Count Zinzendorf preaching to people from many nations. Source of image

God is stirring His people to pray. God is raising up houses of prayer, prayer movements and ministries who realize the great need for prayer and for having foundations of intercession firmly established before ministry takes place.

People are bowing their knee in reverence to our Holy God, believing that He gives more when we simply ask. God set it up that way—that we would be co-laborers with Him, joining Jesus the Great Intercessor. We are simply to ask—knowing that God is listening and answering our simple prayers (Is. 64:4).

The revivalists of old were men and women given to prayer. Before a word was preached, the heavens were stormed with prayers and petitions asking God to come, to act and to move. We are now entering a new era—for never before in history has God moved on the hearts of people worldwide with such an invitation to intercession. Across the nations of the earth, men and women, young and old, are giving their lives as a fragrance before the Lord in day and night prayer. Houses of prayer, prayer movements and praying churches are arising worldwide with the revelation that God moves when His people simply ask. A Great Greater Awakening

I heard a fresh cry exploding out of Heaven—an invitation for the nations to become part of the prayer movement that is blowing across the face of the earth like an unstoppable wave leading to a Great Greater Awakening.

I was told in the dream to study and look back to the 1700s and the first Great Awakening—for this is our story. We are invited to say “yes” to prayer—we are invited to all become part of the story.

I saw that many intercessors have grown weary and have become dull; therefore help from Heaven was sent to strengthen the heart of the intercessors, the prayer movements, and the houses of prayer that a glorious people would arise in unending prayers.

We are in a Revelation 3:1-2 time frame, “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain…”

God is inviting us to join His Son, the Great Intercessor, in prayer to birth His purposes on the earth. He is inviting us to be a part of the storyline of the ages. We are to be vigilant, to keep careful watch over His promises and purposes through intercession, to set our hearts towards Him, and to turn resolutely in the direction of agreement with His Heart for these days.

I Had An Impacting Dream

I was in a deep sleep, and the dream started with the president of our Bible college singing an old hymn called, “I Love to Tell the Story.” His voice was like a megaphone awakening my heart to the old, old story. I had not heard this hymn in years since singing it as a young girl in the Methodist Church. He was wearing a blue suit and holding an old hymnal. His voice was loud. His voice was strong. He never stopped singing this old hymn throughout the entire dream.

As he was singing, these words and this melody awakened my heart all throughout the dream. It was as if the hymn was the backdrop to the entire dream.

Suddenly, I stepped into a scene where I saw seven ambulances all in a row with their lights flashing. They were lined up one in back of the other. There was great alarm in my spirit when my eyes beheld such a scene.

I noticed there were people on the sidewalk who were not that interested in the ambulances. Everyone was continuing to have their coffee and were talking—they were not looking at what was happening. People were just doing their thing and not bothered by the alarm that I felt in my body by the flashing lights. It was as if they did not even notice they were there. They were laughing and talking and having coffee, going about their day-to-day schedules.

Still the Song Was Arising

I love to tell the story. ‘Twill be my theme in glory. To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

I went and looked in the first ambulance and heard the attendant say, “I cannot find a heartbeat,” and I saw someone lying still on a gurney. I saw tiny, thin and feeble legs. The attendant looked at me and said, “It’s the intercessors. We are trying to revive the intercessors.”

I looked in again and it was as if the eyes of my heart were opened. I could see on the inside, and their hearts were failing. For the promises of revival were so long in coming, it was as if the promises became too long to wait for and they were giving up and their hearts were failing. So I ran to the next ambulance and the same thing was happening. I looked in and the attendant said, “I cannot find a heartbeat.”

As I peered into the ambulance I noticed that these attendants were not mere human beings; they were heavenly beings sent from the Throne of God. They were tall, they were large, they were glowing as if lit from the inside with fire. Could these be the messengers of fire we find in Psalm 104:4? It gave my heart great hope to know that God has sent His angelic help to restart the hearts of the weary, the tired, the hopeless, and the feeble.

These were the intercessors who have fallen asleep, those who have stopped contending because it became too long to contend.

Suddenly, one of the attendants from the seventh ambulance at the end yelled, “I have a faint heartbeat, but it’s dull.” With those words, all the attendants leaned out of the back doors of the ambulances and they all shouted, “What did you do?”

