by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D.

On April 6-7, 2024, me and some of the School of Revival family headed out to Thomasville, Georgia to host an encounter night and to minister at Victory Fellowship Church after a one year delay. See blog about our kairos moment in Macon, GA immediately following this time in Thomasville to learn more of the back story.

While in Thomasville, we got to be a part of a regionwide encounter night where God met us in a powerful way. At the end, we called up the leaders of the various ministries and churches in the region and got to lay hands on them and bless them.

Then on the Sunday, we got to minister at church and so many people came to the altar to surrender afresh and lay down their lives fully consecrated unto Jesus. It was so beautiful. Watch the teaching in video below.

Thanks for all the prayers in partnering to see God pour out His Spirit across the globe. I pray you are blessed, inspired, challenged, and ignited with fresh fire for first love of Jesus as you watch this session.

Blessing you!

Jen

Revival series part 4

 by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D., Revival Historian

Keys for Stewarding Personal Revival, Encounter, Awakening (taken from Jen’s book SustaiN the Flame)

When the fires of revival get ignited, then what? The Moravians knew that it was important to then steward the flames of revival to keep the oil burning and thus they cultivated the new wine skin of 24-7 prayer. Though the wineskins for how to steward the fires of revival may look different, we can learn from the Moravian’s example that unity in prayer is a key for stewarding corporate revival.

And when revival comes to us personally or God meets us in a profound way, it is also important to steward those encounters to keep the oil burning. Cultivating family around the fireplace of revival, stewarding a heart of worship in all circumstances, and praying in tongues regularly are keys that can profoundly shape our spirituality and keep us focused on the face of Jesus. In addition to these, the following are some rhythms and pathways to greater intimacy with Jesus and stewarding the fire that I have found helpful in my life.

1. Stay Full of the Oil of Intimacy

In Matthew 25:1-12, we see the story of the wise and foolish virgins. This parable is symbolic of making sure we steward the oil of intimacy in our lives to keep the fire burning. If we try to rely upon other’s secret place encounters and stewardship of their relationship with Christ, it won’t get us to where we need to go. We must personally make sure to invest time in the secret place with Jesus, getting filled up by Him with the Holy Spirit and fire. There is no shortcut to building intimacy with Jesus, it requires time and an open and vulnerable heart. In John 15:1-8, we see that all fruitfulness flows from intimacy with Christ. We must stay connected to our Source. Read Walking on Water: Experiencing a Life of Miracles, Courageous Faith, and Union with God to go deeper in this area.

2. Consume the Word of God

We must be a people who know the truth deeply, especially in the midst of the increasing delusions, lies, and deceptions of the enemy. People who work at banks know when there is a counterfeit bill because they handle so much real money. When we are saturated in the truth, we will know when something is off. The shaking in our world will only increase. We must stand strong on the Word of God which is a solid rock. We must read it, eat it, breathe it, meditate on it, memorize it, and make declarations with it. Audio versions of the Bible are also a good way to get the Word hidden in our hearts.

3. Steward Encounters and God’s voice

We must learn to discern and steward the voice of God through His Word, encounters, as well trusted prophetic voices in speaking into our lives. If God marks you, linger in that space. Don’t shift or transition too quickly out of an encounter with God. Don’t jump right into a conversation with someone or look on social media or get distracted another way. Allow what He has just blessed you with to permeate to the deepest levels. Meditate on what it good and it will have a greater effect on you. Journal what He has shown you. When God speaks to you, obey Him immediately and keep your heart tender toward Him. Steward prophetic words over your life. Make sure to audio record them, and then listen to them, write them out, and pray over them until they become a reality.

4. Fast

Develop a rhythm of weekly or regularly fasting to keep the fire burning. You would be surprised at the radical shift that regular fasting can have in your life. Jesus regularly fasted and we must learn how to walk in His footsteps. Many revivals, encounters, or defining moments in revivalists’ lives were birthed while on a fast. See my book Fasting for Fire: Igniting Fresh Hunger to Feast Upon God for more on this with practical tools to help get you started or a reframing of what it really is to re-ignite you.

5. Learn to Wait on the Holy Spirit

Psalm 46:10 says “Be still, and know that I am God.” How many times do we stop talking, moving, planning, to simply just be with God and sit in His presence?[ii] Too many of us think we have to strive, contend, push to see God move. But what if rather than trying to make things happen on our own, we instead spent time with the Holy Spirit, listened to what is on God’s heart, were fully yielded, and simply responded to where He was leading? What if like Moses, we weren’t going to go anywhere, even into revival or into our destinies, if He didn’t go with us? What if we became a people that was led by fire in the night and cloud in the day? Or a people who wouldn’t move anywhere without His presence (Exodus 33)?

