“You Can Lead A Horse to Water….”

You know the rest of the saying, and have probably used that phrase sometime in your life; I know I have, but lately it has taken a whole new significance to me.

You can tell when a horse begins to dehydrate by pinching his skin in a loose area; if the skin does not bounce back immediately the horse is in the early stages of dehydration. The horse however may not realize at that time, that they are in need of water.

As dehydration progresses, the heart rate of the horse will begin to increase slowly then accelerate more quickly as time and dehydration progress. Even at this stage, at least a significant number of horses will not drink the water if it is in front of them. Thus the saying!

Whether or not the Christian realizes it or not, the church is in dire need of revival; you can “pinch” them and they don’t seem to respond, many don’t even conceive the need for revival, but are willing to accept “status quo”. In all fairness, a significant number of ministers don’t want to “rock the boat” upsetting folks. After all you wouldn’t want to drive off the affluent or risk a law-suit for anything. So, remaining unchallenged, those same folks can become even further from a realization of the need for revival.

As the “spiritual dehydration” increases, some of those same people may begin to thirst without the encouragement of leadership, but may lack the knowledge of what to do. Others however will still be in a state of denial for the need of revival.

Revival doesn’t “just happen”, revival is sent from God, when people pray earnestly seeking Him and purpose in their own lives. Revival doesn’t suddenly explode from nothing, but begins a person at a time, when they fall before God humbly with a contrite spirit, and diligently stay there for however long it takes, until they break through. The great revival of Wales was a result of over 13 years of diligent prayer!

God prepares the heart of the one who petitions in prayer, and as that person moves in obedience to God’s Word, God also prepares the hearts of the people for both revival and an awakening.

I am far from the “most spiritual” person around, but my prayer is that God will increase my “spiritual tenacity” and give and balanced combination of boldness and wisdom, and I pray that because I realize that those qualities can only happen if they are “God granted and imparted”; all men are void of those qualities unless God is involved.

So are you ready for revival? Are you, am I ready for the “Holy Determination” it will take, the consistency in prayer to bring it to pass?