Bible Verses About Revival
Introduction
Revival in the biblical sense is the specific act of the God who breathes life back into the people who have become dry bones: the Ezekiel 37's valley of the dry bones is the most concentrated image of the revival in the Scripture. The bones are very dry is the specific diagnosis: the dryness is the comprehensive description of the condition of the people who have lost the life that the Spirit gives. The prophesy to these bones establishes the specific means: the word of God spoken into the dryness is the specific instrument of the revival. And the breath came into them and they lived and stood up on their feet, a vast army establishes the specific result: the revival is the comprehensive restoration of the life that the dryness had extinguished.
The specific theological character of the revival is the divine initiative rather than the human achievement: the 2 Chronicles 7:14's if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land establishes the specific conditions and the divine response. The humbling and the praying and the seeking and the turning are the specific acts of the people, and the hearing and the forgiving and the healing are the specific acts of the God who responds to the people's turning. The revival is the specific gift of the God who responds to the conditions rather than the achievement of the people who have assembled the sufficient spiritual momentum.
The New Testament's most concentrated experience of the revival is the Pentecost of the Acts 2 where the people were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues and three thousand were added to the community in a single day: the Pentecost is the specific fulfillment of the Joel 2:28's I will pour out my Spirit on all people. The revival of the Acts 2 is the revival of the Spirit's outpouring rather than the revival of the sufficient human effort: the one hundred and twenty who were waiting and praying in the upper room were the specific community whose waiting received the specific outpouring.
These verses speak to anyone who is praying for the revival of their own heart that has grown dry in the ordinary difficulty of the long faithfulness, anyone who is praying for the revival of their community and their church, and anyone who needs the specific biblical grounding for the revival as the work of God that the people of God prepare for through the humbling and the praying and the seeking and the turning.
What the Bible Means When It Talks About Revival
The Hebrew word chayah describes the reviving or the restoring to life: the specific act of the God who gives the life back to the person who has become dry or dead. The Hebrew word shub describes the returning or the turning: the specific act of the person whose revival begins with the turning back to the God they had turned away from. The Greek word anazopureo describes the fanning into flame: the 2 Timothy 1:6's fan into flame the gift of God uses this word for the specific act of the stirring up of the gift that has grown cold. The Greek word ekcheo describes the pouring out: the specific act of the God who pours out the Spirit in the Acts 2:17's fulfillment of the Joel 2 promise.
Bible Verses About God Reviving His People
Ezekiel 37:3-5 — ("He asked me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?' I said, 'Sovereign LORD, you alone know.' Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones and say to them, Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.'")
The can these bones live and the I will make breath enter you and you will come to life establishes the specific character of the revival: the revival is the specific act of the God who brings life to the bones that cannot bring themselves to life. The Sovereign LORD you alone know establishes the appropriate humility: the question of whether the bones can live is the question whose answer belongs to the sovereign LORD rather than the human assessment of the dry condition. The prophesy to these bones establishes the specific means: the word of God is the specific instrument of the revival.
Psalm 85:6 — ("Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?")
The will you not revive us again is the specific prayer for the revival: the again establishes the historical character of the request, the prayer of the people who have known the revival before and who are asking for the revival again. The that your people may rejoice in you establishes the specific purpose of the revival: the revival is for the rejoicing in the LORD rather than the experience of the spiritual sensation. The revive us establishes the divine initiative: the revival is the act of the God who is being asked rather than the achievement of the people who are doing the asking.
Isaiah 57:15 — ("For this is what the high and exalted One says — he who lives forever, whose name is holy: 'I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.'")
The to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite is the specific promise of the revival for the person who is contrite and lowly in spirit: the God who lives in the high and holy place is the same God who lives with the contrite and lowly to revive their spirit. The contrite and lowly establishes the specific condition of the person who receives the revival: the revival is the specific gift of the God who revives the contrite rather than the self-sufficient person who has assembled the sufficient spiritual resources.
Bible Verses About the Conditions for Revival
2 Chronicles 7:14 — ("If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.")
The humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways are the four specific conditions of the revival: the humbling and the praying and the seeking and the turning are the specific acts of the people whose revival is being asked for. The then I will hear and I will forgive and I will heal are the three specific acts of the God who responds to the conditions: the hearing and the forgiving and the healing are the specific gifts of the God whose revival is the answer to the conditions. The my people who are called by my name establishes the specific scope: the revival begins with the people of God rather than the people outside the covenant.
Joel 2:12-13 — ("'Even now,' declares the LORD, 'return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.' Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.")
The return to me with all your heart establishes the specific condition of the revival: the returning with all the heart is the comprehensive turning that the revival requires. The rend your heart and not your garments establishes the specific internal character: the external performance of the fasting and the weeping and the mourning must be the expression of the inward returning rather than the substitute for it. The for he is gracious and compassionate and abounding in love establishes the ground of the return: the returning is possible because of the character of the God who receives the returning.
Bible Verses About the Outpouring of the Spirit
Acts 2:17 — ("'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.'")
The I will pour out my Spirit on all people is the specific promise of the Pentecost fulfillment of the Joel 2 prophecy: the outpouring of the Spirit on all people is the specific act of the God whose revival is the comprehensive rather than the selective pouring. The sons and daughters and young men and old men establishes the comprehensive scope: the revival is not the experience of the special few but the outpouring on all people. The prophesying and the seeing of visions and the dreaming of dreams establishes the specific character of the revival: the people are the people who are hearing from God and speaking for God.
