Re-Dig the Wells of Revival

Recently I heard this question asked in my community: “Is it possible to re-dig the wells of revival ?” I have pondered how to respond to this question for many days. This is an important question that many people ask. When someone asks the question about re-digging the wells of revival, it means that somehow they had experienced revival and are now not experiencing revival. It is my experience that moves of God cease when sin is embraced.

James understood that humility and repentance were keys to revival. “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:4–10, NIV84)

The Israelites needed to repent before they could experience the closeness of the holiness of God. They needed to consecrate and cleanse themselves and come before God with holiness. “When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.” (Exodus 20:18–21, NIV84)

In this case, choosing to remain at a distance when God calls you close speaks to the desire to choose sin and to walk away from God. Notice what happens when they refused to draw close to God. “When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”” (Exodus 32:1, NIV84)

There have been leaders in my community who refused to obey part of the Word of God. That disobedience opened the door for their spiritual adultery. That disobedience caused revival to end in their lives and in the lives of people who agreed with the disobedience.

Obeying the word of God because we love God always leads to revival. “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.” (Psalm 19:7, NIV84)

For my region, I know many leaders who embraced revival for a while and yet when tempted to make a choice between obeying the word of God or establishing their personal ministry they chose their own personal recognition and power. In broad terms, they chose pride over humility. They chose power over love. They chose manipulation over a servant’s heart. Pride, power, and manipulation will destroy any move of God in any believer’s life. When sin creeps into one who claims to be a leader the end result is always the end of a revival that can affect many. Revival led by godly leaders will transform the lives of many towards God. Sin embraced by leaders will destroy many.

To the person who asked this question and to all who ask this question today, the answer lies in repentance. You must choose to deal with the sin you embraced earlier before you can find the power of God today. You cannot pretend that the sinful actions did not happen. If your actions caused harm to another, you must seek to make it right. That kind of repentance and seeking to reconcile and bring life to someone else will plant the seeds of revival in your own heart.

Remember this promise of God and revival will come. “For this is what the high and lofty One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” (Isaiah 57:15, NIV84)