Someone sent me a Ravenhill message today via Facebook. The tear are still staining my face. My heart is so broken for the nation! How can it be saved, when the church itself is so compromised?
Change always happens, one person at a time. The Bible says that Ezra, prepared his heart to seek the Lord, through the Law, through Scripture - and then, to do it, and only then to preach and teach it. One man in prayer. One man moved by the collective commands of the Lord. One man over an open Book, praying - and he was changed that he set the hearts of a small group on fire! They left Babylon and came to Jerusalem only to find the people there had become so much like the pagans, they were indistinquishable. The sons had married pagan wives. The daughters, pagan sons. Ezra was stunned. He wept. He could not leave the Temple compound. He seemed to lose track of time. On all fours, he prayed all day. That evening, the crowd gathered, and conviction came. The result was a city that was impacted - revived and renewed.
It always begins with one man, one woman.
Every state, every county, every heart - needs someone who is willing to serve as a facilitator of prayer and revival. Would you consider being a leader for this cause. Go to www.awakeningamerica.us and see if your county is covered.
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I want to personally invite each of you to join me and thousands of fellow believers across the nation by choosing any 21 days in the month of January to express your hunger for God through fasting. Please don’t miss this opportunity to focus your heart as you begin the New Year. If you cannot commit to some kind of fasting for a full 21 days then do as much as you can and let us know you are joining with us at www.awakeningamerica.us.
Millions of Americans now teeter on the precipice of spiritual destruction surrounded by darkness. Radical action will be required for the American church to experience the renewal needed to rescue them. America’s greatest need is spiritual. Last year we witnessed the greatest season of fasting in American history. We believe that participation this year will be even greater. We are not fasting to be heard on high or to merit God’s favor—this should never be done and doesn’t work anyway. We can never merit God’s grace. However, we are bowing our hearts together through fasting and prayer that God would awaken this generation to Christ and position us to be used in His harvest.
Please join me and SIGN UP TODAY at http://www.awakeningamerica.us/prayerandfasting/. Upon registering, we will provide you with a daily devotion and words of encouragement via email throughout January. There are also several resources online to assist you in your fast, such as “Praying for A Spiritual Awakening in America” and “Fasting Forward.” Download a poster to print out here.
Seeking God for a New Christ Awakening with You!
William M. Wilson
4399 Ocoee St N
A City – Captive!
The day is overcast. The dark clouds open and steady drizzle commences, relentlessly persisting. That’s when it happens. You arrive at a traffic log jam at the busiest intersection in the city! Wagons and donkeys are left in the roadway, and people are wildly crossing intersections, going the ‘wrong way’ to gather around some spectacle! The whole city seems to be drawn in. Shop keepers have left their shops, abandoned them. Doors are left open.
What is happening? Strangely there is no accident as you might have supposed. There has been no robbery, no earthquake, no extraordinary manifestation. Yet, the whole city is drawn into the square – listening, listening to a man reading from a book as if it is some new never heard-before news, a book that has been forgotten, discarded, dishonored, and deplored by some.
The faces show shock at what they are hearing. Not shock with a sense of offense, but shock coupled with embarrassment, with wonder, with shame and regret. Listen to the whispers in small circles, “I didn’t know it said that! I didn’t know that was wrong! That is the first time I have ever heard that? What have we been thinking? How could we, our parents, the priest not have known this?” There seems to be a look of awe, as if caught up in a spell, as if constrained by the power of the moment. The whole city appears to be present, drawn to the square, and you sense a revolution is afoot.
It is raining – but no one seems to notice. That’s right – raining. No umbrellas. No running for cover. No suggestion that the meeting be postponed until a sunny day. The city is on the edge of a transforming revival.
One Man – One Heart!
How did it begin? One man, Ezra, a priest, prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord – and then to do, and then to teach it. Prayer, seeking God, over an open Bible –that’s where this city-transformation movement started. The Bible is not so much meant to be read as it is to be prayed! He reads and prays, and prays and reads – and his whole life changes. Then, integrating the principles into his own living, he shares them with a small group! That group is so moved, that they cannot stay in the same place. They make a decision to sell-out, and move back to Jerusalem. They have been exiles, content to live away from the promised land, but they will be exiles from the fresh living places of the promise no more.
They arrive in Jerusalem to discover the desperate spiritual state of those who attend the Temple ceremonies, “Our sons have married pagan daughters …” The bottom line is that paganism and the world have so compromised the citizens of light that there is no difference between them and the nations around them. It is too much for Ezra. He is stunned. From the time of the morning sacrifice to the evening sacrifice he is in the temple praying on all fours. He has lost track of time. His heart is grieved for Judah. Despite judgment and exile, the nation has not repented and returned to God.
When folks gather for the evening sacrifice, they find a wasted intercessor, deeply moved by the Spirit. That is the springboard for a day-long marathon of reading from the law, and comparing lives with the light of the Scripture, daily values with those revealed in law. It is clear – a complete reordering of personal and family lives is necessary.
One man, on his knees in prayer over an open Bible. And then a small group. And then a larger temple group. And finally, the city itself.
Cry Out America Needs You!
Cry Out America is about the need for transformation – in every heart, every county, every state. But it begins in one heart!
There is still time to lead a rally in your county! Or even gather the ‘small group’ around you that can be the core for a spiritual renewal.
Go to www.awakeningamerica.us and check your state and county – home page, right side. You discover the name of the coordinator in your county. Or, in the absence of one, look around on the site. See if this isn’t something you might be called to lead. It is still not too late to gather a small group of intercessors, and like Ezra, go to town to pray. Who knows, your great-grandkids might read your name in history. America needs a revival. And it always starts in one heart.
P. Douglas Small, Field Director
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PO Box 1245; Kannapolis, NC 28082
704-788-9113 or 704-996-5091
Fax: 704-788-9117
NATIONAL OFFICE: 4399 North Ocoee Street
Cleveland, TN 37312-4832
(423) 478-7078