 6. Embrace Rhythms of Run, Rest, Release

It is important to discern what season you are in so you can steward it well in preparation for the upcoming season. Many times in life, there are seasons where you run hard, rest, then release or birth new things. This is cyclical in nature. During times of revival, things accelerate, people are running fast, it’s time to push. But it is also important to embrace the Sabbath. Recognize what season you are in and adjust to make sure you get what is needed in that time. The sabbath is not only Biblical, it is also a key for unlocking greater creativity in our lives. Embracing the sabbath, having fun, eat healthy, exercising regularly, and stewarding our bodies which are temple of the Holy Ghost are essential to run hard and finishing well. We don’t want to be a people who burn and then burn out. We need the sustaining burn.

7. Surround yourself with other Burning Ones

A single flame alone might burn for a little while, but for that flame to increase and not die out, it is important to unite with other flames. The more flames come together, the greater the fire and likelihood that your flame will not whither. I’ve seen too many people be a part of a great culture, environment, or ministry school for a season, get radically impacted, and then back to their homelands without being intentional to find and run with other sold-out burning ones. Soon, their fire wanes or even worse, they go back to a lifestyle they had before God encountered them powerfully. We must find other passionate Jesus lovers wherever God places us. The great thing now is that even if you can’t find any in your hometown, you can run with other burning ones in online communities for support to keep the fire burning. Ask God to surround you with spiritual mothers and fathers, kindred-spirited burning friends, and others you can encourage.

 8. Steward the Power of the Testimony

Another way to build up your faith and keep the fire burning is to recount and thank God for the testimonies of His faithfulness in your life and how He’s come through in the past. Whether it is by framing a picture on a wall that reminds you of a breakthrough or of His radical provision, writing down testimonies on a 3x5 card to go over to encourage yourself in, or some other creative way, do it! Steward these stones of remembrances (Joshua 4). By stewarding testimonies of God’s faithfulness in the Bible, in revival history, in the lives of others, and in your own personal history with God, you are prophesying into future breakthroughs and radical acts of faith.

9. Learn how to Deal with Disappointment

One of the greatest things that I’ve noticed takes Christians out or sidelines them is when they fail to deal with disappointment well. Some might suffer loss, have something happen to them they don’t understand, step out in faith for something that doesn’t happen. Rather than learn from it and trust God will turn it around for their good, many get discouraged, disillusioned, build up distrust against God, or condemn themselves as failures. If we really believe all the promises found in Romans 8 and have a healthy perspective on God the Father, we won’t turn to bitterness or embrace disappointment. Instead, we will deepen our connection with the Father and learn to trust Him even more. Memorize and believe Romans 8 and you will not be shaken.

10. Choose Unity and Love

This is both important on a personal and corporate level. Strive to be at peace with all people and take the road of humility again and again (Romans 12:18, Philippians 2). Trust God to vindicate you where you’ve been wronged. And just as Christ forgave you, so you must also do.

11. Don’t be Afraid to Shine

And finally, don’t be afraid to shine (Isaiah 60). God has appointed some to be leaders in our generation. Not everyone has been given the same amount of influence, favor, resources, anointing for leadership upon your life. Be the gift God has called you to be, however that might look. Not everyone was called to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, but Moses was. Then it was Joshua who God appointed to lead them even further into their promised land. Humbly do the assignments God has entrusted to you without making excuses, making yourself look smaller, or sabotaging the call of God on your life (Ephesians 2:10). Give all the glory to God but when the invitation is there, step in while clinging to Him.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

Hopefully some of the rhythms I have learned in my own life for stewarding the fire will encourage you. There are many more ways to steward the fire that may be unique for you.

• Which of these keys are you already doing well in?

• Which of these keys are highlighted for you to develop further?

• What other keys have you noticed that can help you steward the fire in your heart that may be unique for you in this season?

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These tips were taken from Jen’s book Sustain the Flame.

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D. Revival Historian

Welsh Revival (1904-05)

Less than 20 people (17 people) gathered at Moriah Chapel October 31, 1904 when Evan Roberts preached. All present gave their lives to Christ. When these 17 people came to Christ, Roberts knew that the revival he had been praying his whole life for had come.

In less than six months, over 100,000 people got saved and the entire nation was radically transformed. This later became known as the Welsh Revival and released impartation for the Azusa Street Revival. Roberts, only 26 years old at the time, led that first catalytic meeting with less than 20 people present.

Azusa Street Revival (1906)

On April 9, 1906 in a little home on Bonnie Brae St. in Los Angeles, less than 20 people (around 15 people), many of whom were on a 10 day fast, gathered together with one agenda, to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. They wanted to tap into what those at the Upper room waited for. As William J. Seymour preached on Acts 2, the Spirit fell upon them, baptizing several of them in power. A few days later, after their porch fell through because of the weight of the increasing people coming who were hungry for an all-consuming encounter from God, they moved to Azusa Street, Global Pentecostalism was birthed, and the rest is history. But, it all started with a remnant of hungry ones. Around 15 people gathering in a home with no other agenda than to position themselves and call out to God for Him baptize and utterly consume them with the Holy Spirit.

