you ever wondered why there are so many professing Christians in
America, yet so few cities that have been truly transformed for Christ?
Why, in prayer meetings and conferences, we passionately cry out for
nations to be saved in a day; yet our local spheres of influence remain
largely unchanged year after year?
The
answer can be found by examining the historical seeds of past
revivals. For example, legend has it that Jonathan Edwards, before the
birthing of the Great Awakening, made a covenant with God. Standing on a
riverbank, he cried out to God for revival in the land. Drawing a
circle in the sand, he pledged that before God could take the city, the
region, the nation, He must start here—and he pointed to the circle.
Then Edwards stepped into the circle.
For
a community, a city or a nation to be gripped with revival, a man or
woman must first be fully gripped by God. Personal visitation is always
the catalyst for revival. Visitation always precedes transformation.
In order to shake the nations for God, we must first let God shake US!
Perhaps
you’re thinking: “A radical visitation from God is great for people
like Moses, the Apostle Paul, or Jonathan Edwards. But that kind of
thing would never happen to little ol’ me.” But what if it wasn’t the
greatness of these men that prompted their visitations? What if their
personal visitations prompted their greatness, giving them the faith to
walk out their incredible destinies?
Throughout
history God has always used weak, broken vessels—whose very fragility
is the perfect conduit for His glory and power—to change cities and
nations. The truth is, God doesn’t wait until we have “arrived” at our
destiny to encounter us. Rather, He uses personal visitation as a key
part of our commissioning.
Unfortunately,
many Christians in America don’t believe in visitations from God
because they don’t believe in the supernatural. The Western church as a
whole is barren because of its utter dependence on logic and
intellectualism.
We
know the Word of God, but we lack the experience of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, church is little more than a routine, a social club—totally
devoid of mass salvations, deliverances and other supernatural touches
for suffering humanity. We claim to believe that the Bible is true, yet
somehow we ignore the fact that Jesus commissioned us to walk in
greater works than He did. Miracles are not an option! They are
trademarks of basic Christianity.
Some
are afraid that if we move into the supernatural we will slip into
deception. Where is our confidence: in the ability of Satan to deceive
us, or God’s ability to protect us?
We
don’t have to be afraid! Experts say that the best way to discern a
counterfeit is to study and memorize the real thing. You and I can know
the “real thing” by examining biblical examples of people who’ve had
real, authentic, life- and world-changing encounters with God.
Comb
through the Scriptures and try to find one hero of faith whose life
was NOT interrupted by the supernatural. You can’t! Nor can you find
one in the history of church revivals.
For
lives and cities and nations to be changed, personal, supernatural
visitations from God are essential. These are not radical joyrides in
the Spirit; they are DNA-altering experiences that transform us, giving
us the faith and confidence to believe and do the impossible.
Why
not contend for your own personal visitation? Here is the key: As much
as you want to meet with God, He passionately desires to encounter you
even more. Your life and your world can begin to change, starting
today. All it takes is one radical encounter with God!
The late Jill Austin, founder of Master Potter
Ministries, traveled internationally as a conference speaker for more
than 25 years. She was a veteran leader within the prophetic movement,
ministering the
presence and power of the Holy Spirit worldwide for nearly three
decades, both in person and through books such as Dancing With Destiny and Master Potter.
