Tag Archives: revival

June 16, 2025 · 5:30 AM

You Are Called

Almost everyone knows the story of 1 Kings 18. Elijah was the prophet of God in a nation who had turned from Him. He called all of them to Mount Carmel to challenge Baal, the god Israelites were serving. The challenge was to have the prophets of Baal create a sacrifice and to call down fire from Heaven to consume it. He would do the same thing but call out to God. The one true God would answer by fire, and no one would be able to dispute it. In verse 21 he asked a question every generation must answer. He asked, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him!” (NLT) He then rebuilt the altar and proceeded to pray. It was then that God sent fire to consume the altar, and the people turned to God.

Like Elijah, we can’t avoid confrontation when it comes to our faith. He didn’t soften his message that people need to repent. He asked a question that demands an answer and pulls people from a life of compromise. Ephesians 4:15 says, “We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.” The truth of God’s Word is what sets people free from a life of compromise. We must learn to speak truth in love to our generation so that the fires of revival will burn. It is the responsibility of each of us to stand up for truth and to call people to serve God. If each of us stays silent, how will they ever know that God loves them and sent His Son to die for them.


In Mark 16:15 Jesus gave the Great Commission to all of us. He said, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” You are God’s plan to reach this world. You are called to live as a leader in your faith. There is no more time for wavering. If God is God, then serve Him wholeheartedly. You are empowered by the Holy Spirit in you to be a witness wherever you go. You cannot tolerate what God has called you to tear down. We must not only pray for revival but begin to prepare for it in our own lives. We must choose holiness over hype, truth over trends and faith over fear. You are called and equipped to stand up in this generation so that they will know the truth. You are called to leave the idols of comfort behind and lift up a standard that will create spiritual transformation.

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July 11, 2024 · 5:30 AM

Seeking God’s Face

One of the things I enjoy doing is going to sports shows to get autographs. There are tables set up all over the place with autographs from just about any athlete on just about anything. It’s cool to look at those and remember those players, but I rarely buy anything on that side of the building. On the other side is a series of tables with athletes sitting at them signing autographs. You have to get tickets months in advance if you’re going to meet the person and get their autograph. For me, that’s the way to go. I love being able to say, “I met Clyde Drexler,” or “I met Craig Biggio and got him to sign this right after he got into the Hall of Fame.” I want to be present and meet the people who’s autographs I have.

The same thing goes when it comes to God’s presence. I love hearing stories of revivals in the past and the miraculous things that happened. I love conversing with people about what God showed them in prayer, but to me, it’s like window shopping at the sports show. I don’t just want to hear about someone else’s experience, I want to meet with God and be in His presence too. There’s a fear many people have of being in God’s presence I think. It’s like the Israelites when they left Egypt. God invited them into His presence, but they sent Moses instead. You and I can’t live or fully grow off of someone else’s experiences. We must learn to get into God’s presence ourselves.

Psalm 27:8 says, “When You said, ‘Seek My face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need],’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, O LORD, I will seek [on the authority of Your word]’” (AMP). God is asking us to seek His presence individually. There’s a cost associated with that. It’s going to cost you time that you could be doing something else. God wants to be first in our lives and to be our greatest need. Until each of us are willing to make Him our greatest need and are willing to pay the price, we’ll be window shopping off of other people’s experiences. Find time today to seek God. Put on some worship music, read your Bible, pray and listen. He’ll meet you there because if you seek, you will find.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko.

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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April 29, 2024 · 5:30 AM

An All In Boldness

When you think of Peter in the Bible, what comes to mind? Many immediately think of the guy who put his foot in his mouth way too often. We remember him denying Jesus three times on the same night he told Him that he would die for Him. We remember how he famously declared that Jesus was the Messiah in Matthew 16. It would be a few verses later that Jesus would turn to him and say, “Get behind me, Satan!” We remember Peter as a mess, but also as someone we can identify with. What we often forget about him is the man he became after Pentecost and the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

In Acts 2, we find a completely different man. We find someone standing on a balcony in Jerusalem preaching to thousands about Jesus. A few days earlier, he was hiding in that same city afraid to be associated with Jesus for fear of what others might do to him. The difference came with his decision to go all in after Jesus told him to feed His sheep. Peter waited and prayed in the Upper Room for 10 days not letting go until he received what was promised to him from God. On that day, Peter received boldness from the Holy Spirit to publicly live out his faith and to share it. That boldness raised the dead, took lame men by the hand pulling them to their feet and testified in front of the very group that killed Jesus.

