Seeding Heaven for Revival
by Sandra Moats
Seeding Heaven with prayers for revival is in the hearts and mouths
of many Christians these days. It is clear that America is in great
need of revival. We are in need of a Heavenly downpour if we are to
again be One Nation Under God. Seeding for revival can happen in
many ways, but the most common is united prayer. For many years our
nation has been lacking in prayer meetings. The tragic event of 9/11
began a seeding of prayer for America. It drew folks together in
prayer all across the nation.
Seeding revival has a natural counterpart. Nations use cloud
seeding as a way of getting clouds to release rain when needed. The
cloud seeding begins by Silver Iodide being released via a plane or
through a ground based-generator into clouds. Ice crystals form snow
and it begins to fall from the clouds. If the air is real cold it
stays snow, but if it is warm it becomes rain. The Bible tells us
the principal of first happening in the natural and then in the
spiritual realm. “But it is not the spiritual which is first but the
physical, and then the spiritual.” 1Co 15:46.
In seeding Heaven for Revival there are actually three parts.
The first part is cold Christians repenting and returning to their
first love. It begins with repentance in God’s people. They allow
the Holy Spirit to search them and are willing to see their sins and
repent. The Bible promises healing of the land when God’s people
humble themselves and pray. . “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 Chr 7:14.
The church is instrumental in the turning of our country.
Praying Christians are the key that can open the floodgates of
Heaven to pour out revival on our land. Revival means to recover,
repair or restore. Hosea 10:12 says: “Sow to yourself in
righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground; for it is
time to seek the Lord till He come and reign righteousness upon
you.” Revival brings life.
There are three stages of natural life, conception, gestation,
and birth. So it is in the spiritual realm for revival. There is
conception-prayer that breaks up fallow ground, gestation -
happenings and growth, and birth-revival and awakening.
Conception prayer breaks up the fallow ground of the believer’s
heart. There is a heart felt seeking the Lord for the welfare of the
whole nation. Hearts are broken over their sins, and for the sins of
their country
Gestation involves happenings that draw people together in
prayer. Sometimes they are tragedies that God allows to awaken a
community. God did not create pain and suffering, but He permits
that which He hates to accomplish that which He loves. God did
create humans, who through their own free will carried the potential
for good and evil to enter the world. When Adam and Eve ate of the
forbidden fruit they knew good and evil, and the ability to release
both.
God takes no pleasure in tragedies, but He has been known to
turn tragedies into triumphs for us when we look to Him. Ro 8:28. We
find a great example of this in the Old Testament in the story of
Joseph. He went through rejection of his brothers to the point of
them wanting to kill him, but instead they sold him into slavery. He
was the apple of his father’s eye when at 17 years old he was robbed
of his father’s love. He was sold by his jealous brothers for a
slave and taken to a foreign land. There he was unfairly accused of
a crime and put in prison. And in all that the Bible says, “God was
with him.” Ac 7:9.
Because of Joseph’s God given gift of being able to interpret
dreams he was released from prison into a position of great
authority where he was in the position of helping to save the lives
of his own family and many others. When he was reunited with his
brothers who sold him into slavery he said, “You intended to harm
me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being
done, the saving of many lives.” Ge 50:20; Ro 8:28.
The late Billy Graham said, “ Yes, God may use tragedies or
heartaches to bring us closer to Himself. I’ve experienced this in
my own life, and I’ve observed it in the lives of others also. Does
this mean God is being cruel when He does this? No, not at all, in
fact the opposite is the case. The problem, you see, is with us, not
with God. Our hearts easily become cold and indifferent to God, and
we refuse to listen to Him when He’s trying to get our attention. We
can even become so hardened toward God that we can’t hear His voice.
When this happens, the only way He can get our attention may be to
allow something to happen to us that will shatter our indifference
or rebellion. Only then will we face our need for Christ, and turn
in faith and trust to Him.”
