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Revival Starts Here: A Short Conversation on Prayer, Fasting, and Revival for Beginnings Like Me
REVIVAL AWAITS. WILL YOU JOIN WHAT GOD IS DOING?
Revival Starts Here is a short and pointed conversation about the way in which biblical prayer and fasting can prepare the way for fresh revival in our churches, our cities, our nation—and beyond.
In this book, Dave Clayton lights a signal fire as he calls the 21st-century church to return to the Lord through prayer and fasting.
If you long to experience revival, then this conversation is for you.
Will you join what God is doing?
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
—2 CHRONICLES 7:14
Revival Starts Here is a short and pointed conversation about the way in which biblical prayer and fasting can prepare the way for fresh revival in our churches, our cities, our nation—and beyond.
In this book, Dave Clayton lights a signal fire as he calls the 21st-century church to return to the Lord through prayer and fasting.
If you long to experience revival, then this conversation is for you.
Will you join what God is doing?
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
—2 CHRONICLES 7:14
79 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
22 people are currently reading
97 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 30, 2022
10/10 would recommend. We read this as a staff & it’s such a short/sweet book about how/why to practically incorporate fasting & prayer into your daily life. Easy to grasp onto & makes fasting less intimidating! Also yay for short books more people should write short books
December 17, 2019
I really liked this book, I thought it had a lot of good pieces to it. Very quick read, but a practical call to pray and fast specifically in the American church. It’s both inspires and equips as someone prepares for a season of prayer and fasting.
May 2, 2025
One of the disciplines we don’t talk about nearly enough in the United States is fasting. And yet, as Dave Clayton writes in Revival Starts Here, “You would be hard-pressed to find any significant movement of God across human history that was not first preceded by a group of faithful men and women who were committed to the Lord in prayer and thanksgiving” (p. 7). We don’t talk about fasting, because it takes discipline. However, it may bring us into an awareness of God’s love more than any other discipline.
This book has been super encouraging to me on my journey through life, and I wanted to review Revival Starts Here by Dave Clayton on this blog, to share it with others as well.
I first encountered Revival Starts Here a few years ago, when I was serving as the Lead Pastor at East Petersburg Mennonite Church. I was part of the Exponential’s Multipliers Learning Community and met Dave Clayton. I found him super encouraging. At the time, our church was in a season that required spiritual clarity, there was a lot of breakthrough needed, and I sensed God calling me—and our team—to engage in prayer and fasting. This book became a practical guide for me during that season. I had quoted from it with my team, but we also practiced fasting together as we discerned important decisions, including staffing transitions.
More recently, I returned to read Revival Starts Here once again – this time as part of my doctoral studies. While I had hoped for more emphasis on prayer, Clayton’s insights on fasting are still incredibly helpful. It reminded me that revival isn’t sparked by effort alone, but by a posture of humility before God. I am sure in the days ahead, it will be inspiring some conversations and practically for me personally, and for River Corner Church, a simple community of Jesus followers, that I am blessed to serve as a pastor.
As I shared, I first met Dave Clayton during my time in Exponential’s Multipliers Learning Community (2018-2019) — a cohort designed to help leaders navigate the future of the Church through peer learning and paradigm shifts. I was grateful to receive a grant that made my participation possible. During one of our gatherings, Dave shared about the work God was doing through Ethos Church in Nashville and the Awaken Nashville movement, which united more than 700 churches in a citywide effort of prayer and fasting. Dave’s humility, passion, and practical wisdom left a deep impression on me, and I was drawn to the way he spoke about prayer, fasting, and revival with both urgency and gentleness.
Revival Starts Here is short, readable, and rooted in Scripture. With the introduction and appendices, this book is just under eighty pages. As the tagline on the cover reads, it is “a short conversation on prayer, fasting, and revival.” It’s practical, not academic or theological —rather, it is designed for everyday followers of Jesus and entire church communities to engage with together. In this book, Dave writes from the angle of being on the journey with the reader, not as a professional.
In Part 1, Clayton opens by helping us see a future where our spiritual hunger—and our need for more of God—takes center stage. He writes, “This kind of future is only realized when the people of God become so collectively homesick for the kingdom of Heaven that we exchange our time, our comforts, our lives, and even our eating habits for more time in the presence of God” (p. 19). Fasting, he says, “begins with admitting that there must be more of God for people like us” (p. 19).
In the next section, Part 2, Clayton helps us reframe fasting from a heavy burden into a life-giving invitation. He reminds us that “fasting is not about us somehow getting God’s attention. Instead, fasting is about God getting all of our attention” (p. 30). The practice invites us into a deeper awareness of God’s presence in the secret places of our lives.
