Gracie Girl Blog

“Ready or not, our God’s on the move.“

Prepare The Way, Bethel Music

Historically, revivals have begun after tragic events or hard times such as war, economic downturn, plagues, etc. They begin with young people, ministry organizations are involved but the movements are not contained or led by them. Revivals are characterized by a fresh outpouring and lingering of the Holy Spirit. They are an undeniable move of God, and we’re in the middle of one.

Gen Z – not only have we lived through a pandemic already but we are the school shooting generation, we are the most anxious and depressed young people in history – eating disorders, self-harm, and suicide are normal topics for us. We are hungry for change in many ways.

We saw revival start in February at Asbury University, which inspired other college students to ask the Lord to come move on their campuses.

I felt the Lord ask me to name the week everyone caught wind of what was going on at Asbury “Revival Week” – in faith that there would be revival on Virginia Tech’s campus. That Sunday night, there was the normal worship under the Pylons, nothing different or crazy. But after the regular worship ended and people started going home, some freshmen stayed to continue leading worship and the presence of the Lord was evident. We sang one of my favorite lines, “A miracle can happen now, for the spirit of the Lord is here.”

The next day we gathered at a house in the evening to pray and worship. I had a lot to do for school. Outside of the hope for revival, it was an incredibly stressful week. Yet, there was an overwhelming sense of being held in the moment. There was nothing else to do but worship, and we stayed for three hours.

It wasn’t the all-night event I was hoping for, but everyday that week I was hearing stories of people talking about and experiencing revival. I was hearing about it happening on other college campuses. Despite the stress I felt about other things going on in my life, I could feel that something much more important was happening. It didn’t matter what ministry or denomination anyone was or wasn’t apart of, there was a unity in knowing the Lord was moving.

I’ll be honest, I was hoping for what happened at Asbury (days long, continuous worship) to happen at Virginia Tech and it didn’t – at least not in the same way. There was the sense, however, that that week was only the beginning.

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit.

Isaiah 61:3

I got this word that week: As a generation, we have a faint and tired spirit. And the Lord is replacing the faint minds and spirits of my generation with a garment of praise, with a new song, with hope.

Gen Z is not interested in the smoke machines and lights of a modern church worship set. We aren’t interested in how entertaining you can make Jesus look. We want the truth because we desperately need to be set free. We want open Bibles, honest leaders, and to encounter the real and raw Jesus.

For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,

and thick darkness the peoples;

but the Lord will arise upon you,

and his glory will be seen upon you.

And nations shall come to your light

and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Isaiah 60:2-3

A quote I have loved during this time of praying for revival:

“If you seek revival, you’ll get performance. But if you seek Jesus, you’ll get revival.” – Jacob Coyne

“Revival Week” ended, but the movement has not. I love the stories of huge outbreakings of worship and baptism, but just as much I love to see, up close, how the Lord is moving in me and my friends. We are walking into rooms that have long been dark, and turning the lights on. More than revival, we want Jesus.