The revival we need

For more than 30 years Robert C. Cunningham (1914-2000) edited the Pentecostal Evangel. His "Editorial Comment" was a favorite of many of his readers worldwide. In 1963, during the 50th anniversary celebration of the magazine, he wrote an editorial, "The revival we need." Because his comments are as timely now as they were almost 40 years ago, we are recalling excerpts of that July 21, 1963, editorial for this column.

— Wayne Warner, director
Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center

By revival we do not mean merely a series of evangelistic meetings, nor do we mean only a widespread increase in church attendance. Church attendance is good, and evangelistic meetings are necessary, but these can be a waste of time unless there is that deep moving of the Holy Spirit that we call revival.

Revival comes when we make a wise and diligent use of divinely appointed means toward revival. The laws governing the spiritual order are just as real and unerring as the laws controlling the natural order. The one great requisite is prayer. Prayer evidences faith, begets activity, stimulates inquiry and inspires obedience. A genuine revival only comes to praying, believing and obedient Christians.

We need a revival of prevailing prayer — the kind that comes from hearts that believe God and persistently claim His promises until the answer comes.

The Psalmist prayed, "Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?"

We need a revival of the fear of God, the kind that will someday cause men to go "into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord." God forbid that a terrible catastrophe should be required to awaken that fear in anyone’s heart.

We need a revival of deep conviction. We need not men who merely hold opinions but men who are held by God-given convictions.

We need a revival of spiritual worship. The Father is still seeking worshippers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth — not merely with their lips, but from their hearts.

We need a revival of Bible reading, of brotherly love, of private praying, of family devotions, of personal evangelism, of living by faith and adorning the gospel. This is the kind of revival God wants to send: not a superficial stir but something deep. Not a passing excitement but an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ as Lover of our souls and Lord of our lives.

Will you pray, "Lord, send this kind of revival, and let it begin in me"?

— Robert C. Cunningham