers were
troubled by his new vision. Why? They had gone to the
edge of their map—there was no map for the new ter-
ritory that Alexander wanted to possess. These officers
had a decision to make: Would they be willing to follow
their leader off the map, or would they be content to live
within its boundaries? They chose to follow Alexander.
Following the leading of the Holy Spirit can present us
with the same dilemma. While he never contradicts
His Word, He is very comfortable contradicting our
understanding of it. Those who feel safe because of their
intellectual grasp of Scriptures enjoy a false sense of
security. None of us has a full grasp of Scripture, but we
all have the Holy Spirit. He is our common denominator
who will always lead us into truth. But to follow Him,
we must be willing to follow off the map—to go beyond
what we know. To do so successfully we must recognize
His presence above all.
There is a great difference between the way Jesus did
ministry and the way it typically is done today. He was
completely dependent on what the Father was doing
and saying. He illustrated this lifestyle after His Holy
Spirit baptism. He followed the Holy Spirit’s leading,
even when it seemed unreasonable, which it often did.
The Church has all too often lived according to an
intellectual approach to the Scriptures, void of the Holy
Spirit’s influence. We have programs and institutions
that in no way require the Spirit of God to survive. In

38
 fact, much of what we call ministry has no safeguard
in it to ensure that He is even present. When our focus
is not the presence of God, we end up doing the best we
can for God. Our intentions may be noble, but they are
powerless in effect. Praying for and living in revival re-
lies completely on the manifest presence of Jesus through
the Holy Spirit.10

BORN FOR SIGNIFICANCE

When we were born for something more, it becomes inexcus-
able to be satisfied with anything less. Perhaps our satisfaction with
less is in part due to our blindness in reading His Word. It works
against the purposes of God for us to read of the great Holy Spirit
outpourings in history and assume they were for that day only. They
are by nature revelations of His nature, Kingdom, and promises that
we might be unsatisfied with where we are. Such a dissatisfaction is
not so that we will strategize and plan for the next great move. It’s to
create in us a great hunger that we might pull into our day all that He
has made possible through Christ.

When we were born for something more, it becomes

inexcusable to be satisfied with anything less.

Notes
1. Leonard Ravenhill. Why Revival Tarries (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 2004),
20.
2. I talk of his life more in my book with Jennifer A. Miskov, PhD, Defining Moments:
God-Encounters with Ordinary People Who Changed the World. (New Kensington, PA:
Whitaker House, 2016).
3. Charles Grandison Finney, Memoirs of Reverend Charles G. Finney Written by Himself
(New York: A.S. Barnes, 1876), 13–23.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.

39
6. Ibid.
7. The Transformations: A Documentary videos from George Otis Jr. give wonderful insight
in this miracle of revival.
8. I talk of his life more in my book with Jennifer A. Miskov, PhD, Defining Moments:
God-Encounters with Ordinary People Who Changed the World. (New Kensington, PA:
Whitaker House, 2016).
9. Phillips, Evan Roberts, 215. From a letter dated November 5, 1904. See also Shaw, Great
Revival in Wales, 67-68.
10. Taken from Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth. (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Im-
age Publishers, 2005), Chapter 6.

40
 Chapter Three

TH E KEY TO
RE V IVAL
Revival is a renewed conviction of sin and repentance,
followed by an intense desire to live in obedience to
God. It is giving up one’s will to God in deep humility.
—Charles Finney

There are times when we do things out of raw obedience, with-

out any emotion, whatsoever. It’s not bad or wrong. In fact, it is an
important and necessary part of discipleship. Sometimes raw obedi-
ence is the purist evidence of our being real followers of Jesus. Every
believer must learn to do what is right, because it is right. Period. But
having a marriage that is entirely focused on raw obedience, doing
the right thing, going through the motions without any affection or
interaction, eventually gets old and undesirable. It’s not Christlike as
a lifestyle. Jesus had more joy than all of His disciples combined. (See
Hebrews 1:9.) In Paul’s definition of the Kingdom of God— righ-
teousness, peace, and joy—two thirds (peace and joy) of the Kingdom
are felt realities. (See Romans 14:17.) While we will have situations
where we are to give our all, even when there’s no feeling to back it
up, we are never to settle for that as a lifestyle. Passion and affection
are notable expressions consistent with following Jesus.

I’ve already stated my agreement that the most necessary cata-

lyst to revival is prayer. But at this point I’d like to add a P.S. to that

41
statement: The one thing that enhances prayer to a supernatural level
is hunger. Society is more inclined to forgive a thief if he steals to
feed his family. And while he must restore what was taken, there is
a societal grace for that man because of his drive: He was hungry.
We also know that unrighteous people become righteous because of
their hunger for righteousness. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus
speaks of this hunger with honor, saying “they shall be filled.” (See
Matthew 5:6.) This word filled is often used to describe the fattening
of an animal. In other words, we are filled with abundance. Hunger
alone accesses that kind of abundance.

Revival praying then is generally filled with prayers of passion,

abandonment and absolute surrender. These expressions are irre-
placeable in the context of pursuing revival. But if you don’t have that
kind of stirring going on inside of you, pray out of raw obedience
until you do. Just be honest, and invite God to give you His heart
in the matter. That willingness to obey attracts the hand of God in
powerful ways. It’s also good to note for those lacking passion that
you can’t interact with Him for long and not pick up His heart. He
burns for us with unbridled passion. Even His eyes, that are fixed on
us, burn with fire.

A key to revival, then, is not the prayer of duty, where we recite

prayers because it’s the right thing to do. It is the hunger-driven cries
of the heart that will not be satisfied with anything less than an ev-
er-deepening encounter with the Almighty God. That, in essence, is
revival.

DESIGNED FOR HUNGER

Becoming hungry is really not that hard. It is our nature in

42
Christ. It is equally true that is in our new nature to believe God,
to have faith. We often live overly aware of the old nature, so much
that we shut down the reality of who we are in Christ, and who He
is in us. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old
things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17). It is
not a vain imagination to see ourselves as a new creation. In fact, it is
the new logic. Paul put it this way, “Knowing that Christ, having been
raised from the dead, is never to die again . . . even so consider your-
selves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:9-11).
The resurrection of Jesus, who will never die again, is the basis for
the reality that I am dead to sin. I am to think of myself in this way
because of His resurrection. They are equal realities.

