My
Awakening!
I had been sensing for a while that my life
needed to change. Towards the end of 2002, I was thirty years old, and my life
was about to change for the better. First, a good friend of mine reunites with
his wife. Secondly, I had come out of a toxic relationship with a woman I dated
for a year. Then I was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy on the right side of my
face, which caused paralysis to that side of my face. I had started feeling
sorry for myself and reexamining my life because of my illness. My friend, who
went back to his wife, stunned me during this time! The reason why I was shocked
was that we had been partying hard together for a few years. He never once
mentioned to me any religion. Then suddenly, he told me that he had become a
Christian and was starting to go to church on Sundays. I could not believe it.
I was shocked. After he told me this, it caused an awakening in my heart. I
knew that there was more to my life than thrill-seeking.
Everything that had happened in this short space of time led me on
my spiritual journey. You see after my friend gave his life to Christ, It made
me think about my spiritual upbringing. I remember growing up around the
church. My grandmother took me to Pilgrim Baptist Church in Hamilton, Ohio,
between six and nine years old. She had been there for many years.
Unfortunately for me, I did not care for the church. I wanted to have fun, and
I would do anything to get out of church services. At about nine years old, I
became clever in sneaking out of services during Sunday school. I used to plan
my way of escape. I would pretend to go to Sunday school by leaving my
grandmother's house a bit early. I then would go around to the side of the
place where the basement window was located. I did this because I had unlocked
the window before leaving the house. Then, I would go into the basement until
my grandmother left for church. Once she left, I was free for the next two to
three hours. I had so much fun. I would sneak to the local shops and play the
video arcade version of Donkey Kong; at other times, and I would stay home and
watch cartoons on tv. Eventually, I got caught by my grandmother.
Unfortunately, my desire to go to church had evaporated into thin air.
After witnessing my friend's heart change towards his family, I
decided to think about church life again. One night, I was roaming through the
tv channels. I saw a tv preacher give a message about intimately knowing God.
He talked about making Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior. I received the
message loud and clear. I got on my knees and recited the preacher's prayer on
tv. That was it! I accepted Jesus into my heart as my Lord and Savior. I know
the change that I was sensing was an awakening in my heart to receive Jesus as
Lord, saviour, and friend.
The seeds for Great Awakening!
The Old Testament prophets and the New Testament
believers led to my interest in receiving and understanding prophetic
revelation concerning future events.
During these last fifteen years of my Christian journey, I have
meditated from time to time on the prophetic words concerning an awakening that
God is releasing in the nations. I realized that this awakening we are
experiencing is understood by the prophetic words we received in the past.
When I talk about awakening, what comes to mind is
something remarkably like what the Prophet Daniel experienced. The book of
Daniel, located in the Old Testament part of the Christian Bible, gives an
account of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar ordering the people of Israel,
including some of the royal family and the nobles, to be taken into captivity.
Daniel was sixteen years old when he was taken captive by the Babylonian
empire. For more than sixty years, Daniel served the Lord during the Babylonian
and Medo-Persian empires as a prophet. He also became governor of the province of
Babylon, and he was appointed chief of the king's wise man there. While serving
in the Medo-Persian government, Daniel reviewed the books that contained the
prophecies of the Prophet Jeremiah. These prophecies revealed why the nation of
Israel was taken into captivity, and the signs also indicated when the
captivity would end.
During his exile in Babylon, Daniel
wrote this: I Daniel was studying the
writings of the prophets. I learned from the word of the Lord, as recorded by the
Prophet Jeremiah, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years. Daniel
realized that God gave him a prophetic word about what was happening now and
that he needed to seek the Lord in prayer to find out when it would end. See (Daniel
9:1-2.) According to Amos 3:7, the Lord does nothing
unless he reveals it to his servant, the prophets.
Understandably,
some in the church are very suspicious of prophetic words given through the
church. There are many reasons why the church does not appreciate this form of
communication from our God. Some of the reasons could be: People received
personal prophecies about specific results and actions that were guaranteed to
happen but did not happen. Examples include whether a person is healed or not,
whether an estranged spouse will return, a job, etc. However, the bible tells
us that the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. Jesus himself said, "My
sheep hear my voice and the follow me". Just like sheep, when they hear
the distinct sound of the Shepard, so should followers of Jesus be able to hear
God's voice in our daily lives. So how do we hear God's voice?
I am
part of a Christian ministry called Hearing God's Voice UK. We teach a course
called Four Keys to Hearing God's Voice. The four keys are 1. You are quieting
yourself down. 2. Look for vision from the Holy Spirit as you pray. 3. Tune to
the spontaneous thoughts that come across your mind. 4. Write down or journal
what you hear and see from the Holy Spirit. As we practice hearing God's voice
in our hearts, we will be able to recognize God's voice through the prophetic
words spoken in the church and to the church. God the Father wants to talk to
his children. For this reason, we should receive and understand how God
communicates through the prophets and the prophetic voices in the church. God
said that in the last days, He's pouring his Spirit out on all flesh. See (Acts
2:17-21). We are seeing an increase in prophetic utterances in and out of the
church. Like Daniel in the bible, Wendy
Alec is a prophetic voice that the Lord has used over the years. Wendy is from London, England. She is a writer,
TV producer, filmmaker, and director of Warboys Entertainment London.
