Longing for Revival

Longing for Revival
InterVarsity Press
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“James Choung and Ryan Pfeiffer take you on a remarkable journey in Longing for Revival by authentically sharing their own search for revival. They share the ups and downs of their faith all the while helping us believe that revival is possible today. If you long to see revival and want to be a part of one, you’ll want to read this book!”
Dave Ferguson, lead pastor of Community Christian Church, and author of Hero Maker


Revival begins with God. But it’s lived out through us. While we can’t determine how God will act, we can be expectant and anticipate his work. And revivals are not just experienced, they can be led.

James Choung and Ryan Pfeiffer have seen revival in their own ministries, with remarkable transformation in both individuals and communities. They unpack what revival looks like, how Christians can anticipate it, and how they can experience it in their own lives and in larger movements. They provide a model of revival leadership for Christians who want to facilitate and spread revival in their contexts, with implications for evangelism, mission, and growth.

We all need a spiritual breakthrough. Discover what revival can look like for you and those around you.

More Endorsements

“There’s no better time than the present for a grounded, holistic, and strategic book on revival. James Choung and Ryan Pfeiffer have masterfully crafted a timely book that deals with head, heart, and hands in sustaining times of revival. Longing for, pursuing, and persisting toward revival are important precursors to sustaining and multiplying a move of God’s Spirit among a people. You cannot read their book on revival without being profoundly moved to pray, ‘Lord, do it again!’ Read this book, learn from their experiences, and be shaped through their insights into all it takes to be ready for a move of God.”
Ed Stetzer, Billy Graham Distinguished Chair of Church, Mission, and Evangelism, executive director of the Billy Graham Center, Wheaton College

“At this time in history, there is a critical need for serious answers to the condition of our world. This book is honest, convincing, hopeful, redemptive, and thorough, and provides a way for every follower of Jesus to become part of the answer, no matter your age and place in life. It is a must-read for every church leader!”
Tammy Dunahoo, vice president of US Operations, the Foursquare Church

“It is so helpful when someone tackles a word or theme when there are so many opinions as to what it means. James and Ryan have done a great service to all of us by doing just that. As a friend once said to me, ‘The problem with words is, you do not know where they have been.’ This is a book that will feed the hungry pilgrim and renew a longing prayer that lies within so many hearts.”
Phil Strout, national director, Vineyard USA

“For years now, I have been waiting for a book like this to come across my desk. As a pastor in a rapidly shifting context, I have myself been longing for revival, and this book has nourished my imagination. Revival can be an experienced reality today.”
Tara Beth Leach, senior pastor of PazNaz, author of Emboldened

“Every generation needs its own revival. My generation of boomers experienced the Jesus movement. We witnessed thousands of counterculture people, who had said no to organized religion, say yes to radically following Jesus. It’s time for a twenty-first century awakening. These thoughtful pages are filled with hope that may break up the fallow ground and prepare our hearts for a fresh move of heaven.”
Mark Foreman, lead pastor of North Coast Calvary Chapel, author of Wholly Jesus and Never Say No

“Despite all our prayers for revival, it remains a poorly understood phenomenon. So I’m particularly grateful for this exciting and helpful book on revival. It brings clarity, wisdom and challenge in its pages: may it also bring revival too!”
Rev. Canon J.John, Evangelist

“One thing we know is that revival is something from the heart of God. Church history has shown us that revival is crucial to any person, church, and society. I appreciate this book and its desire to help us understand something that is beautiful and strange yet very necessary to the awakening of the church and seeing reformation and transformation take place in society today.”
Eric Johnson, senior pastor of Bethel Church

“Nothing more is needed in the church other than revival at the present time. James and Ryan have done us a great service by bringing forth Longing for Revival. I strongly believe that this book serves all Christian leaders in all spectrums of leadership, because revival should be the prayer of every church in every part of the world. In Longing for Revival, the authors have woven together a vast array of crucial topics of defining revival, experiencing revival, and leading revival. The chapters on the breakthrough U curve have challenged my ways of how I deal with all the frustrations that I am faced with in the ministry that I am leading. The chapter on ministry and strategy has given me insight into how I should reconcile the paradox. I applaud the impact of this book and invite you to read it and join the big rally of longing for revival around the globe.”
Robel C. Disasa, general secretary of Evangelical Students Union of Ethiopia

“The healer of souls is on the move! I hope that this book will ignite a fire in your soul to join the movement.”
Jon Foreman, Switchfoot

“This book will equip younger (and older) leaders to long for and lead revival. I deeply appreciate the balance James and Ryan bring, integrating sacrifice and blessing, humility and authority, acts of power and servanthood, love and prophetic courage, strategy and prayer, and evangelism and multiethnicity. Rarely do these concepts and practices come together in a healthy, mature, and sustainable vision of God at work reviving and revitalizing God’s people. May God use this book in the lives of many!”
Rick Richardson, professor of evangelism and leadership at Wheaton College, author of You Found Me

“Many of us longing for spiritual revival have run the gamut of various how-to manuals and texts on the topic. Often, they have left us drier and emptier than when we started. In this book Choung and Pfeiffer lead us through the various elements of revival that address the head, heart, and hands. This book offers the stirrings of steps forward toward a spiritual revival that is necessary for the next generation of Christianity.”
Soong-Chan Rah, Milton B. Engebretson Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary, author of The Next Evangelicalism and Prophetic Lament

“In my weaker moments I’m content with mere programs of our own making. But deep down I long to be a part of a genuine work of God. Longing for Revival is bursting with the clarity, inspiration, and wise counsel we all need to get involved in what God himself is already doing around us.”
Don Everts, author of The Reluctant Witness and The Spiritually Vibrant Home

“A powerful and must-read primer for anyone longing for revival. Choung and Pfeiffer vulnerably present a thoughtful, biblically grounded framework, without silver bullets or shallow formulas. Longing for Revival will inspire and transform not only your leadership but also your faith!”
Tom Lin, president and chief executive officer, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA

“I love spiritually insightful leadership books, and this is a gem! The chapter on the ‘breakthrough U-curve’ will totally change how you approach God with your disappointments and failures. And the genius of the ‘mystery/strategy paradox’ is worth the price of the book all by itself. Enjoy!”
Doug Schaupp, national director of evangelism, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA, coauthor, I Once Was Lost and Breaking the Huddle

“This is an amazing book. Ryan Pfeiffer and James Choung share their honest, personal journeys, dig deeply into the character of God and his word, and give an overview of global revival history to see what can be learned from it. And there is a lot! The book is brimming with thoughtful wisdom and experience, and is practical and visual in its explanations. As I read it I was challenged, convicted, and energized. This is revival theology at its best!”
Tor Erling Fagermoen, regional secretary of International Fellowship of Evangelical Students Europe

“This is a much-needed book to awaken our hearts with a longing for Jesus’ glory to be revealed to a lost and broken world. Just a moment of his presence can transform a community, and this book will build your faith for another Great Awakening.”
Gerard Long, president of Awakening to God Ministries, former president of Alpha USA