revival

Allow me, if you will, to just kind of stream-of-conciousness/brain-dump on the topic. Half of the worship team went out last night after practice for a family platter (anything and everything you could ever think to bread and deep-fry), and we got onto revival and the tension that's mounting in our church body.

There's definately a tension mounting. It starts with the leadership, right? I know the leadership is feeling it, and as much as I am a sub-leader at CITW there's a buzz in my spirit as well. It's exciting, but at the same time we think, "Am I ready?" Is it possible to be ready, though? No revival is ever like the one before; there's no way we could know exactly what to expect, so could we really prepare? Basic things yes: be prepared to recognize and remove "wild fire" while allowing Holy Spirit "fire" to burn, and keeping focus on Him rather than, say, the landscaping should circumstances pit the two against one another.

I heard someone speak a while ago about readying (word? who knows?) oneself in prayer, fasting, worship, etc. - but in doing it not unto revival, but unto His return. That gets me thinking about revival. Do we want a revival in the church to kind of strengthen and encourage us for a couple years before we go back to the way it was before? Or do we want to raise up the body of Christ to be prepared for His coming? When He comes back, and we're brought before Him, do we want to say, "Look, Lord, we had a great revival - the longest revival in modern history - that just ended two years ago!" or do we want to show Him that we're sustaining it, working with His Spirit with a fresh enthusiasm every day? Is revival an end or a means to an end?

One of the guys made a comment about revivals dying out because in the midst of revival, people stop doing what they did to get revival. We pray and seek God and press in during worship times and ask the Lord for revival. Then, when it hits it seems people get so excited they just ride it out instead of fuel it and ... gone.

I know another leader who suspects that revival tarries because too many people have already decided what it looks like. Too many people have studied history or come up with their own ideas, and they aren't necessarily real open to accepting a revival that doesn't start out the way they think it should. Hmm.

Thoughts?