3.) Lifestyle of prayer: Revival is the treasure hidden in the next dimension of prayer. God will never send revival to a person who doesn’t have a solid and consistent prayer life. When we started to see revival in the panhandle of Florida, there were serious and focused prayer meetings months in advance leading up to our personal and corporate outpourings.
I firmly believe that revival never comes to a church, city or region before it comes to a person. It always starts within a person in the private place of prayer. Once that person stewards personal revival and a life of prayer, God then causes what is on the inside of that particular believer to manifest in everyday circumstances. This in turn causes what we call “revival.”
A revival meeting isn’t something that is just scheduled on a calendar in hopes of a legitimate outpouring of God’s Spirit. A revival meeting without a person already walking in personal revival is just another ordinary church service. It honestly shouldn’t even have the title revival.
It is actually illegal in the Spirit to advertise something in a meeting that nobody is actually walking in or stewarding. It is false advertisement and can cause great discouragement when believers come looking to be refreshed and aren’t because there isn’t a person who has paid the price for revival yet in prayer.
Pastor Chris Mathis is the lead pastor of the Summit Church in Crestview, Florida, and oversees several churches and ministries, as well as serves on the leadership team of New Breed Revivalist Network. Chris travels extensively around the world teaching, training and equipping the church in conferences, revivals and church services. He is the author of Thy Kingdom Come. He is married to Nikki Mathis, an internationally respected worship leader, and they have three children, Micaiah, Judah and Eden Mathis.
