Hearts Have to Change

It rained last night just before church. It was beautiful. The temperature dropped into the low 70’s and the cool rains fell. After a long hot Arizona summer, the feeling of a cool breeze is just wonderful. Throughout hot September summer just hangs on. It seems like the heat will never ever let go. But the cool rain finally fell last night. We so desperately needed the rain.

Our nation—our world—needs rain of a different kind.

Imagine with me for a moment. With a 5-4 conservative majority on the Supreme Court a case arises that in essence overturns Roe v. Wade. The door opens for individual States to restrict abortion. What happens next? Chaos is what happens next.

We need the law change, but we need hearts to change even more. I am a bit shocked as I hear some fundamentalists denigrate the revival movements of the late 19^th Centuries and early 20^th Centuries. Yes, there were some who turned a true move of God into an emotionally manipulated experience, but do not forget that God DID move. Millions of souls were swept into heaven out of a culture that had been given to addiction. English traveler Frank Marryat in his 1837 publication of A Diary in America, said this about the state of the United States at the time,

“I am sure the Americans can fix nothing without a drink. If you meet, you drink; if you part, you drink; if you make acquaintance, you drink; if you close a bargain you drink; they quarrel in their drink, and they make it up with a drink. They drink because it is hot; they drink because it is cold. If successful in elections, they drink and rejoice; if not, they drink and swear; they begin to drink early in the morning, they leave off late at night; they commence it early in life, and they continue it, until they soon drop into the grave.”

Alcohol consumption in the early 19^th Century was many times what it is today in the US. Many American homes became scary and dangerous places to live. Women and children suffered greatly. Out of that national crises, the Great Prayer Rival was born. Thousands came to salvation as a result.

Revivals often come when certain overwhelming sins of a culture finally take their toll. The East African revival erupted in response to a culture of thievery. Restitution was the common theme in its early days.

We have a cultural sin that is coming home to roost. The free love hippie generation of the 1960’s espoused a sexual revolution. While extramarital sexual relationships occurred before that time, it was still considered an immoral act outside of marriage.

So now, after 50 years we have come to this. The institution of marriage has fallen apart—redefined in a way that has not been done since Adam and Even in the Garden. Cohabiting before marriage is the norm. More children grow up in single parent homes than not. Sexual abuse is all around us. A generation now struggles with sexual identity and roles. The biological limitation on free love—pregnancy—has spawned the rebellion of abortion and its cruelty to the unborn. The porn industry has become huge—making more money than the three major sports leagues (NBA, NFL, MLB) combined. The porn industry is bigger than Hollywood in sheer production and income (here). This is the culture that is addicted to sex and we have been destroyed because of it.

We need revival. We need spiritual rain from heaven. We do not need better jobs, better health care, more free time, or lower taxes. We need a heaven sent revival in which believers repent and lost people see the desperate condition of their souls and turn to God for forgiveness of sins.

I am not writing this with a doom and gloom spirit. It is with a sense of clarity—and expectation. Somehow, years ago, I came to believe that God only sends revival when we exert more energy and effort in prayer. It’s as if we “work it up” through some sort of spiritual effort. Revival is God’s work. He sends it when He desires to do so. Even our evangelistic efforts are useless without His hand of blessing. We cannot manipulate God into sending a revival, but we can humbly ask. Now seems like it would be a good time.

Be faithful weary servants of God. Keep serving, keep preaching. Seek Him with all your heart. Keep your own hearts clean.

Please Lord, send rain.