Something incredible is happening at Asbury University. It is a great moment to take a look at the potential prophetic significance of the student-led move of God that has spontaneously emerged there. There are a number of indicators that something bigger is going on. It’s also a great moment to talk about revival — what it is and how it comes. I share below why I’m cautious to call this a revival (yet), but why I’m also very encouraged and enthusiastic about what is stirring.
Spontaneous 80-Hour Prayer Meeting at Asbury
On Wednesday, a normal 10am chapel at Asbury University started and has not stopped. After the meeting ended, the student-led worship team continued to play while a few students lingered to pray. They kept going. Other students felt drawn by the Holy Spirit to go back to the auditorium. Word spread around campus and more students came. They started taking shifts leading worship. Prayer continued. Reconciliation, confession of sin, testimonies and repentance began to flow. And it has not stopped.
Worship and prayer have continued for over 80 hours, with students from other colleges coming to visit in van loads. Hungry believers are driving in from across state lines to visit. Physical healings are breaking out. According to this video, a student with an Achilles tendon injury was able to run for ten minutes without pain after being prayed over. I got a testimony via text from a man who talked to a student there who had a tumor disappear. There is some order and direction being given by the school leadership, but they have generally been non-controlling. There is deep trust between the students and the adults.
As I’m typing this, I’m getting an update from a friend that the auditorium is overflowing as they are taking communion. The reports I’m reading and watching are that this whole thing is spontaneous and led by the Holy Spirit. There is nothing weird or hyped. It is simple, authentic and pure. It is amazing, and I would love to go visit. My commitments and responsibilities are way too much for me to get away any time soon. But if it tarries, I will likely go check it out. I am praying from a distance.
The “R” Word
I would not call what’s happening at Asbury “revival“. Yet. That’s not to minimize what is happening, but I try not to overuse that word. It has been so overused in western evangelicalism that it’s nearly meaningless.
Here are some examples of what I consider revival…
- Acts 2 in Jerusalem
- Acts 11-13 at Antioch
- Great Awakenings in the USA
- Layman’s Prayer Revival
- Wales Revival
- Azusa Street
- Jesus People Movement
- Argentina Revival of 1940s
- Brownsville FL Revival
- IHOP-KC awakening
Have you read about these? When you hear reports of what has taken place in revivals of the past, you realize that it is much more than good church meetings. I think sometimes we set the bar too low. We throw around “revival”, “awakening” and “movement” so much that we lose faith for what is really possible in a city, region or nation.
To me, full-scale revival includes:
- God awakening His people — prayer, worship, repentance, reconciliation, healing, unity
- Salvation & deliverance of the lost — a harvest of new souls coming into the kingdom
- Transformation of communities — justice, prosperity, righteousness in culture
There are times when God does #1 in a localized way, and that is amazing. That seems to be what is happening so far at Asbury. If we also begin to see #2 emerging in a widespread way, then I would be much more comfortable calling this a revival.
A truly awakened Church will impact the world, but whether this stirring at Asbury grows into a notable revival that reaches the lost and transforms the world is yet to be seen. The long-term outcome probably depends on some kind of mysterious mix of God’s sovereignty and the Church’s response to what the Holy Spirit is doing.
I think what is happening at Asbury is already a mix of a sovereign outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit in partnership with those on the campus who have prayed and prepared themselves for this. According to these testimonies, students have been praying for revival every week since August, and another group of freshmen guys started praying together just one month ago. Prayer always precedes great moves of God.
And what they are doing now is essentially an ongoing prayer meeting. It’s what we have called a “Burn” for years. And I think it is the biblical way we create a landing pad for full-blown revival. The New Testament pattern begins with the Upper Room, which acts as a prototype for Christian revival. United, non-stop worship & prayer. Humility. Repentance. Hunger for God. This is the way. And we can enter into these things wherever we are, and prepare ourselves for God to move in our lives, cities and nations.
As the following blog stated, after visiting Asbury:
In some ways, it is a worship-based, Spirit-led, Scripture-fed prayer gathering… It is just what we should be doing all the time: waiting before God, worshiping Him, praying to Him, listening to Him, responding to Him, and being shepherded by wise leaders who see themselves merely as facilitators of God’s activity.
The Significant Timing: What Else Is Happening In This Season
With my limited viewpoint, I see a number of other things happening that make this particular outpouring at Asbury very interesting. To me, it appears to be part of the divine poetry that God writes when He is unfolding His storyline into the earth. Here are some other things I’ve noted that may relate.
- Our Tent America team with ATD was feeling going into 2023 that “capitals & campuses” would be important again this year, similar to 2018. God is doing it!
- We just gathered with hundreds of prayer movement leaders in Atlanta for two days the weekend before this. Much time was spent in repentance and travailing intercession for revival. Something is stirring!
- The 200th Collegiate Day of Prayer is scheduled for February 23, and the CDOP team had already scheduled to do a livestream of 24hrs of worship & prayer at Asbury on that day. Wow!
- The Circuit Riders (a ministry of YWAM) are doing multiple “Carry the Love” tours on college campuses right now. Pray for an outpouring everywhere they go!
- Lou Engle has called his annual 40-day global Jesus fast to begin the day before Collegiate Date of Prayer – on February 22nd. Let’s press in!
- The Jesus Revolution film, about the Jesus People movement of the 70s, starts having showings on February 22nd. Let’s pray for another Jesus movement!
- I’m an advisor for a new initiative launching this fall to see united 24/7 prayer on college campuses across the nation. Now is the time!
Let’s thank God for the stirring at Asbury, ask for it to spread and press in for the fullness of revival.
