The day that we live in has created a church culture that has depended more upon the programs of the community instead of the communion with the Father. The church has leaned on the plows of those who have preceded us in the places of prayer. As a church culture we have allowed our place of prayer to be lined with the padding of convince. We have moved far away from any form of consistent, continual and fervent prayer that can and will shift the current culture.
2 Timothy 3 tells us there is a time where people will have a "form of godliness, denying the power there of."
This verse is about the choices of one generation and the harvest being reaped in the next. When there is a form it means there is a format, a structure or a framework that can be built from. But if we only have a form without filling, then you don't have whats truly available to you. There is a power available to you that can and will shift your entire paradigm of living. The true measure of what you have, isn't what you represent in public, but it's what you are willing to become in secret. Most people are concerned with what people think about them instead of the the intimate relationship with the Father in the secret place.
I believe the mandate of the hour is true Awakening and Revival.
There is a need for people to have such a deeply personal encounter with God that there is no denying the change that's taken place in our lives. Many churches and people boast the title, "pentecostal" or "charismatic", but the truth is that the Holy Spirit comes like a surge of power that changes the very condition of the believer. So in other words, if nothing changes, it's not pentecost. As a church culture we have to make the secret place a priority and have our ear so bent toward the voice of The Father that it's unavoidable to walk in the fulness of that relationship.
I believe the picture is hidden in 1 Samuel, where Samuel was being called by the Lord to become the man to do all that was in the heart of God. Scripture says that Eli, who was a priest, responsible for the house of the Lord, began to fade from the urgency of tending to the flame on the altar. His responsibility was to care for the place of worship, protect it's integrity and make a place for God to be glorified. But when your worship, becomes your duty, it's easy to begin to fade in the arena of passion. It's reflected in his sons. 1 Samuel 2:12 says, "now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord." This shows us that mere association doesn't give you relationship. The choice to consecrate yourself unto the Lord isn't based upon your church affiliation or the title on your door. Consecration is a deeply intimate desire to be wholly surrendered to the heart of the Father. His will, His wants, His desires. Consecration will cause you to walk in power that is completely without reservation and hindrance.
1 Samuel 3 is what I believe the mandate of revival is all about. The text says that Samuel who was a young boy dedicated to God by his mother Hannah, continually ministered before the Lord. Regardless of what others were doing, Samuel had a mandate on his life that was far beyond the grip of compromise. His mother's prayer life ensured that. She made the dedication long before his birth that if God would grant her a child, she would offer him back to the Lord! Now that's radical consecration.
v 1. "In those days the word of the Lord was rare and that there was no widespread revelation." I would insert here that we have to be so enamored and consumed by God's word so that we may have a deeper and more complete picture of His will. It's impossible for us to know the will of God if we don't know the Word of God.
The urgency of the hour is for THIS generation to be so consumed with the presence of God that there is a release of heaven that shakes and shifts the cultural climate that we are in. We need for some Samuels to rise up in the house of God. Who have no desire but to HEAR and OBEY the voice of The Father. The passage in 1 Samuel 3 says, that just as the lamp on the altar began to go out, that the Lord called Samuel.
I believe that RIGHT NOW God is calling to those who would have an ear to hear! I believe He is calling YOU where ever you are, to hear His voice and have the courage to OBEY whatever He is calling you to do! The season that we are stepping into will demand that radical obedience be the norm as much as faithful stewardship is our constant. Samuel was faithful and he was radical! A result of him being faithful is his ministry to the Lord was his willingness to hear and do what was in the heart of God.
Samuel has one of the greatest credits attached to his life which is; That not one word of Samuel's ever fell to the ground"
It's time that we as a people got back to the place of consecration! A place of faithful stewardship and radical obedience. Now is the time for people to discard what doesn't glorify God and cling to what is whispered from His heart. Our place of power isn't in the programs we create or the communities we build. Our place of power is in our surrender and urgency from the place of prayer! Prayer that releases a desire for obedience. Shockwaves of signs, wonders and miracles. This should be the norm for the believer. Like Samuel, this should be what follows us. May it be said that this generation of Samuels had the courage to HEAR the call of the Lord and OBEY with a radical submission!
AWAKENING AND REVIVAL IS RIDING ON THOSE WILLING TO HEAR AND OBEY!
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