The Awe of Revival

The Awe of Revival

“When  the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.” (Psalm 126.1)

Like them that dream describes the awe of revival. In the year 2000 my wife I visited the Isle of Lewis where God moved in revival from December 1949 on into 1953. We met four people converted in the revival. One lady who had experienced the power of God’s reviving presence fifty years prior said with dreaminess in her eyes and awe in her voice , “When you’ve been in revival, nothing else satisfies.” The reason for this is that no one else satisfies. For the power of revival is the manifest presence of God, who is the life of life again. 

My Dad saw revival several times in his ministry. He often talked about those special divine moments with fondness and awe. Those reminiscences sparked hunger for revival in my young heart. 

The most powerful time of revival that my father experienced was when he pastored in Miami, Florida in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Forty years later, when I was his assistant, I was with him in a prayer meeting with a number of leading pastors and evangelists from across the country. The meeting had been called to discuss the issues of the day. At times there was disagreement, sometimes with high intensity. But at the conclusion of the meeting,  one of the preachers suggested they have a prayer meeting. Several prayed. Then my father, who was on his knees next to Monroe Parker, began to pray with yearning in his voice, “O Lord, would You send another revival like the one You sent in the days of my youth….” He could go no further as the very mention of such a sacred memory caused him to weep. 

Revival! Restoration to life again. When God moves by manifesting His presence, and you are there—aware that God is in the room, you experience Jesus in life changing ways. When the Lord thus restores you, you will be like them that dream.