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Beginning with a passage from the Gospel of Mark:
- Mark 4:26-32
The best way to define revival is the Great Harvest. The signs and wonders that accompany revival is not for the believer; it's for the lost, those who "sense-ruled" and are without the Spirit. The believer should already know this; it will not be a "new" thing, but rather a confirmation of what God has already said in His Word that would come. The Spirit-filled believer already knows that he/she is born of the Spirit of Christ by the inner witness. Wrong, intellect-based doctrine has not fully explained to the vast majority of Christians the reality of who they are. This causes them to depend on the "validity" of outward, visible signs to prove that something is "of God". The only problem is, the devil does "signs and wonders" also.
The only way to truly know the difference is by the Holy Spirit--the One sent to Teach, Anoint and Help us to grow up into the image on the inside of us. On the inside--in our spirit--we look just like Jesus, the restoration of what Adam looked like before the fall.
True, endtime revival is not just a service or a week of services. It is the reaping of the precious fruit of the earth, the Harvest that the Husbandman has been waiting for ever since the precious Seed was sown in the earth over 2000 years ago. The Seed was sown in order to produce seed and to yield fruit after its own kind.
The Sower sows the Word. Ever since the Word (Jesus) was made manifest in the flesh, the Gospel (Good News) of the Word has been preached. The Gospel in a nutshell is this: The Word has been made manifest to make us free. Once it has been sown into our spirit, the process of transforming the soul so that it will fall in line with the leading of the spirit has begun. We cannot be totally free outside of the Will of God. Increasing in the knowledge of Christ in us and operating in that Truth is what sets us free despite all of the circumstances around us. True freedom begins from within, but the source of that freedom is not ourselves, but from Jesus Christ himself. New Age teaching proclaims otherwise.
True revival will not break forth in, or with, confusion. The true foundation of who we are in Him must be revealed first. God is not the author of confusion. Counterfeit manifestations are not what true revival is all about. The early church had an understanding of who they were and did until the enemy came to veil the truth that has been hid for generations unto generations until now. What many will think is a "new" revelation is not. It is the same truth that the enemy has resisted since the beginning of the church age and has desperately tried to hide through religious tradition and false, intellect-based teaching.
- James 5:7-8
So, what part do we have to play in all this? First and foremost, we need to pray. Pray first for our fellow believers. The enemy wants to bring deception to those in the body of Christ to follow after "preachers" that satan has placed in the body who have great influence. There is already a counterfeit church in place and many are already falling away. Pray for restoration. Let these prayers be directed by the Holy Spirit. True intercession is birthed in the spirit. We may not always know how to pray, but let this passage of scripture be our guide:
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought : but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
- Romans 8:26-27
Let us be like Elijah who earnestly, fervently prayed and achieved the desired result.
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain : and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. - James 5:16-18
Lastly, and more importantly let us pray for the lost. While we're at it, let's pray for Wisdom as to when and how to be a proper witness to them of the Love of Jesus that has been deposited in us. Without the manifestation of His Love for them, they won't be set free. Light is breaking forth. The Father's Will is being performed in the earth, and there's absolutely nothing that the forces of darkness can do to stop it.