We Need Revival

I received a message from someone telling me, "Pastor, we really need a revival at church. I said back to them how that it was funny that we had one just a month ago and they did not come out to a single service.
Silence. Been 2 days and still no response. Guess that struck a nerve.
But it is the truth. There is so much I could say here, but let me just get to the point. I was thinking about this exchange later that day and I was reminded of something I wrote in this blog back in 2005. The following is from that post.

I was teaching last night at church on hinrances to revival. I asked a question, "What is Revival?" Usually when we think of revival, we think of bringing in an evangelist, having special services, everyone getting excited and on fire, and hope and pray people get saved. Usually when we have this, after a few weeks, things return to "normal." 
Is this revival? 
Then it hit me. To "revive" something implies something that once was alive or active is now either dead or worn out and to revive it means to restore it back to it's normal state. Therefore, to have revival implies that God is bringing us back to the place where we ought to be. Hmmm... now that got me to thinking.
"Restoring us to the place where we ought to be..."
That means when someone says to me, "Pastor, we need revival" what they are really saying is, "I am not where I should be with the Lord." I got to thinking, what would happen in the church if we would just stay where we should be with the Lord all of the time? What if we stayed prayed up, read up and allowed God to have his way in our lives? Now that might sound harsh and critical, but let's be honest... is this not what we are really saying? We have times where we are on fire for God; times where we really are in the right place... but how often we are candidates for revival ourselves, so in reality, instead of having a "revival" where we see souls saved, most often when the church has revival today, it is more to get the church back on track than it is to reach the lost.
Remember that Barna statistic that said, 87% of those who attended church in America believed that the church existed to meet the needs of themselves and their own family? 
Isn't this the same thing? Revive me Lord... instead of revive thy works... instead of save souls... instead of heal the sick... revive me again. 


I am convinced that if the church is truly going to have "revival" where souls are saved and lives are changed, the church must prepare beforehand and get back in the place with the Lord where they ought to be. 
I believe it is time for some fasting and rededication on the part of the church body if we really want to see a move of God that shakes our community.