But if I have more input from mainstream media than I do from

the Word of God and the testimony of the Lord, then my discourage-
ment and lack of focus are my own doing. I have mandated a worldly
view by my self-imposed feeding ritual. You are what you eat. And
when we feed on the inferior realities of this world, we cannot be
surprised that we fall short of the Kingdom lifestyle we’ve been in-
vited into.

If I have more input from mainstream media than

I do from the Word of God and the testimony of the
Lord, then my discouragement and lack of focus are
my own doing.

CREATING PERSONAL HUNGER

If you lack hunger for revival, acknowledge it before God. Shame
won’t help, so avoid that at all costs. Thinking happy thoughts is not
the cure, either. The blood of Jesus in the only answer. And confes-

43
sion connects us to the cleansing provided for by His forgiveness.
(See 1 John 1:9.) Confession is powerful and highly valued by God.
It’s valuable because it basically means we agree with Him. He points
to a sin, and we agree by confessing what He pointed to. Returning to
the Word of God is next. Probably most of you don’t need to return,
as you never left it. Yet many read out of ritual, and not for encoun-
ter. The Word of God in print is to lead us to the Word of God in
Spirit. He is a living person. That’s not to discount the printed Word,
as it is the living heart of God released to bring transformation to the
individual. Just read to obtain.

The Word of God in print is to lead us to the Word of

God in Spirit.

Specifically, read about the transformation of Nineveh, one of

the greatest miracles in the Bible, found in the Book of Jonah. A
whole city, in fact an entire empire, repented. The prophet didn’t
even tell Nineveh to repent. They simply discovered that the hand
of God was against them, and they sought Him for mercy. God’s
heart was so tender towards them that He forgave them and healed
their land. They weren’t Jews. They were heathen. And yet God gave
them something that would become common in the New Testament.
Meditate on that, then consider the sin-filled cities of the world and
which ones you think God would like to visit in that way.

Read of the story of the transformation that took place in Ephe-

sus, addressed in Acts 19. This is where Paul broke into extraordinary
miracles. That’s amazing, as apparently miracles had become normal,
and it was time for the increased level of breakthrough that Jesus
promised when He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in
Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these

44
he will do; because I go to the Father” (Matt. 11:21-23). This reality of
greater works started to take place in Ephesus. People touched Jesus’
garment and became healed. In Acts 19, they took articles of clothing
from Paul’s body and laid them on people with disease or demons,
and they were healed/delivered. Here they didn’t come to Paul. His
clothing went to them. Greater works! Should these kinds of miracles
and city transformations be happening today? See it. Pray it!

Prayerfully study Jesus’ warning to the cities most familiar with

His ministry:
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if
the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which
occurred in you, they would have repented long ago
in sackcloth and ashes . . . and you, Capernaum, will
not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to
Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which
occurred in you, it would have remained to this day”
(Matt. 11:21-23).

Historically, the sin-filled cities mentioned in this passage have

become the ultimate illustration of debauchery and evil. In Scrip-
ture, just the mention of their names evoked a context of evil that
was unsurpassed in history. And yet Jesus made a startling statement
here, one that should trouble every believer, that these worst of the
worst would have repented, and as a result would still be among us
as the great cities of the world.

Dreaming what God dreams of connects us to our purpose and

destiny. Hunger is not a problem in that context. It’s natural. And yet
there are still many that have been buried in bad teaching that even
surpasses the devastating words and practices of the Pharisees. The
religious leaders of Jesus’ day were guilty of speaking truth but not
living it. Today’s Pharisees contradict the truth by cancelling what Je-

45
sus taught and practiced. “Miracles are not for today, and if you pur-
sue them you work against Christ!” To believe such nonsense, you
have to remove the commissions Jesus gave His disciples and cancel
His promises and His pronounced purpose for our becoming full of
the Holy Spirit, which is a biblical command. And while they often
point to a group of people that got it wrong to justify their beliefs,
you have to leave the Gospel as Jesus taught and practiced it to get
that outcome. Sometimes, it takes a while for someone raised in the
environment to become hungry according to God’s design. While
wrong teaching has removed many from the frontlines of the battle,
disappointment is probably a greater enemy to revival. Even great-
er than wrong teaching. I deal with this subject much more thor-
oughly in my book Strengthen Yourself in the Lord. But suffice it to
say, surrender your disappointment to God, and become renewed in
hope again. Don’t stop pursuing Him until your heart overflows with
hope. Come to grips with the fact that your being filled with hope is
no one else’s responsibility. My hope is my own responsibility.

My hope is my own responsibility.

One of the most important things you can do to become hungry

is to read about past revivals. Let me put it another way: Hunger is
created whenever we expose ourselves to the miraculous testimonies
of God’s supernatural invasions throughout history. The testimony
prophesies hope and hunger into the human heart. I remember a
pastor friend who, when he finished reading Rick Joyner’s book on
the Welsh Revival, called World Aflame, couldn’t stay in his office or
home. He went into the woods to pray. Something was exploding
in him that could not be contained in a proper setting. It had to be
expressed.

46
 There are many great books on revival, ones that tell the stories
of the miracle workings of God in the transformation of people and
cities. Testimonies prophesy. It is nearly impossible to read these sto-
ries and not get hungry. In fact, we don’t even think about our need
to be hungrier for God, for out of our innermost being comes a cry,
almost volcanic in nature, for more of God at any price. The prayer
that comes forth is not rehearsed. Nor is it written down. It is also
not a rote prayer done that we might check it off the list. It is the
prayer, manifesting hunger and passion, that only a Father of prom-
ises could inspire.

I have witnessed people who had zero hunger for the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit, who witnessed a miracle in their own life, or even
with a close friend, and were ignited in a moment. One pastor came
to me after experiencing a creative miracle in his body that was un-
deniable. We both actually watched it happen over a period of about
30 seconds. In response, he told me, “I don’t believe what I just saw.”
He was serious. He walked around dazed for a good half hour. After
the significance of his miracle impacted his heart and mind, he came
back to me and said, “I have discovered why I’m alive.” That night a
fiery passion was born. Not the short-lived emotional burst. But the
kind that is anchored in our purpose for being.

WISE MEN STILL TRAVEL

I’ve heard people say, more times than I care to remember, “God
knows we want revival. If it’s His will, He’ll cause it to happen. He
knows where we live.” I’m sure the intentions are good. But that kind
of praying violates so much of His heart and nature that it’s scary. We
have the responsibility to pursue Him. He’s not the cosmic bell-hop
looking for a way to please us. He is a loving Father, for sure, but He

47
remains the sovereign Lord over all, who longs for partnership with
those who have received His Son Jesus. Scripture calls it co-laboring.

