Reverse the Rivers Flow: Revival and Reformation

At a prayer house in Grand Rapids on Thursday, a group of us were discussing our desire to live every moment for Christ and to bring his kingdom every place we went. Then one of us commented that it was great that we had this passion but how come it is so hard to carry this out long term in our lives. We will have bursts of zeal and passion but then just end up going back to 'life as usual'. As we were thinking about that another of us gave this image of a rushing river. As long as you are going with the flow of the river it is very easy because the river carries you. But if you had the audacity to try to go against the flow of the river that force of water would all but sweep you away. We realized that the river we were fighting against was the culture that we grew up in. The 'way things have always been' kind of mentality. Things like getting a job to by a house, a few cars, a vacation or two a year, the latest gadget, etc... The kind of stuff that when you question why we do what we do it gets people uncomfortable because this is what they have been taught their who lives. This is what a person does. They finish high school, if they are lucky get a college degree and maybe a Masters degree, then get a job to pay off debt, get a wife some where along the way and then settle down and do the 9-5 to make money to get more stuff and support your family in a comfortable life-style, etc...Basically, the American Dream....and unfortunately those in the church are caught in the same flow and most don't even know it. The river has been rushing for a long time building up strength and speed and to go against it you have decades of culture pushing against you. Sometimes we think just by turning around against the rivers flow and bracing ourselves, arms outstretched with zeal, will change the course of the river of our time and culture, but in our fading strength we will eventually be swept back into the 'norms' of society.



So what can we do? The apostles "turned the world upside-down" (Acts 17:6) just by devoting themselves to the "apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." (Acts 2:42) This is not for the spiritually elite. We are ordinary broken people just like they were. But Jesus said to them and to us, "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12)

We will do greater things than Jesus! What a promise!

So how can we reverse the flow of this mighty river of our culture? How can we "turn it upside-down"? We can't. But the one who is in us can! Thus, our only hope is a supernatural one. I believe that the only thing that can the turn a mighty river of our time around (or tell a mountain to be thrown in the sea, for that matter) is prayer and worship that we pour out on God, and as we pour out on him, he pours back on us his supernatural love for him and for people that keeps us praying and worshiping, and then drives us out to the street to be his hands and feet.  
Prayer: Crying out to our God for mercy and interceding on behalf of our family, church, city, nation, or world. (This is not all prayer is by the way, just some examples)
Worship: Psalm 22:3 says, "Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel". God inhabits the place of our praise. As we send worship up, he sends his presence down and his presence drives back the darkness!


This is nothing new. Intimacy with Jesus drives people out in love to be his hands and feet. Basically, Love God and you won't be able to help but love people. 

Let me be clear.
I am not for rebellion. But what I am for is revival and reformation*.

Rebellion is birthed out of anger and hatred. 
Reformation and revival is birthed out of love and compassion.

We don't turn around the river in anger, but out of a love and compassion for the people caught in it's flow. As God uses us to pour out his love on people, people fall in love with God and then they start to become conformed to his image and are slowly turned around and start joining the others praying to turn the flow around! It is all about love. God's love not human love. God's love hates evil and clings to what is good. (Rom. 12:9)

Isaiah 2:2 says, "It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it,  and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,  to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.""

Last time I checked, nothing flowed up hill. But in this passage it says that the nations were going to! The natural flow of a river is down from the mountain. This flow is strong and can't be stopped (easily), but to turn the flow around...impossible..yet nothing is impossible for God. A flow up a mountain is supernatural. It is a supernatural thing for the LORD to draw us to himself! Thus, to change the flow of the river of culture we need a supernatural solution...and that's where prayer and worship come in! Prayer and worship, basically, intimacy with Jesus, is both to be done individually and corporately. I believe that as communities of people who are tired of the status quo and who want to see the kingdom come saturate our way of life start to pray and worship, we will start to see whole cities transform. In fact, it is already happening all over the world! (See books: Red Moon Rising, Fire & Fragrance, or God on Campus for lots of stories)

* Revival and reformation in the form of a change of way of life toward God within a group of people or people group that has long term, lasting fruit in the day to day experience. Not just an event whose fruit stops after the event stops. (Please also not I am not against event-type revivals or emotions. I do believe the Spirit can and does just 'drop' on events from time to time in some powerful felt ways. I just want to see lasting fruit, people bearing fruit in keeping with repentance.          (Matt. 3:8))

Two great song on my heart while writing this: 
Revival by Robin Mark
Likeness of Jesus by Jonathan David Helser