Personal Revival: The Battle for the Mind

Please don’t just tell me to “get on fire for the Lord again” or “we need to be more committed and have greater zeal” and quote a lot of scriptures and then leave it at that. I’m the kind of person who would appreciate some practical ways to accomplish this as well. Are you the same? Yes, I love to read great biographies of men and women of God who have done amazing things. However, what I like even more is when they open up and reveal what they went through on a real-life level and how they got to where they did.

So, whilst trying to achieve a level of person revival and increased zeal and passion for the Lord, as well as sharing key Scriptures that help me, I’m going to also go into the very nitty gritty of how to apply all this to daily living.

REPENTANCE

The very first thing we need is to repent – why? Because true repentance involves two essential ingredients (like faith without works being dead). 1) It involves a change of mind and 2) a change of direction.

If we are having thoughts of wanting to get closer to the Lord, having more zeal and to do great things for Him, well, that’s the Lord through the Holy Spirit calling us to repentance, changing our minds about our current state.

One of my great weaknesses is that I get a lot of great ideas but then don’t work at making them become a tangible reality. A thought that you need to do better and then you just continue along the same merry way is not repentance at all.

True repentance will always start with a thought that will result in a change of direction. It will lead you do something that will lead you in a direction towards the Lord and what he wants us to do. It will cause us to do things differently, behave differently and to act differently.

OUR THOUGHTS ARE CRUCIAL

The main verses that I keep getting back to all the time concerning this are:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2

Other great verses to consider are: 2 Corinthians 10:5, Ephesians 4:23, Philippians 4:8 

When I worked at a Christian rehab for guys suffering from mainly serious drug addiction problems, we had a visitor from the social work department as we were government funded. Her jaw dropped to the floor when I told her that “we are in the business of brainwashing here.” Before she could reach for the phone to get us instantly barred from funding, I went onto explain what I meant.

These guys had to address serious problems that would involve a lot of work and a change of thought patterns that had been leading them to such destructive and devastating habits. So, for a period of time what they could watch on TV was restricted, what they could read was narrowed down to only what would be helpful for their recovery. Even the music had to be regulated.

So, what has that to do with you or me? You may be reading this knowing that you have an addiction problem and if so, I would urge you to either contact me or seek help. But I guess the majority will not. However, we do need to make a serious audit on what influences our thought lives.

Have you ever tried to think about nothing? I can guarantee that’s it’s virtually impossible; we are always thinking. So, what do you think about?

I’m not one of these people that cannot live without some kind of background noise. I love peace and quiet. But as I write this, I do have the internet radio on. I’m listening to a Christian radio station called Z88.3. The lyrics from every song are so full of truth and are uplifting.

As this seems to be leading towards the subject of music, let’s just park there for a while and think about music. Because, like it or not, it WILL influence our thinking.

Before I became a Christian, I was into a lot of very dark music and the whole lifestyle that came with it. I had the CD’s, went regularly to concerts for Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Motorhead, Ted Nugent – you get the idea! Well, after my conversion I got into Gospel Music, Christian Radio and I destroyed my old collection of music completely. And just like I had a revulsion for cigarettes after giving up smoking, I now have a revulsion for any music that isn’t Christian.

You might say, Well Andrew, I’m not into anything like say Black Sabbath, what’s wrong with loving the charts and popular music. Just take a minute to listen carefully to the lyrics, look at the lifestyles of those artists, the answer should be clear. What does Romans 12 say about not conforming to the patterns of this world say!

Music is a massive influence on us. If we want a person revival and be full of zeal, then maybe more worship music could be the answer? Be mindful of what we are listening too. I’m not blowing my own trumpet but just say this as it has really helped me especially during those times when I haven’t been able to get to church (covid-19 etc..) but also because if we want to be truly on fire, then weekly church attendance is not enough we need a daily lifestyle. So, this is what my morning routine consists of:

My alarm goes off at 5:30am (if you have children, you will understand why lol). I throw on some clothes, get a drink of water, do some stretching exercises to help a problem I have with my back, then go outside and feed and water the chickens and wild birds. Then, I make a coffee, sit outside, weather permitting, read my bible (usually a couple of chapters), pray and then switch on my phone – why? So that I can play some worship songs on YouTube and sing along. What songs do I choose? Well, I’ve been amazed, but usually something just pops up into my head and I do a quick search and boom, it’s always available on YouTube – what a blessing! I then go for a 20-minute walk (sometimes taking my camera). Now, this may not be for you, if not then that’s absolutely fine, but I like praying in tongues as I walk. I know that this a contentious subject for some but please, if that’s not for you, I understand and I refuse to let opinions on that divide us.

Well, just to show that I’m definitely not trying to blow my own trumpet. Let me tell you about something that I had been doing that the Lord has shown me that I need to address and as I do, if this doesn’t apply to you, maybe your thoughts will be directed to problem areas that more pertinent to you.

For fifty years, I have considered myself an Arsenal supporter (football or soccer for my friends ‘over the pond’). It’s been many years since I have been to an actual match, but I used to. Well, I have had an awful habit of watching a lot of content about Arsenal on YouTube, especially fan-based discussion posts after a match. My thoughts would often be about football, and I particularly found it helpful after work and at night before going to sleep.

But when I applied Philippians 4:8 to my habits about Football I cannot be anything but convicted that this is wrong and detrimental to my spiritual wellbeing. The truth is that Football is really an idol in my life that must be removed. Some might say that it’s harmless but when I really consider that players are getting paid in excess of £200,000 a week these days, that has to be morally wrong. But I’m not going to go into the nitty gritty, it’s wrong for me and I have to deal with it.

One final thought before I sign off this particular post:

Jesus said, “out of our bellies will flow living water…” (John 7:38). So, if you feel a stirring, beginning to feel the lights come on again and personal revival is on the horizon for you, then my advice would be to try and find an outlet for all this new zeal, revelation, and fire.

If you don’t then it’s like putting up a dam and the river will cease to flow, and that water will become stagnant. 

You see, one of the benefits for me, writing this blog is that it’s a channel for me. What will work for you? Do you have a Social Media presence? You could start sharing whatever the Lord reveals to you? Are you actively involved in your church? You could share with them? Start a prayer group, just do something and I believe this will really help ignite and continue the revival fire that is burning up inside of you!

This will be the start of a new series for sure.

To be continued…………

An old song that I find inspiring: