By JOHN HATCHER
Religion Columnist

Charles Finney, American revivalist who lived 1792-1875, went to great lengths to discount the idea of God's sovereignty as being the sole source of revivals. He contended that Christian believers had a great deal to do with God blowing the winds of revival over a church and/or over an entire community.

The argument of some is that revival is a sovereign act of Almighty God. And since revival is a sovereign act of God, there's nothing that you and I can do to facilitate revival. Consequently, all the rest of us can do is to look longingly to the Brownsville Assembly of God Church in Pensacola where revival hit in June 1995 and has been thriving ever since. The sovereignty argument says God can be a capricious God and even if Christian folks have prepared to the max for revival, they can just forget it unless God's choice aligns with their desires. Finney, a Godly man, fought that kind of concept.

Yet, I must read Scripture as Finney. In recent weeks, I have come back again and again to the classic Bible verse on revival, 2 Chronicles 7:14. Let me unfold it to you.

“If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.” Now, would you agree with me that the land between the great oceans needs healing? The recent school murders represent only the tip of the sinful stuff going on in America. If I have to make a case for healing in America to you, then you are from some other planet.

In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God promises that he will hear our prayers— those we feel don't make it above the ceiling, that he will forgive our sin, and that he will heal our land. But God is no dummy. He's not willing to do all that if it doesn't mean anything to us. That's why he says, if! If my people will humble themselves. What it would be for one person to humble himself may not be the same for another person. For one person, humbling himself may mean raising hands in worship. For another, it may be to go forward and kneel at the altar. For another, it may mean to ask forgiveness of another. To be sure, humbling is part one of the formula for the healing of America.

The second step is praying. The average Christian spends a total of four minutes in prayer every day. That includes mealtime prayers, crisis prayers, and even Sunday prayers. We must overcome the reality that we are not a praying culture. In India, China, Japan, and Argentina where revivals are breaking out, believers start at an hour a day in prayer. But the kicker is that one of the most prayerless places is the church. Jesus said, “My House shall be a House of Prayer.” Not so in most churches!

The third step is seeking the face of God. It sounds like worship to me. Seeking the face of God is critical for the fourth and final step in revival preparation. We must look intently into the holiness of God in order to observe what's unholy in our own lives. We don't know what sin is until we know what holiness is. Amen!

Of course, the fourth step toward revival preparation calls us to turn away from our sins—our wicked ways. I am convinced that the one thing the church has more on hand than anything else is unconfessed sin. Secret sins. Habitual sins. Casual sins. No matter what label, they are wicked— even the sin of prayerlessness. So, God gives us a formula that any church in any part of the great land can follow. God's refreshing is not restricted to a few. Only a few, to date, have wanted to pay the price, however. To date, mind you!

The Rev. Dr. John Hatcher is pastor of River's Edge Community Church in Fayetteville./

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