God is Answering the Cry of His People!

Wow! At last night's small group meeting, the 13 of us present encountered a powerful move of God! We started with someone saying how odd it was, while watching a TV documentary, that there was a white-collared Priest (denomination unknown) stating there is no Hell. My friend said, "I can't believe there are people in authority who would be so oblivious to the truth!"

Of course, I saw right away the correlation between this statement and the blog post I made yesterday about true and false prophets. Not only that, but several other people I know have been sensing the Lord speaking about His judgments and the necessity for there to be a "Fear of God" in America today. God is thundering from heaven, and those whose ears are tuned have heard the warning.

But the move of God last night merely started there. Before long, one of the long-time members of our group openly confessed how distant she had been feeling from God. It seemed at first that it was just her problem, but suddenly you could see conviction settling in on the faces of several others of us present.

I said, "I hope this doesn't sound inconsiderate or like I'm just brushing you off, but I think what you're crying out for here is a group-wide issue. You're feeling this way--and many of us are feeling this way too--because we haven't truly been being the Church! We've let you down--we've let each other down. This cry of your heart for the fire of God and the presence of God is not your own--it's His!"

Another person chimed in, "I need to pray more. I haven't been praying at all."

I said, "Well, let's act on that right now and all of us pray...And I want to push you a little and ask if you'd open for us."

What followed was group-wide, passionate prayer and open repentance. People began crying out for God's presence and power. We openly confessed our sins and received the forgiveness of God. We got to watch as the Holy Spirit moved in every person's heart. Even the newest believers in our group were speaking prophetically and praying for the more seasoned Christians. The power of God moved in our midst and stirred us up to action. In fact, we all made a commitment to take action for God's Kingdom this week. We even planned some time when we could go out and minister as a group.

But I don't think this was all a coincidence. Yesterday--after writing yesterday's blog post--someone sent me the following article from Charisma Magazine's editor, J. Lee Grady. I steadfastly believe that the events of last night and the similar happenings at my church on Sunday are the direct result of the 21-day fast called for in this article. Read the article and see if you don't see the correlations. Hundreds, and perhaps even thousands of Christians are fasting and praying right now for revival in America, and I believe we're already reaping the benefits--even though we didn't know about the fast until a few days into it.

I want to encourage you to join me and the many others in entering into this special season of fasting and praying for America. It doesn't matter if you're late joining--what matters is that you care enough to join at all.

God bless you as you join us in seeking God for more movements like the one I shared above! I pray that His power will move in your own churches and small groups even more powerfully than He did in ours!
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A DESPERATE CRY for REVIVAL in 2008
-by J. Lee Grady.

...Never in my 15 years at Charisma have I known a time of such intense spiritual turbulence. God is shaking everything that can be shaken, including our Christian colleges, our megachurches and our most prominent ministries.

At a time when a U.S. senator is investigating the financial practices of six well-known preachers, I sense that God has taken out His holy plumb line to conduct His own detailed inspection of every church and ministry in this country. He wants to unleash a nationwide revival, but He must bring His correction first.

These are desperate times that require desperate measures. That is why I have joined with the Awakening America Alliance to call for a solemn 21-day fast that runs from January 1-21. Here’s a list of the things I’m praying for during the next three weeks:

1. The fear of God. Holiness was so tangible among early Christians that false prophets were blinded and greedy liars fell over dead. As a result of God’s judgment on Ananias and Sapphira, “great fear came over the whole church” (Acts 5:11, NASB).

Where is this sense of “shock and awe” today? How can Christians be so cavalier about divorce or so flippant about adultery? How can television preachers sleep at night after robbing God’s people with manipulative fundraising appeals?

We celebrate His mercy but ignore His severity. We need a thunderclap from heaven and a display of Elijah’s fire to remind a wayward church that God will not be mocked.

2. Integrity and purity in the church. Our movement hit rock-bottom in October when charismatic pastor Donnie Earl Paulk of Atlanta announced to his stunned congregation that a DNA test had proved he is not the nephew of Bishop Earl Paulk but is in fact his son.

That such unspeakable depravity was permitted to thrive for decades at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit is an indictment against the elder Paulk and all leaders who refused to challenge his behavior when they first learned about it years ago.

This and other recent religious scandals have so tarnished our credibility that we have become a curious freak show. Many unbelievers now associate ministers with wife-swapping, wife- beating, no-fault divorce, gay affairs and $10,000-a-night hotel rooms. We need a Holy Ghost housecleaning.

3. A return to evangelism. In the 1970s we were less sophisticated but so much more zealous for Jesus. We handed out tracts and witnessed to everyone. Sharing our faith was the priority. Yet most people in churches today have never led anyone to Christ.

We are no longer contagious. Spirit-filled believers spend more time chasing “financial breakthroughs” than lost souls. We have rejected sacrifice and compassion and embraced a counterfeit gospel that produces bored, selfish spectators.

4. Godly leadership. As we head into an election season it’s obvious that our nation is facing a leadership crisis. But this leadership vacuum is not just in the political arena. Many of our spiritual fathers have disappointed us, either by their own moral failures or by their refusal to confront sin.

I pray that God does not give us the president we deserve in 2008. If we cry out for mercy, perhaps He will upset the current slate of candidates and put someone in the White House who can model Christian integrity. May He also give us spiritual shepherds who care more for the flock than for the crowd’s applause.

5. A national spiritual awakening. There were seasons in America’s past when sinners became so convicted of their sins that they collapsed under the weight of their guilt. During the days of revivalists George Whitefield and Charles Finney, huge waves of conversions led to a widespread transformation of society. Drunks became sober, prison inmates sang hymns, stingy business owners stopped oppressing their workers, atheists surrendered their unbelief and rebellious children returned to faith.

Can such a movement happen again? It must or our country will descend into its darkest hour. I urge you to join me in this solemn fast. Pray with desperation for the five topics outlined here. We can’t settle for anything less than a heavenly visitation.

~J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma.
SOURCE: http://www.charismanews.com/