That same boldness was in Stephen In Acts 6-7. He was full of grace and power because of what the Holy Spirit was doing in him according to the Bible. He was seized for preaching and brought before the high priest. Stephen didn’t back down and walked them through God redemptive plan. They refused to listen and began stoning him, making him the first martyr of the Church. A young man named Saul watched this display of boldness as he held the coats of the men throwing stones. He would later be changed by God, go all in with his life and write most of the New Testament. We never know the ripple effect of our boldness through the Holy Spirit. We must take hold of that boldness and connect people to God.

In the early 1900’s King George V was going to give an important speech that would be broadcast around the world. Just before the broadcast began, the main cable in the New York radio station snapped. Millions were waiting to hear this message, and the station staff began to panic. Suddenly a junior mechanic saw what needed to be done. He immediately grabbed both ends of the cable and held them together, allowing the royal message to be communicated. His body convulsed as the electricity flowed through him, yet he didn’t loosen his grip. We must be like this young man. We must choose to be all in, use the boldness of the Holy Spirit and communicate the Royal message of the Gospel to a world that needs to hear it.

Photo by James Owen on Unsplash

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July 12, 2023 · 5:51 AM

Doing Something Great

I grew up seeing Billy Graham crusades on TV. I read and heard about ministers like D. L. Moody, Charles Finley and A. W. Tozer. I was impressed by their ministries and the impact they had made. The number of souls they had won combined is staggering. Years later, I went to see Reinhard Bonnke preach. Afterwards people flooded the altars wanting to be saved. Seeing them and reading about them put a desire in me to do something great for God. I began consuming the Bible and learning as much as I could about it and God. I’ve studied the great revivals in history. It’s incredible to think how culture changed completely and how periods of time, like the Renaissance, were products of people doing something great. What I’ve also learned is that before any of us can do something great for God is that first we must allow Him to do something great in us.

I love the story of Nehemiah. Israel had been conquered and taken to a foreign land where they had lived in captivity for decades. The new king had allowed them to return to their land, but only a few did. When a few had returned to the capital Susa in Persia, Nehemiah asked how things were going in Jerusalem. They replied, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire” (NLT). At this moment, God did something great in Nehemiah. He broke down and wept for days at the condition of his homeland. God birthed in him a burden to restore the walls of Jerusalem. His job was no longer satisfying and all he could think about was returning and restoration. Because God did something great in him, he was able to accomplish something great for God.

I love the prayer David prayed in Psalm 51. Though it was birthed out of repentance for sin, the words have the ability to birth something great in us. In verse 10 he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.” I believe a prayer like that gives God permission to change our heart, our spirit and our life. It gives God permission to give us His burden. The men I read about and studied all had moments in their lives where they surrendered everything to God and picked up His desires. What we see and read about are the effects of what God did inside of them first. Every great move of God has begun with people who have allowed God to first do something great in them. If you want to do something great for God too, surrender your will to His first and then give Him permission to do something great in you.

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February 28, 2022 · 5:44 AM

A Personal Revival

About 4 years ago, I was given a Peace Lily plant. If you’ve ever had one, you know how hard they are to keep alive. I have rarely seen these closet plants live for long. So I put it in a corner hoping it would survive with indirect sunlight. Every once in a while, I walk into that room and see it drooping. I then have to stop what I’m doing, get a glass of water and pour it on it. It usually takes about 30 minutes and the plant revives. All the shoots and leaves stand back up and it’s good to go again until I forget about it. So far I have been able to revive this plant countless times over the last four years even when I think it’s dead.

We have the ability to revive things in our own lives. Seeds that have been planted long ago, shoots that sprung up and even roots that began to grow under the surface all have the ability to be revived. However, we often look at those things once promised or given by God to us as dead dreams or things of the past. We think of them as dead dreams or lost hopes, but if God gave them to you, there is still life in them waiting to be revived. They need to be watered through prayer, cultivated through use and grown with faith. When you look at them, you may see drooping leaves or deadness even, but God sees an unfulfilled promise He’s waiting to revive.

Psalms 85:6 says, “Revive us again, O God! I know you will! Give us a fresh start! Then all your people will taste your joy and gladness” (TPT). If you’ve felt like your calling, your gifts or even your God given promises are dead, it’s time to call out to God for a personal revival. It’s time to ask Him to revive you and His calling on you. Your circumstances, your choices, nor what’s been done to you can negate or kill God’s calling on your life. They may feel lifeless and gone, but one breathe from God and they will live again! It starts with you calling out in faith to God to revive and restore what the enemy has tried to steal, kill and destroy. Those parts of your life and not dead and gone. They’re waiting for revival!

