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Historian J.C. Ryle listed seven characteristics of the messengers during the Great Awakening of the eighteenth century:

1. They taught the supremacy of Holy Scripture.

2. They preached the total corruption of human nature.

3. They taught that Christ's death upon the cross was the only satisfaction for man's sin.

4. They preached the doctrine of justification by faith.

5. They taught the universal necessity of heart conversion and new creation by the Holy Spirit.

6. They spoke of God's eternal hatred against sin and of God's love for sinners.

7. They preached that there was an inseparable connection between true faith and personal holiness. They never allowed for moment that any church membership or religious profession was the least proof of a man being a Christian if he lived an ungodly life.

These awakeners continually cried, "No fruit, no grace." Jonathan Edwards believed that "every experience of God could be counterfeited except those with an insight into His holiness." An insight into the holiness of God will always produce life-style of a repentance. When one enters upon this highway called holiness, it does not mean that he is perfect. It does mean that he is walking down a road of change. Repentance means a change of heart or a change of mind. Throughout the Christian life we should be continually changed, or conformed, into the image of Jesus Christ. Source: https://www/preceptaustin.org/holiness_quotes

The evangelical always gives primacy to preaching, When people cease to be interested in preaching, they cease to be evangelical. If you put discussions before preaching you are beginning to deny your evangellcalism. The church starts with preaching. Revivals, reformations, have always been great restorations of preaching, To the evangelical, nothing compares with preaching. Even reading is very secondary to preaching - "truth medicated through personality," the impact of a man filled with the Spirit proclaiming the message of God!
Martyn Lloyd Jones 

No upsurge of religious interest or excitement merits the name of revival if there is no profound sense of sin at its heart. God's coming, and the consequent impact of His Word, makes Christians much more sensitive to sin than they previously were: consciences become tender and a profound humbling takes place. The perverseness, ugliness, uncleanness, and guilt of sin are seen and felt with new vividness.
J.l Packer 

Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late- and how little revival has resulted? I believe the problem is that we have been trying to substitute praying for obeying, and it simply will not work. To pray for revival while ignoring the plain precept laid down in Scripture is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble. Prayer wil become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience.
A.W. Tozer 

Powerful preaching is a hallmark of true revival. Revival preachers demonstrate their commitment to the authority and sufficiency of the Scriptures, with bold, urgent, and uncompromising preaching, as they set before God's people the way of life and death. Powerful, Spirit-filled sermons concerning sin, Christ and the cross penetrate the hearts of the saved and lost alike with the realities of eternity.
Henry Blackaby 

Some of these things the devil would not do if he could. He would not awaken the conscience and make men aware of their miserable state caused by sin. He would not make them aware of their great need of a Savior. The devil would not confirm men in the belief that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of sinners or raise men's value and esteem of Him. He would not generate in men's minds an opinion of the necessity, usefulness, and truth of the Holy Scriptures or induce them to make much use of them. Nor would he show men the truth in things that concern their souls' interest. He would not undeceive them and lead them out of darkness into light. He would not give them a view of things as they really are. Therefore, we may be sure that these marks are especially adapted to distinguish between the true Spirit and the devil transformed into an angel of light.
Jonathan Edwards 

Revival cannot be organized, but we can set our sails to catch the wind from heaven when God chooses to blow upon His people once again.
G. Campbell Morgan