Could it be that the extraordinary events that take place during a revival ought to be part of our everyday Christian life? Could it be that because we live so much of our Christian lives at a subnormal level that we think the phenomenal events that take place during a revival are exceptional?

It takes only 1 spark to
start a revival. Will that
spark be you?

It’s God’s will for us to live in a continually revived state, where we don’t have to pray for God to wake us up, to restore His presence. But as it is, we tend to wander from God, and that requires us to seek Him to bring us back into a right relationship again.

Seeking God’s presence is what is mentioned in 2 Chron. 7:14, where it says “seek my face.” This seeking indicates that we long for closeness, fellowship, openness and intimacy with God. It brings us into the realm of praise, adoration, worship, enjoying God’s presence, listening to His voice, responding to His love. It is more than just seeking God for what He can do; it is seeking God for who He is. It is more than just seeking His blessings; it is seeking God for Himself alone.

Revival is the result or by-product of seeking and knowing Jesus more intimately. Many revival authors have indicated that:

If you want revival, don’t seek for revival—seek Him. To enter into a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus is revival.

As in any human relationship, intimacy can develop only when problems in the relationship are dealt with and removed.

God is Looking for a Few Good Men (or Women)

For those seeking a genuine move of God, it must be understood that micro-revivals will always precede the macro revival. Revivals almost always begin with an individual who God sovereignly draws and prepares for launching a revival—it is all the grace of God—but God works through people. Nobody will persistently and unrelentingly pursue God for a revival if that person isn’t first drawn to do so by the Holy Spirit (Jn. 6:44).

That singular individual doesn’t take this task upon themselves; it is all initiated by God so that God alone gets the glory for whatever transpires. This being the case, revival always begins in an individual’s heart before it spreads to the masses—it takes only 1 spark. This is a principle to keep in mind while preparing for a revival.

Methods are many.
Principles are few.
Methods may change.
But principles never do.

Preparing for revival doesn’t mean we explore and implement the most recent church-growth strategies (though they shouldn’t be ignored). During dry seasons, when the presence of God seems far away, and the heavens brass, we attempt many things to bring that presence back, but often times we erroneously initiate church-growth strategies as a substitute for proven revival strategies. Instead of programs and church-growth strategies, we must refocus, and come back to the condition of the individual heart, as E.M. Bounds noted:

The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. If we have the right people almost any method will work.

Most believers are sitting back waiting for a collective stirring that they would call a “revival.” God is waiting for an individual to be stirred. When an individual is stirred (revived), that stirring will infect others, which will continue until the whole is overwhelmed with the stirrings of God. It takes Only 1 Spark for the entire process to start. Will you be that 1 spark?