Photo by Uwe Conrad on Unsplash

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June 28, 2021 · 5:54 AM

Repairing The Altar

Have you ever had anything around your house or yard that broke or fell into disrepair? Did you ever let said thing just sit there? Many of us do. We put off what could be done today until tomorrow. The next thing you know, years have passed and that thing is still sitting there broken. Your spouse may ask you to throw it away, but you insist that you’re going to repair it. Part of the problem is that when it broke, you created a workaround for not using it. You turned to something else that may not be as effective, but you got used to it. The truth is you forget the other item until it’s brought up again, and again, and again. Then one day, you repair it and you wonder why you let so much time go by before you did.

After Solomon died, there were a series of kings in Israel. The kingdom split in two where Israel was in the north and Judah was in the south. Judah contained Jerusalem where the Temple was. However, there were many kings who didn’t follow God’s Law and the Temple fell into disrepair. Then Asa became king and He pleased God with how He lived. When an army attacked, he turned to God for help and God gave them a victory when defeat was certain. After they returned to Jerusalem, the prophet Azariah came and told Asa that for a long time they had abandoned God. If they would return to Him, He would continue to protect them, provide for them and reward them. When Asa heard this, he got rid of all the idols in the land. Them 2 Chronicles 15:8 says, “He also repaired the altar of the Lord that stood in the Temple courtyard” (GNT).

When I read that, I couldn’t help but think of my own life. There are times when I quit relying on God and do things myself. I create work around for the power of God in my life and I walk past the broken altar to Him doing things my way instead. I believe we all go through these times, but God is calling me and you back to repair the altar in our life. He’s drawing us back into the prayer closet, back into quality time with Him, back into His Word and back into relationship with Him. Like Asa, if we will return to that place with God, His promises will return to our life. It’s time that each of us go back to the altar, repair it and draw closer to God. I believe the time is getting short and we can’t afford to serve Him just using our work arounds or solely out of habit or ritual. We must return to our first love and serve Him whole heartedly, and that begins with returning to the altar of the Lord in our life and repairing it.

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

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February 4, 2021 · 5:30 AM

Part Of God’s Heart

I was chatting with a friend at church recently. We were talking about the need for satellite churches around the city. As we were discussing locations that would be good, he brought up a certain area of town. He broke down and began to cry. He said, “We’ve got to get in there and take the Gospel to the people who live there.” I could tell his heart was breaking for that demographic. I believe God has given this man that burden and that’s why it bothered Him so much that there were so few churches in that area trying to reach them. His passion touched me, and it got me to thinking about the importance of anguish in a Christian’s life.

Several years ago, David Wilkerson preached a sermon called, “A Call to Anguish”. It’s one of those sermons I’ve listened to many times because it fires me up. In it, he says, “Anguish means extreme pain and distress. The emotions so stirred that it becomes painful. Acute deeply felt inner pain because of conditions about you, in you, or around you. Deep pain. Deep sorrow. The agony of God’s heart.“ That’s what was going on in my friend, and to be honest, I was a little jealous because I wanted to feel God’s anguish like that.

In 1 Samuel 1, Hannah wanted a son. Every day she was reminded of her barrenness. God put it in her heart to have a child so she went to the Tabernacle to pray. Verse 10 says, “Hannah was in deep anguish, crying bitterly as she prayed to the Lord” (NLT). I believe her anguish was born in her heart by God. I believe it’s something every one of us need. If you’re not feeling God’s anguish today for a brokenness in the world, ask God to share part of His heart with you. It’s time we wept in anguish for the things that break God’s heart so we can do something about it.

Take five minutes today to listen to these excerpts from David Wilkerson’s sermon “A Call to Anguish” and ask God to share part of His heart with you.

Photo by Juan Pablo Serrano Arenas from Pexels

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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September 4, 2019 · 5:53 AM

A Change Of Heart

My pastor said something that really resonated with me. He said, “In the history of the world, church has never been done better than it is today, yet never have we had such little impact on our culture.” It has me thinking, “Are we focused on the right things corporately and individually?” What are we concerned with? Is the music too loud? Is there too much fog in the sanctuary? Is it too cold? Are we concerned more with our entertainment than reaching the lost? Are we too focused on our comfort and not enough on the lost? Do we spend our time talking about God rather than to Him? I don’t know, but I know that if our ability to impact the culture around us is going to improve, it has to start with us as individuals.