John 7:37-39 — ("On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.' By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.")
The let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink and rivers of living water will flow from within establishes the specific invitation of the revival: the thirst is the specific condition that the revival addresses, and the coming and the drinking are the specific acts of the person who receives the revival. The rivers of living water establishes the comprehensive character: the revival is not the trickle of the occasional refreshing but the rivers of the living water that flow from within. The by this he meant the Spirit establishes the specific identification: the rivers of living water are the Spirit whose coming is the specific revival.
Bible Verses About Personal Revival
Psalm 51:10-12 — ("Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.")
The restore to me the joy of your salvation is the specific prayer for the personal revival: the joy of the salvation is the specific gift that the David who has sinned has lost and is asking to be restored. The create and renew and restore establish the three specific acts of the God who revives: the creating of the pure heart and the renewing of the right spirit and the restoring of the joy are the specific dimensions of the personal revival. The willing spirit establishes the specific character: the revival produces the willing spirit rather than the compliant performance of the religious duty.
2 Timothy 1:6 — ("For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.")
The fan into flame the gift of God is the specific instruction for the personal revival: the fanning into flame is the specific act of the person who is stirring up the gift that has grown cold through the neglect or the discouragement or the ordinary difficulty of the long faithfulness. The gift of God which is in you establishes the specific ground: the revival is the fanning of the gift that is already present rather than the acquiring of a new gift. The reminder establishes the relational character: the Paul who reminds Timothy is the Paul whose relationship with Timothy is the specific context of the personal revival.
A Simple Way to Pray These Verses
Revival is most honestly prayed from the honest naming of the specific dryness and the specific turning of the whole person toward the God who revives rather than the performance of the sufficient revival activity.
Psalm 85:6 — ("Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?") Response: "Will you not revive us again. I am naming the specific dryness honestly. The bones are dry. The joy is reduced. The fire is low. Will you not revive us again? That we may rejoice in you. Let the revival be for the rejoicing in you rather than for the experience of the spiritual sensation."
2 Chronicles 7:14 — ("Humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways.") Response: "I am humbling myself. I am praying. I am seeking your face rather than your hand. I am turning from the specific wicked ways I am naming. Then hear from heaven. Forgive my sin. Heal the specific land I am praying for. I am doing the condition. You do the then."
Ezekiel 37:3 — ("Can these bones live?") Response: "Sovereign LORD, you alone know. The bones are dry. I cannot bring them to life by the sufficient effort. Prophesy to the bones. Speak the word into the dryness. Make breath enter and let them come to life. You alone know if these bones can live. And I know that if they live, it is because you made the breath enter."
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Bible say about revival? The Bible presents revival as the specific act of the God who breathes life back into the people who have become dry. Ezekiel 37's valley of dry bones establishes the most concentrated image. 2 Chronicles 7:14's if my people will humble themselves and pray and seek my face establishes the specific conditions. Psalm 85:6's will you not revive us again establishes the specific prayer. Isaiah 57:15's to revive the spirit of the lowly and the heart of the contrite establishes the promise. Acts 2:17's I will pour out my Spirit on all people establishes the Pentecost fulfillment. And Psalm 51:10-12's restore to me the joy of your salvation establishes the personal dimension.
What are the conditions for revival according to the Bible? The 2 Chronicles 7:14's if my people will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways establishes the four specific conditions: the humbling and the praying and the seeking and the turning. The Joel 2:12-13's return to me with all your heart with fasting and weeping and mourning establishes the comprehensive character of the turning. And the Isaiah 57:15's the contrite and lowly in spirit who receive the revival establishes the specific posture: the revival is the gift of the God who revives the contrite rather than the self-sufficient person who has assembled the sufficient spiritual resources.
What is the difference between revival and renewal? The revival is typically the specific act of the God who brings life back to the people who have become dry or dead: the image is the Ezekiel 37's dry bones that are breathed back to life. The renewal is the ongoing process of the transformation that the Romans 12:2's be transformed by the renewing of your mind describes: the renewal is the continuous work of the Spirit in the person who is walking in the Spirit. The revival is the specific sovereign act of the God who breaks into the dryness with the outpouring of the Spirit, and the renewal is the ongoing process of the transformation that follows.
How do you pray for revival? The Psalm 85:6's will you not revive us again establishes the specific prayer: the honest naming of the dryness and the specific asking for the revival is the prayer that the Scripture commends. The 2 Chronicles 7:14's humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways establishes the specific conditions of the prayer: the prayer for revival is the prayer of the person who has done the humbling and the turning rather than the prayer of the person who is asking for the revival without the conditions. The Acts 1:14's they all joined together constantly in prayer establishes the communal character: the prayer for revival is the sustained communal prayer of the waiting community.
What does revival look like in the Bible? The Acts 2's Pentecost establishes the most comprehensive description: the one hundred and twenty who had been waiting and praying received the outpouring of the Spirit and three thousand were added to the community in a single day. The Acts 2:42-47's they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and to the breaking of bread and to prayer establishes the specific character of the revived community: the teaching and the fellowship and the breaking of bread and the prayer are the specific practices of the community that the revival produced. The revival of the Acts 2 is not only the experience of the spiritual sensation but the specific transformation of the community into the community that embodies the life of the risen Jesus.