Asbury Revival (2023)

Fast forward to today. On February 8, 2023, in Hughes Auditorium at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, less than 20 students (around 19 students) remained to linger in God’s presence after a required chapel service where the speaker shared about Romans 12. Other students began to filter back into the chapel later throughout the day. More people continued to be drawn to this well of revival. People gathered non-stop in the auditorium for a few weeks with eventually over 25,000 people came to partake of this well in a town of only 6,000.

This would be the 9th revival since 1905 that was birthed from this deep well at Asbury, many occurring in February. This fire has since ignited many other revival fires around the globe. It has given people permission to linger.

The re-opening of the well of revival at Asbury was catalytic to unstop wells around the globe all at the same time. There was some anointed in this Kairos moment where He used that well as a key unlock and cause other wells to spring up and new wells to arise.  It gave people permission to linger.

In letter to intercessor Frank Bartleman, Evan Roberts wrote:

“Congregate the people together who are willing to make a total surrender. Pray and wait. Believe God’s promises. Hold daily meetings. May God bless you, is my earnest prayer. Yours in Christ, Evan Roberts.”

We don’t need huge crowds; we just need the hungry.

Remember, it was less than 20 people who were a part of catalyzing the Welsh Revival, the Azusa Street Revival, and the 2023 Asbury Revival.

Do not despise the day of small beginnings (Zechariah 4:10). Gather the hungry, pray, seek the Lord with no other agenda than to love Him with everything inside you.

In another letter from Roberts to Bartleman, he says,

“I believe that the world is upon the threshold of a great religious revival, and pray daily that I may be allowed to help bring this about. Wonderful things have happened in Wales [Asbury] in a few weeks, but these are only a beginning. The world will be swept by His Spirit as by a rushing, mighty wind. Many who are now silent Christians will lead the movement. They will see a great light, and will reflect this light to thousands now in darkness. Thousands will do more than we have accomplished, as God gives them power.”

I wonder what would happen if we substituted the word “Wales” for “Asbury” above… They were in Kairos moment in the early 1900s, a special window of opportunity where God accelerated the expansion of His kingdom all around them. We are in another Kairos moment today.

We are alive for such a time as this. We must keep our eyes on Jesus. The Tsunami wave of revival we have been praying our whole lives for has already begun and is upon us. It’s time to lean in for the ride of your life and don’t let Him go.

Revival Series Part 3

 by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D., Revival Historian

Moravian Fire Ignited

On August 13th, 1727, German nobleman Count Nikolaus Von Zinzendorf gathered the Moravian refugees living on his property in Herrnhut to bring them to a place of unity and overturn the discord in their midst. That day in the chapel at Berthelsdorf they were invited to consecrate their lives afresh unto the Lord and with each other.

As they put aside their differences and came together as one, choosing to make a covenant of love with one another, the power of God and purifying fire of the Holy Ghost fell upon them. Revival had come. Where the enemy came to kill, steal, destroy, and take from this community born for unity, they answered back with a resolute firmness to stand against all schemes to divide. They knew their destiny was unity and love. Ever since that moment, what tried to divide them brought them closer together. Seeking unity was catalytic to ignite this flame. This event later became known as the Moravian Pentecost.

Stewarding the Fire through the Furnace of Prayer

Now that they had the fire, they realized they would need to steward it so they wouldn’t lose it. On August 27, 1727, just two weeks after the ancient outpouring of love, some in the Moravian community arranged “a system of Hourly Intercession” so that this blessing would not be lost.[i] Thus, the seeds for a 100-year prayer meeting was born.

And if you know the rest of their story which will be coming out in my next book, from this place of prayer, they launched the Protestant mission’s movement where some Moravian missionaries eventually intersected with John Wesley in a storm. As they kept their eyes on Jesus in the midst of the raging sea, Wesley was struck by their faith and greatly impacted. He had his heart warming defining moment not long after and then became a part of catalyzing the First Great Awakening and then the Methodist movement with its circuit riders.

When God moves in power, it’s important to steward what He’s poured out. We need new wine skins to hold the new wine.

Once the Moravian community experienced revival in family, they realized that the fire needed to be stewarded so it wouldn’t burn out. They saw a need to build a “fireplace” to sustain the fire. The Lord led them to steward this fire in the furnace of continual prayer and intercession in the context of covenant.

If they tried to steward the fire that was released in the Moravian Pentecost by doing what they had always done before, that would no longer cut it. They needed to cultivate a new wine skin for the new wine the Holy Spirit was pouring out. Thus, a new wine skin was birthed to hold the new wine. Life was born and then structure was implemented to steward it, not the other way around. You can’t structure to find life. Once you have life, add wisdom to help focus it in the right direction.