Clayton then identifies in Part 3 several barriers that keep us from fasting and deeper spiritual intimacy: self-sufficiency, hunger for worldly pleasures, self-gratification, humanism, undisciplined living, and a lack of biblical vision. But he also offers powerful breakthroughs that can result from fasting, such as deepened friendship with God, increased spiritual hunger, growth in self-denial, greater intimacy and strength against temptation, answered prayer, and an increased awareness of our need for humility. Many people, he notes, even experience freedom from spiritual strongholds—both personally and in the world around them.
In Part 4, the book then moves into practical steps for beginning a fast, offering guidance on how to prepare your heart and discern whether to pursue a major, minor, or partial fast. “Prepare your heart,” he writes. “Remember, fasting is about your commitment to the Lord. I find it helpful to spend time in confession and repentance before entering a fast” (p. 39).
The final section of the book (Part 5) offers encouragement for the journey itself—what to do during a fast, how to stay the course, and what to reflect on afterward. Clayton reminds us that “Scripture promises that God will respond to repentant, humble hearts” (p. 58). He emphasizes the importance of not just starting strong but finishing well.
The book closes with three important appendices that are not to be skipped: a guide for fasting throughout a single day, tips for involving your children, and a blueprint for fasting together as a church.
Fasting is a way of giving our whole selves to God by letting go of the things that tend to grip us most tightly—comfort, control, and self-reliance. It creates space for God to take hold of us where we’ve been holding on to lesser things. In a world where we’re constantly filled and distracted, fasting helps us become empty enough to be filled with what truly matters.
Revival Starts Here is not a theological deep dive. It’s not meant to be. It’s a practical, pastoral resource designed to guide people into a spiritual practice that’s too often neglected. And in a world of spiritual noise, fasting helps us quiet ourselves enough to hear from God.
If you’re longing for revival in your life, your church, your city—this book is for you. Dave Clayton gives us more than a call to action. He gives us a reminder that revival doesn’t begin in a crowd. It begins in the quiet, humble hearts of those who are willing to fast and pray.
This book has been super encouraging to me on my journey through life, and I wanted to review Revival Starts Here by Dave Clayton on this blog, to share it with others as well.
I first encountered Revival Starts Here a few years ago, when I was serving as the Lead Pastor at East Petersburg Mennonite Church. I was part of the Exponential’s Multipliers Learning Community and met Dave Clayton. I found him super encouraging. At the time, our church was in a season that required spiritual clarity, there was a lot of breakthrough needed, and I sensed God calling me—and our team—to engage in prayer and fasting. This book became a practical guide for me during that season. I had quoted from it with my team, but we also practiced fasting together as we discerned important decisions, including staffing transitions.
More recently, I returned to read Revival Starts Here once again – this time as part of my doctoral studies. While I had hoped for more emphasis on prayer, Clayton’s insights on fasting are still incredibly helpful. It reminded me that revival isn’t sparked by effort alone, but by a posture of humility before God. I am sure in the days ahead, it will be inspiring some conversations and practically for me personally, and for River Corner Church, a simple community of Jesus followers, that I am blessed to serve as a pastor.
As I shared, I first met Dave Clayton during my time in Exponential’s Multipliers Learning Community (2018-2019) — a cohort designed to help leaders navigate the future of the Church through peer learning and paradigm shifts. I was grateful to receive a grant that made my participation possible. During one of our gatherings, Dave shared about the work God was doing through Ethos Church in Nashville and the Awaken Nashville movement, which united more than 700 churches in a citywide effort of prayer and fasting. Dave’s humility, passion, and practical wisdom left a deep impression on me, and I was drawn to the way he spoke about prayer, fasting, and revival with both urgency and gentleness.
Revival Starts Here is short, readable, and rooted in Scripture. With the introduction and appendices, this book is just under eighty pages. As the tagline on the cover reads, it is “a short conversation on prayer, fasting, and revival.” It’s practical, not academic or theological —rather, it is designed for everyday followers of Jesus and entire church communities to engage with together. In this book, Dave writes from the angle of being on the journey with the reader, not as a professional.
In Part 1, Clayton opens by helping us see a future where our spiritual hunger—and our need for more of God—takes center stage. He writes, “This kind of future is only realized when the people of God become so collectively homesick for the kingdom of Heaven that we exchange our time, our comforts, our lives, and even our eating habits for more time in the presence of God” (p. 19). Fasting, he says, “begins with admitting that there must be more of God for people like us” (p. 19).
In the next section, Part 2, Clayton helps us reframe fasting from a heavy burden into a life-giving invitation. He reminds us that “fasting is not about us somehow getting God’s attention. Instead, fasting is about God getting all of our attention” (p. 30). The practice invites us into a deeper awareness of God’s presence in the secret places of our lives.