The attendant in the last ambulance said, “Tell the old, old stories. For, as I began to tell the old, old stories, I found a faint heartbeat.” So the attendants of the other ambulances began to tell the old, old stories, and I began to listen to these stories.

Tell the Old Stories!

These stories went back to the 1700s. They began to talk about Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians, John Wesley, George Whitfield and Charles Spurgeon, and many others.

Suddenly the atmosphere was filled with shouts of, “I found a heartbeat, but it is dull.” I ran to another ambulance looked in, and this time I saw a faint movement. Suddenly, this heavenly attendant gave an order, like a command, saying:

“Tell the old, old stories because the old, old stories are YOUR storyline, they are YOUR history, back as far as Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians, John Wesley, George Whitfield, Charles Spurgeon…

“…For the baton was passed from generation to generation. The prayer movements of this day are the answer to the prayers of those in the great storyline of the ages. There is a timeline of prayer generals from generations past and their prayer was that the generals of prayer in ‘these’ days would arise; the prayer movement of ‘these’ days is the answer to their cries.

“You are in the storyline of the old, old story for their prayers begat your prayer. Put yourself in the timeline of the old, old story because the old, old, story—when told—will ignite the heart again.

“Though it will start as a dull beat, when EACH person will see themselves in the timeline of the old, old story, that dull heartbeat will begin to get stronger and stronger. For these are your ancestors—the prayer warriors of the ancient days—who lifted their cry for ‘this day and this hour’ that a people of prayer would arise in the earth to welcome back the King of kings.”

Renewal in itself will not awaken dull hearts. But if you see yourself in the old, old story—the more you listen and put yourself in the history of the great storyline of prayer and revival—you will see yourself as the answer.

You are the continuation of their prayers. For the intercessors God is raising up today—the prayer movements in the earth today—are the answer to the prayers lifted up generations and generations ago taking us into the greatest awakening—the Great Greater Awakening. These are your ancestors. You become the story, the plan, the answer, the revival for today—then you will never go back to dull hearts.

And the Attendant Spoke Again

“Tell the old, old stories. Remember the old, old stories and see yourself in the storyline of Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians, John Wesley, George Whitfield, and Charles Spurgeon, and many others who were great men and women of prayer—Charles Finney, Maria Woodworth-Etter, Smith Wigglesworth, Aimee Semple McPherson, Kathryn Kuhlman…”

You are in their story. Their history is your history, for you are the answer to their prayers: for a glorious and praying people, a shining and praying Bride, would arise in the earth who love prayer; and this cry of prayer will birth the Great Greater Awakening to welcome Him back.

I Could Still Hear the Song Being Sung: I love to tell the story ‘Twill be my theme in glory To tell the old, old story Of Jesus and His love

It was almost as if I could hear prayers that were prayed centuries back—crying out for those who would take the baton to begin to cry out again until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You are a part of the story. We are a part of the story. It’s almost as it we are the answer to the cries of prayer throughout the ages. Cries that said, “Let a people who love prayer welcome Him back.” Let a praying people lift their voice for revival—let a billion souls come into the Kingdom.

This is our story. This is our history. This is our season to take up the baton and pray, and then, watch revival spring up. We are in their storyline and they are in ours. Aimee Semple McPherson’s life was marked by unprecedented boldness that said, “Let’s not waste our time quarreling over methods and doctrines.” She accomplished what no man had been able to do and built a temple that seated 5,000 people, filling it four times on Sundays and twice weekly. This temple became the envy of Hollywood theater owners.

She also ministered at highly sought-after healing services. She reached the unreachable and opened doors for Christ through which no man had gone before through the media. It is interesting to note that in the same year Aimee was launching her radio station, Kathryn Kuhlman was just beginning to preach as a teenager, and Maria Woodworth-Etter had just breathed her last breath at 80 years of age.

This is our story. This is our history and the joy of the journey ahead through prayer; and we put ourselves in the great storyline of the ages to welcome the Great Greater Awakening and to welcome Jesus the Coming King.

That was my dream…

Julie Meyer has been worship leader and songwriter at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City since its beginning in 1999. She is a prophetic singer who carries the glory and the presence of God as an abandoned worshiper. Her passion is His presence as she trumpets the message of the Bridegroom preparing His Bride!

© Copyright 2014, Charisma Magazine

It’s no surprise that the church, and our nation, desperately need to hear “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” to awaken, convict, and restore. It was not so long ago that we were concerned about “the fall of America.” America cannot fall because she has already fallen.

