With great difficulty, he makes his way back to civilization, and at the edge of town, someone offers to him transportation, housing, and money. But the man who has survived the desert cries out, "Give me water! Please! Just give me water!"
His lips are parched and bleeding, his tongue is swollen. He knows he has to have water and food or he will die. The man doesn't care about anything else; he wants nothing but food and water.
Matthew 5:6 says "Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled."
We can become so complacent in our Christian lives that we lose our thirst for God's daily involvement. The psalmist compared our spiritual thirst to that of a deer: "As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God" (Ps. 42:1).
Christians should hunger and thirst for a more intimate relationship with God. If we are serving God with our whole heart (the new heart He gives us), we will continue to thirst for the nourishment of His truth that sustains us in every situation.
The prophet Jeremiah expressed God's desire for us to seek Him as our vital necessity:
For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.When we acknowledge God as a vital necessity to our lives, we will experience a revival of enthusiasm to share Him with others. As the psalmist said, "O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him" (Ps. 34:8).
Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you. Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
(Jer. 29:11-13 AMP)
As God's glory fills our lives, we will want to offer the goodness of the Lord to others. When people see our changed and repentant hearts, and the blessings of God in our lives, they too will crave an experience with God.
God Fills Us with Compassion for Lost Souls
When revival came into my life, the compassion for the lost came to my heart. It seemed I was compelled to tell others about Jesus because He has done so much for me.
I remember one time my wife and I went to a cafeteria restaurant, it was around closing time so there really wasn't many people around. As we were going through the cafeteria line getting the foods we liked, one of the servers behind the counter was humming a tune so I asked him, "Do you sing in the choir at church?"
He said he didn't go to church and that he had not been in church for a long time. We talked for a while, and then I asked him if he were to die that night, did he know where he would go.
He said he didn't know. I said, "Would you like to go to heaven?" He said yes!
So I reached over the counter, and he grabbed my hand. I lead him in a short salvation prayer, and he asked Jesus into his heart. "After he prayed, his whole countenance changed!"
True revival spreads through families, churches, and communities like a rapid growing fire. When Jesus fills people with His Holy Spirit, their hearts burn with desire to know Him and serve Him.
Revival brings people to repentance and causes their changed hearts to burn with a passion for more of God. John the Baptist said, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire" (Matt. 3:11).
Ministers a Flame Of Fire
God makes His "ministers a flame of fire" (see Heb. 1:7). The word "ministers," which is used in this verse, is not just referring to the five-fold ministries of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers.
According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, ministers are God's public servants and worshippers. Therefore, we are all ministers of reconciliation and the Lord wants all of us to have a heart of fire burning for Him.
John Wesley was a mighty man of God who began the Methodist movement in the late 19th century. As a circuit rider, Wesley traveled on horseback from church to church, making his rounds each week.
A young minister once asked him, "How is it that you have such large crowds in your meetings?"
Wesley replied, "Get on fire for God and people will come watch you burn."
Excerpt permission granted by World Revival Evangelistic Association, Inc.
Dr. Jack Myers was born again at the age of twelve and baptized with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in other tongues at the age of seventeen. In 1993, Dr. Myers has an encounter with The Holy Spirit that radically changed his life. He and his wife later attended Rhema Bible Training Center in Broken Arrow, OK. 