Clayton then identifies in Part 3 several barriers that keep us from fasting and deeper spiritual intimacy: self-sufficiency, hunger for worldly pleasures, self-gratification, humanism, undisciplined living, and a lack of biblical vision. But he also offers powerful breakthroughs that can result from fasting, such as deepened friendship with God, increased spiritual hunger, growth in self-denial, greater intimacy and strength against temptation, answered prayer, and an increased awareness of our need for humility. Many people, he notes, even experience freedom from spiritual strongholds—both personally and in the world around them.
In Part 4, the book then moves into practical steps for beginning a fast, offering guidance on how to prepare your heart and discern whether to pursue a major, minor, or partial fast. “Prepare your heart,” he writes. “Remember, fasting is about your commitment to the Lord. I find it helpful to spend time in confession and repentance before entering a fast” (p. 39).
The final section of the book (Part 5) offers encouragement for the journey itself—what to do during a fast, how to stay the course, and what to reflect on afterward. Clayton reminds us that “Scripture promises that God will respond to repentant, humble hearts” (p. 58). He emphasizes the importance of not just starting strong but finishing well.
The book closes with three important appendices that are not to be skipped: a guide for fasting throughout a single day, tips for involving your children, and a blueprint for fasting together as a church.
Fasting is a way of giving our whole selves to God by letting go of the things that tend to grip us most tightly—comfort, control, and self-reliance. It creates space for God to take hold of us where we’ve been holding on to lesser things. In a world where we’re constantly filled and distracted, fasting helps us become empty enough to be filled with what truly matters.
Revival Starts Here is not a theological deep dive. It’s not meant to be. It’s a practical, pastoral resource designed to guide people into a spiritual practice that’s too often neglected. And in a world of spiritual noise, fasting helps us quiet ourselves enough to hear from God.
If you’re longing for revival in your life, your church, your city—this book is for you. Dave Clayton gives us more than a call to action. He gives us a reminder that revival doesn’t begin in a crowd. It begins in the quiet, humble hearts of those who are willing to fast and pray.
April 18, 2023
This is an excellent primer on fasting with practical helps for getting started and making it a regular part of your walk with God. It’s short and encouraging and every believer who no or little experience fasting should consider reading. Dave Clayton describes a beautiful invitation to deeper intimacy and clarity with God and challenges church leaders to make fasting a consistent part of the life of their church.
February 25, 2021
Very informative
I loved every aspect of this book because it explained what praying and fasting means and what aspects to look at as we fast and pray. I would recommend this book to every Christian who wants a true revival for themselves, their families, their churches, and their communities and nations!
I loved every aspect of this book because it explained what praying and fasting means and what aspects to look at as we fast and pray. I would recommend this book to every Christian who wants a true revival for themselves, their families, their churches, and their communities and nations!
February 16, 2022
This is mostly a book on fasting. Not a topic we hear much about, much less find books on. It’s practical and appropriately tied to prayer. Prayer and fasting are seen over and over as an essential precursor to revival. May we be driven to elevate the importance of both in our lives because revival and reaching the lost are so important to us.
January 20, 2019
This book is a good, short introduction to fasting. As such, it doesn't go into significant detail. But it provides a good overview of why, ideas on how, and inspiration as to what can come out of prayer and fasting.
January 25, 2019
Quick read in preparation for my city's upcoming time of fasting and prayer. For the first time in my life, I'm going to try fasting, and this definitely gave me an extra little push to give it a go.
January 23, 2020
I needed to read this for our small group at church. It's a great, quick read on the whys of a season of prayer and fasting. A good preparation guide with some practical tips and good encouragement.
June 14, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed this short book. I have been reading it since February and found it really helpful, but also authentic and real. Everything was described with clarity when such a topic is so difficult to discuss. I also found the insights incredibly helpful in my own spiritual journey.
September 6, 2021
Small, but powerful and practical resource for starting (or continuing) a practice of prayer and fasting. It is especially applicable corporately, but it has been extremely helpful to me individually as well. Highly recommend.
February 4, 2020
Very helpful information for someone who is looking to connect or reconnect with GOD and/or is considering a fast as an individual or community.
May 10, 2021
A wonderful primer on the disciplines of prayer and fasting. Not too heady and immediately applicable. Short but with a punch!
May 11, 2021
Short but to the point! Must read if you are serious about following Jesus command about fasting and praying.
July 25, 2023
Encouraging and practical. Will read again!
February 20, 2024
A short, but comprehensive guide on fasting.
July 24, 2024
Short, sweet, and to the point! Is a great beginning guide to understanding prayer and fasting, and why it’s so important.
December 2, 2024
Quick read but full of good information
December 11, 2024
I recommend this book. It does a great job of exploring both the spiritual and practical aspects of fasting. It is concise and can be read in one sitting.
December 23, 2025
This was very thought-provoking and inspiring. Not entirely as prescriptive as I expected. The blog has great resources.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews