I feel that most pastors and churches would agree that there continues to be a deep need for a spiritual revival in our churches today. We need to decide, as pastors and churches, to deal honestly with God’s desires for us to give our full allegiance to Him. Until we surrender to Him fully, we will have little to no prospect of a revival in our hearts, limited to no stirring of the Spirit in our churches, and little to no spiritual awakening in our land. True revival is nothing less and nothing more than the manifest presence of God in our lives. It is when Jesus is free to be who He wants to be in, through and around us. A surrendered pastor and a surrendered church will experience spiritual revival, especially when both are surrendered at the same time.
Give Yourself to God Completely
I believe we are more likely to give ourselves to God more completely when we allocate a day or a period of days to some level of prayer and fasting. No, this is not always necessary, but at least consider it if it seems to be needed. Open your heart to whatever God wants you to do. Spiritual revival comes when we give ourselves to God completely. Revival is the manifest presence of God in our lives. Until the church of Jesus Christ regains its spiritual power, recaptures its spiritual passion, is willing to pay the price, and begins to demonstrate an unfailing love for Jesus Christ, it will remain lukewarm, out of touch, ineffective, purposeless, nonproductive and impotent spiritually.
Give 100 Percent of Yourself to Jesus
I often pray: Lord, I give 100 percent of me to 100 percent of You so that 100 percent of You will work through 100 percent of me! A spiritual breakthrough begins with personally surrendering oneself fully to God, transferring all ownership to the one true Owner, Jesus Christ. We do not need to grab, but to release. We do not live with our hands in fists, but with our hands open. We will never choose to let God have His way with us if we continue to hang on to our own desires, our own dreams and our own bondage.
God Knows What Is Best for Us
In wartime, if our enemy captures us, we are commanded to surrender. At that moment, we have a choice. We can take our chances, make a run for it and hope for the best. But if an armed enemy pursues us, we have little chance of physical survival. When God asks us to surrender to Him, the analogy is the same except for one key point: God is not the enemy. He is our Father and our Friend. He knows what’s best for us. We need to surrender our lives to God in the same way a child holds up his arms surrendering to his parents.