We are now picking up the pieces of a broken nation. America’s moral heartbeat ceases when we cut off the source of life. We need resuscitation, renewal, and revival. I’m convinced that the majority of the churches in America are seeking to please the masses rather than convict. Repentance is rarely sought and sin is often excused.

We want to build a church rather than break a heart. This leaves people confused and deceived because we teach and live a form of Christianity void of repentance…void of truth. This article will offend those going against truth.

“If the church today had as many agonizers as she has advisers, we would have a revival within a year” (Leonard Ravenhill). Ravenhill continues, “We need to close every church in the land for one Sunday and cease listening to a man so we can hear the groan of the Spirit which we in our lush pews have forgotten.”

You may ask, “What’s the big deal, we’re doing fine.” But 2 Timothy 3:1-5 says otherwise, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- having a form of godliness but denying its power…”. In light of this, consider the following:

A Form of Godliness: The Christian Post recently featured an article that I wrote entitled, “Did Jesus Say Anything About Homosexuality?” The negative responses from supposed Christian readers simply reveal the spiritual condition of the church. One disgruntled man wrote, “Those of us who don’t go to his church or believe in his “god” aren’t troubled by his opinions, and we certainly won’t be governed by his bigotry.”

Brutality: We read and hear of this continually in the news. As a recent example, police found seven dead babies in a Utah County home. Woman, 39, allegedly gave birth, then killed the infants and put their bodies in a garage.

Lovers of self…of perversion: Our sex-saturated culture will continue to pervert with the ultimate goal of destroying. Ariel Castro, who was exposed in 2013 for kidnapping three women and holding them for ten years, admitted that a deep addiction to pornography fed his perversion. He eventually committed suicide in prison. His idol promised pleasure but brought death and destruction. Most men view more perversion in a week then our grandparents did in a lifetime, and many young adults now dream of being porn stars. Are we so naive to think that this pleases God?

Disobedient, abusive, treacherous: Again, the news is replete with abuse and treachery. A 13-year-old girl and her 15-year-old boyfriend were recently charged in Florida with attempted murder after slitting her mother’s throat. The teenagers planned to kill both the girl’s mother and father so that they could continue dating. And a Minnesota teenager was recently charged with 10 attempted murder and explosives counts in a plot to shoot his family to death and then kill himself and “as many students as he could” by blowing up a school.

Blasphemers: The Satanic Temple in New York recently submitted plans for a monument they want placed at the Oklahoma Capitol next to the Ten Commandments. The sculpture will feature a 7-foot-tall goat-headed creature as Satan, which will be flanked by two adoring children smiling as they look up to the creature that will be large enough so that tourists can sit in its lap.

God help us. “Judgment will start in the house of God.” God’s house must break; God’s house must repent. He revives us to revive others. The book of Joel in the Old Testament parallels America today. They were prosperous but apathetic; they had religion but not a relationship; “they had a form of godliness…” The only difference is that prosperity has not yet been taken from us in many cases.

But peace has been consumed from our land; fear is gripping the hearts and minds of many; morality has been ripped from our hands; truth has been raped and taken advantage of, and God continues to be blasphemed. Don’t confuse His patience with His approval.

As in Joel’s day, our land has been ravished. Satanic influences, strong and without number, have laid waste to our hearts and minds. Families are being devoured, lives destroyed…truth has fallen in the streets. But God offers the solution: Joel 1:14 says, “Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of your God, and cry out to the Lord.”

Joel 2:12-14 adds, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him.”

Prayer opens the hand of God. The Word secures the truth in our minds. Worship brings heaven down to our hearts. Obedience opens the door to God’s blessings. But fasting and mourning starve the flesh and moves the hand of God in ways that other spiritual disciplines do not.

Fasting is often tied to humility…to “afflict the soul”. Sorrow must match the situation. We need to feel the pain that we have caused and mourn over sin. Blessings come from brokenness, restoration from repentance, and revival through mourning. Woe be to the church who is in a hurry to burn through a sermon, scurry through worship, and head to the nearest restaurant. It doesn’t matter what we think, or do not think, God is very clear:

“If My people humble themselves [afflict, mourn, sorrow over the condition of their land], pray, seek My face, and turn from wickedness then I will heal their land.” This begins with me and with you.

Shane Idleman June 10, 2014, Straight to the Source