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“If there isn’t a revival in this country of some sort...we’re moving toward a state that would be very much like pagan Rome.” This chilling assessment of the spiritual conditions in our world was the insightful conclusion of John Whitehead, president and founder of the Rutherford Institute almost 25 years ago. How much more it is true today! As I begin each new year, I like to take time to review Dr. Wesley L. Duewel’s book, Revival Fire. My heart is burdened as I look around at our world and our church and realize that the need of the hour is a fresh touch from God.

Revival days are not normal days in the life of the church. They are supernatural, we could say supernormal. They are days when God manifests His presence in such an overwhelming way that people’s lives are transformed as they realize anew the greatness of God and their own unworthiness.

Revival usually involves some preaching and evangelism. But revival is far more than special services. Man can evangelize; only God can give revival. When God’s presence and power begin to work in a mighty way, God can accomplish more in hours or days than usually result from years of faithful nonrevival ministry. Many prayers that have gone unanswered for years are gloriously answered. Revival will lead you to a deepened prayer life and a closer walk with God.

I love that old hymn of the church, Revive Us Again. Listen to the beautiful words:

Revive us again; Fill each heart with Thy love. May each soul be rekindled with fire from above.

That is my prayer for New Life Assembly of God: revival fire! Throughout Scripture fire is a symbol of God’s presence. In the Old Testament God’s presence was symbolized by the appearance of fire. For example, there was the pillar of fire that protected the children of Israel by night (Exodus 13:21) and the fire of God that burned up their sacrifices (1 Kings 18:38). In the New Testament the coming of the Holy Spirit was preceded by the appearance of tongues of fire (Acts 2:3).

The well-known Bible commentator Dr. W. Graham Scroggie once said that “there never has been a spiritual revival which did not begin with an acute sense of sin.” It is important to note that the words purify and purge come from the Greek word for fire. What a call that is for us as believers to purify ourselves by the fire of the Word of God (Jeremiah 5:14) and the fire of the Spirit of God (Acts 2:3).

I believe one of the prerequisites of revival is hunger! Do I really want to see God move? Am I willing to sacrifice my time and rearrange my priorities to seek the face of God?

May God stir us to pray! “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!” (Isaiah 64:1-2).