Revive me

Consider how I love Your precepts;
Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.
The entirety of Your word is truth,
And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever. – Psalm 119.159-160

Most of us have at least read of the great revivals in the last 300 years. There were the two Great Awakenings that impacted Great Britain and the United States, there was the great Prayer Meeting Revival of the mid-19th century in the US. Even the northern part of our little island has the Antrim Revival of about the same time. Revivalists and evangelists have carried out great revival meetings. We all pray for revival.

But I have never seen one. I’ve never even seen a small local revival. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen. We ought to pray and preach and practice our lives and expect the Holy Spirit to do a great work again.

But there is another sort of revival that we all ought to be concerned about. This most important revival we need is revival in our own hearts.

There are times in all of our lives we we can get dull to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes the word of God can seem like just another book and the preaching can seem dull and listless.

That happens when we get our eyes off of Jesus and we get focused on us. Whenever I look at m own ability I am going to get discouraged and the is going to turn in to complacency and spiritual lethargy.

Then the only hope is the prayer David prayed here. ‘Revive me O Lord according to Your lovingkindness.’

I am not sure how or why this great revivals happen. But I do know that I can do something about me and my times where I lack spiritual fervour. When that happens I can pray for revival in my own heart, make sure I am spending time in the word of God, and fellowshipping with my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Lord, revive my heart. Remind me of Your love and care and compassion for me. Help me look to Jesus as the author and finisher of m faith.