“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)
“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” (Joel 2:1)
“Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.” (Joel 2:12-13)
“Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar…” (Joel 2:17)
(The title of this writing is inspired by a fuller statement made by Dr. Greg Mathis, Senior Pastor of Mud Creek Church, Hendersonville, NC)
In 1992, I believe it was, perhaps ’93, I was chosen to be the Keynote Speaker for the Kern County Southern Baptist Association (KCSBA) annual meeting. It was an honor to be asked. However, soon the pride of the moment rushed into humility and I realized I needed God’s direction for a message that would have spiritual impact. Little did I know that the impact would be strongly felt within me from that meeting preparation until today and beyond . . . if I am blessed with a beyond? I spoke from the passage of 2 Chronicles 7:14.
From that moment, I was moved by God to train and encourage the church I was pastor of into a movement of prayer and prayer ministries that brought healing to two churches in conflict, plus the community we served; to develop multiple prayer ministries within and between all major denominational churches in that city and beyond. Over the years since, I have been used and blessed of God to serve in prayer activities and training in Russia, China, Vietnam, Mexico, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and in churches throughout California. I was the prayer director for the Kern County Southern Baptist Association for 10 years. In 1998 I was voted to be the Prayer Director for the Greater Kern County Crusade for Christ, an honor I will not soon forget. I have been California Southern Baptist Convention Prayer Consultant since a few months before 9-11. In that capacity, I have been in hundreds of churches sharing seminars and other prayer events geared toward drawing believers into a deeper, more personal relationship through prayer. Also, God called me to begin a personal prayer ministry called Impact Prayer International in 1999 that in interdenominational. I have been used on radio, TV, and the Internet promoting prayer and revival. God has blessed me with multiple venues for writing articles on the need for a deeper relationship with Jesus through the intimacy of prayer. The driving motive behind all of these things was, is, and always will be the need for Spiritual Awakening among God’s people.
All of these years in praying and teaching the words of 2 Chronicles 7:14, I have asked the LORD many times, “LORD, when You say ‘If My people, which are called by My name . . .’ just how many of Your people are You waiting for?” In all these years, He has never answered me, that is, until last Tuesday; May 5, 2020 as I prayed in unity with what I believed to be approximately 300,000 other committed Christians for the Praying on the Mountain event. I heard God speak, “Jerry, do you still want to know how many I await? –Just one. Will you be My one?”
Yes, Tuesday, I prayed in my Prayer Garden alone, praying the Scriptures in 2 Chronicles, Isaiah, and Joel. I prayed with a new expectancy and desire to hear God; to feel God, and I did. I prayed for an hour or more, before I joined the Praying on the Mountain internet event to pray with them. The prayer time was very good. Before the end of the prayer movement, the host church received an email from South Korea stating the church there had promoted and projected that vast prayer gathering to more than one million viewers. How many more around the world prayed with us is hard to imagine. Beloved, Spiritual Awakening has begun. My heart is full!
The evil of today is not worse than at other periods of time, it’s just that it is our time; we’re in it! And, it is not greater than our LORD is mighty!
God has proven Himself to break through our evil to show His mercy. He has done this many times before, there’s time for more breakthroughs.
In the years 1905 through 1910, God’s Spirit brought awakening to many parts of the world. It moved in Wales, much of England, Scotland, Ireland, America, India, Korea, Manchuria, China, Japan, Australia, Madagascar, Norway, South America, the Caribbean Islands . . .
Beloved, there’s room for more of His mercy and grace. Will you be God’s one? Be awakened! Pray On!