He has given us His promises and a covenantal agreement to

meet us when we seek Him. While He knows what we need before
we ask, He requires us to ask, even for our daily bread. It’s not that He
doesn’t know or remember. It’s that He longs for us to pursue Him,
mindful of His covenant and promises. Aligning with His Word is
essential in learning to apprehend all that He has made available in
this life. Most of what we need in this life will be brought to us. But
most of what we want we’ll have to go get. The pursuit is needed for
our sakes. It is in the pursuit that we demonstrate great faith in His
Word and covenant. Plus, the pursuit changes us into the kind of
disciple that will better steward the answer once it comes.

Most of what we need in this life will be brought to us.

But most of what we want we’ll have to go get.

I realize that not everyone can afford to go around the world. But
you might be surprised what He will fund if the hunger is in place.
Pursue Him and His work with all you have, and He will provide for
everything that He inspires that takes deep root in our hearts.

Having said that, we must be willing to go wherever God is mov-

ing. I have traveled extensively in pursuit of all that God is doing. It
started with conferences in which my heroes of the faith were minis-
tering. Jack Hayford and John Wimber, for example. My hunger also
took me to Toronto, Pensacola, Pasadena, St. Louis, Spokane, Wales,
Argentina, and many other places just to see what God was doing.
But not merely as an observer. I long to be in the middle of whatever
He is doing. I just want to be a yielded participant.

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HONORING GENERALS
Many years ago, God impressed upon my heart that we need-
ed to honor those who have gone before us, even those whose lives
ended in failure. If we did as He commanded, He would release to
us the gifts and anointings of those who have gone before us. In the
Kingdom of God, much of what we receive is given to us in the same
measure of the honor we give. Jesus addressed the principle with, “A
prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own
household” (Matt.13:57). So, I’ve made it my mission for many years
to honor the generals of the past, even to the point of being careful
of how I talk about them and their failures. I don’t mean we are to
ignore or hide their sins. God doesn’t do that in the Bible. But neither
should any of us take delight in discussing them, as though we are
superior in any way. That is a sure sign that we have a blindness to
our own weaknesses. Without repentance, that can only lead to one
thing—personal failure.

I’ve even gone to the gravesites of great revivalists, like Smith

Wigglesworth, Charles Finney, John G. Lake, and Evan Roberts, just
to pray. And in spite of the rumors, I do not go to talk to the dead or
ask for anything from them. I go to the gravesite to honor God for
the great things He did through their surrender, as imperfect as they
may have been. For me these sites are like the memorial stones of the
Old Testament, which were physical reminders to the Jewish people
of their miraculous history with God. In the same way, these memo-
rial stones are to remind us of what is possible through one yielded
life. When I stand near their grave, I remind God of what they ac-
complished in His name, reciting their words or actions to Him. It is
my effort to join my heart to the way God touched and used them in
a mighty way. And then I ask God to do it again and include me in

49
what He’s doing. I’ve had great affection stir up in my heart for the
heroes of the past and overwhelming thankfulness that He would
use us in a way that honors Him and honors those who paved the
way for us to have the opportunities we presently have.

PROVERBS AND REVIVAL

It is my personal conviction that revival starts with power, but
is sustained through wisdom. I hope to make that clear throughout
this book, as the need of the hour is for both power and wisdom in
order to obtain and sustain all that God intends to do in our lifetime.

Revival starts with power, but is sustained through

wisdom.

The Book of Proverbs gives us wisdom and insight for steward-

ing anything that God gives us, be it money, friends, family, business,
or even revival. It’s really all about stewardship. I read a chapter a
day of this fabulous book, according to the date. Proverbs provides
us with brilliant insights that are unparalleled in the rest of Scrip-
ture. As a result, they have a place in the complete study of the great
moves of God.

The primary focus of Proverbs, and thus the focus of wisdom, is

to enable us to reign in life. That doesn’t mean to reign over people,
in some we’re-better-than-others approach to life. It’s that in wisdom
we learn to represent the Lord well in reigning over the issues of life
that so many others stumble over. For example, money doesn’t con-
trol me; I control money for the glory of God.

I will admit that these principles apply to many things other than
the great moves of God. My suggestion is that you read this book of

50
wisdom as it pertains to anything God has given you to give over-
sight or input to. My point is that we also steward revival. Here’s one
of my favorite verses in this regard.
A sated man loathes honey, but to a famished man any
bitter thing is sweet (Prov. 27:7).

This statement is so profound in its application to the subject of

revival that I am amazed that it wasn’t the primary purpose of the
verse. People who are full (sated) can even despise good things. Sat-
isfied people are poor judges of what God is doing. They don’t have
a need or appetite for what God is doing. Not really. Hunger and the
recognition of personal need are the most trusted interpreters of the
moves of God. The prostitute, thief, and demonized recognized Him
when He came. Why? They lived aware of their need.

But the religious leaders in Jesus’ day didn’t. Amazingly, what is

sweet to everyone else in the room is distasteful to them. In fact, this
kind of person becomes the restaurant critic, or dare I say revival
critic. They point to countless expressions of revival, always criticiz-
ing them, saying, “That’s not revival.” I remember one guy declaring
those words to me. Here is my thought, “I don’t know what’s hap-
pening in that three-foot circle you’re standing in, but in this one, I
am burning with the fire of revival.” Take responsibility for your own
experience, your own fire. Isn’t that the lesson of the ten virgins in
Matthew 25? Five made sure they had oil for their lamps to burn, and
the five foolish ran out of oil as they didn’t take personal responsibil-
ity. Make certain the fire is burning in you, it’s burning brightly, and
there’s enough oil for all your days here on earth.

There are more revival critics in this day than I can imagine at
any other time in history. I’m certain that it’s the use of social media

51
that makes everyone appear to be an expert. What I’ve learned from
the recent invasion of social media into many of our lives is that you
no longer need insight or intelligence to have an opinion. And polit-
ical correctness proves that stupidity is contagious. Wrong values ap-
pear to be wisdom. Fear always masquerades as wisdom; otherwise,
it would be rejected soundly. It’s amazing how fast a lie can spread
and anti-Kingdom values can be promoted as the Gospel, and living
under the fear of man can be considered a virtue. The state of being
deeply rooted in the Word of God and in constant fellowship with
the Spirit of God is the two-edged sword that keeps us in continual
safety. Walking with people of like mind helps immeasurably in the
life of revival. The Word, the Spirit, and the people of God comprise
the three-fold cord that is not easily broken.

