What Are We Waiting For?

What Are We Waiting For?

For as long as I have been in the ministry I have noticed a consistent trend over the years. Realizing I have been in the ministry for over thirty-eight years, the trend I've noticed has been around church circles for a long time. This trend, or maybe I should call it "wishful thinking" has been something we talk about, hope for...but seem to really do little, if anythingto achieve. What I'm talking about is...wait for it...revival!

This topic seems to be in the minds of a lot of people. It seems to be the focus of conversations when ministers get together. We're all sensing a coming revival, and an excitement is growing amongst churches, denominations, and ministers. But I must tell you, thirty-eight years ago there were the same discussions, excitement and expectancy as there is today. We did then, as we do now, and as the disciples did the day after Jesus' departure from earth, are hoping and praying for His soon return.

We're praying and believing...and praying, and praying and praying some more. But is that all we're supposed to do? Just wait and pray! Before I expound on this topic, let me first clarify…I believe prayer is the foundation for everything in God's kingdom. But I also believe the words God spoke to us when he said; "faith without works is dead." We can have, and use our faith, but according to this scripture something more called "works" are required.

Before you begin debating with yourself about my pretense here, let me clearly explain and define what I'm getting at. I don't want you to engage in the whole discussion of "show me your works and I'll show you my faith, show me you faith and I'll show... Well, you get the point! What I want to do in this article is to encourage, stimulate and perhaps even motivate you into doing a little more than just praying, praying...praying. I want you to consider taking some action (works) to add to your faith, expectancy and hope. So here goes...

Do you remember the commandment Jesus gave His disciples right before He returned to the Father? He told His disciples to go to Jerusalem, gather together and wait for the Holy Spirit to come to be endued with power from on high. The Bible then says; as they gathered in "one accord" the Holy Spirit fell on them and they spoke in other tongues, had tongues of fire on their heads, and were filled with the Holy Ghost. Get the key here?

They were gathered together in one accord. It seems to me, that we're all waiting to be endued with power from on high, which we'll call revival, but we're doing it within our own sphere of influence. We're praying and waiting, each in our own individual churches…all waiting for the power to fall on us. But if you look at scripture, they ALL, (emphasis on "all") were gathered together. It wasn't just one group here, another over there, but all were in one place in one accord.

Several years ago our church was going to have a well know speaker in our church. We called several other churches to join with us and about twenty-six said, "Yes...they wanted to be a part of it, whatever "it" was. So we booked the speaker for a weekend of services in late March. In preparation for this weekend, those of us in leadership decided we should come together in January and February for a time of worship, ministry and fellowship. So on a Sunday night late in the month of January the meeting was scheduled.

Everyone of the twenty-six churches participated. Our church holds a little over a thousand people and the place was packed. The worship began and we had all intention of having a sermon, some prayer and maybe some ministry time if the Holy Spirit permitted. We sang a few songs and all of a sudden the power of God fell on that gathering and revival began. For the next thirteen weeks, we met everyday except Saturday nights to worship and allow the Holy Spirit free reign. Most nights we were there till 2:00-3:00 AM worshipping God and being under His anointing.

By the time the guest speaker arrived, we had been in revival for twelve weeks. His visit, while still a blessing, paled in comparison to what God had already done. After his visit, we had one more week of this outpouring and then it was over. So what was the key to this outpouring by God on a group of people in Millville, New Jersey?

I believe the key, and probably the only key, was we all just "showed up!" We all just came together with one purpose, to worship as one body of believers. We showed up and He showed off! So could that be the "key" for this next revival we're all seeking, praying for, and expecting? I wonder.

What if instead of just all of us praying, we started having worship meetings where ten, twenty, thirty or even a hundred churches joined together just to worship God? What if we came with no agenda, no sermons, and no pre-conceived ideas...but just showed up? What if we stopped praying about it and put ourselves into a position, all in one accord, where God could show up? Maybe, just maybe, the biggest revival we've ever seen might just begin.