Encounters welcome us into new seasons and new eras. This requires a reformation of the things we used to do before. If we have a radical encounter with God and nothing changes in our lives, we may have missed the point or not stewarded it well for its destined purpose. The Moravians recognized that something significant had occurred in their midst. They wanted the fire to increase and not to wane. Hence, a new fireplace of 24/7 prayer was birthed.

Questions for Reflection

When you have a powerful encounter with God personally or corporately, ask Him how you are to steward that encounter. Does He want you to change a rhythm in your life or take something out of your schedule to walk in greater consecration? Is He asking you to let go of something (a commitment, relationship, rhythm)? Is He inviting you to add a new discipline to your schedule to be intentional about stewarding what He is doing in your life in the new season? If He is releasing new wine, what does the new wine skin to steward that look like in this season?

Learn More

• Read about my trip visiting the historic site of the Moravian Pentecost HERE

• See what happened when I released the testimony of the Moravians on a ministry trip in Washington

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NOTES
[i] J.E. Hutton M.A., A History of the Moravian Church (second edition, revised and enlarged) (London: Moravian Publication Office 32 Fetter Lane, 1909), 211.

Revival Series Part 1

 by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D. Revival Historian

*This was written before the 2020 lockdown and recent Asbury Revival outbreaks and is now a chapter in my book Sustain the Flame: Secrets to Living Saturated in God’s Presence and Holy Fire.

We hear the word “Revival” thrown around a lot these days, but what really is revival? In part one of these series, we will lay the framework for defining this term before going deeper into the realities that revival is only just the beginning and starting point, not the end all.

Semantics

Looking purely at semantics and the Scriptures to begin with, the term “revive” is used 23 times in the Old Testament in the New King James Version. It comes from the Hebrew word חָיָה châyâh which means “to live, to revive, to keep, leave, or make alive, to give life, quicken, recover, repair, restore to life, save, be whole.”[i] Notice the essence of staying alive once someone has been revived.

The first time the word revive is used in the Bible is in Genesis 45:27 when Jacob, who already grieved the loss of his son Joseph whom he thought was dead, realized that he was alive. It was then that his spirit was revived.[ii] In 1 Kings 17:22, the word goes beyond reviving hope of one’s spirit to mean resurrecting a physical human life. Here we see that Elijah prayed for a dead child who was brought back to life.[iii] Then in 2 Kings 13:21, the word was again used to describe one who was physically dead returning back to life when his body was thrown in Elisha’s grave.[iv]

The word revive is used the most in Psalms at 14 times and especially throughout Psalm 119. The Psalmist cries out for God to revive him according to His Word, His lovingkindness, His justice, and even His judgments. He also asks God to revive him in His way and His righteousness. There is also a turning back to God, deliverance from great troubles, and a hunger to be revived so that God’s people may rejoice in Him once again.[v]

In Isaiah, we discover a God who revives the spirit of the humble and the heart of the contrite ones. In Habakkuk, there is a desire for God to revive and make known His works of old once again.[vi] And don’t forget the revivals that happened under Kings Asa, Hezekiah, and Josiah along with many other personal revivals that took place in people’s lives throughout Scripture.

In the New Testament, in all other translations included, nowhere was there an equivalent of this word used. This could possibly be because the church in the New Testament didn’t need revival because they were already fully alive and living it. Persecution many times proves to help along these lines of staying burning hot in our love for Christ.

Etymology

When we look deeper into the etymology of how this word has developed over the centuries, we see that roots for revive come from the Old French word revivre (10c.) and directly from the Latin word revivere which is translated “to live again.”[vii] By the 1560s, the word revive had the sense of “returning to a flourishing state” or of feelings or activities “beginning to occur again.”[viii] In the 1650s, revival meant the “act of reviving after decline or discontinuance.” At the essence of the word, revival is the call to live again.[ix] What has since died and been forgotten, needs to become awakened once again.  

In the 1660s there was a unique take on this term as it was used for “the bringing back to the stage of a play which has not been presented for a considerable time.”[x] Might it be time for an encore in the platform of Christianity to welcome the Holy Spirit back to take center stage once again? In the early 1700s, it is believed that New England Puritan pastor Cotton Mather was one of the firsts to connect this term to religion. In one of his writings in 1702, he connected the term revival with religious awakening in the community.[xi] By 1818, the term revival was used to describe “enthusiastic religious meetings (often by Methodists) meant to inspire revival.” A few years before this in 1812, the term Revivalist was being used as “one who promotes or leads a religious revival.”[xii]