How we live our lives really matters. We’re not to be controlled

or influenced by what is popular or commonly believed by the mass-
es. Jesus calls us to Himself, to be like Him. We are not culturally
relevant when we mirror the culture around us. We are culturally
relevant when we model the lifestyle of the Kingdom of God that the
world longs to obtain. Everyone wants peace, love, and joy. When we
walk in those things, regardless of circumstances, we manifest the
nature of His world that cannot be shaken. I remind you: everyone
wants a king like Jesus. He is the desire of the nations. “And I will
shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will
fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts” (Hag. 2:7 KJV). We
must illustrate what it looks like to thrive in life, regardless of the
conditions around us. Many at this point would think I’m referring
to money. While I admit it sometimes includes money, the real issue
is the prosperity of soul. (See 3 John 2.) How are we doing in our
internal world? That is the real issue. In fact, our countenance is the
only Gospel that many will ever read.

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 The psalmist put it this way, “God be gracious to us and bless us,
and cause His face to shine upon us—Selah. That Your way may be
known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations” (Ps. 67:1-2).
It’s remarkable how realizing God’s face of delight over us affects our
own countenance. And that becomes our witness. Notice the conclu-
sion of this psalm is the salvation of the nations.

There are different realities, each competing for our attention,

and ultimately our affection. There’s the power of darkness, filled
with fear, anger, bitterness, arrogance, etc. And there’s the Kingdom
of God, filled with love, joy, and peace. Our countenance will always
reflect the nature of the world we are most aware of.

MULTIGENERATIONAL MIGRATION
A few months ago, Beni and I were watching TV together when
something grabbed my attention. Actually, I was sort of watching
while also playing on my iPad, which is a common habit of mine. In
the middle of my iPad experience, I heard this phrase coming from
the program: multigenerational migration. That phrase grabbed my
heart, in a very real sense. I put down my iPad and began to watch,
as I sensed something profound and inviting was being spoken. It
happened to be a documentary on Monarch butterflies, which is not
the kind of thing we usually watch together. As I began to listen, I
was captured again by the phrase, multigenerational migration.

After finishing that program, I went to YouTube and searched

this subject. I was able to find many other videos on this subject. It
caught my attention for so many reasons, not the least of which is
that we intentionally live with an awareness of our multigenerational
impact and the responsibility to leave an inheritance. In fact, my son

53
Eric and I co-authored a book on this subject called, Momentum:
What God Starts Never Ends. It’s a theme that has been all important
to us and has marked our decisions for many years. But this program
introduced me to something I was not aware of. It seemed that there
was something in this idea that could possibly help us go to the next
level in a move of God.

What the producers of this show wanted us to learn was that

Monarch butterflies migrate from Mexico to Canada. They showed
us the forests in Mexico where around 200 million of these butterflies
exist at one time. Once they start their travels, it takes four genera-
tions for them to reach their destination. Imagine this: The butterfly
leaves the millions of other butterflies that live in a particular forest
in Mexico and begins the journey to Canada. When they’ve traveled
their prescribed distance, they lay eggs, which become caterpillars,
each of which forms a cocoon, out of which comes a butterfly. Then
those fly as far as they can, then laying eggs for the next generation of
butterflies to continue the trip. Instinctively, they know their assign-
ments. This is similar to salmon, who travel back to the same river
they were born in. But the Monarch butterfly has an inbuilt assign-
ment that in some ways is even more impressive than the salmon.
For the Monarch, it takes four generations to complete what they
were born for. Perhaps that’s why every believer instinctively longs
for more. And once the concept of revival is revealed as a possibility,
little else matters. Living with the realization that it will not be one
generation that gets our assignment finished might help us as we
prepare the next generation for their reason for being.

After four generations, the butterflies reach their destiny. And

then they start the same trip back to Mexico, which takes another
four generations. Is it possible that we fall short in revival because

54
we sell short all that God wants to do? What He has planned can’t
be accomplished by one generation. Instead, it is to be a cooperative
effort of multiple generations. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, all at the same time. He reigns over the intentions and pur-
poses of multiple generations. One of our main responsibilities is to
prepare the following generation, through instruction, example, and
opportunity, with the responsibility to live in the spirit of revival all
of their days, and to expect nothing less.

What He has planned can’t be accomplished by one

generation. Instead, it is to be a cooperative effort of
multiple generations.

It was the absence of the hunger he once had that took one of
the greatest reformers in all of history, King Hezekiah, and stripped
him of his multi-generational influence. It happened when he was
rebuked by Isaiah for his sin. He then told him that his sons would
become eunuchs in the Babylonian empire. King Hezekiah respond-
ed that the word was good, because “at least there will be peace in
my days.” (See Isaiah 39:5-8.) Thus, his multi-generational migration
ended. He lost sight of his responsibility for long-term influence and
settled for enjoying favor in his day, even though the next genera-
tion would suffer because of his choices. Hezekiah’s reign, one of the
greatest in history, was followed by that of his son, Manasseh, one of
the evilest kings in history. Whenever we misplace or misuse some-
thing God has given us, something inferior always grows in its place.

KEEPING THE MAIN THING THE

MAIN THING
We had experienced a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit in
1987 that started immediately after several of us attended a Signs
55
and Wonders Conference at the Anaheim Vineyard Church with
John Wimber. Several other notable speakers were there. I was deep-
ly touched. And while no one ever prayed for us or prophesied over
us, we went home changed and encouraged. The miracles started the
next week. To put this in perspective, I had not seen healing or mira-
cles when I prayed although I had taught it and practiced it for years.
It just didn’t happen. Until now. I didn’t pray differently. I didn’t teach
anything different. Yet Jesus came in ways I had only hoped for. And
while we experienced an ever-increasing outpouring for a season, I
didn’t know how to sustain it. I didn’t even know I needed to know
how to sustain it. But much like the priests in the Old Testament, I
was faced with the reality that a fire goes out when there’s no more
fuel.

God was so good to us, as the Holy Spirit would come in power
at different times throughout the next eight years. They were like
waves. It felt like something was missing, as this outpouring never
became a way of life. Looking back, I can see that I thought this was
God’s will for us. I assumed it was His desire for us to experience Him
in this way—occasionally. It was His sovereignty. Or so I thought.

