EVERYTHING WE NEED: Revive Us Again

      “Revive us again, fill each heart with thy love. May each soul be rekindled with fire from above. Hallelujah! Thine be the glory. Revive us again.” This hymn, “Revive Us Again,” was written by William P. Mackay in 1863. Although he was raised by a Christian mother, when he entered the University of Edinburgh to study medicine, he began a downward slope into heavy drinking and immorality. He even pawned the Bible his mother gave him for spiritual guidance.

      Years later, when he became a doctor, he was amazed by the strong faith of one of his dying patients — a faith that manifested itself in a quiet peace. After he died, the nurse gave the man’s treasured Bible to the doctor. Much to his astonishment, he recognized it as the very Bible his mother had given him before he went to college — the one he sold for a small amount of money. This event resulted in his conversion, and his renewed faith inspired him to write “Revive Us Again.” This beloved hymn soon found its home in many churches and revival meetings across America.

      Do we need to be revived? Yes! We need our hearts rekindled when we have lost our fervor for the Lord, when we have become lethargic, when our desire for the salvation of lost souls no longer concerns us or when we have lost our joy for serving the Lord. Our plea to God should be: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psa. 51:12 NIV).

      God alone initiates revival, but we must make certain preparations to see it happen. Prayer must be a priority, coming humbly before Him, confessing our sins and surrendering to His will. God said, “…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” (Isa. 57:15).

      We live in a time of rampant ungodliness. The world hates God and His followers. When we get stirred up and on fire for Him, it will spread to others. Many may not listen to our message, but those who do will live forever in eternity with the One who died for them. It only takes one person to get a revival started.

      In 1981, my dad, R.P Mitchell, preached at a Minister’s Conference in Little Rock about the need for revival. He wasn’t one for mincing words. Here is a portion of that sermon:

      “When our society functions on the strength (or weakness) of alcohol, drugs, pleasure, greed and uncontrolled sex, we need a revival. When Communism, Darwinism and Liberalism are reflected in our public school’s textbooks, we need a revival. When religion serves as a melting pot for anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-Holy Spirit and anti-Bible, we need a revival. When homosexuality and lesbianism continue to attack God’s natural laws of sexual behavior, we need a revival. When the sports arena is overcrowded on Sunday morning and our church pews haunt us with absenteeism, we need a revival. When our humanly designed, protracted meetings serve only as crutches to help us limp through another year of spiritual neglect and moral decay, we need a revival. When church members are too poor to support the church in her efforts to win souls to Christ, but have money for worldly entertainment, we need a revival….

      “When preachers no longer call sin, sin, and allow it to become pet snakes to be fondled, we need a revival. When gangsterism is accepted wholeheartedly by our courts as a contribution to society and our first-class citizens are treated as criminals, we need a revival.” (From the Cross to the Crown by Dr. Ron Mitchell).

      This was written 43 years ago, but the message could have been written in our day and time. Revive us again, O Lord. Renew a right spirit within us. Awaken us to our responsibilities. Rekindle our love for you — even more as we see the last days approaching.