Through Wendy Alec's media ministry, the seeds
of awakening would penetrate my heart. In her book 'Journal of an Unknown
Prophet', Wendy writes about her conversations with God the Father. He explains
His heart concerning heaven and earth. Towards the end of the book, God reveals
His plans to bring correction to the news media, the entertainment industry,
and the government establishments of the world. God reveals to Wendy the end
time calls of certain nations.
In 2005, I read 'Journal
of an Unknown Prophet.
This book was the first time I had read anything about the Father's displeasure
with world systems. Since then, I watched as news media corruption became
unbearable to digest. News outlets that used to report news from an
objectionable stance are now attacking anyone who believed in traditional
marriage, pro-life issues and views that supported Israel's right to
self-govern their homeland. Judeo and Christian values are considered intolerable
in a liberal worldview. Over the next few years, through various prophetic
ministries, the messages they carried about an awakening were coming to stir nations'
hearts back to God. Remember, the Lord does nothing unless he reveals the
prophets to his servant.
In Deuteronomy 29:29, the secret things belong to
the Lord our God, but those things
which are revealed belong to our children and us forever, that we
may do all the words of this law. The Pen of the ready writer is in our hands
as we recite the theme of the Lord. He gives us our theme morning by morning.
It is time to wake up from our slumber. The awakening of the Lord is upon us.
We are entering the new thing God wants to reveal to our hearts.
Experiencing
The Great Awakening!
I believe awakening is happening in the world
right now! I have been sensing this awakening over the last fifteen years.
Awakening is happening in the Government, Media, Social Justice, Arts and
Entertainment, Science, and Religion. In the Mediasphere, we see more and more
independent journalists rising to present a balance observation of facts-related
stories. More scientists and Doctors are coming forward to expose the cooperate
greed of Big Pharmaceutical companies charging high prices on medicines. The
list goes on and on to see more people rising in society. People are sensing
something is happening in the world, searching for answers. The Holy Spirit has
been moving on the hearts of believers and non-believers.
An excellent example of non-believers and
believers coming together is the Qanon movement or the Great Awakening. In the book Calm Before The Storm, American
Christian writer Dave Hayes, the Praying Medic, concludes that Qanon is open-source.
He says that Qanon provides open-source information ( US government
intelligence) that ordinary people can uncover the truth and expose corruption
at the highest levels. In our society today, there is, in fact, public
corruption.
I believe that revelation from the Holy Spirit
about corruption has been poured out for all humanity to witness. In Matthew
Chapter thirteen, we read about the deceitfulness of riches and the cares of
the world. The deception of riches drives the upkeep of the world. There seems
to be a global stirring by the Holy Spirit to this reality. The Spirit of truth
is helping the church and society to see the uncovering of deception in the
areas of family, education, government, media, religion, entertainment, and
science. As the awakening continues to shed light on darkness, we have our eyes
and ears open to see heaven invading earth.
We will
see more prophetic words during this awakening, revealing this reality. We will
become aware that the deceitfulness of riches will drive the world's cares in
all areas. Let us not be ignorant of the enemy's devices. Prophetic writers and
teachers like Wendy Alec and Dave Hayes, and others have given us insights into
the seven mountains of influence: Family, Education, Government, Media,
Religion, Entertainment, and Science. These revelations from the Holy Spirit to
the body of Christ have started to help us understand the importance of
carrying out the mission from the Lord to disciple the nation. A spiritual
battle rages from the heavenly realms into the earthly realm.
Our
assignment is to disciple the nations for Christ. We are watching a new move of
the Spirit in the countries. This move of God is helping us move into these
mountains of influence to help us shape culture. This cultural shift is having
a profound effect on the lives of everyday individuals. I believe that all the
upheaval that is taking place in society is because of heaven invading earth.
Jesus told us to pray on earth as it is in heaven. If we believe that His
prayers get answered, then we are witnessing the nations being drawn to the
move of the Holy Spirit. The church is being helped to disciple the nation. We
need to have eyes to see and hears to hear what the Holy Spirit is doing so we
can follow His blueprint. Following the Holy Spirit, we pursue our assignment
to disciple the nations for Christ.
I
believe that we are in an awakening. People worldwide are sensing something is
going on behind the scenes. This awakening is a stunning move of God. I have
been around different types of movements of God. One activity focused on the
Father heart of God. Another action focused on purity of heart. However, this
move of God seems to be focusing on uncovering corruption around the world.
Ever since I have become a Christian, I have been a God chaser. This chase has
led me to the prophetic part of the church. Being able to sense God's presence
and discerning God's voice through various believers has been exciting. Over
the past few years, these prophetic voices have been announcing the arrival of
a God-ordained awakening. I believe this new move of God will help the church to
disciple the nations and turn the people back to God. We are in the Great
Awakening!