In 1995, I decided to visit Toronto, where I heard that God was

moving powerfully. And even though much of what happened there
was maligned by many, it was worth the risk. On my flight to that
great city, I found myself praying, “God, if you touch me again, I’ll
never change the subject.” In praying, I discovered I had a convic-
tion that had not been put into words before, nor had I conscious-
ly thought this through. It became apparent to me that in 1987 I
had added what God was doing to what we were already doing. My
prayer for Him to touch me again included my commitment never
to change the subject from what the Father was doing.

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 When I walked into the auditorium at Toronto Airport Chris-
tian Fellowship, I was overwhelmed by the manifestations of 5000
people. It wasn’t that I hadn’t seen any of it before. It’s just that I
had only experienced that in small numbers. Five thousand people,
all passionate about Jesus, was overwhelming. So, I closed my eyes
and turned my affection to the Lord. In that moment I realized what
filled that room was the same anointing and presence that we had
experienced in some of our late-night prayer meetings back home.
Recognizing His presence made it much easier to relax and enjoy
this unusual, but pregnant, Holy Spirit moment.

When we are in a situation that is new to us and we are trying to

discern if it is from God or not, our greatest tool is our ability to rec-
ognize Him. Too many conclude that if they feel uncomfortable with
something, what they are observing must not be from God. That’s
not entirely true. He’s the comforter. But often where He leads us is
challenging, stretching us far beyond our comfort zones. In reality,
He leads me to where I need His comfort. There’s a big difference
between the warning that the Holy Spirit gives us when something is
false and the discomfort we feel when it is outside our understanding
or personal history. Learning the difference is paramount, especial-
ly in seasons of mighty outpouring. We must learn the privilege of
recognizing Him in our private times with the Lord. What we learn
there will always help in the corporate gatherings.

Combined with the ability to recognize the presence of the Holy

Spirit, our greatest safeguard against deception is our immersion
into the Word of God. And while I know that biblical knowledge
is usually the only thing emphasized at this point of the discussion,
many who use only that point are the most deceived as it pertains to
the moves of God. Again, allow the Word of God to lead you to the
person of Jesus Christ. He is to be known, encountered, and com-
pletely trusted.
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 The Holy Spirit brings peace to us when we lack understanding.
It’s the Bible that elevates this element above understanding, as the
heart will take us further in God than the mind ever will. For this
reason, Paul teaches that God gives us peace that passes understand-
ing. (See Philippians 4:8.) And that peace takes a military posture of
protection of all that pertains to me. Peace protects us where under-
standing can’t. To experience the peace that surpasses understand-
ing, I have to give up my right to understand. Again, it’s not that
the mind isn’t important. It actually is very important. But when my
mind runs my Christian life, I have an inferior Christian life. Surren-
der to the purposes and methods of God is the key to all activity in
the Kingdom. Especially, revival.

To experience the peace that surpasses understanding,

I have to give up my right to understand.

BLOCKAGES? OR INVITATIONS?
One of the most common sermons I have heard through the
years is what we must do if we want revival. Of course, these sermons
seldom come from anyone who has ever experienced one. They usu-
ally come from people who have read the books on the subject and
have great hunger. I applaud them. Together, we will come into the
greater things of God for this next season.

This section is where I could unintentionally cause the most of-

fense. But only if you miss the main point of this next section. So
please read carefully what is written.

In the following section I’m going to list all the various parts
of our lives that are considered blockages to a great move of God.

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While I support each idea as extremely important, they don’t block
His coming. He enters the place where He is welcome.

Many people want to become closer to perfect so God will come.

It reminds me of the person who cleans their own home before they
have the cleaners come and do their job. We try to get ourselves
ready for the mighty outpouring by making ourselves worthy. No
one would ever put it that way, but it is the reality of this kind of
mindset.

Here is a list of very important things I’ve heard taught as things

we must deal with before we can ever expect to have a revival:

• Restore corporate prayer meetings, then we’ll have revival.

• Get back to the discipline of prayer with fasting, then we’ll
have revival.
• Reprioritize the study of the Bible, then we’ll have revival.
• Return to honoring and praying for Israel properly, then we’ll
have revival.
• Make children the priority of the church, then we’ll have re-
vival.
• Become compassionate and take care of the poor, then we
can have revival.
• Restore honor to the elderly, then we’ll have revival.
• We must pursue reconciliation in all our relationships before
we can have revival.
• We must learn to prioritize the youth, or we will never have
revival.
• We must deal with the issue of systemic racism before we can
ever expect revival.
• If we can reject materialism and learn generosity as a life-

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 style, then we can have revival.
• Until women are valued and celebrated correctly, we can
never expect revival.
• Repent for the breaking of covenants with the First Nations
People; then we can have revival.
• If we would only pray more in our personal lives, then we
could expect revival.

This list could go on and on, but hopefully you get the point. All
of these are extremely important issues for us to give our attention
to. They are vital. But God knows us. He knows that if we get all our
things in order, and then He comes in power, we’ll ultimately take
credit for the revival. We sometimes get the cart before the horse, so
to speak. What we read in our history books as manifestations of a
great move of God, is actually the fruit of revival, not the cause. Now
obviously, if God says fast, we fast. Prayer and obedience remain key
to being involved in an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And we should
always be asking for more. But we often work so hard to bring about
a revival that we bypass the number one ingredient: Him. Welcom-
ing Him, giving place to His heart, making room in our lives, our
day, our services just for Him, is the issue. We work so hard for Him
that He could come and we wouldn’t know it.

All of these things on my list are vital. You could probably add
to the list from your own convictions, or perhaps revival sermons
you’ve heard. The problem is not with the list. The problem is we
often mistake what changes in revival, with what we must do to get
revival. If He came only after we’d taken care of the things on my list,
we’d end up thinking the move of God was about us. And if there’s
one thing we must learn in this endeavor, it’s that God moves in a
way where only He receives the glory. Our honor is to participate.

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 So here is a simple response to some of the issues mentioned
above:

• Praying for revival is extremely important. But you’ll pray

more when revival comes. And the praying we do in revival
is in part what sustains it.
• Fasting has its place in the pursuit of revival, but you’ll fast
more and with greater ease once revival comes. Fasting is es-
sentially hungering for something that food cannot satisfy.
And no price is too big to continue in the wonder of such a
glorious thing as revival.
• Giving honor to children, youth, and elderly are vital expres-
sions of the Christian life. It is normal Christianity. But then
so is revival. We do everything better and naturally in revival.
• Materialism is idolatry. But materialism ceases in revival,
as nothing else matters. Even the early Church, while in the
throes of revival, considered nothing as belonging to them-
selves as they sought how to live generous lifestyles. (See Acts
4:32.)
• There is no excuse for the abuses and broken covenants given
to our First Nations People. One of the first things we did in
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit among us was to honor our
local tribe with words of affirmation, prayer, and financial
support once revival came. It is the fruit, not the cause.
• The lingering effects of slavery inspire an insidious attitude
of superiority that gives way to the spirit of racism. Racism
in all its forms, is evil to its core. Revival is life in the glory.
Jesus said He gave us His glory that we might be one. (See
John 17:22.) Unity, even racial unity, is best accomplished in
the glory, which is a manifestation of revival.