Exploring Paradigms for Religious Revival

Moving beyond semantics now into the study of revival history, there are various perspectives on religious revivals by both practioners and revival historians. For some, revival only happens within the church, and for others, it’s when the world is awakened to Christ as well. Some see revival as something that we should be living in every second of the day while others see it as episodic moves of God.[xiii] Some see it coming as a result of prayer while others see it only as a sovereign act of God. While there could be a whole separate book on this subject alone, I present a small snapshot of a few of the varying perspectives below.[xiv]

Charles G. Finney (1792-1875), known as the father of modern revivalism, believed that we very much play a role in awakening the church and bringing sinners to repentance as led by God. He saw a need for revival to happen periodically to wake up the church because it so regularly became stagnant. He saw revival as “nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God.”[xv] He compared revival to a crop of wheat and emphasized that God uses means to cultivate both. Finney believed that if the fire was kept burning in the church, there would have been no need for revival, but unfortunately, he saw that was rarely the case.[xvi] About revival, he wrote:

I AM TO SHOW WHAT A REVIVAL IS. It is the renewal of the first love of Christians, resulting in the awakening and conversion of sinners to God. In the popular sense, a revival of religion in a community is the arousing, quickening, and reclaiming of the more or less backslidden church and the more or less general awakening of all classes, and insuring attention to the claims of God.

It presupposes that the church is sunk down in a backslidden state, and a revival consists in the return of a church from her backslidings, and in the conversion of sinners.[xvii]

Martin Lloyd-Jones described revival as “the outpouring of the Spirit over and above his usual, ordinary work; this amazing, unusual, extraordinary thing, which God in his sovereignty and infinite grace has done to the Church from time to time during the long centuries of her history.” [xviii] Christmas Evans (1766-1838), an influential one-eyed Welsh Baptist preacher said that “Revival is God bending down to the dying embers of a fire that is just about to go out, and breathing into it, until it bursts again into flame.” Duncan Campbell of the Hebrides Revival said that “Revival is a community saturated with God.”[xix]

In his study on Pentecostalism in The Everlasting Gospel, William Faulpel sees revival as having a seven-stage process: conception, gestation, labor, birth, growth, reproduction, and maturity.[xx] He compares it to the life cycle paralleling the birth of a new baby. Mark Stibbe from the U.K. defines revival as “a season ordained by God in which the Holy Spirit awakens the Church to evangelise the lost, and the lost to their dire need of Jesus Christ.”[xxi] He distinguishes renewal as confined to the Church while revival as something that reaches beyond the church and into the world.[xxii] He likens renewal to a stream and revival to that same river becoming a “flood that disturbs boulders and overflows banks.”[xxiii]

Like Stibbe, I would also say there are special seasons, windows of opportunity, or kairos moments, where the Spirit is at work to awaken and revive the Church.[xxiv] At the turn of the twentieth century, revivals were springing up all around the world in this sacred and set apart kairos season of time.[xxv] Revival broke out in Wales in 1904-05, in India in 1905, and then in Los Angeles in 1906 at Azusa Street amongst other worldwide moves near the same time. The early twentieth century was pregnant with revival. There was something anointed, set apart, and special about that kairos moment that these saints were able to recognize and tap into. The result was revival that is still impacting us over a hundred years later.

Defining Revival

As we seek to define revival here, I would say that revival is when the fire of first love for Jesus is re-ignited in the hearts of believers. As a result, their lives are transformed, and the kingdom of God is expanded all around them in various ways that impact, shape, and reform culture and society.

Revival is for Christians whose fire has waned. If someone has never encountered God’s love for themselves, they can’t necessarily be re-awakened to it. It is only when the fire of first love has been snuffed out that one needs revival. Once that original flame is re-ignited, the awakened ones naturally influence those around them, and many times others are brought to salvation as a result.

Ultimately, revival is becoming fully alive to Jesus again. And it’s important to understand that revival is not the end goal. It is only just the beginning.

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P.S. Before you completely disagree with me, wait to read Part 2 of this series “Revival is Just the Beginning.” Both of these pieces have been written before the 2020 lockdown and recent Asbury Revival outbreaks and are featured in chapters of my new Sustain the Flame: Secrets to Living Saturated in God’s Presence and Holy Fire. See Sustain the Flame ecourse for a whole teaching on the topic of what revival is and how to steward it.

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NOTES

[i] Strong's H2421 https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h2421/nkjv/wlc/0-1/ “to live, whether literally or figuratively; causatively, to revive:—keep (leave, make) alive, certainly, give (promise) life, (let, suffer to) live, nourish up, preserve (alive), quicken, recover, repair, restore (to life), revive, (God) save (alive, life, lives), surely, be whole.”

[ii] “But when they told him all the words which Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived.” –Genesis 45:27 (NKJV)

[iii] “Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.” –1 Kings 17:22 (NKJV)

[iv] “So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.” –2 Kings 13:21.

