Awakening a Sleeping Church

"The lights were on. The programs were running. The people were present. But the life was missing."

In 2004, a small but busy church in the Midwest was proud of its programs. They had weekly services, potlucks, youth events, and a budget that balanced every year. On paper, they looked healthy. But when a new pastor arrived, he started asking unsettling questions:

“When was the last time someone gave their life to Christ here?”
“Who are we discipling?”
“When was the last time we changed anything because the Holy Spirit moved us?”

Silence.

One elder admitted, “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen someone baptized here outside of kids growing up.” Another said, “We just assumed if we stayed busy, we were doing fine.”

That church wasn’t rebellious. It wasn’t heretical. It was just… asleep. Still gathering. Still singing. Still functioning. But the spiritual pulse was weak—and no one noticed.

Many churches today are still active—but spiritually asleep. They sing songs, preach sermons, run ministries… but there’s no fire, no fruit, no transformation. Could it be that your church is on autopilot—going through the motions while the Holy Spirit waits outside the door?

Is Your Church Asleep?

What Is a Sleeping Church? A sleeping church is a congregation that maintains the outward form of Christianity—meetings, ministries, traditions, and routines—yet lacks the inward power of the Holy Spirit. It is spiritually drowsy, complacent, and unaware of its true condition. A sleeping church is not dead, but it is not fully alive either. It is living beneath God’s purpose, unaware of its urgency, and unaffected by His presence.

Lets look at six signs that your church may be asleep:

1. Loss of First Love (Revelation 2:4) – Passion Replaced by Programs

- The church in Ephesus was doctrinally sound and active in service—but Jesus rebuked them for leaving their first love. A sleeping church often looks busy but has forgotten why it exists: to love God passionately and love others sacrificially. When ministry becomes routine and Jesus becomes a concept instead of a consuming fire, spiritual slumber sets in. Programs replace intimacy. Activity replaces affection. The heart grows cold even while the hands are full.

2. Prayerlessness – Earnest Prayer Is Rare, Mechanical, or Absent

- Prayer is the lifeblood of a vibrant church. A sleeping church treats prayer like a formality—an opening and closing activity rather than a vital connection to divine power. When prayer meetings are sparsely attended or nonexistent, and spontaneous prayer is rare, it’s a sign that the church is operating on human strength rather than spiritual dependence.

3. Little to No Evangelism – No New Spiritual Births, No Burden for the Lost

- A church that has stopped reaching the lost has begun dying inwardly. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and He commissioned the church to do the same. A sleeping church may love fellowship but has no urgency for outreach. Baptisms are rare. Testimonies of transformation are missing. There's no spiritual “labor room” where new life is born. Without evangelism, a church becomes a spiritual cul-de-sac instead of a highway to heaven.

Conviction check: When was the last time someone was baptized or discipled in your church?

4. Focus on Tradition Over Transformation – Routine Without Revival

- A sleeping church confuses ritual with revival and history with holiness. There's nothing wrong with tradition—but when it becomes a substitute for real change, it stifles the Spirit. These churches resist fresh direction from God because “we’ve always done it this way.” The priority becomes preserving comfort and familiarity instead of pursuing holiness and mission. The past is worshiped while the present decays.

Reality check: Are we more afraid of change than we are of spiritual decline?

5. Division, Disengagement, or Disinterest – Lukewarm Relationships and Worship

- In a sleeping church, relationships grow cold, cliques form, and many members begin to disengage. Unity is superficial, and worship feels hollow. People show up, but their hearts are far away—from God and from each other. Gossip may replace grace, and personal preferences take precedence over kingdom purpose. The warmth of brotherly love (John 13:35) is replaced by passive attendance or private dissatisfaction.

6. Biblical Illiteracy or Spiritual Superficiality – More Opinion Than Scripture

- A spiritually asleep church lacks depth. Sermons become motivational talks, small groups drift into self-help circles, and biblical truth takes a back seat to personal opinion or cultural trends. Members may carry Bibles but rarely study them. The Word is no longer the main meal—it becomes optional or diluted. Without strong doctrine, the church is vulnerable to deception and spiritual stagnation.

Are we making disciples rooted in the Word—or consumers shaped by the world?

No Need to Despair

Recognizing that a church is spiritually asleep is not meant to discourage—it’s meant to awaken us to our need and point us to the only One who can revive us. The good news is this: God never reveals our condition without also offering a cure. In love, He calls us not to despair, but to return—to seek Him afresh and receive the power to live again.

The Bible gives us not just a diagnosis of the sleeping church but a divine prescription. Two powerful passages—Revelation 3 and Ezekiel 37—reveal the remedy: Come to Jesus and be revived by His Word and Spirit.

🔥 Revelation 3:14–22 – Lukewarm but not Lost

In His message to the church of Laodicea, Jesus confronts a spiritually indifferent and self-satisfied congregation—a sleeping church. He says:

“You say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.” (Rev. 3:17)

Yet He immediately offers hope:

“I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed... and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.” (v. 18)

Jesus doesn’t abandon the sleeping church—He knocks (v. 20). He invites us back into communion with Him. The solution is not more religious activity—it is to come to Jesus for the true riches of heaven:

- Gold = faith and love purified through trial

- White garments = Christ’s righteousness imputed and imparted

- Eye salve = spiritual discernment and Holy Spirit insight

“Be zealous and repent,” He pleads. Revival begins when we return to the Source.

💨 Ezekiel 37:1–14 – Dry but not Destroyed

In the vision of the valley of dry bones, Ezekiel is led by God into a hopeless scene—scattered, lifeless bones. It is a picture of Israel in spiritual exile, but it powerfully represents what happens when God’s people are spiritually dead.

God asks, “Can these bones live?”
Ezekiel replies, “O Lord God, You know.”