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 The point is, whatever you think needs to be fixed before He
comes in power is probably what He wants to fix in His coming. If
He says fast for three days, and then He’ll come in power, do it. Pure
and simple. But we need to stop trying to earn the favor He has given
us and learn to welcome Him into every single part of our lives. This
is a relational journey, which means we are constantly dealing with
whatever He addresses in that journey.

HUNGER, THE GIFT FROM GOD

To conclude, hunger is a good sign. I am an extremely happy
parent of three children. Each of them married godly spouses, who
have in turn given Beni and me 11 grandchildren. Being a parent,
and watching them grow up into God’s design for them is one of the
greatest privileges we can enjoy this side of Heaven. But I remember
well when they were infants. One of the ways you could tell when
one of them was sick was they lost their hunger. Of course, there
are fevers and other manifestations of sickness. But the one that still
influences my thinking to this day is the absence of hunger. That is a
sign of sickness. This is absolutely true for the followers of Jesus. The
absence of hunger speaks to the heart condition that needs reviving.
It needs to be warmed by the love of God that restores hope and our
connection to why we’re alive.

In the same way that we can’t crave something sweet unless sweet
exists, we can’t hunger for the reality of Heaven on earth unless that
reality exists. Revival is such a reality. We know it exists as it was
seen in Jesus’ lifestyle. We also know it is within reach because Jesus
taught us to pray for it through the following Disciples’ Prayer:

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 Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our
debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For
Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen
(Matthew 6:9-13).

We were designed for eternity in Heaven. It is our nature to hun-

ger for that reality now, through the various manifestations of revival
and His many displays of glory. Revival is living in the glory.

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 Chapter Four

W H AT IS REVI VA L
“UNTO ”
A state of constant revival is both possible and practical,
and every Christian ought constantly to aim at it, and
labor and pray for it . . . May God in great mercy send
us constant, ever continuing, all conquering revival . .
. May the work commence and never cease until mil-
lennial glory shall beam upon us, and the triumphant
anthem roll over the whole earth: “The kingdoms of this
world, have become the kingdoms of the Lord and His
Christ! Amen.”—Simeon W. Harkey1

This quote from the 1800s is especially dear to my heart, as the

author, Simeon W. Harkey, is one of the few people I’ve ever heard
declare revival should be the norm. I like to put it this way: Revival is
the normal Christian life.

Revival is the normal Christian life.

In Open Heavens, I addressed the importance of staying true to

the foundation, which in the Christian experience is the day of Pen-
tecost. What happened there must remain in place. We can add to
it, build upon it, and experiment around it, but we must stay true
to what got us here, the foundation. The reason is that God is al-
ways taking us to a greater glory. He is always taking us somewhere
deeper, more intimate, and more glorious; and it will always have a

64
greater impact on humanity. I personally think the target is always
the glory of God filling the earth.

PENTECOST IS REVIVAL
Pentecost is an invasion of His glory, permeating His people,
overflowing with the effect of righteousness and justice in the earth.

Pentecost is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit where the people

of God are being launched into things we do not understand, can-
not explain, and dare not control. This amazing day in history is an
honest revival: one without the agendas. The sooner we come into
the realization that we are all prone to create agendas, the better. For
then we can pursue His purposes, knowing we have a limp, a weak-
ness, a bias. And by His grace, and His grace alone, that weakness
can be covered by His overwhelming presence so we can enter fully
into what He has for us in this life; it is always beyond what we would
have imagined or asked for.

Pentecost creates momentum to build for the glory of God. It

may include organizations and buildings. But honestly, we can do
that without revival. What’s more important is the building of ideas,
values, relational structures, and creative expressions that all work
to illustrate the nature of God and model His purpose for humanity
on earth. This is a measurable way to see the impact of Heaven on all
we are and do.

THE WISDOM OF RECOGNIZING

WEAKNESS
Isn’t that the reason for Jesus’ teaching us to pray, “lead us not
into temptation”? The Bible already tells us that it is impossible for
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God to tempt us because He cannot be tempted with evil. So why ask
Him not to tempt us? Because it forces us, no matter how great our
successes, no matter how great His purposes over our lives, to live
aware of our constant need of His grace.

I am reminded of this concept in the warning recorded in Prov-

erbs, addressing the person of excellence. It says they will stand be-
fore kings. But then it says if we recognize that we have an appetite
for what the king has (possessions, pleasures, position), we should
put a knife to our own throat to hold that desire in check. Otherwise,
we will be driven by appetite and not purpose and will ultimately
compromise our position to serve and influence the king. (See Prov-
erbs 22:29–23:2.) In the story of revival with bias and an agenda, it is
wisdom to recognize our own appetites that could compromise what
God is longing to bring into our lives.

This isn’t to say that our agendas are evil. Most of us pursuing
revival can give chapter and verse for our biases. They are based on
what we have learned or experienced in our journey with God. In
some cases, our convictions come from what we’ve heard from the
stories of revival in history. Hold to those values and convictions
tightly! But don’t allow them to determine what you are willing to
learn in the future. In most cases they are wonderful insights—until
they interfere with what God intends to do next.

THE POWER OF JOY

For example, when I think revival looks like tears, my preaching
and ministry will be looking for that manifestation to affirm we are
now in revival. And yet I’ve seen times when God had a different
plan. He brought joy. And what made matters more complicated, the

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people who least deserved it are the ones who received it the most.
The revival experts (critics) had a heyday with that one. “These peo-
ple should be weeping before God in repentance! They’ve been com-
placent sinners for years. Joy is not the appropriate response. This is
not revival!” And yet many of these joy-filled people were changed
into passionate followers of Jesus in the experience. They became
better spouses, parents, and workers. Isn’t that the kind of fruit we
long to see from those who repent?

One of the more interesting stories in the Bible in this regard

is found in Nehemiah 8. This is where we have the great statement,
“the joy of the Lord is our strength.” But what precedes that outcome is
often forgotten or ignored. They read the Word of God in the public
square. People stood for hours, listening to the Word and heard what
God required. They began to weep as a result of seeing how far away
they were from God’s standard for their lives. The priests ran among
the people and told them to stop!
Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the
priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people
said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your
God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were
weeping when they heard the words of the law (Neh.
8:9).