[v] Psalm 71:20 is a call to be delivered from great troubles.Psalm 80:18 is a reviving in order to turn back to God.

Psalm 85:6 says, “Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You?” There is purpose to praise in the reviving work. We see in Psalm 119:25,107, 154 that one can be revived according to His word: “Revive me according to Your word (119:25).” Psalm 119:37 we can be revived in His way: “Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things,  And revive me in Your way.” Psalm 119:40 we can be revived in His righteousness: “Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness.” Psalm 119:88 and 159 we can be revived according to His lovingkindness: “Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.” In Psalm 119:149, we can be revived according to His justice: “Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness; O LORD, revive me according to Your justice.” Psalm 119:156 we can be revived according to His judgments. “Great are Your tender mercies, O LORD; Revive me according to Your judgments.” Psalm 138:7 when in trouble we can be revived: “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand. Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me.” Psalm 143:11 we can be revived for His name’s sake: “Revive me, O LORD, for Your name's sake! For Your righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble.”

[vi] Isaiah 57:15 (NKJV) says, “For thus says the High and Lofty One, Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” And then in Habakkuk 3:2, “O LORD, I have heard Your speech and was afraid; O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy.”

[vii] https://www.etymonline.com/word/revival

[viii] https://www.etymonline.com/word/revival

[ix] According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word revival can mean: “1: an act or instance of reviving: the state of being revived: such as a: renewed attention to or interest in something b: a new presentation or publication of something old c (1): a period of renewed religious interest (2): an often highly emotional evangelistic meeting or series of meetings 2: restoration of force, validity, or effect (as to a contract).”

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/revival Accessed December 11, 2022

[x] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/revival

[xi] Collin Hansen and John Woodbridge, A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 31.

[xii] https://www.etymonline.com/word/revival

[xiii] Roger Finke and Rodney Stark, The Churching of America 1776-1990: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1992), 92. According to Roger Finke and Rodney Starke, while “all organizations need renewals or revivals of member commitment, it is also true that these must be episodic. People can’t stay excited indefinitely.” Most people don’t have the capacity to remain in a heightened state of being revived.

[xiv] Prayer, surrender, consecration, and repentance many times precede personal and corporate revival. In all my research on revival up to this point (over two decades), I have noticed that hunger was the one constant that drew people to seek more of God in desperation, which resulted in revival. Prayer seems to regularly play a pivotal role in this. It’s not ours to determine how God will move, but it is ours to prepare, position, partner, pray, and invite Him to move in and through us as agents of revival. We must be a people who step out in faith to reach the lost as if their salvation depended upon us. We must be a people who immediately respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit and allow Him to use our lives however He wishes because we are motived by love for Jesus.

[xv] Charles Grandison Finney (1835). Lectures on Revivals of Religion p.14

[xvi] “There is so little principle in the church, so little firmness and stability of purpose, that unless the religious feelings are awakened and kept excited, counter worldly feeling and excitement will prevail, and men will not obey God. They have so little knowledge, and their principles are so weak, that unless they are excited, they will go back from the path of duty, and do nothing to promote the glory of God. The state of the world is still such, and probably will be till the millennium is fully come, that religion must be mainly promoted by means of revivals. How long and how often has the experiment been tried, to bring the church to act steadily for God, without these periodical excitements. Many good men have supposed, and still suppose, that the best way to promote religion, is to go along uniformly, and gather in the ungodly gradually, and without excitement. But however sound such reasoning may appear in the abstract, facts demonstrate its futility. If the church were far enough advanced in knowledge, and had stability of principle enough to keep awake, such a course would do; but the church is so little enlightened, and there are so many counteracting causes, that she will not go steadily to work without a special interest being awakened.

As the millennium advances, it is probable that these periodical excitements will be unknown. Then the church will be enlightened, and the counteracting causes removed, and the entire church will be in a state of habitual and steady obedience to God.”

Charles G. Finney, Lectures of Revivals on Religion (New York, NY: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1868), 9

https://www.ccel.org/ccel/f/finney/revivals/cache/revivals.pdf

[xvii] Charles G. Finney, Lectures of Revivals on Religion (New York, NY: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1868), 12

https://www.ccel.org/ccel/f/finney/revivals/cache/revivals.pdf

[xviii] Martin Lloyd-Jones, Revival (Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, 1987), 199 in Collin Hansen and John Woodbridge, A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 35.

[xix] Duncan Campbell, The Lewis Awakening, p. 14-15

[xx] William Faupel, The Everlasting Gospel: The Significance of Eschatology in the Development of Pentecostal Thought. Journal of Pentecostal Theology Supplement Series, ed. John Christopher Thomas, Rickie D. Moore, and Steven J. Land, vol. 10. (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996).

[xxi] Mark Stibbe, Revival,The Thinking Clear Series, ed. Clive Calver (London: Monarch Books, 1998), 14, 223.

