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Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? (Psalm 85:6). Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth (Hosea 6:1-3). Revival: a word that means different things to different people. Perhaps, rightly so. There are different types of revival. Personal revival. Spiritual revival. Even, political revival. Sometimes these various types of revival are so intertwined that they cannot be separated into neat, easy to understand packages.
I love the story of Manoah and his wife. They had been unable to give birth to a child. It was apparently their greatest desire in life. One day, an angel of God brought them good news: A child was to be born. I think one reason I identify with the story is the huge number of people in our ministry who have struggled with infertility. It's a huge hidden pain in the church. It's one reason we have always highlighted adoption and foster-parenting. But when Manoah's wife came to him with the news they were having a child, Manoah immediately did what happens to many men and women when they discover they are about to be parents. He grew up — literally — and he indicated this by what he did first. He prayed!
God is crying out, "I am for you! I am not against you! I am with you! I am not far away from you! I am more real, more alive, and more at work in this world, than you can sometimes believe!" "I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth. Can't you see and discern it, perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:19 We all know and can relate to a bible story or parable that begins with a voice of mercy and compassion crying out in the wilderness in those strange and desert-like, dangerous places where we least expect it but most need it.
A few months back, the Holy Spirit began to stir these words into my spirit and once again He has drawn me to them and quickened me to share them with His Body of Believers. "The sound of declaration, praise & worship that goes out from you in the natural may not sound to you as a fierce weapon of warfare - or as if penetrating into the realms of the supernatural, nor may it seem to you very powerful to your natural sense of hearing. Even so, be of no doubt, within the spiritual realm where authority is recognized and faith is the loudest, the most fierce and effectively penetrating sound of all, your words of declaration, your praise in the face of trials and your sweet, most holy form of worship - (that which is from your heart) - echoes; pierces and shakes through the heavenlies with the greatest, most beautiful and powerful force of sound that does more than you can see or hear with the natural perceptions.
While sitting in church recently, I was praying for some friends in Texas who were experiencing flooding. My prayers then went to those who are struggling with the flooding of grief, addictions, and darkness. In the midst of my prayers, however, Holy Spirit suddenly spoke to my heart and said, "Demons need a dry place." I thought, "Well yes, Lord, I know they do in accordance with Your Word. But where are we going with this?" I carried the word in my heart for two or three days until God started to download some truth regarding what He spoke to me earlier that week in church.
Alignment requires action that is rooted in agreement. The children of Israel were in agreement with the ten "spies" that brought an evil report, and thus they aligned themselves with a lie. Here we have the quintessential example of a wrong alignment; "And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt." (Numbers 14:2-4)
There is such power in the words we speak. Through our words we open doors and close doors. Have you ever been in a situation where you are thinking in conversation, "Should I say this or not?" Then you decided to say it later realizing it might have been better to stay away from that particular subject? Words are much like keys that open doors to different rooms. Some rooms you would love to step into and other you might not.
Opportunities come in three varieties: 1) opportunities that facilitate our dream, 2) opportunities that don't seem to lead us toward our dream, and 3) misfortunes that seem to totally derail our dream and leave us hopeless. Having a long-term dream compliments near-term opportunities. Our dream is the lens to discern whether an opportunity will lead us toward our destiny or not. The reality of pursuing the life-long dream that God wrote in our heart is that there are many ways to get there and many opportunities along the way. Discerning life's opportunities is usually more wisdom than revelation. God expects us to own our dream and the path to get there. The definition of a poverty mentality is the inability to see opportunities. Having a dream helps us see those opportunities.
Recently I was in England ministering at a Methodist Church in Sheffield. The leader of that group has the people soak for an hour to anointed worship before the speaker gets up to share. It had been a while since I had laid down on the floor and waited upon the Lord. At first I didn't think I would bother but then I thought why not? I found a nice little spot where I could just lie down and wait upon the Lord. I remember years ago spending many hours soaking to the Holy Spirit and to anointed music. The revival that occurred in Toronto under John and Carol Arnott taught us to soak in God's presence in order to hear his voice.
Often we spend our time wanting to achieve certain outcomes in our lives. However, it can become frustrating when the very things you've hoped and dreamed about don't come to fruition. This short article is designed to help you break the cycles that may be holding you back from achieving your goals. Dreams and good intentions are no fun unless they come true and are fulfilled in real life.
