After recently coming back from preaching a revival and then finishing a revival at my home church, I have had a few ideas run through my head on preparing for a revival. I have preached and participated in several revivals in the past and feel qualified to quickly spot whether a revival is going to be a success or not. What I have found is that a revival is thrive or dive depending on the preparation of the host church. As anyone who has been a part of a revival in the past knows, we are no longer in the era of the Billy Graham Crusades when hundreds would come out of the wood work to attend a revival. Therefore, the church must be prepared to reach out in order to reach their communities for Christ. Below I have compiled a short outline for pastors preparing for revival at their church in the hopes that it can be a great success and many will come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Pray
Prayer is obviously the most important thing when preparing for revival. Without the Lord’s hand, nothing will happen. Therefore we must lead our congregations to pray for the revival that is to come. Consider using a prayer guide or book mark in the weeks leading up to the revival. Make sure that the revival is at the fore front of the prayer meeting and every one is joined together in praying for the services.
- Pray for the Lord’s presence
- Pray for the speaker
- Pray for the musician
- Pray for the preparation
- Pray for the invitations that will be given in the community
- Pray for new life and renewed vigor for the church members
- Pray for new life and salvation for the lost who will attend
- Pray for protection from the enemy
Plan
Planning is a HUGE part of the revival preparation as well. One of the saddest things to see at a revival is when the attendance dives in the middle of the revival. So ask yourself,”How will we build excitement every night?”, “What can I do to give my members a reason to invite their friends?”, “How can I make it easy for my members to invite the community?”
- Raffle Drawings – In some contexts having a raffle is a good idea.
- Evening Events – Theme nights can also be fun. “Sundaes on Sunday”, “Dunk-A-Deacon”, “Battle of the Sexes Night”, “Pack-A-Pew Night” There are more than can be named here. Just get creative and think outside of the box.
- Daily Invitations – What tool can you provide your people to make it easy to invite others they know? Post cards, Invite cards, what?
- Spontaneous Invitation – How can you make it easy for your people to invite those they run into in the community?
Market
Marketing is a big part of today’s world and the church should be jumping in to engage those in the world. Don’t plan a revival only for your church members but use it as an opportunity to reach you community with the gospel message. Here are few basic and relatively in expensive ways to mass market to your community.
- Flyers / Posters / Invite Cards
- Banners In front of your church and around town
- Direct Mail Out
- Local News Paper Ad.
- Local Radio Ad.
- Social Media Campaign – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Etc.
Revival Flyer Example
Move
Move! That’s Right! Get Out There & Beat The Bushes! Sense you are prayed up and prepared, hit the pavement and see what God will do with you and your people. You will be amazed at how your community will respond with a simple invitation to church.
- Door-to-Door Campaign
- Invite Your Neighbor Campaign
- Paper the town Campaign
Now, I know this is not a comprehensive list and I am still fleshing out my thoughts on some of this but it is a start.
In fact, if you have some other ideas on how to prepare your church for a revival, I would love to hear about them. Simply comment below.