[xxii] Mark Stibbe, Revival,The Thinking Clear Series, ed. Clive Calver (London: Monarch Books, 1998), 17.

[xxiii] Mark Stibbe, Revival,The Thinking Clear Series, ed. Clive Calver (London: Monarch Books, 1998), 49.

[xxiv] Jennifer A. Miskov, “Coloring Outside the Lines: Pentecostal Parallels with Expressionism. The Work of the Spirit in Place, Time, and Secular Society?”, Journal of Pentecostal Theology 19 (2010), 94-117.

[xxv] Additionally, I introduce “sacred time” into this discussion as a “special season when revivals, awakenings, and stirrings of the Holy Spirit are concentrated and occur in higher frequency than in other times… when people all around the world experience heightened manifestations of God’s presence” at the same time. Jennifer A. Miskov, “Coloring Outside the Lines: Pentecostal Parallels with Expressionism. The Work of the Spirit in Place, Time, and Secular Society?”, Journal of Pentecostal Theology 19 (2010), 115.

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D. in Revival History

If you haven’t heard already, something profound is happening Asbury University. As of writing this blog, they are currently holding non-stop meetings and God is pouring out His Spirit afresh. I had the opportunity to be there for days 7, 8, and 9 (February 14-16, 2023) of the revival. But before we get to more of that, let’s recognize the unique time we are in and take a quick review of Asbury’s revival history.

Kairos

­Proverbs 10:5 says, “Know the importance of the season you’re in and a wise son you will be. But what a waste when an incompetent son sleeps through his day of opportunity!”

If you haven’t figure it out already, we are in a Kairos Moment. Kairos is the Greek word in the New Testament for “time.” It is also translated as “the right time, a set time, opportunity, due season, short time, a fixed and definite time, the time when things are brought to crisis, and the decisive epoch waited for.”[i] It can also mean a divinely appointed time or a window of opportunity. There is a unique window of opportunity open to us for such a time as this where the Holy Spirit is being poured out in extravagant measures and there is acceleration of what God is doing all around.

Asbury Revival History

Asbury University is named after Francis Asbury, the Methodist circuit rider who took the model of the camp meetings and exported, modeled, replicated these to cultivate the atmosphere for revival to spread throughout the land. Asbury University has had a series of revivals break out throughout its history, primarily in the month of February or in the springtime. Prayer, testimonies, worship, confession, repentance, witnessing have been characteristics. Many times these revivals have been student led and have broken out in February, a special sacred space in this well of revival.

The following review is quoted directly from Asbury Universities website HERE

• “In February 1905, during a blizzard, a prayer meeting in the men’s dormitory spilled out to the rest of campus and the town of Wilmore.

• In February 1908, revival broke out while someone prayed in chapel; the revival lasted two weeks and was signified by prevailing prayer and intercession.

• In February 1921 the last service of a planned revival lasted until 6 a.m., and services were extended for three days.

• In February 1950 a student testimony led to confessions, victories, and more testimonies. This went on uninterrupted for 118 hours and became the second leading news story nationwide; it is estimated that 50,000 people found a new experience in Christ as a result of this revival and witness teams that went out from it.

• In March 1958 revival began in a student fasting prayer meeting that spilled over into chapel and lasted for 63 hours.

• On February 3, 1970 Dean Custer B. Reynolds, scheduled to speak in chapel, felt led to invite persons to give personal testimony instead. Many on campus had been praying for spiritual renewal and were now in an expectant mood. Soon there was a large group waiting in line to speak. A spirit of powerful revival came upon the congregation. The chapel was filled with rejoicing people.  Classes were cancelled for a week during the 184 hours of unbroken revival, but even after classes resumed on February 10, Hughes Auditorium was left open for prayer and testimony. These sessions were presided over by Reynolds, Clarence Hunter and other faculty. Some 2,000 witness teams went out from Wilmore to churches and at least 130 college campuses around the nation.

• In March 1992 a student confession during the closing chapel of the annual Holiness Conference turned into 127 consecutive hours of prayer and praise.

• In February 2006 a student chapel led to four days of continuous worship, prayer and praise.”[ii]

•  In February 2023, revival is currently breaking out and continuing strong as we speak.

Asbury Revival Today

God is doing a beautiful new work in the well of revival at Asbury University for such a time as this. After the chapel service on February 8, 2023 where speaker Zach Meerkreebs gave a message on Romans 12, a handful of hungry students lingered in the presence of God and continued to worship and press in even after chapel was dismissed. Some students went to class only to ask permission from their professors to return to chapel because they felt a stirring. 

Long story short, worship, testimony, and prayer have been going on strong now, primarily stewarded by the students. People have come from around the world to drink in and receive of what the Holy Spirit is doing here. Also, many have been impacted by watching these hungry ones worship, which has led to more moves of God being birthed on college campus and even around the globe. Thousands are flocking to this well to partake of what God is pouring out. 

