AMANDA REPORTS: Barna Research Turns Up New Evidence of Revival Across America
(519 WORDS) — Older generations are seeing a turning toward God in younger adults, with prayer as a strong indicator signaling genuine spiritual revival could be on the horizon, recent Barna Group research suggests.
In an interview of 5,003 U.S. adults, research conducted by the Barna Group asked, “Do Americans Think Spiritual Revival Is Coming?”
The research conducted in partnership with Barna’s 2026 State of the Church initiative shows a growing number of Americans, especially those in Gen Z at 38 percent, believe a genuine spiritual revival movement is gathering strength in America.
With revival, millions of young Americans discover joy they’ve never before known.
Central to the findings revealed by the survey is a search for stability, meaning and purpose by younger generations. The findings also reveal a significant turning toward God as a result by Gen Z and Millennials.
“Younger generations appear to be looking to faith not only as a source of spiritual meaning but as an answer to the instability and isolation many have experienced coming of age in an era of pandemic, political fracture, and social disconnection.
“For older adults, the drivers skew toward more traditional spiritual categories. Boomers are considerably more likely than younger generations to cite young generations turning toward God,” the report says.
Every age group cited similar responses with prayer at 46 percent as the main reason revival is coming. Younger generations turning to God follows as a reason. Others noted yearning for meaning, a need for spiritual grounding against cultural decline, and a hunger for God.
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Responses from the Barna interviews reflect early American worldview shifts concerning faith and its importance to the nation, where prayer also served as a strong indicator for revival.
Surrounding American founding and American Revolutionary War years, the first Great Awakening began in the 1730s. A second revival followed in 1800, both sparking renewed manifestations of widespread and growing faith, the turning back to God as a nation.
An article by the C.S. Lewis Institute notes how prayer served as a beginning for early American revivals. The institute notes how Pastor Jonathan Edwards, who led the first Great Awakening, prayed before a 1734 sermon:
“In the Massachusetts village of Northampton, a black gowned Congregational minister of God knelt in prayer. He was burdened for the 1,100 souls of the little town who, he was convinced, were afflicted with the deadly spiritual disease of the day.”
Highlighting the significance of Edwards’ sermon after that prayer, the article continues, “That day in 1734 marked the birth of what in many respects was the most notable revival of religion America has ever experienced. Nothing like it had happened before. Nothing quite like it has happened since.”
Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield and many other pastors from early American revivals, influenced the nation’s founders and citizenry. Modern nationally known pastors like Billy Graham further influenced toward Christian revival, and others still today, with analogous challenges experienced by early American pastors.
Barna’s present-day research observes that another revival could parallel that of early American history should conditions for one flourish:
“Cultural openness to spiritual change often comes before revival does. Whether this moment produces lasting transformation will depend, in part, on whether church leaders are prepared to recognize and meet the spiritual stirring that is happening now.”