Sometimes in an area God uses tragedies to draw the community or
a nation together to pray and seek God. The tragedy of 9/11 drew the
nation together in prayer. The churches were filled for a few
months, but again when the tragedy grew cold our nation went back to
its old ways. Since that time more tragedies have occurred with
increasing violence across our nation. Our schools are no longer a
safe place for our children.
It is very clear that God is speaking loud and clear to our
nation. Over the last seventeen years since 9/11 we have seen
disasters across our land as the hand of judgment has moved on our
nation. Crime and violent acts have become daily news. Our nation is
in turmoil as never before.
What is God saying to us as a nation? He is saying, if we will
pray and turn from our wicked ways, He will hear from Heaven and
heal our land. 2 Ch 7:14.
In the Northwest area of Kootenai and Bonner County I believe we
are seeing a seeding for the coming revival here. We have had a
series of tragedies that have a distinct pattern since 2015. On May
5, 2015 Sergeant Greg Moore, a dearly loved husband and father, 16-
year veteran of the Coeur d’ Alene Police Department was fatally
shot in the line of duty. The hospital was filled with people
praying, but Sergeant Greg passed away. The community was shocked
and deeply wounded with his death. The community was drawn together
in prayer. Nationally policemen were drawn together in this terrible
loss, almost 4,000 filed the local high school for Greg’s funeral.
“Following the funeral, the community came out in a huge show of
support for a funeral procession that included law enforcement
vehicles from across the country and stretched down the streets of
Coeur d’Alene for miles.” Our community would never be the same. I
believe this was the first seeding for revival in this area.
We had another seeding for revival on March 7, 2016. Pastor Tim
Remington was greeting people after church when he was shot 8 times
by a visitor. The hospital was packed again with praying people in
behalf of Pastor Tim. In churches, homes, and prayer groups families
gathered to pray for Pastor Tim. Again across this nation Coeur d’
Alene was brought to attention. Miraculously Pastor Tim’s life was
spared, but he was severely injured - enough to remain a constant
reminder to this community to keep praying for him. And enough to be
a constant reminder to stay in united extended prayer.
A few months ago in our Bible study prayer group during prayer
the pattern of seeding became clear. We prayed for the safety of
whoever might be involved in another seeding for this area. On
February 27, 2018, Officer Charles Hatley was shot in the line of
duty. The people of Coeur d’ Alene were again drawn together in
prayer for Officer Hatley. Again the same pattern of shooting
occurred, and thankfully officer Hatley’s life was spared.
On March 5, 2018 officer Michael Hutter and Officer Eric Clark
were shot in the line of duty in Sandpoint, Idaho. The community of
thankfully both officers lived. Officer Clark was more seriously
injured and is still recovering. Again this area was drawn into
united prayer. Is this all a coincidence? Or could these tragedies
be part of the seeding of the coming revival to the northwest?
Just as the clouds are seeded for rain with material, revivals
are seeded by happenings. When we pastored in New Mexico we
experienced a move of God among the churches. Carlsbad had a rash of
suicides in the local high school. It left many families in mourning
within a short period of time. It was a pattern that was happening
in the city, and it was a pattern that preceded a move of God in
that city. Pastors were moved to come together for prayer, and the
community was drawn into a time of prayer walking the streets and
the high school. The mayor and officials became part of the prayer
movement there. The result was hearts were awakened to God, and
people returned to Him who had been drifting in their faith. As much
as the tragedies of the suicides were, God used them to seed Heaven
for the move of God we experienced there.
The third part of a move of God is wide spread revival, and the
awakening of lost people to the warmth of Jesus Christ’s love.
Revival and awakening affects a nation on every level when it
happens. The Welsh Revival has a completely changed nation when the
outpouring came. So much so the police had to form singing quartets
because there was no crime.
How much do we want revival? Do we want it as much as we want
air to breathe? Hardly or we would all be on our knees constantly.
Church, we hold the key to revival. I encourage you to become part
of a prayer group that is seeding Heaven for revival
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