Characteristics

My personal experience of being on the grounds and in the well of revival February 14-16, 2023 at Asbury was very significant. I had studied the 1970 revival in the past and was so moved when watching the documentary of students who were there still decades later being very much on fire and burning for Jesus. That the revival in 1970 started when the minister recognized he needed to move out of the way and make room for the Holy Spirit and give up his teaching time to let the students share testimonies moved me. He made room for the anointing and God moved powerfully through the release of testimonies in the students which was catalytic for that move of God. One moment in the glory marked and ignited a fire in their life that continued for decades.

Recognizing how one profound encounter with God at Asbury marked and shaped lives for generations to come, it lifts my spirit to thank God for all the students there now who are being marked by God in a lifechanging way. Some of the students I spoke with said that they wouldn’t even recognize themselves the previous week after all God has been doing.

At Asbury, there are no platforms, performance, production, or promotion. There is simply humility, holiness, hospitality, and invitation for the Holy Spirit to move. From what I observed and experienced on Day 7, 8, and 9 of the move of God there, I attempt to describe it t by using these 4 words:

HUMILITY: there is a very evident and felt deep desire in the leaders and those involved was that this would be all about JESUS and no one else. There is no performance, promotion, or platform Christianity present. It is a raw and humble desire to love Jesus in with a pure and repentant heart.

HOLINESS: there is a protection of the sacred space in the chapel and beyond and a stewarding what the Holy Spirit is pouring out with reverence and fear of the Lord. The centerpiece of the chapel says, “Holiness Unto the Lord.” They are attempting to get people to be present and receive from the Lord rather than live stream be on their phones all the time. They even turned down Fox News from coming out with their news cameras so they could protect the sacred space of worship in the chapel.

HOSPITALITY: there is a very felt sincere welcome and grace upon entering and partaking with this community. From host homes to free water and snacks at the entry way to staff of all levels humbly serving, one can feel the warmth of God’s love. I even heard that Salvation Army rented space heaters outside for those standing in line in the cold all out of their own desire to help. The unity in love and mutual submission to one another in the leadership is felt. Even their boundaries to protect the sacred space and also the students are presented in a way to make people feel loved and honored. There is also always room on the altar for people to come and now before the Lord. The time they take to pray for one another is never rushed but slow and deep, connected, and full of love.

HOLY SPIRIT: there is space created for the Holy Spirit to move in and through the people. Times have been set aside for people to share testimonies of what God has done, open Bible readings, and there has been space given for divine interruptions that turn into something beautiful the Lord is doing like the spontaneous generosity that took place one day. There is a sense that lingering in His presence is a good and welcome thing. This is mostly student led and they are making sure to honor what God is doing through this generation by honoring their voices.

 The Fire is Spreading

One of the reasons the Asbury Revival is spreading like wildfire is because over its century of revivals breaking out and stewarded well, it has paved a path for an invitation to linger in His presence and go deeper. Asbury Revivals give permission to the world saying, “it’s okay to go beyond the limits of expectations and time. For those who are hungry, there’s more. You don’t need to shut down the building and close the doors when the church service is over. It’s okay to linger, and look what might happen when you do…” There is permission to blur the lines of time constraints and accepted traditions, encouraging people they can cross the threshold, color outside the lines and even off the page.

Today in this kairos moment, it’s time to explore, really explore, what diving all the way into the deep end with the Holy Spirit looks and feels like. We’ve only just dipped our toes. The Holy Spirit is a limitless ocean calling us to dive all the way in and explore hidden riches uncovered. The only way to get there is to surrender, let go, and yield to the current of His love (Ezekiel 47, Revelation 22). Who is willing to yield to be all in?

Grateful

I want to thank and honor the leadership, staff, and students for cultivating a community bound together by love and humility and by opening up their hearts and homes for the world to also feast on the meal before them. May the Lord continue to cover, protect, and grant them wisdom as they steward this outpouring for the glory of God.

Our job is not to try and define this with previous moves of God but to recognize God is doing a new thing in our midst, and to celebrate and honor it even if it might look different than what we expect. My prayer for the Church that’s watching is that it might not try to define or put this move of God in a box, but rather celebrate, honor, cover in prayer, and ask God to fan the flame in our midst.

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To stay up to day on what’s happening at Asbury and access livestream go HERE

To sow into what God is doing at Asbury, you can give directly to the school HERE

To learn more about Asbury Revival Past & Present, join our upcoming School of Revival 3-day online intensive on that theme HERE

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NOTES

[i] Strong’s https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2540&t=KJV

See Ephesians 5:15-16 for an example of the word Kairos used.

[ii] https://www.asbury.edu/academics/resources/library/archives/history/revivals/