Sometimes joy is a greater manifestation of faith than weeping.

I can always hang my head and weep, realizing how unworthy I am
on my own. To truly rejoice in Him means I have to look above my
issues, and look to His accomplishments on my behalf.

Sometimes joy is a greater manifestation of faith than

weeping.

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 From what I’ve seen in Christendom, a weeping crowd is the
evangelist’s dream. That’s where we invite people to the altar to
repent. That is an appropriate response, and it absolutely has its
place—unless it’s not what God is doing. In Nehemiah 8, the people
of God were instructed to have a feast and celebrate, because they
understood the words of the law. They didn’t celebrate because they
had fulfilled God’s requirement for their lives. It was because they
saw truth and understood it. I wonder how many more victories we
would experience if we simply rejoiced our way into the victory just
because we heard God’s voice, saw His heart, and said yes to His
commands.

Both the Nehemiah story, and the situations I’ve seen in recent
church life, sound a lot like grace. People who don’t deserve it are
given joy. Grace is underserved favor, which seems to perfectly de-
scribe this situation. This is the standard of Scripture, “It’s His kind-
ness that leads to repentance.” (See Romans 2:4.) A hard lesson for me
to learn in this regard was that what tears are to repentance laughter
is to salvation.

What tears are to repentance laughter is to salvation.

I think a person could be born again for only a week and still
have a bent on how they seek God for revival. It doesn’t take us long
to form biases. This is where we must mature in relation to our pur-
suit of more of God: revival! We too often reduce our discernment
for the move of God down to specific acceptable manifestations and
not the discernment of His actual presence. It’s hard to recognize
Him in a public setting if I don’t develop those skills in private. In
my personal interaction with Him is where I learn to recognize Him
when He steps into the room. And please don’t be offended by my

68
phrase, when He steps into the room. I know He is already with us.
But living unaware of Him makes it difficult to recognize when He
shows up in an increased manner or in a different way with a specific
agenda. Jesus lived aware of Him and became an example for us:
One day He was teaching; and there were some Phari-
sees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come
from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jeru-
salem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him
to perform healing (Luke 5:17).

The Holy Spirit, the power of Heaven, already rested upon Jesus.
The fact that Jesus recognized that the power of the Lord was present
to heal implies He could be there for another reason: deliverance,
preaching, correction, prophetic encouragement, etc. Jesus, seeing
what the Father was doing, cooperated with that power to perform
the miracles that revealed the Father’s heart to people. It should be
upon each of us to learn to recognize Him and then learn to recog-
nize His heart. For only then can we know what He just walked into
the room to do. I sincerely believe that this by itself enables us to
go deeper into the move of God than if we insist on holding to our
biases. If we do that, we will typically only experience what we have
faith for and not what He plans to do. Recognizing what He is doing
is a critical component to discovering what revival is to lead unto.

BEING CO-MISSIONED
There are several commissions of Jesus in the Gospels. The most
famous, of course, found in Matthew 28, is what we call the Great
Commission, rightfully named because it reveals the heart of God
for placing us on planet Earth.

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 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All
authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I
commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to
the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Similar passages in Mark and Luke each add to the overall pic-
ture of this commission:

Mark’s version:
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all cre-
ation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall
be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be con-
demned. These signs will accompany those who have be-
lieved: in My name they will cast out demons, they will
speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and
if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them;
they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover”
(Mark 16:15-18).

Luke’s version:
Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise
again from the dead the third day, and that repentance
for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are
witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending
forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to
stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on
high (Luke 24:46-49).

We know that while each of these decrees varies in tone and in-
formation, they are not in conflict. Instead, they complement each
other. All three provide us with a unique glimpse, with a more com-
plete picture of our assignment. It’s not my intent to fully study these

70
passages here and now. But I would like to address two specific
things addressed here that can help us with the question, what is
revival unto?

First of all, being commissioned implies empowerment for a spe-

cific purpose. In this case, it is to follow the footsteps of the One who
commissioned us and carry on His work. In light of this, one of the
focuses is on making disciples of nations. The next is to make disci-
ples within nations. This is a significant distinction that has profound
ramifications on how we live, think, pray, and act.

Before you balk at the idea of discipling nations, remember God

calls us, the Church, a holy nation; only a nation can disciple a na-
tion. But only a united nation can have that kind of influence and
clout on actual nations of the world. Because revival is life in the
glory, and His glory unites, we can see how discipling nations can
and must be possible—by living in the glory.

And the second part is what we’re more accustomed to: make
disciples within nations. We do both of these by walking in the foot-
steps of the resurrected One, who has a solution for every personal
issue, as well as every international issue. Nations were His idea. And
He has a plan.

Combining these two focuses in the commission reminds us to

stop for the one, as Heidi Baker has declared it, and serve them for
their personal transformation. But the second part is to inspire us
that we would never lose sight of the responsibility to bring about
cultural change in society itself through the Gospel of the Kingdom,
thus, discipling nations.

That Gospel is the good news of living under His rule/dominion.

It affects and redefines all of life. This as-it-is-in-Heaven reality is to

71
be just that—a revelation of the Heaven to come through the exam-
ination of the believer’s life in these realms: spirit, soul, and body. Je-
sus’ ministry impacted each of these three areas, and that was before
the cross and resurrection. How much more is to be seen, now that
the believer is the eternal dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.

THE GOAL OF TRAINING

Making disciples, not converts, is our mandate. The beautiful
ambition of all training in the Kingdom of God is for us to become
like Jesus in all we are and do. Jesus has intentions for us that are far
greater than any of us would think possible. This is the standard of
Scripture: “but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his
teacher” (Luke 6:40). Likeness is the goal.

Jesus has intentions for us that are far greater than

any of us would think possible.

Jesus modeled the best discipleship program the world has ever
seen. He trained His original 12 disciples through word, example,
and empowered opportunities. Those opportunities were the times
Jesus commanded and enabled them to do the same as He did. They
returned from those missionary type journeys with the stories of the
miracles and deliverances they were involved in. The following four
areas addressed in His training provide a skeletal example of his re-
lational journey with 12 men that we call discipleship:

Character/purity
His teaching, which included correction, focused on issues of
ambitions, thinking, and behavior. They were to live in a manner
consistent with the example that Jesus set for them in managing their
inner world.
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 Love/compassion
Jesus was constantly moved with compassion for people and
their needs. Such compassion was followed with a supernatural solu-
tion. Much of His training prepared the twelve to care for others. It
started with how they viewed other disciples, but extended to the
hungry crowds they were wanting to send home.

