Dear Revival Family,

I heard a recent account of 800 radios capable of receiving only a single Christian station being distributed in a remote African village. Hopes were high on how God might use this outreach. But something went awry. Rebels from a nearby village raided the tribe and stole all 800 of the radios. But incredibly, over half of the 1000 people in that village came to Christ as a result of listening to their stolen devices!

The new believers began meeting together on Sundays for worship. Their “pastor” was the radio. They were all tuned to one device.

As children of the Lord, I fear we allow way too many voices to contend for our hearts. In a real sense, we need a “fixed radio” approach to life . . . tuned to God alone. Jesus warned of the grave spiritual danger of distractions in His parable of the sower: As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful (Matthew 13:22).

I remember sitting in church one Sunday morning when God spoke deeply to my heart. On the way out I shook my pastor’s hand and told him how powerfully the Lord had ministered to me.

But one week later, sitting in the same church, I could not remember what the message was aboutthe previous Sunday. I remembered telling the pastor how much God had spoken to me through his preaching, but I could not recall what it was God said to my heart. It was gone. No life-change. No fruit. It was lost in the hustle and bustle of a busy lifestyle. Modern thorns surface continually in our lives. They are like unsolicited pop-ups on a computer screen. Financial demands. Work pressures. Home and car maintenance. Entertainment. Sports. Shopping. E-mail. Even church programs.

For some, perhaps many, the thorns are more ominous. Anger. Depression. Worry. Broken relationships. Greed. Lying. Sexual addiction. Dishonesty. Abuse. Unforgiveness. Intruding thorns that consume our thoughts and deplete our energy.

I have to face the reality of thorns, often disguised by roses. So I ask myself . . .

• Are earthly cares keeping me from eternal concerns?

• Are material things robbing my affection for Christ?

• Are fleshly desires preventing authentic intimacy with Jesus?

It is critical to personal revival that we identify and remove thorns in our lives. But . . .

Change Begins with Desire for Change

I recently read an article on something called Deliberate Self-Harm Syndrome that dealt with thephenomenon of 1.9 million Americans who intentionally cut themselves on a regular basis. The diagnostic questions are shocking:

Do you cut yourself with knives, razor blades, broken glass, needles, nails, paper clips,pins, scissors, tacks, anything you can get your hands on? Do you bang your head against walls? Pull out your hair? Bite or scratch yourself bloody? Do you interfere with the healing of your wounds? Do you wear turtlenecks and long sleeves to hide the evidence?

As astonishing and disturbing as it may sound, these physical “cutters” use otherwise useful items to destroy their physical bodies. But is this behavior really so different than the millions of “spiritual cutters” who are using otherwise good things to destroy their souls?

According to the article, healing for Deliberate Self-Harm Syndrome begins with desire to change. Sadly, many never reach that point before it is too late.

When it comes to spiritual “self-harm syndrome,” I believe that many Christians really do desire to change rather than become a casualty. As much as they cling to hurt, unforgiveness, addictive patterns, and temporal diversions, they are looking for answers. Their hunger is real.

The Hope of Revival

A friend of mine, Dr. Erwin Lutzer, pastors the historic Moody Church in Chicago. Because of his intense desire for revival, he started off the new year with a five-week series entitled “When God Comes to Church.”

In addition, he called for a weeknight prayer meeting. Interestingly, he entitled the gathering POPS, which stands for Parents of Prodigals. The number coming to pray doubled almost instantly. I see it (and so does he) as a “risk of opportunity.” Either God delivers the prodigals, or what do you think will happen to this congregation’s view of God? A risk? Only if God does not show up.

Many of the people at Moody Church have to drive back into the city for those prayer meetings. It is costing them something. But their spiritual desire is strong enough to pay the price and to believe God for the miracle of His manifest presence.

As I was writing this report, another close friend called from the Queens area of New York City, where 2000 Koreans are seeking God for revival. The services begin each night at 8:15, and people don’t leave until 10:00 p.m. Three hundred of those believers are back at 5:00 a.m. for prayer. Again, NYC is not the easiest place to call for a season of seeking the Lord. But desire for God is winning out over every competing obstacle.

I am convinced that believers all across our nation are equally hungry for God to show up in their lives and churches. This year, Life Action will be in 60 locations with our four teams for protracted meetings. With rare exception we will experience a large percentage of the Sunday morning church attendancecoming out every night to seek the Lord.

Allow me to share one report I received just last evening from a businessman in one such ministry location. It reflects how a local church in a busy metro area met with God during THIRST, a Life Action Revival Conference:

As I am writing this e-mail, you are probably getting ready to pull out of Memorial Church. Memorial and Life Action have forever changed my life. For 40 years I have been searching for the meaning of life. . . . I have tried material goods, alcohol, pornography, greed, lust, envy, etc., but no physical fulfillment could fill the spiritual void in my life. . . . “Heavenly treasures” is a path that I now understand.

Beware of Shortcuts

The nature of revival is that it deals with things below the surface. It goes to the root issues so that long-term resolution is really possible.

One hot summer day as a child on our family farm, I was assigned the task of using a spade to dig out the thistles along the fence line of a large cornfield. The instructions were clear: “Be sure to dig deep enough to get out all the roots. Otherwise the thistles will grow, their seeds will spread, and the crop will be damaged.” I took a shortcut. I chopped the thistles off just below the surface of the ground and was finished by lunchtime. Or so I thought. My father inspected my work, and I spent the next two days doing the job right. Have you ever tried digging out the roots of a plant you could no longer see? I wonder if we don’t often attempt to handle our spiritual needs in the same way—attempting shortcuts when root-digging is needed.

The Case for “Tuning In”

I passionately believe that the greatest spiritual need in American church life is to make concentrated time to seek the Lord corporately. When it comes to experiencing the life-giving presence of God, there simply are no shortcuts. Spiritually, good things really do come to those who wait (on God!)—those who are willing to have a single antenna tuned in to a single voice.

It is in the context of seeking God that He speaks most clearly. It is then that the potential of another outpouring of revival and spiritual awakening in our nation is most likely.

That’s exactly what happened 150 years ago in America. A businessman named Jeremiah Lanphier noticed that God was absent from his bustling, materialistic society. So he did the one thing that he could do—he paused for a noontime prayer meeting during the workday and invited others to join him.

What began that day on September 23, 1857, eventually grew over the next 18 months into one of the greatest revivals that has ever swept our country. The entire eastern seaboard seemed to have become a prayer meeting, and major cities like Chicago, Boston, and Philadelphia witnessed thousands of people closing their shops over lunch to pray. Historians estimate that up to 50,000 people a week were coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

What about you? Will you renew your commitment to tune out distractions and fix your attention on the Lord? Will you join with others to pray that God will once again visit us in revival?

Seeking Him, together!

Byron Paulus
Executive Director