Posts Tagged ‘prayer’
Why is the Holy Spirit so commonly minimized in churches today?
Are we ready for an Acts 2 style outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our churches?
There’s an ongoing discussion on my Facebook wall about this issue. I felt it would be good to broaden the discussion and see what some of you might bring to the table.
I’ll paste some of the comments first, and then present my thoughts:
Original post- Have you noticed how focus on the Holy Spirit, speaking tongues, ,etc. has been minimized in the church today?
- Yep, noticed it! The enemy doesn't want us uttering the mysteries of God!
- Yes sir. It's easier to have a "seeker" driven service, than to Preach a Prophetic message under the Power of the Holy Spirit. That takes time in the prayer closet-the former can happen with a slick marketing team (sometimes hired as the "pastoral" staff).
- There definitely has been a move away from experiencing the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, the use of tongues in the 80 got so beyond what scripture says. It was pretty abused.
- That may be true, but we are entering a Decade where there will be a parting of the waters. Those who have been trained AND utilize the weapons of the Spirit will thrive; others will suffer much pain.
- I just heard a George Barna stat about this recently less than 2% of the churches will hear their pastor preach a message on the Holy Spirit this year. Its alarming.
- A couple of years ago I heard leaders from a main line denomination speak at a Rocky Mountain regional meeting for that denomination. The leaders saw that the denomination that they led was becoming Spirit Filled in name only. They felt the need to see 500,000 people receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Yet the churches in this region still take the approach of the Holy Spirit isn't for Sunday morning approach. Its scary.
- Interesting, the Holy Spirit in benched on Sundays…until we need a big play, then he get's play time like Michael Vick…what a sad way to treat my Best Friend.
- The Holy Spirit misses His church. He's going to get it back though.
- Many pastors have been reduced to a role as MC and the show must go on, on schedule, or peeps won't come back.
- Absolutely.. If people knew the incredible power that is released in you when you pray in the Spirit, they would never stop lol. I encourage it in those I teach. God bless.
My thoughts:
There are some realities that we need to consider:
- From what I've discovered, a significant percentage of Christians, pastors and leaders included, don't easily hear God, encounter him. This makes it difficult to even consider embracing a Holy Spirit driven environment. Prayerlessness is a key reason for this problem. The average pastor prays 6 minutes a day. Leonard Ravenhill said, "Pastors who don't pray two hours a day aren't worth a dime a dozen." It's a difficult but important point that would be well worth considering.
- In an environment driven by the Holy Spirit, these people who don't easily hear God can get quite frustrated. They will tend to find another place to go to church. So, the natural church preservation strategy is to minimize the invisible/supernatural and maximize the logical/tangible.
- There has been a huge misunderstanding of the primary purpose of the church. Many feel it's to be a socially focused entry point for the lost. The church actually isn't to be a house of evangelism or a house of relationships. It's a house of prayer first and foremost. It's a believer's ministry. We have lost faith that God, in his wisdom, set it up this way. If we truly have a church of people who are releasing the ‘groans that can't be uttered', who intercede for the nations, who pray in the Spirit, then we will have the ‘expected outcomes' of mass salvations, a huge harvest, life-giving small groups, etc.
- There can be a knee-jerk reaction to the problem of people who abuse freedom in such an atmosphere. Trust me, I understand the issue of people who just want to be seen and heard, who are manipulative, who are emotionally unstable or who operate in charismatic witchcraft. But, the answer is not to shut down a prophetic, Holy Spirit driven environment.
- The focus on teaching. I'm a teacher, I love to teach and I value greatly the ministry of teaching. However, I think a valid question is, "Why are most church services teaching-centric?" If the Holy Spirit breaks out, if there's deliverance going on in the room, of a spirit of intercession erupts, would people be OK with forgoing the sermon? The Holy Spirit (the Teacher) can impart more biblical truth in two seconds than we ever could in two hours.
What do you think?
Birthing prophetic words : Jeff Garvin tonight at Revival Church
First, DON’T MISS Jeff Garvin TONIGHT and TOMORROW at Revival Church!
Last night was OFF THE HOOK. Jeff ministered in power at IHOPE… it was standing room only and we were there until after 11pm trembling in the presence of God!
Visit www.detroitrevivalchurch.com for directions. It all starts at 7pm tonight and 6pm tomorrow. PRAYER (hard core, Spirit-fueled prayer!) starts one hour early each night– everybody invited!
Second, we are developing a prophecy news and analysis community. You can get a sneak peek at www.propheticpulse.com. Let us know what you think of the design.
THE MIRACLE OF BIRTH
Wednesday night at Revival Church during a prayer meeting the prevailing theme was ‘birthing’. We have moved into the very late stages of the pregnancy, and the birth is coming- and fast.
Then, this word arrived:
"Shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?" says your God. Enter IN to the birthing process, and bring a full delivery, the full manifestation of His purpose NOW.
The above picture is me delivering Jet.
