Signs of revival Scripture points us toward
Reports of campus worship gatherings and mass baptisms have many believers asking whether spiritual revival is underway. Scripture paints a clear picture of what genuine awakening looks like, marked by renewed hunger for God, repentance, holiness, worship, compassion, and mission. These signs challenge the church to seek lasting transformation rather than temporary excitement.
- Revival begins with holy restlessness that admits spiritual slumber and pleads for God to restore his people.
- Genuine revival includes renewed devotion to Scripture, real repentance, and practical holiness in everyday life.
- Awakened believers worship authentically, show Christlike compassion, and pursue Spirit-empowered mission.
By Dr. Daniel Overdorf
In October of 2025, reports surfaced of a spiritual revival taking place at the University of Tennessee, a dozen miles from where I live. Thousands of students gathered to worship in the university’s basketball arena, and hundreds were baptized in makeshift baptistries, some in plastic-lined beds of pickup trucks filled with water.
Similar revivals have been reported at Ohio State, Auburn, Baylor, and other universities. Just three years ago, a chapel service at Asbury University extended into 16 days of worship, prayer, confession, and spiritual awakening.
Beyond college campuses, I often see churches on social media celebrating dozens—sometimes even hundreds—of baptisms as God moves in their communities. Friends in ministry and other Christian leaders tell me, “Something is happening. I can’t put my finger on it, but I sense momentum building toward a great revival in the church.”
Throughout history, God has revived his people at crucial times. Such revivals were not mere emotional spikes or temporary spiritual highs, but true awakenings that produced lasting change.
Are we witnessing spiritual revival today? Will future historians look back on our era as another great awakening? Beyond news stories, social media, and our gut feelings, what evidence exists of revival? If genuine revival were to break out, what signs would we see?
Scripture offers both teaching about and examples of spiritual awakening, providing a clear picture that challenges today’s church toward revival.
Holy Restlessness
Revival begins when complacency gives way to a hunger for change.
The writer of Psalm 85 lived amid a spiritually dry people. He recalled God’s past work of reviving his people: “You, LORD, showed favor to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins” (85:1-2, New International Version). In light of God’s past work, the psalmist pleaded, “Restore us again, God our Savior. … Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?” (85:4, 6).
Paul echoes a similar plea in Ephesians, quoting an early hymn that describes those who awaken from spiritual darkness and hunger for the light of Jesus: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (5:14).
The church revives when we recognize our lukewarmness and feel a holy discontent—a realization that something is missing. To be awakened, we must first admit our slumber and cry out for the spirit to stir us into what we should be—and what we long to be—in him.
Recovery of Scripture
In seasons of spiritual complacency, we give the Bible only a passing glance. It fades to the background in favor of opinions, trends, and cultural rhetoric. Revival requires a renewed devotion to God’s Word, which is “alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
During Josiah’s reign, workers repairing the temple stumbled on the Book of the Law. When it was read to Josiah, he tore his robes, in anguish over his failure to lead his people to obey the Word. Based on the reading of Scripture, he led the people to repentance and a pledge to obey their covenant with God. They removed idols and pagan priests from the temple and reinstituted the celebration of the Passover.
A few decades later, Ezra read the law for seven days to God’s people who had returned from exile. They wept, then rejoiced, as God revived them (Nehemiah 8)
Today, some may feel tempted to push Scripture to the sidelines in an attempt to be culturally relevant—especially teachings that challenge modern assumptions. But a revived church bows before the Lord and submits to his Word. They meditate on it day and night (Psalm 1:2) and trust it beyond human logic as the true lamp for our feet and light for our path (Psalm 119:105).
Genuine Repentance
A holy restlessness and renewed devotion to Scripture lead to a third element of revival—genuine repentance. The sins we have glossed over, justified, or ignored burn our consciences and drive us to our knees before our holy God.
After the dedication of Solomon’s temple, God warned the king that, in the future, the people would stray and suffer painful consequences. Yet, God promised mercy if they would “humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
God extends grace and ignites revival in those who are humble and repentant: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite” (Isaiah 57:15-16).
Peter offered the same message in Jerusalem: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” (Acts 3:19).
Repentance is a precursor to revival. Conviction of sin compels us to cry out for God’s grace, which restores and awakens us. If we stay numb to sin, however, it eats away at us like cancer and prevents us from experiencing God’s grace that heals and revives.
Restored Holiness
Repentance involves not only turning from sin but also turning toward Christ’s Lordship and the holy life he calls us to.
Samuel told the Israelites, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines” (1 Sam. 7:3).
Paul urged believers in Ephesus to “live a life worthy of the calling you have received” (Ephesians 4:1). Such transformation requires putting off the old self and putting on the new (4:22-23). It reshapes our words, our relationships, our work, and our attitudes (4:25-32).
Revival involves concrete, practical, daily changes of behavior, not fleeting moments of emotion. Those who experience spiritual awakening strive, in both the monumental and the mundane, to live holy, Christlike lives that stand in contrast to the world.
Authentic Worship
Those whose spirits are awakened bow before the throne of God in heartfelt, authentic worship. They stand in awe of Christ and his grace that allows us to “draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings” (Hebrews 10:22).
When Ezra read the Law to the returned exiles, they “bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground” (Nehemiah 8:6). Though they initially wept, Nehemiah urged them to rejoice: “This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (8:9-10).
Paul taught revived believers to “be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:18-20).
In revived churches, worship is more than routine and deeper than performance. It brims with awe, authenticity, truth, and passion—expressions of praise from hearts renewed and captivated by Christ.
Christlike Compassion
Revival does not end in the church sanctuary or with the closing prayer. Hearts molded in worship are softened toward those who are hurting, reflecting God’s care for the vulnerable and forgotten.
Old Testament prophets continually connected covenant faithfulness with compassion. In Isaiah 58, God rejected empty rituals and called his people to express their devotion through concrete expressions of compassion: “Loose the chains of injustice . . . share your food with the hungry . . . provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked . . . clothe them” (58:6-7). These acts of mercy relate directly with revival: “Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I” (58:8-9).
Jesus embodied this compassion, quoting Isaiah to describe his own ministry, “The Spirit of the Lord
is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).
Those who are revived reflect the heart of Christ toward the poor and the vulnerable. True awakening produces tangible love.
Spirit-Empowered Mission
Finally, revival leads to mission. Just as revived believers reflect Christ’s heart for the hurting, they also reflect his heart for the lost.
Through the prophet Joel, God described the coming great day of the Lord, when he would revive his people: “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, and your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions . . . . I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth” (2:28, 30). As a result, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (2:32). Revival leads to evangelistic mission.
Peter quoted this passage from Joel on the Day of Pentecost. As he preached, people in spiritual darkness saw the light of Jesus, and “those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day” (Acts 2:41).
Churches in spiritual slumber turn inward, devoting their attention and resources to themselves, and producing bickering, division, and fruitless ministry. Revived churches, however, transform into communities of mission who extend the truth and grace of Jesus to their neighborhoods and to the ends of the earth.
Are we experiencing a revival in Christ’s church? Will future historians view our era as a time of spiritual awakening? We cannot say with certainty. But the signs pictured in Scripture challenge us to live, worship, and serve as revived believers within a revived church.
Revive us again, O Lord. Revive us again.
Author: Dr. Daniel Overdorf
Dr. Daniel Overdorf is president of Johnson University, Knoxville, Tennessee.