Power/authority
This was specifically aimed at healing and deliverance. It’s inter-
esting to note that power and authority didn’t function on their own.
In Jesus’ example, we see both power and authority flowing through
His compassion for those in need. Paul put it this way, “faith works
through love” (see Galatians 5:6), to illustrate that these are always
used in serving others effectively.

Dream/significance
This is probably the one on the list that many will have trouble
with, as it appears to have little to do with revival. Let’s look at it this
way: If revival is supposed to be “unto” something, it has to be as a
result of transformation, and not more meetings (which I love.) Jesus
addressed this issue four times in John 14,15, and 16, whereby his
disciples were given a promise from God that only Solomon before
had been given; they could have whatever they asked for. So here
the friends of God have been given a blank check. Will we spend it
building our empires? Or will we ask for nations?

The effect of succeeding here is a reformation where society itself

is transformed from the inside/out. Transformation will affect the
laws that society creates. But it’s important to note that the laws are
not what brings transformation; it’s the Holy Spirit working in and

73
through His followers to demonstrate the reality of Heaven on earth.

Authentic transformation starts with the mind. Paul instructed

us in this way: “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom.
12:2). A transformed mind transforms a person. And a transformed
person can transform a city.

Transformation is the ambition of Heaven. It can be measured in

healthy families, productive lives that contribute to the overall health
of our communities, prosperity of soul that affects the overall health
of body, mind, emotions, ever-increasing hope for all that God has
purposed for our lives on earth, as well as ongoing financial increase
that comes because of divine purpose. From there, cities take on a
unique design, contributing to overall expression of the creative na-
ture of God on the earth. My hope is that we will see a Reformation
combined with a Renaissance to more fully reveal the nature and
covenant of God in the healing of the land.

• Revival reveals the holiness and power of God.

• Reformation reveals the heart and mind of God.
• Renaissance reveals the beauty and wonder of God.
• These will be discussed more thoroughly in a later chapter.

LET’S PAINT A PICTURE

As I wrap this chapter, let me paint a picture that should help
us in seeing the effect revival is supposed to have in the shaping of
culture itself.

First, picture a brick wall in your mind. And for illustration’s

sake, let’s say that that wall is made up of 30 rows of bricks, each row
upon another until it reaches the desired height. That wall represents
society, with all its unique placement of gifts and assignments from

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God. Each layer represents a different segment of society. While God
loves all of us the same, not all have the same favor. Jesus spoke of
the person with five talents (measure of money), another with two,
and yet another with one. (See Matt. 25:14-30) The wonderful truth
that applies to all, regardless of how we start, is all have unlimited
potential through faithful use of what God has given us. A good re-
minder is that Jesus had 12 disciples, but only three of them were
allowed to participate in some of His endeavors. God sovereignly
selects people for different roles. Struggling with that issue must be
dealt with in life, or we will respond with jealousy for the one with
more or feelings of superiority over the one with less. Either posture
is dangerous.

Back to the wall: The bottom rows are the poorest of the poor,
and the top rows represent those who have been placed in a high
place of influence. This is either through their positions of rule, like a
politician or a CEO of a corporation, or through fame, like an actor,
an actress, or a professional athlete. The top row is made up of the
people with position that shape and create culture.

Now imagine the fire of revival hitting that wall. Revival always
starts at the bottom with the poor and burns upward. And while it
may not always mean the economically poor, it is always the poor
in spirit. As the revival is stewarded well, it spreads to other layers
of bricks on the wall. When a revival has been stewarded well long
enough, it eventually begins to shape the values, ambitions, and be-
haviors of those who shape culture. These are the mind molders,
constituting the top layers of bricks on the wall. Most of the time
these positions are abused and used for personal gain and self-pro-
motion. But that was not the purpose for their gift, any more than Je-
sus gave the treasury box to Judas so he could steal. Everything God

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gives us has a divine purpose and is intended to bring Him glory.
And everything He gives us can be used in the direct opposite reason
for which God gave it. The point is, when revival has its full effect on
society, touching the upper layers of this illustration, touching those
who appear to be untouchable, culture changes. Fire burns upward.
Transformation flows downward.

POWER AND WISDOM

Power ignites the beginnings of revival, but wisdom sustains it.
The failure to apply the standards of Scripture, revealing the mind of
Christ to the everyday affairs of life, is what will starve a revival in
the same way a fire dies without fuel.

Power ignites the beginnings of revival, but wisdom

sustains it.

I believe that cultural transformation is what ignites or launches

us into a reformation. Culture is basically the way people live and
approach life. It includes things like relational boundaries, identi-
ty, values, ambitions, purpose, hopes and dreams, and a whole host
of other effects of God’s direct influence over all we have and are.
The process of going from cultural transformation to reformation
involves learning how to live in wisdom, which positions us to reign
in life. The cultural transformation that leads to reformation is the
result, at least in part, of the gift of God called wisdom, which is the
mind of Christ.

Just to whet your appetite: Geneva still lives under the influence
of a reformation that happened 500 years ago. Rolex, Cartier, the
United Nations, the YMCA, the World Bank, and a whole host of

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other entities exist where Calvin and others believed God’s ways
were best and that He had answers to every dilemma we could expe-
rience in our world. These values and truth created an incubator ef-
fect in a part of the world where excellence, creativity, and possibility
become normal expressions of life. Because of the profound impact
of a reformation on the generations, I’d like to declare, we owe our
children, our grandchildren, for many generations, a reformation. The
proper stewardship of revival as a seed, will set us up to taste and see
why we’re alive. Revival is unto reformation.

Notes
1. Simeon W. Harkey, The Church’s Best State or Constant Revivals of Religion (Sydney:
Wentworth Press, 2019), 103.

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 ABOUT BILL JOHNSON
Bill Johnson is a fifth-generation pastor with a rich heritage in
the Holy Spirit. Bill and his wife, Beni, are the senior leaders of Beth-
el Church in Redding, California, and serve a growing number of
churches that cross denominational lines, demonstrate power, and
partner for revival. Bill’s vision is for all believers to experience God’s
presence and operate in the miraculous—as expressed in his best-
selling books When Heaven Invades Earth and Hosting the Presence.
The Johnsons have three children and ten grandchildren.

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