Scriptures and Key Points:
Historically, most outpourings, awakening, revivals, and moves of God have come in the midst of some of the most thunderous and difficult storms.
Hebrews 12:25-29 NKJV … now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.
Psalm 2 NKJV Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?…
Isaiah 13:4-13 NKJV The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like that of many people!..
Romans 8:18-23 NKJV …For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now…
Jude NKJV …Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority…
- The Book of Jude speaks of increases in apostasy, false teaching and in-your-face disregard for the name of the Lord and His people.
- Prepare, Prepare, Prepare. Prepare a people, Prepare the Bride (the Church), Prepare an Ark of Refuge. Sound the Alarm, Stop Pushing the Snooze Buttons, The Wake Up Call is here.
Revelation 19:7 NKJV Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.
Are we corporately and individually prepared for the storms and days ahead?
Hebrews 11:7 NKJV By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
- We, as the Church, need to be prepared as an ark of refuge for those facing storms and challenges.
Isaiah 40:3 NKJV The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
- We need to be a corporate voice crying in the wilderness.
- God will bring exposures in the church and in the world.
- There will be implosions of the things we put our security in.
- In the midst of the storms, we will see explosions of God’s outpouring.
- We can’t change what’s happened, but we can take advantage of the opportunities to be a light in the middle of dark circumstances.
- We need to be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and the needs of people around us.
Exodus 19:10 NLT Then the Lord told Moses, “Go down and prepare the people for my arrival. Consecrate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing.”
Exodus 19:22 NLT Even the priests who regularly come near to the Lord must purify themselves so that the Lord does not break out and destroy them.
We need to have personal introspection and reflection to face our challenges.
- True revival happens when we humble ourselves in genuine worship, personal repentance, and acknowledging that our only hope lies in the power of God.
“Revival is no more a miracle than a crop of wheat.” – Charles Finney
“I’ve had a strong stirring in my heart and my spirit for authentic transforming revival. I sense God wants to do a mighty thing in our nation once again but we, His Bride, need to be prepared. God is calling us to a season of passionate pursuit of Him. I sense a need to mobilize an army of intercessors who will PRAY the price for His Abiding Presence to once again inhabit His people. This is not about just another visitation. We are asking for a committed group of believers to consistently cry out for a spiritual awakening personally, in their community, in the Church, and across our nation…” – Doug Stringer
- Those who tell and reflect the story define the narrative and create the history.
“Revival is the impact of the personality of Christ on a community” – Duncan Campbell
“When God finds someone with courage to pray and live a life of holiness and compassion, He can literally change the face of a nation.” – Winkie Pratney
- We need men and women of courage who are lovers of truth more than life itself.
- We need those who will press through the storms.
“In any community, revival can be secured from heaven when heroic souls enter the conflict determined to win or die—or if need be, to win AND die.” – Charles Finney
“Oh God, give me souls or I die!” – John Hyde
Many great outpourings come during times of storms and challenges.
“In 1806, five Williams College students met by the Hoosic River in Massachusetts near a grove of trees to discuss how to reach the world with the Gospel. Suddenly a thunderstorm poured down torrential rain and the students hid next to a haystack till it passed.” – William Federer
“The brevity of the shower, the strangeness of the place of refuge, and the peculiarity of their topic of prayer and conference all took hold of their imaginations and their memories. The Haystack Prayer Meeting led to the founding of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, which in the next 50 years sent out 1,250 missionaries to India, China, Hawaii, southeast Asian countries. In 150 years, it sent out 5,000 to mission fields around the world. Missionaries established schools, hospitals and translated the Bible into indigenous languages, even creating written languages.” – Arthur Latham Perry
“Four years later after the Haystack Prayer Meeting in Bradford, MA, they formed the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Their objective was to spread Christianity world-wide. In 1812, they sent their first band of missionaries from Bradford, which included Adoniram Judson and Ann Hasseltine. One hundred years later at the centennial celebration of the first missionaries sent, John R. Mott came to Bradford to commemorate the task that they had begun, and to call for the fulfillment of that task. The watch word for that new Student Missions Movement became “The Evangelization of the World in This Generation”. The students of the Northeast are poised and positioned for another great awakening, and an unprecedented missionary sending.” – Bethany Yeo-Temple
“… My friends testify to the gentle, loving, healing presence of the Spirit. If there was ever a generation in need of this kind of love of God—it’s now.” – Dr. Jeff Greenway, former President of Asbury
It’s time to come together multigenerational, multiethnic and cross denominational to become something bigger than ourselves.
Luke 21:13 NKJV But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.
- When the storms come, God can use them as a testimony in our lives.
1 Samuel 1-2 NKJV Hannah’s Story
“Let the fire spread. There’s a big football game going on in Glendale, Arizona today, but there’s a more important event going on in Wilmore, Kentucky. A revival. One is temporal, and one has eternal implications. Throughout history, God has chosen to interrupt our human plans and bring a divine outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Day of Pentecost was an example (Acts 2). 50+ years ago, an outpouring happened at Duquesne University that led to a Charismatic Catholic Renewal that transformed millions.
And it still is happening. This week, an extraordinary move of God has been going on at Asbury University in Kentucky. At a student chapel at school, worship led to a time of repentance and testimonies. The Glory of the Lord has sat on this place, now for 96+ hours. “The Holy Spirit was tangible in the room,” said Anneli White a student at the University of Kentucky and a member at Immanuel Baptist Church. “Chains were broken, confession happened, and God was praised as holy, holy, holy.” Both the 1970 revival at Asbury and this one happened when our nation was at great unrest, and both began during a student chapel service. Reports have this spreading across the nation and world. Hallelujah!!!! Let the fire spread!!” – Glenn Burris
- We need to be wholly surrendered to the Lord.
- Honor the Lord in all you say, do, and think.
- We can trust God through the storms of life.
Links:
- “The Whole Earth Groans With Birth Pangs” by Doug Stringer
- “All That Can Be Shaken, Will Be Shaken” by Doug Stringer
- “Are We Spiritually Prepared & Fit for the Days Before Us?” by Doug Stringer
- “Create In Me A Clean Heart” podcast
- Northpoint Bible College
- “An Unlikely Spark for Revival” by Doug Stringer
Books:
- Revival: Its Principles and Personalities by Winkie Pratney
- Williamstown and Williams College by Arthur Latham Perry
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