"I will restore the ancient tool, the Watch of the Lord, that has been used and will be used again to change the expression of Christianity across the face of the earth."
Since God ignited my burden for the Watch of the Lord at Herrnhut, the site of the great Moravian prayer watch, it is no accident that He has sent me to draw from their deep pool of wisdom again and again along my journey. The Day of the Watch has come. The words of the Rev. John Greenfield, the great Moravian evangelist and author, ring as true today as they did 70 or more years ago:
"Prayer always precedes Pentecost. The Book of Acts describes many outpourings of The Holy Spirit, but never apart from prayer. In our own day the great Welsh and Korean revivals were preceded by months, if not years, of importunate and united praying. Hence the supreme importance of the prayer meeting, for it is 'the power-house of the Church.'"
Years ago, the Lord told me, "I will restore Pentecost." Many people think that is an odd or even heretical statement. "After all, Pentecost happened once and for all." Since that time, I have discovered a way to describe this work of God: He is sending yet another Pentecost!
The only way to spread fire is to catch fire! Theology never saved anyone – only a personal experience with a living Savior can do it. Theology never launched a worldwide revival. In every case, it took a fresh revelation of the living Savior to ignite the world with fire from Heaven.
D.L. Moody, one of America's most revered evangelists and conservative church leaders had this to say about the Holy Spirit in one of the last sermons he preached in his life:
"See how He came on the day of Pentecost! It is not carnal to pray that He may come again and that the place be shaken. I believe Pentecost was but a specimen day. I think the Church has made this woeful mistake that Pentecost was a miracle never to be repeated. I have thought too that Pentecost was a miracle that is not to be repeated. I believe now if we looked on Pentecost as a specimen day and began to pray, we should have the old Pentecostal fire here in Boston."
God is restoring the fire of the Holy Spirit to His people so we will restore the fire of prayer on His altar of incense, and release the glory of God on the earth! The same God who engineered this miracle in Jerusalem and in Herrnhut in the 1700s appears determined to do the same across the earth in our day! God is not interested in mere "corporate assent" to the principle of revival – He demands personal surrender, commitment, and sold-out service in prayer accompanied by demonstrations of His mighty acts for His glory!
When the people of God dare to surrender to the Holy Spirit of God and then live lives of continuous consecrated prayer, they will display an infectious joy that will draw the lost to them again and again in divine appointments of destiny.
God's Intention
Matthew Henry wrote, "When God intends great mercy for His people, the first thing He does is to set them a praying." God intends to cover the earth with His glory and with a flood of mercy and grace. But first, God must wake His sleeping giant, the Church. We can no longer afford to hear the urgent word of the Lord and walk away passively. The call is the same regardless of what title or flavor adorns the sign over the door of our place of worship.
Jesus warned us eleven times to "be on the watch, be on the alert, wake up, and watch out that no one deceives you." Too many of us have stopped listening and stopped caring.
God is calling His watchmen – every Blood-washed saint and redeemed king and priest – in groups of twos or threes to come together on the wall. He is calling forth the ancient tools to bring salvation to our generation. Do you believe dead men's bones can live again? I believe dead men's bones will live again. Some see dry bones; I see an army! I believe that the same Spirit who kept the promises of God for generations in the past is waiting for us to enter into the Holy of Holies for our time and our generation!
On a Worldwide Scale
God fully intends to do on a worldwide scale what He did more than 200 years ago. He is out to raise up a Church, a nation of kings and priests, whose determination is to know nothing among men save Jesus Christ and Him crucified, whose theology has become Christology, and whose creed was, in one word, the "Cross."
The key to fulfillment and fruitfulness in your life is found in one word of eternal significance: "Yes." Your commission is clear: As a king and priest cleansed by the Blood of Jesus, your lifelong calling is to offer the fire and incense of prayer, praise, worship, and intercession to the Most High God and to intercede on behalf of this lost and dying generation.
Join me and hundreds of others in our weekly Global Prayer Storm efforts to win for the Lamb the rewards of His suffering. Yes, it is time to mount the Watch of the Lord. It is time to light the watch fires and restore the lost art of intercession – the ancient tool of the Lord – to the Church of the Lord. Let it increase and consume you and me for such a time as this!
A Prayer of Consecration
Here I am, Lord. Let the fire of Your hot love burn on the altar of my heart. Let there be fire on my altar and may it never go out. Count me in. Sign me up as a watchman on Your wall. Restore the lost art of intercession. Restore the power and the passion of the watch of the Lord. Use me in Your End Time Army and set me as an intercessor for Christ's namesake. Amen.
James W. Goll
Encounters Network • Prayer Storm • Compassion Acts Team
Email: info@encountersnetwork.com
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