When you read about revival, what do you imagine it to be? It starts with your walk with God. Rev Lawrence Koo shares his thoughts.
Human beings very naturally hunger for food. That’s a normal physical health indicator. Likewise, in our walk with God, we should always have an insatiable appetite for spiritual sustenance and a desire for more of God. That is my understanding of revival in Christian life. In other words, spiritual revival ought to be a constant and regular experience in the life of every child of God.
Spiritual revival ought to be a constant and regular experience in the life of every child of God.
Revival Brings us His Presence and Joy
However, the reality is that no matter how much we look after our health, we do fall sick from time to time. As a result, it affects our physical appetite for food. The same happens to us spiritually as Christ’s followers. We all have our spiritual “down” moments due to our sinful nature, life’s challenges, and temptations. In these times, our desire for spiritual food diminishes. And God seems to be furthest from our minds. Yet it is precisely in moments like these that we need a spiritual boost – in other words, a revival.
In physical illness, we not only lose our appetite for God; we also feel down and worn out and disconnected from people. Similarly, when we are ‘sick’ spiritually, besides the loss of appetite for God’s Word, another indicator is spiritual depression and the loss of joy. That’s why the Psalmist cried out to God, “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?” (Psalm 85:6 NIV). The thing is, when God revives us or heals us spiritually, joy always returns to our souls. When God is near, we can feel His presence. In God’s presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). That’s what revival does to us.
Revival is Found in our Personal Walk with God
I have been a Christian for more than forty years. In my growing-up years, I longed for more of God, craved for His Word, and thirsted after the Holy Spirit in my life. I would not miss a single church service and prayer meeting because I just wanted to be found in God’s house and among the saints. I had never shied away from serving God in any ministry that I was able to contribute to. I loved sharing with others about Jesus and felt extremely elated seeing them respond to Christ.
Since I began ‘full-time’ ministry as a pastor, I have had many powerful encounters with revival. I longed for revival so much that I would travel to places where revival fire was burning – such as Toronto (the ‘Toronto Blessing’), Brownsville (the Pensacola Revival), and Smithton (the Smithton Revival) – just to catch the fire, so to speak.
While I am thankful to God for these wonderful and glorious revivals, I know that these are only ‘spiritual boosts’ against the spiritual “viral” attacks of the enemy. Ultimately, it’s my daily walk with God that sustains me and keeps me healthy and strong in the long haul. In other words, Christians cannot depend on the spiritual highs and keep on looking for stronger fixes, for that is unsustainable and only applies to ‘spiritual junkies’ or Christians who are so sick that they need to be kept alive by ‘spiritual steroids’!
Revival is Being Filled with the Holy Spirit
I believe revival ought to be a daily and normal experience in every Christian’s life journey. We need not wait for a seasonal move of the Holy Spirit to have spectacular encounters with God. The fact is when God is near, revival is present. But when we withdraw from God, revival is absent.
The fact is when God is near, revival is present. But when we withdraw from God, revival is absent.
The words of Paul the Apostle in Ephesians 5:18-20 speak aptly about ‘revival’ in our daily walk with God:
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, revival is God’s design and desire for His people; we are to be continually filled with the Spirit, and not just occasionally or seasonally. That is what revival is all about!
“Let us return to the basic things of the Word of God and prayer and soul-winning and revival. Let us pray, “O God, send a revival. Let it begin in me.” – Lee Roberson
Rev Lawrence Koo is the senior pastor of New Horizon Church