After Jonah preached to the city of Nineveh, he went outside of the city, sat down and waited to see what would happen. Even though he had obeyed God, in his heart, he still wished that God would destroy the city. To expose his heart, God caused a plant to grow up and provide him with shade. The next day, the Lord sent a worm to eat the plant. Jonah was mad enough to want to die over it. God responded in Jonah 4:10-11, “This plant grew up in one night and disappeared the next; you didn’t do anything for it and you didn’t make it grow—yet you feel sorry for it! How much more, then, should I have pity on Nineveh, that great city. After all, it has more than 120,000 innocent children in it, as well as many animals!” (GNT)

God is concerned with people and their salvation. Scripture says that it’s His kindness that draws us to repentance (Romans 2:4). We need to pray what Bob Pierce prayed, “God, break our heart for the things that break yours.” Jonah was more concerned for his comfort than 120,000 people dying. That’s a recipe for not having an impact on culture. God was able to move then, and He’s able to move now despite our heart. It’s much better though when our heart is aligned with His. I wonder if the story of Jonah ends abruptly right there so we don’t miss that point. As Jonah pointed out in verse 2, God is loving and merciful, always patient and kind, ready to change His mind and not punish people. Shouldn’t we be the same way?

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December 15, 2016 · 5:00 AM

Moved To Action


The day before the United Cry event in DC, I went to the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, PA. In one part of the memorial, they had headphones hanging on the wall. When I put them on, I heard the voicemails that the people on the plane had left for their families. It was emotional to say the least as you hear them trying to alert their families and to comfort them. As I was listening, a woman came up beside me and put on a pair of headsets. When she heard their voices, she lost it. She sobbed loudly and it became difficult for me to keep my composure.

I was sad, angry, and helpless as I listened. I wished that there was a way to go back in time and save them. Their voices were so clear that it felt like I was able to speak to them. I wanted to say, “Do something now!” With tears streaming down my face, reality set in that it was too late for them. I can’t go back in time and stop what happened. I couldn’t save them from what had happened 15 years earlier. I felt helpless and could only listen as they said their goodbyes.

Today, we are not under attack like we were on that day. We are under a different type of attack. A spiritual attack. There are thousands outside each of our church doors dying and going to hell. Their cries are reaching heaven’s ears. Have we put on the headphones to listen? Are their voices causing us to weep? Are we moved to action by what is going on? Moses heard the cries of Israel and did nothing to save them. He lived in the palace where he could ignore what was going on until God changed his perspective after 40 years in the desert.

In Exodus 3:7-11, God told Moses, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people… -I have heard their cries… -I am aware of their suffering… -I have come down to rescue them… -I am sending you” (NLT). God has seen what is going on in our world. He has heard the cries of those who are dying and going to hell. He is aware of their plight and is pouring His Holy Spirit out on all flesh to rescue them. He is also sending us out of the palace of our churches into the streets to make us see, hear, and become aware so we can be a part of the rescue. 

Revival will tarry until we are moved with compassion to lead people out of their bondage. We can’t ignore their cries anymore. We need to weep at the altar and be moved to action by the Holy Spirit. We need to become aware of the cries of over a quarter of the population that has no belief in God and of those that have left the church and have given up on God. They are our purpose. They are our mission. They are who revival is for. The fields are ripe for harvest. Are we ready to enter the vineyard?

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June 6, 2016 · 5:00 AM

Open The Flood Gates


Recently, my community has been flooded. Thousands of homes were affected by the high water. As you drive through the neighborhoods that were hit, you will see piles of trash out by the road. Sheetrock, furniture, clothes, electronics, and anything that the water touched are thrown out into these piles. ThIngs that once cost so much and meant so much to these families are now worthless as they lay in those piles.

As I see those piles, I can’t help of one of the songs we sing at church: “Open up the Flood Gates of Heaven”. In this and many other songs, we pray for God to flood our lives with His goodness and rain down blessings. I’m not sure we really understand or think about what we are asking for. Floods are devastating. Floods destroy. Floods are very costly. If we are going to ask God to flood our lives, we need to count the cost.

When God floods our lives, our dreams get devastated. We realize that they were too small. God has dreams for our lives that are so much greater than we can comprehend. Through Him, we are able to accomplish and be more than we ever thought. The flood of His Spirit in our lives means that our perspective changes and often our purpose. When His flood comes in, our lives get displaced from complacency.

Another thing that happens is we lose the things we once held dear. Suddenly, we realize that the things we hold onto the tightest are really worthless when compared to what He wants to give us. When We invite Him to flood our lives, all the junk, clutter, walls, and things not pleasing to Him will need to get dragged out to the street and chunked. In order to fill our lives with the things we wants to give us, we need to get rid of things from our old lives. This flood invites change.

If we truly want revival to come, then we do need God to come flood our lives, our nation, and our world. We need Him to help us get our junk out and become renewed first. As Paul said in II Corinthians 5:17, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (NLT) God wants to give us new life, but we have to let His flood bring about the change necessary. We have to be willing to be displaced from our old lives, to get rid of the things in our lives that tie us to that old life, and adopt the new life He gives. The next time we sing and pray for God to open the flood gates of Heaven, I hope we mean it.
If you want to hear that song, click here.

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