Text: Ezekiel 37:1-14
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” —Mark 11:24
During the great Welsh revival at the turn of the 19th century, some newspapermen went down from London to report firsthand the marvelous happenings in Wales. On their arrival, one of them asked a local policeman where the Welsh revival was. Drawing himself to his full height he laid his hand over his heart and passionately proclaimed: “Gentlemen, the Welsh revival is inside this uniform!”
That policeman had caught the holy fire. He understood that revival wasn’t about a geographical location, but a heart condition.
The word “revival” means “live again.” It can also be defined as an instance of something becoming popular, active, or important again. For the Christian, it’s about a renewed sense of dependency and life that comes from repentance and surrender, which is ultimately a result of the work of the Holy Spirit. Charles Finney, who was known to be a part of a great revival, simply surmised, “The experience of revival is nothing more than a new beginning of obedience to God.”
When revival comes, things that have been dead come back to life again. For Ezekiel, this meant a vision of an entire valley of dry bones being resurrected. The prophet had been staring at a situation that seemed impossible. His people had been taken into captivity. Israel was “dead” as a nation, deprived of her land, her king, and her temple. Her present and future had “lost” all “hope” (v. 11). The symbolic meaning of the resurrected dry bones pointed to the unimaginable restoration of the nation of Israel as well as the resurrection of the dead that would be brought about by the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ.
God directed Ezekiel to speak to the bones: “Behold, I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live.” As Ezekiel did what had been commanded, behold, there was a “rattling” as bones came together. Flesh came upon them. Skin covered them. Breath came into them and they “lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army,” marching to the beat of the ever-living Way Maker.
Like Ezekiel, we’ve all stared at situations that seem impossible—the addiction, the betrayal, that broken relationship, a barren womb, a debilitating health condition, or a wayward child. Yet Ezekiel put all doubts aside and spoke the word God commanded him to speak over the dry bones. The Miracle-worker brought dry, brittle bones to life, so “you shall know that I am the Lord” (v. 13).
What if we approached this week believing that what God did then, He can do again? What if we caught that holy fire inside our uniforms at this hour?
Begin to hear the “rattling” of those bones coming back together in your life. See the healing of “flesh” being restored in your body, your mental health, and your family dysfunction. Embrace the repairing “skin” God is attaching to those broken relationships, those abandoned hopes, and those God-given dreams that dried up in the valley of mediocrity. Envision that “exceedingly great army” of people and resources God is aligning in your life for the glory and fame of Jesus. Imagine your heart fully alive in Christ. Yes, revival is here. It is for you. The God of yesterday is the God of today, and you can experience REAL revival as you seek to abide in His “live again” promises this week.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, forgive us for our unbelief. Forgive us for failing to uphold your image of faithfulness in our lives. Forgive us for drifting into mediocrity. Forgive us for wandering from our first love. Forgive us for our blatant disobedience, our arrogance, and our idolatry. Some of us have been crippled in a valley where all hope has dried up. Yet, this is NOT the end of our story. You are writing a BETTER story—one that declares the praises of your resurrection power in and through us. We turn our hearts in repentance. We look to the body of Jesus Christ, which bore our sins on the cross, and seek your forgiveness and restoration. Renew us to live again. Holy Spirit, we depend on your power to revive our hearts, renew them with holy desires, and rekindle them to love others in pure Christlikeness. We pray for revival fire to burn within us and spread across our region, our nation, and the world. In Jesus’ names, Amen.
Questions for Personal Application or Group Discussion:
- Where have you seen God bring something dead to life? Maybe it was a relationship, a career, or a dream.
- What did you learn about God’s faithfulness and unfailing love from that experience?
- Is there any situation where you’ve given up because things feel too far gone or too impossible to change? Where have you lost faith?
- How is your heart toward God? How do you deal with disappointments or despair? What do you want to see God revive in you?
- Where do you want to see a revival around you? Ask God to show how you can help bring revival to your home, work, church or community.