Ask for Rain
This fall I will be preaching a series on revival and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Our own Harry Anton had a visitation dream 3 weeks ago, where the Lord had a message for our church to ask for the latter rain. The latter rain in ancient Israel was a crucial spring rain that ripened crops before the harvest. The Lord is calling us to prepare for a greater outpouring of the spirit for a great harvest. The Lord wouldn’t give us this invitation, if it wasn’t his intention to send it!
One story of revival that builds my faith comes from the Hebrides revival from the middle of the last century. The Hebrides Islands, off the coast of Scotland, saw many Sovereign encounters where men and women would be going about their daily activities, but be stricken with conviction, falling to their knees in repentance. One instance was during an evening prayer meeting. A local dance hall, filled with 100 young people, suddenly came under conviction. The music stopped and all 100 fled the hall as if they were “fleeing from a plague.” They went to the local church. It was 11 pm and gathered outside the church were hundreds more people, who had been in bed and simultaneously, without explanation, got out of bed and went running to the church in repentance and hunger for God. Many, many more experiences like this happened over and over again, until a full-blown revival broke out that led thousands to Christ and had significant impact on the nation of Scotland and beyond.
The revival began with the prayers of Christine and Peggy Smith, 82 and 84 years old. Both of them were too frail to leave their humble cottage in the village of Barvas on the island of Lewis. Christine was crippled with arthritis and Peggy was blind, but they prayed from home, twice a week. They would begin around 10 pm, on their knees, and pray until 3 or 4 in the morning. Their prayers were based on Isaiah 44:3 “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground.”
God gave them a vision of revival breaking out in their community. They prayed until they saw it. We too, have a vision and call for revival. During our worship time this past Sunday, our service was marked by a cry for revival. Please join us, Sundays and Wednesdays as we ask for the rain.
See here for more details about the Hebrides Revival: http://www.calvarysouthbury.com/hebrides