Then God gives the answer:

“Prophesy to these bones… hear the word of the Lord!” (v. 4)
“Prophesy to the breath… Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” (v. 9)

And it happens—bones come together, flesh appears, and finally, the breath (Spirit) enters them, and they stand—an exceedingly great army.

This is the divine formula for revival:

- The Word of God spoken in faith

- The Spirit of God moving with power

“So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived…” (v. 10)

The Bible is clear: the remedy for a sleeping church is the Spirit and the Word. One without the other is incomplete. The Word instructs and awakens. The Spirit empowers and transforms.

Tangible Steps to Wake up The Church

Based on what Scripture teaches us, what are some practical things we can do to awaken a sleeping church, to bring the dead to life?

1. Spirit-Led Preaching of the Word

“Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!’” (Ezekiel 37:4)

Ezekiel didn’t speak his own thoughts—he preached as God commanded, and the bones began to rattle. Spirit-empowered preaching is the spark that ignites revival. It's not entertainment or mere information—it is truth declared with divine authority, exposing sin, exalting Christ, and exhorting the people to make a decision. Preaching that awakens the church is:

- Rooted in Scripture

- Driven by conviction

- Empowered by the Spirit

- Aimed at the heart

- Connected with action

“The preaching of the word is of no avail without the presence and aid of the Holy Spirit.” —Testimonies to Ministers, p. 159

A sleeping church won’t awaken with soft, shallow sermons. We need truth that cuts, convicts, and calls us to life.

2. Fervent and United Prayer

“These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication…” (Acts 1:14)

Every true revival—Pentecost, the Reformation, the Great Awakenings, you name it—began when people got on their knees and refused to let go of God until He answered. Prayer is the posture of desperation. It’s the church crying out, “Lord, we cannot live without You!” And it usually starts with just a few—burdened, broken, persistent.

God multiplies the hunger of a handful into a movement of the many. It’s not about eloquent words, but earnest hearts.

“A revival need be expected only in answer to prayer.” —Selected Messages, Vol. 1, p. 121

If we want to see revival, we must stop waiting for others to pray and start praying ourselves.

3. Honest Repentance and Humility

“Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off.” (Ezekiel 37:11)

True revival begins with honest confession of our condition. Israel had to acknowledge their dryness and despair before God could breathe new life into them. A sleeping church must stop pretending and start repenting. We must be willing to humble ourselves, admit our apathy, and confess our sin—personally and corporately.

God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). And He promises:

“If My people... will humble themselves, and pray... and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear...” (2 Chron. 7:14)

“The Lord can do nothing toward the recovery of man until, convinced of his own weakness... he puts his trust in God.” —Ministry of Healing, p. 455

4. A Fresh Infilling of the Holy Spirit

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.” (John 6:63)
“Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” (Ezekiel 37:9)

No revival has ever happened without a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Strategies, programs, and committees have their place—but they are powerless without the breath of God. The church today needs less machinery and more unction—less professionalism and more Pentecost.

The Spirit comes in power when we make room through:

- Full surrender

- Earnest prayer

- Unity of purpose

- Faith in God’s promise

- Time in the Word

“The descent of the Holy Spirit upon the church is looked forward to as in the future, but it is the privilege of the church to have it now.” —Evangelism, p. 701

Let us stop settling for small measures when God is ready to pour out rivers.

5. Recommitment to Mission

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...” (Matthew 28:19–20)

Revived churches don’t turn inward—they overflow outward. The mark of genuine awakening is not just deeper worship, but bolder witness. When God revives His people, He sends them back into the world with His heart for the lost. We become soldiers, not spectators—fishers, not keepers of the aquarium.

A sleeping church hoards the gospel. A revived church heralds it—at work, at school, in neighborhoods, and online.

“Every true disciple is born into the kingdom of God as a missionary.” —Desire of Ages, p. 195

We don’t need to wait for a committee. Every revived believer becomes a carrier of the flame.

Are you willing to be an Ezekiel for your church?

God needs people who will prophesy to the bones—who will speak life into the lifeless, pray fervently, and refuse to settle into the slumber party.

Start with yourself:

Revival begins in one heart before it spreads to the body. Ask God to breathe on you today.

The Hebrides Revival (1949–1952)

In the late 1940s, the churches on the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides, Scotland, were dying. No young people were attending. Prayer meetings were cold and routine. Church leaders admitted that the congregations were “dead as can be.”

But two elderly sisters—Peggy and Christine Smith, aged 84 and 82—were burdened for their island. Peggy was blind, and Christine was nearly bent double with arthritis. Yet they committed themselves to pray fervently in their small cottage, asking God to awaken the church and revive the land.

One night, God gave Peggy a vision of the churches filled with young people and the community stirred by the presence of God. She sent word to the local pastor: “You must call the elders and pray. Revival is coming.”

They obeyed. A group of men began praying in a barn. Night after night, they sought the Lord until one young man stood up, broken, and cried, “God, are my hands clean? Is my heart pure?”

That night, the presence of God descended powerfully on the village. People were awakened from their sleep, weeping under conviction. Fields, roadsides, and homes became altars. The churches overflowed. Souls were saved by the hundreds. Revival had come—not through strategy, but through spirit-filled surrender.

That sleeping church had awakened… and it started with two.

It’s time to wake up.

The church doesn’t need more noise—it needs new life.
Dry bones can live again, but not without the Spirit and the Word. Not without repentance. Not without prayer.

God is not waiting on the world to change—He’s waiting on His church to awaken.

Will you be the spark?

Start on your knees.

Surrender your will.
Open the Word.
Cry out for the Spirit.
Speak life.
And lead your church from slumber to revival.

“Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” —Ephesians 5:14