Here’s the story:
We had lost four babies in a row to miscarriage and were pregnant again. We started to receive some semi-generic words about the baby and revival. Then the words started to get a bit more specific. The last word was something like, “John, when you are in the delivery room something is going to happen that will be symbolic of how God will use you in revival.”
So, the day came, and the last thing I was thinking about was prophecy! The baby was almost here when the doctor, who had delivered the four losses, looked at me and asked, “John, do you want to deliver the baby?”
I had probably 30 seconds before the baby was to arrive. I didn’t have gloves on. I was just dressed in jeans and didn’t even have time to wash my hands. I moved into position as the doctor moved to the side. He gave me a 20 second lesson on how to deliver a baby. How to pull the head, how to catch the baby, to prepare for it to be very slippery, etc.
So, in the next seconds it happened just as the doctor said. It was spectacular. The nurse said that was only the 2nd time in her 15 years at the hospital that she saw a doctor let the father deliver the baby.
Afterwards God got my attention. He said, “John, revival is coming, and, just as your miracle baby was delivered into your hands, revival will be delivered into your hands. It’s precious. You will be trained by the Holy Spirit in the moments just prior to its arrival. You won’t be ready, but I’ll make you ready. It will be messy and slippery. Meaning, don’t try to grab it too hard. Keep your hands open and carefully hold on to it.
Well, then a few years later something else happened. I was at an amazing service at IHOP where God was breaking out. Someone, who had been on the platform throughout the service, came down to me during the ministry time. I had never seen him before. He said, “I was watching you from the platform, and, though I’d never seen you before, you were in a dream I had recently. I saw caravans of revival moving out into the cities of the earth, and then back again. I saw you in the midst of that.”
I thanked him, and then about 15 minutes later, someone else whom I had never met came over to me. He had just been at Lakeland. He asked if he could prophesy over me, and he proceeded to do so for about 30 minutes. The heart of his message was, “I see the fire of revival in your hands, and you are carrying it to the cities of the earth, and then returning home again. Then heading back out.”
Revival is coming. We MUST be in position!
This email was sent to me today:
As I was driving home tonight I began praying in the Spirit and had some mild groanings but then my body began to bear down and start pushing like I would in labor.
The Lord reminded me of my first few births where I got very nervous about pushing and sort of "freaked out" and would ask my doctor/midwife to coach me along because I didn't feel I knew how to do it without them. The last midwife I had, I told her how I wanted her help and didn't like the pushing process very much but she forgot I had asked that and left me to listen to my body to know what to do.
So the Lord said to me, do not rely on man when it's time to push. He said do not "freak out" my Spirit will lead you, my Spirit will lead you, my Spirit will lead. My Spirit WILL NOT fail you, it will not fail you, it will not fail you! My Spirit is one with the Father and we are to keep FOCUSED, we are to persevere and not grow weary. As we remain connected to his Spirit, the Spirit will bring forth the delivery at the right time.
My doctor intervened in the birthing process to try and bring the baby forth quicker but my midwife showed me how to use the PAIN for my benefit in bringing forth the baby without intervention. His Spirit wants to show us this. He wants to use all the moanings, all the groanings, all the shouts, all the declarations, all the prayers, all the tears, all the laughter for his purposes in bringing forth a FULL delivery. None of this is in vain but all part of the birthing process.
The Lord said in the birthing process we MUST drink of his Spirit. We must remain full of HIM.
So our eyes are completely FIXED on Him because He's our teacher and we're to be CONSUMED with Him, because He's the source.
There’s more, but for now that should be enough to move us into position. We must be alert… God is coming in power!
John’s interview on the Miracle Channel : Watch tonight
I was interviewed back in October on Canada’s largest Christian television network, The Miracle Channel. It was an awesome experience.
I talked about my book Revelation Driven Prayer on an hour long episode of The Bridge.
You can watch the show as it airs tonight at 10pm Eastern. Head on over to www.miraclechannel.ca and click the ‘Watch Us Online’ banner on the top right.
You will also be able to view the archive starting tomorrow by going here: www.miraclechannel.ca/thebridge
Let’s pray that this message of encountering God reaches millions of people and impacts them powerfully.
ALSO: I’ll be preaching tomorrow (Friday) at IHOPE at 7pm. Come on out for a night of intercession, prophecy and fire!
A Regional Revival Center – Mass Deliverance – Prophetic word on Detroit’s finances
I’m sitting in an Alistair Petrie summit in Sarnia, Ontario Canada right now, and I’m stirred! He’s talking about principles of city transformation, which is the 
topic of the hour in Detroit.
I’ve been connecting with Bishop Larry Jackson and others this week in meetings, and it seems that God is suddenly sparking a lot of hearts at the same time. Urgency is increasing quickly.
Revival Church has a mandate to focus on regional revival and transformation. Our heart is to effectively connect the city church, pour into it and do our part in starting fires of revival.
