The Holy Spirit, the Book of Acts and Revival: 12 So pray for this!

‘He took the Bible and opened to the book of Acts. He called attention to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and then proceeded through the book pointing out the great, outstanding revelations and phenomena in it. Then he spoke these words: “This is Pentecost as God gave it through the heart of Jesus. STRIVE FOR THIS. CONTEND FOR THIS. TEACH THE PEOPLE TO PRAY FOR THIS. For this, and this alone, will meet the necessity of the human heart, and this alone will have the power to overcome the forces of darkness.” As he was departing, he said: “PRAY. PRAY. PRAY. Teach the people to pray. Prayer and prayer alone, much prayer, persistent prayer, is the door of entrance into the heart of God.”’[1]

When we read of the height and the depth and the breadth of how God worked so powerfully and effectually in the book of Acts, we begin to get a vision of what God can do, of how he can work, and of how he desires to work through his people today.

The prayer that then naturally arises from the depth of our heart becomes for God to do these things again. And this is indeed how God would have us pray, and it is what he would have us press into. He desires to work on this scale and in this depth once again. This is how he would have things be. This is how he wants to work. This is what he wants to do. This is what he yearns for. So, as we pray for God to do these things again, we can take encouragement from the words of the prophet Ezekiel: ‘I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them.’ (Ezek. 36:37 AV).

Of course, this is and needs to become a corporate prayer, rather than simply the praying of a few scattered individuals. But when one heart becomes aflame with desire, then other hearts which are hungry and thirsty begin to catch fire as well. Fire spreads and consumes where tinder wood is dry and ready. Momentum gathers, synergy grows, and people move together when their vision and spiritual energy come together and unite as one.

When I read these blogs through and gain some understanding of the profound depth and comprehensiveness with which God can work – and still desires to work – in revival, I become convicted that there is still much he can do in and through my own life. There are deeper depths and greater heights in God that he would have me plumb and rise up to, if I will follow him more closely and in greater obedience. There are things in my life which hinder him from working in deeper and more powerful ways, and, if I am to see him working, then I need to address these things and deal with them. He needs to be able to dig down deeper in me, and I need to become more open to him working in and through me, if the borders of my territory in him are to be extended outwardly, as Jabez prayed.

So there we have it. Pentecost. Revival. God’s manifest presence. God’s demonstrated power. God moving and working, revealing, breaking through, overcoming, convicting, creating, building. To establish his will, his people and his desires on planet earth. He wants to save, to heal and to set free just as much today as he has ever done before. Today is the day of God’s salvation, the day of his presence and power, the day of vision and deliverance! It is a movement of the Holy Spirit in power, in the totality of the ways in which it is described and illustrated in these blogs that can fully meet the need of people’s hearts and lives. A movement of the Holy Spirit, whether on a local or a wider level, is our greatest hope, and it is what is needed if we are to see powerful and effective change take place both in our churches and in the surrounding community. We need it, the church needs it, society needs it.

So will you pray for this? Will you press into this? Will you let God reveal his heart to you, so that your heart can become one with his in seeking after this? Are you willing to carry his desire and burden in your heart, and allow him to yearn for this through you? Will you join with us in praying for a deeper move of the Holy Spirit where you are?

Copyright Notice

^{^[1]} John G. Lake (The Portland Vision, 1920), (c) Anointed for Revival, 1995, Brisbane, Australia, accessed 15.02.2020.

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12 So pray for this!