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Contending for the Word Q&A, November 16, 2025
Awakening Through the Word: Recognizing True Revival
Welcome back to Contending for the Word. Today we begin our third week examining true and false revival and how Christians can discern the Spirit’s authentic work from emotional imitation or spiritual confusion.
Many talk about revival today. Conferences are held and movements rise with passionate music, stirring atmosphere, and urgent promises of spiritual fire. Yet throughout Scripture and church history, the hallmark of true awakening has never been emotional excitement. It has always been a renewed hunger for the Word of God.
The Question
How do we know when God is truly awakening His people?
Awakening Always Begins With Scripture
Every genuine revival begins when God’s people are brought low by His Word, renewed in reverence for His truth, and compelled again to hear and obey Scripture.
“The unfolding of your words gives light, it imparts understanding to the simple.”
When the Word is opened, light returns. Understanding breaks in. Hearts soften. Sins are exposed. Affections are stirred toward Christ, not toward hype or emotional energy, but toward holiness and obedience.
Historical Witness
The Great Awakenings in America, the Reformation, and many missionary movements were birthed not by human enthusiasm but by a return to Scripture. People did not need fog machines, trend driven marketing, or personalities at the center. They needed the Word preached with clarity, conviction, and authority.
Where the Word is absent, spiritual counterfeits flourish. Where the Word is exalted, Christ is magnified and God’s people awaken.
Recognizing a True Awakening
- Hunger for Scripture
- Repentance over sin
- Obedience to Christ
- Discernment and sobriety
- Joy rooted in the gospel, not manufactured emotion
- Worship founded on truth rather than sensation
False revival produces noise, movement, emotional highs, and crowds without lasting fruit. True revival grows roots deep in the fertile soil of Scripture.
Call to Action
Christian, if you long for awakening, begin where God begins.
- Open your Bible.
- Tremble at His Word.
- Pray for a heart that loves truth.
- Ask the Lord to revive His church through His Word again.
Revival is not manufactured. It is granted by God and fueled by Scripture.
If this helped you, share it with a friend and pray for true awakening in your local church.
For more from Contending for the Word Q&A please visit our page at Servants of Grace or at our YouTube.
Dave Jenkins is happily married to his wife, Sarah, and lives in beautiful Southern Oregon. He is a writer, editor, and speaker who loves Christ, His people, the Church, and sound theology.
Dave serves as the Executive Director of Servants of Grace Ministries and the Executive Editor of Theology for Life Magazine. He is the Host and Producer of the Equipping You in Grace Podcast and a contributor to and producer of Contending for the Word.
He is the author of The War of Worldviews: Truth, Lies, and the Battle for the Christian Mind (Theology for Life, 2026), Contentment: The Journey of a Lifetime (Theology for Life, 2024), The Word Matters: Defending Biblical Authority Against the Spirit of the Age (G3 Press, 2022), and The Word Explored: The Problem of Biblical Illiteracy and What To Do About It (House to House, 2021).
You can connect with Dave on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, or subscribe to his newsletter.
When he is not engaged in ministry work, Dave enjoys spending time with his wife, going to movies, sharing a meal at a favorite restaurant, or playing a round of golf with friends. He is also a voracious reader, particularly of Reformed theology and the Puritans, and is often found working through a stack of new books from a wide range of Christian publishers.
Dave earned his M.A.R. and M.Div. from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary.
