Many Who Pray for Revival Don't Realize They Need to Be Revived

There is a prayer being prayed in churches all over the world:

“God, send revival.”

We pray for revival in our churches.

Revival in our cities.

Revival in our nation.

Revival in the next generation.

And there is nothing wrong with that prayer.

But lately I have wondered if sometimes God hears us praying for revival and responds:

“I want revival too. But I want to start with you.”

That is a much harder prayer.

Because when we pray for revival out there, we are asking God to change them.

When we pray for revival in here, we are giving God permission to change us.

And maybe that is where real revival has always begun.

We Think Revival Means Everybody Else Wakes Up

When Christians talk about revival, we often picture unbelievers flooding into churches, people getting saved, communities changing, addictions being broken, worship breaking out, and churches overflowing.

Those things can certainly accompany revival.

But what does the word revive actually imply?

You revive something that has grown weak.

You revive something that has become faint.

You revive something that was once alive and flourishing but desperately needs fresh life breathed into it.

That means before revival becomes an evangelistic issue, it may first be a Church issue.

Before we ask why the world isn't running toward Jesus, perhaps we should ask whether His people are still passionately running toward Him.

Before we ask God to awaken our community, perhaps we should ask:

“Lord, is there anything in me that has fallen asleep?”

David Didn't Ask God to Fix Everybody Else

One of the most powerful revival prayers in Scripture is found in Psalm 51.

After David's sin was exposed, he didn't begin by pointing toward everything wrong with Israel.

He turned inward.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”— Psalm 51:10 KJV

Notice those words:

In me.

Renew me.

David understood something we desperately need to understand.

There are times when the greatest work God wants to accomplish isn't around us.

It's within us.

And notice what happens later in the Psalm.

After David asks God to restore him, he says:

“Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.”— Psalm 51:13 KJV

That order is beautiful.

Restore me. Then use me.

Maybe we sometimes want verse 13 without verse 10.

We want sinners converted.

We want communities transformed.

We want churches overflowing.

We want people coming to Christ.

But David first said:

Create in me. Renew me. Restore me.

Then I will teach others.

Then sinners will turn toward You.

Revival didn't begin with David pointing at everyone else.

It began with David allowing God to deal with David.

The Church at Ephesus Needed Revival

Revelation gives us another sobering picture.

The church at Ephesus looked like a church many of us would probably admire.

They worked.

They labored.

They persevered.

They rejected false teaching.

They had discernment.

They endured hardship.

Yet Jesus told them:

“Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.”— Revelation 2:4 KJV

Think about that.

They were still doing Christian things while something inside them desperately needed to be restored.

That's frightening because it means activity isn't necessarily evidence of spiritual health.

You can attend church and need revival.

You can preach and need revival.

You can worship and need revival.

You can serve and need revival.

You can know Scripture and need revival.

You can defend sound doctrine and need revival.

You can even be praying for revival and need revival yourself.

Ephesus hadn't abandoned Christianity.

They had left their first love.

And Jesus' answer was essentially a call to return:

“Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works…”— Revelation 2:5 KJV

Remember.

Repent.

Return.

That sounds a lot like revival.

Maybe We're Waiting for God While God Is Waiting for Surrender

Second Chronicles 7:14 is probably one of the most quoted passages whenever Christians talk about revival:

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face…”

But notice who God addresses.

“My people.”

The verse doesn't begin with the wicked humbling themselves.

It begins with God's people.

And it doesn't merely say pray.

It says:

Humble themselves.

Pray.

Seek My face.

Turn from their wicked ways.

We often emphasize the healing of the land while rushing past the transformation God calls for among His people.

We want God to change the atmosphere.

God wants to change hearts.

We want God to move across the nation.

God says, “Seek My face.”

We want God to fix everything around us.

God says, “Turn.”

That is where revival becomes uncomfortable.

Because suddenly revival isn't something we're waiting to watch.

It's something we're being invited to participate in.

Revival Isn't Just Getting Louder

Revival isn't necessarily louder worship.

It isn't longer services.

It isn't bigger crowds.

It isn't emotional moments.

It isn't people falling down, shouting, crying, or filling an altar—although powerful encounters with God can certainly produce visible responses.

But none of those things by themselves prove revival.

Because revival that comes from God produces change.

It produces repentance.

It produces hunger for God.

It produces holiness.

It produces reconciliation.

It produces obedience.

It produces love.

It produces generosity.

It produces people who stop merely attending church and begin being the Church everywhere they go.

Real revival doesn't only change what happens inside the building.

It changes what happens when everybody leaves it.

We May Be Praying for Something We're Resisting

And this may be the most uncomfortable part.

Sometimes we pray for revival while resisting the very things God uses to revive us.

We pray:

“God, change me.”

Then correction comes, and we become offended.

We pray:

“God, use me.”

Then He asks us to serve somewhere nobody notices.

We pray:

“God, bring unity.”

Then He asks us to forgive somebody.

We pray:

“God, purify Your Church.”

Then He reveals something in our own heart.

We pray:

“God, send revival.”

Then He calls us to repent.

What if the answer to some of our revival prayers has already begun—but we didn't recognize it because we expected God to start with somebody else?

Maybe that conviction you've been feeling is revival knocking.

Maybe that hunger for prayer is revival beginning.

Maybe that uncomfortable correction is revival beginning.

Maybe that desire to return to Scripture is revival beginning.

Maybe God revealing your pride, unforgiveness, bitterness, complacency, distraction, or compromise isn't evidence that He has abandoned you.

Maybe it is evidence that He is waking you up.

Stop Waiting for Everyone Else

Imagine what would happen if the Church stopped praying for revival as though we were spectators waiting for God to do something somewhere else.

What if pastors prayed:

“Revive me.”

What if worship leaders prayed:

“Revive me.”

What if teachers prayed:

“Revive me.”

What if church members prayed:

“Revive me.”

What if instead of constantly identifying everything wrong with everyone else, we stood before God and said:

“Search me.”

That was David's prayer:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts.”— Psalm 139:23 KJV

That's a dangerous prayer.

Because God might answer it.

He might show us places we've become cold.

Places we've become comfortable.

Places where ministry replaced relationship.

Places where knowledge replaced obedience.

Places where judgment replaced compassion.

Places where we learned how to look alive while something inside us slowly fell asleep.

And then He may invite us to wake up.

Maybe Revival Has Already Started

We keep asking:

“When is revival coming?"

Maybe that's not always the right question.

Perhaps we should be asking:

“God, where are You trying to revive me?”

Because revival doesn't have to begin with thousands of people.

It can begin with one surrendered heart.

One person who remembers their first love.

One person who repents.

One person who forgives.

One person who starts praying again.

One person who opens the Word with hunger again.

One person who stops pointing outward and finally allows God to search inward.

And perhaps that one person is you.

Perhaps it's me.

Perhaps the revival we've been praying for isn't waiting for somebody else to wake up.

Maybe God is waiting for us to realize we're the ones who need to be revived.

So keep praying for revival.

Pray for your church.

Pray for your community.

Pray for your nation.

Pray for this generation.

But before you finish, add one more prayer:

“Lord, if revival is coming, don't let it simply happen around me. Let it begin in me.”

Pastor Scott