The Cure for Spiritual Fatigue

One of the greatest dangers in ministry is spiritual fatigue. External resistance has never been the church’s greatest threat. The greater danger is when those engaged in the work of God slowly lose the spiritual vitality that once fueled their calling. 

The reality is you can continue doing the work of God and yet lose the fire of God. Sermons can still be preached, songs can still be sung and training sessions can still be conducted. Churches can stay active, calendars can still be full and ministries can remain visible. Yet if these efforts are void of the power of the Holy Spirit, ministry slowly shifts from being a movement of God to merely an organizational routine.

Revival will never be manufactured through human effort alone. No amount of planning, programming or promotion can produce the kind of spiritual awakening that only God can bring. Revival comes from the Spirit of God alone. As Ellen G. White says in The Acts of the Apostles, “Only through the power of the Holy Spirit working through human agents can the work of God be accomplished.” Let us be mindful that the church was never designed to simply preserve itself. It was called to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to advance the mission of Christ in the world.

Scripture clearly teaches that whenever God prepares to do something greater through His people, He first revives them. The early chapters of Acts testify to this truth. Before the disciples could turn the world upside down, they first had to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Consider their condition before Pentecost. Although they had walked with Jesus, witnessed His miracles and heard His teachings, they were still hesitant and fearful after His resurrection. They gathered behind closed doors, uncertain of what the future would hold. But everything changed when the Holy Spirit descended on the Day of Pentecost. The same disciples who once struggled with fear became bold proclaimers of the Gospel. Revival transformed them, and then revival expanded them.

Jesus declared in Acts 1:8, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me,” (KJV). Notice the order of Christ’s declaration: power first, then witness. 

God still desires to revive His people so that we can do an even greater work for Him. The same Spirit that empowered the early church is still available to empower God’s church today.

The world doesn’t need another polished program or carefully crafted strategy. What the world truly needs is a Church filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. And when the Spirit of God revives His people, the Church once again becomes a powerful force advancing the kingdom of God.

My prayer is simple, yet urgent: “Lord, revive us again!”

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By Carlton P. Byrd, D.Min.

President

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