Apostolics of Southwest Missouri
There is a difference between a county that has church buildings and a county that has been visited by God. McDonald County has church buildings on nearly every gravel road and blacktop turn — steeples over Anderson, over Pineville, over Lanagan, over Noel. But buildings do not make a revival. Fire makes a revival. And fire is exactly what we are asking God for this morning.
The Welsh Revival of 1904
In the winter of 1904, a young Welsh coal miner turned preacher named Evan Roberts began praying a simple prayer in the small town of Loughor, Wales: “Bend me, O Lord.” He was not a trained theologian and had no pulpit reputation. But within months, over one hundred thousand people were swept into the kingdom of God across Wales. Bars closed for lack of customers. Court dockets emptied for lack of crime. Miners who had cursed their mules underground began to speak so gently that the mules, it was said, no longer understood the commands, because the cursing had stopped.
That is not a Bible story. That happened in recorded history, documented by the newspapers of the day — and it happened because ordinary people got desperate enough to ask God to send the fire.
I believe McDonald County is one prayer meeting away from the same thing. I believe Anderson, Missouri, is not too small, too rural, or too overlooked for the fire of God to fall fresh upon it. Revival has never started in a place because that place was impressive. Revival starts wherever people get desperate enough to say, “Lord, do it again.” This morning we look at four passages that show what real revival is built on, what real revival prays, and what real revival looks like when the fire actually falls.
Point One
The Unshakable Foundation of Revival
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15:1–4, KJV
Notice the words Paul chooses: he does not say, “I have an opinion I would like to share.” He says, “I declare unto you the gospel.” Revival is never built on an opinion. It is built on a declaration — the unmovable, historical fact that Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
This matters for McDonald County because we live in a day when everybody wants revival to be a feeling. There is nothing wrong with the goosebumps, the music, the atmosphere, when it flows out of something real — but Paul says revival stands on something you can build a foundation on: “wherein ye stand.” Not wherein ye felt something once at a youth camp. Wherein ye stand — present tense, ongoing, planted.
Paul also warns that it is possible to have “believed in vain.” You can attend church your whole life in Anderson, sing every hymn from memory, know every back road to every revival meeting in McDonald County, and still have believed in vain if the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has never actually become the ground you stand on. The same gospel that shook Corinth, that shook Wales, that shook Azusa Street, is available to shake McDonald County today — because it has never changed. Revival always starts here, at the empty tomb, not at the platform.
Point Two
The Bold Prayer That Invites Revival
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10, KJV
If the gospel of 1 Corinthians 15 is the foundation of revival, the prayer of Matthew 6:10 is the door. Notice what the disciples are not taught to ask for — not “Lord, bless my plans,” but “let Your kingdom come, let Your will be done.”
This is a dangerous prayer to pray honestly, because it means asking God to interrupt whatever we already had planned for McDonald County, for Anderson, for this church, and replace it with what He wants instead. Revival has never come to a people who prayed, “Lord, bless what we are already doing.” It comes to a people who pray, “Lord, whatever it costs, let Your kingdom come here.”
In heaven there is no dead religion, no half-hearted worship, no argument over whether the Holy Ghost still moves the way He moved in the book of Acts — His will is done completely, joyfully, immediately. Jesus is teaching us to ask that same completeness of surrender invade earth. Invade McDonald County. Invade Anderson. Invade this altar. Revival is not something we manufacture through better music or a longer altar call — it is something we invite through this exact prayer. Not my kingdom. Not my comfort. Not my schedule. Thy kingdom.
Point Three
The Fire That Falls Fresh on a Seeking People
The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. Psalm 14:2, KJV
David paints a picture of God leaning over the balcony of heaven, searching the earth, looking for one thing — anyone who truly seeks Him. Not anyone who attends. Not anyone who has their name on a church roll in Anderson. Anyone who seeks. That is a searchlight verse. God is not looking at McDonald County to see how many buildings we have. He is looking to see if there is anyone who seeks Him.
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. Isaiah 61:1, KJV
Here is the wonder of it — when God finds a seeking heart, He does not leave it empty-handed. The anointing falls on whoever is seeking. The fire comes down on whoever is hungry enough to ask. This is the verse Jesus stood up and read in the synagogue at Nazareth before saying, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” That fire did not stay in first-century Israel, did not stay in Wales in 1904, did not stay on Azusa Street in 1906. The same Spirit of the Lord God is still looking for a seeking people to rest upon, tonight, in this room, in this side of McDonald County.
What This Means for Anderson Today
There are broken hearts in this room that need binding up — people bound by habits, by fear, by grief, by years of just going through the motions, who need the liberty Isaiah 61 promises. The fire of God’s Word is not a metaphor we sing about; it is a real, tangible, available anointing for anyone in McDonald County who will truly seek Him. When that happens, the fire does not just visit — it falls fresh, on marriages that were cold, on young people who were drifting, on preachers who were tired, right here in Anderson, Missouri, because God has never stopped searching for someone to fall on.