SUNDAY
4pm- If you have any level of interest in the mission of revival at Revival Church, you are invited to a very important meeting tomorrow (Sunday) at 4pm. This is a gathering and vision imparting meeting that will give you a lot of info and will help you connect with other revivalists. We’ll be downstairs in the children’s ministry room. Again, this is for anybody reading this message, whether you have been with us since the beginning, or you’ve never been to an event. (please be prompt and also be respectful of Mercy and Truth Church that will be meeting in the sanctuary until 5:30pm for a special event)
6pm- Join us for a night of passionate prayer, declaration, worship, dance, freedom in the Holy Spirit and vision driven teaching.
MASS DELIVERANCE
There have been some interesting prophetic words on my life regarding ‘mass deliverance’. I function in personal deliverance regularly, and have started to see deliverance on a corporate level ramp up. What I feel is coming next is mass, city-wide deliverance. Alistair Petrie is teaching now on this concept! As vivid and undeniable truth invades a person, that person can easily and suddenly be free. As the secret things come to the surface and as light is shined into a situation, the power that deception has had is instantly dissolved.
This will also come to a city. Strongholds will break on a city level.
PROPHETIC WORD- KINGDOM FINANCES
For example, last night I had a strong prophetic impression. God was saying, “Now! Now! The church must move now in the financial realm. Right this moment the secular world is sitting around board room tables planning on instilling principles and methods to rescue Detroit from financial ruin. This must not happen. The church must not allow the world to run ahead and put into place humanistic strategies that will bring greater harm. The Church must set into place Kingdom principles in the city.”
We can’t afford to let the world maintain its level of influence on the economy. The Church and biblical financial principles must be brought into the story!
Alistair Petrie said, “Kingdom finances will be released as integrity and Kingdom culture develops and prevails.”
He also said that the church is a litmus test of the society it is in. The culture of the church is an indicator of the culture of a city. We must see Kingdom financial (and all other!) principles activated in the church and individual local churches of Detroit.
He said, “You can’t pray for transformation in your city unless you go through the same thing yourself that you’re asking for others to experience. We must become ‘changed agents’ before becoming ‘agents of change’.”
John
Bishop Larry Jackson at IHOPE : City Strategy Events : Prayer Tonight at Revival Church
FIRST- you can listen to a message I preached yesterday to some engineers at General Motors here in Detroit. Head on over to www.praytherevolution.com/media and the teaching is on the player on the left.
Last night I had the privilege of connecting with Bishop Larry Jackson last night as he addressed leaders in the city of Detroit. This man is right on, and he carries a clear strategy for transformation in Detroit.
He will be ministering at the International House of Prayer East Detroit THIS FRIDAY at 7pm. This is an exciting and important event for anybody who is interested in legitimate, reportable revival in Detroit.
Larry Jackson
Bishop Larry Jackson is the founding pastor of Bethel Outreach International Church in Charlotte, NC. Bishop Jackson is a nationally known Promise Keepers speaker and has also ministered across the nation and internationally as a keynote speaker.
Bishop Jackson had a pivotal role in establishing Unified 2000, a ministry designed to break down the denominational and racial barriers that divide the body of Christ.
Bishop Jackson is the author of several books including Guilt Free Living, practical instruction on how to be free from the spirit of lust in every area of life.
Bishop Jackson and his wife, Joanndra, currently reside in Charlotte, NC, with their daughters.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
- TONIGHT: Soaking prayer at Revival Church. There is a whirlwind in my inner man right now as God is calling us to greater depths of intimacy and revelation. Prayer is the foundation of Revival Church. Join us in the Asbury Room at Revival Church TONIGHT (and every Wednesday night) at 7pm.
- UPCOMING CITY STRATEGY EVENT: On October 24th, 2009 Rev. Dr. Alistair Petrie will be hosting a one day City Transformation Summit. This event is free, but its impact on your life will be invaluable. Alistair will share testimonies of transformations that he has witnessed with his own eyes, and will give practical teaching on how we can prepare for and welcome transformation in our own cities, and nation. Please set the afternoon of October 24th aside and plan to come. The Summit begins at 1:00pm and will likely conclude by 4:00pm. The event will be held at Revival Nation Church: 218 North Christina St., Sarnia, Ontario.
- UPCOMING CITY STRATEGY EVENT: Worship Explosion with Shana Wilson, Julie Meyer and Ray Hughes along with Barbara Yoder and Shekinah Christian Church. October 31st at 6pm. 4600 Scio Church Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48103
- UPCOMING CITY STRATEGY EVENT: Kim Clement will be ministering at Ignited Ministries in Taylor, Michigan November 6-8. If you are connected with us at Revival Church, I’d recommend attending this event Friday and Saturday and then bring the fire to our Sunday evening event.
- UPCOMING CITY STRATEGY EVENT: RICK JOYNER will be returning this Fall November 20-21st, 2009. He will be sharing and releasing a nationwide strategy to take back our nation in the seven mountains or cultural gateways – Family, Church, Education, Government, Business, Media/Communications, and Arts/Entertainment! OTHER GUEST SPEAKERS: Gordon Pennington is scheduled and will be addressing the subject of the influence and power of technology and media in this age of digital communications. It will be explained what the followers of Jesus Christ can do to be more effective in spreading the Gospel!