Devotions

When King Jehoshaphat found himself surrounded by enemies, Scripture tells us, “[He] cried out, and the Lord helped him; and God moved [his enemies] to depart from him” (2 Chronicles 18:31).

There was a cry in Jehoshaphat’s heart: “Oh, God, I have been listening to voices I should not have been listening to, and hanging around people who sapped my spiritual strength. God, one more time, would You allow me to live? Would You fight against my enemies and take me into a place of victory? Give me a voice to be able to lead your people again into righteousness!”

And God caused Jehoshaphat’s enemies to depart from him.

GO BACK TO THE PLACE OF STRENGTH

I foresee very difficult days ahead of us. But in the midst of that difficulty, I see multitudes —“Jehoshaphats” — from all over this country who have been sitting in the wrong place, finally getting up and saying, “I am going back to that place of strength and victory that was won for me on Calvary. I am going to bend my knee to the Lord, even if it means dropping my own plans and ambitions to find the will of the One who died for me.”

MORE THAN CONQUERORS

Come what may, remember that we as the people of God are not destined for defeat. We are not destined to be overthrown like the smooth-talking prophets who do not know the heart of God.

• We are destined to live in victory
• We are destined to be more than conquerors through Christ

And so it is time to lay down our plans and cry out to God again for our homes, our families, this generation, the future of our cities. It will not be a popular time to stand for God, but there will be a glorious touch of the Holy Spirit on those who have the sense to call out to God.

Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 at the invitation of the founding pastor, David Wilkerson, and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001. 

Our Lord has a holy remnant in every nation. And right now He is preparing a people who have stirred themselves to lay hold of Him. In small churches and gatherings all over the globe — in China, India, Europe, Africa, North and South America — a cry is rising, and it’s getting more intense:

“Oh, God, come down! Send your Holy Ghost fire! Melt away all flesh and manifest Your presence.”

They know that Jesus’ words to His disciples apply to them as well: “My Spirit will change everything, in a moment’s time. All mountains of hardness and unbelief will melt away, and everyone who has stood against you will now come flocking.” When this happens, there will be no advertising of the event — no television cameras, no featured evangelist, no organizers staging a “revival.” Instead, there will be only a desperate, hungry people waiting on the Lord to reveal Himself in His glory and saving power.

WORLD SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL

God’s people know He is the only sustaining source in these troubling times, and soon the world is going to know it. As the economy sinks deeper worldwide — as Iran and Russia become more threatening, and global calamities occur — people won’t tolerate a message of self-fulfillment. They will demand to know the reality of God in a world spinning out of control.

The promise that God gave to Isaiah applies today:

“For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him” (Isaiah 64:4, my italics).

As the hundred and twenty disciples gathered faithfully in the Upper Room, they weren’t just waiting for a date on the calendar. The Bible says, “They were all with one accord in one place” (Acts 2:1). This means they had come together as one body for one purpose: the hope of seeing Jesus’ promise fulfilled. Their cry was the same as in Isaiah’s day: “Lord, rip open the heavens and come down. Let all mountains of opposition, human and demonic, melt at Your presence, so the lost may be saved” (see Isaiah 64:1).

VISIBLE FIRE FELL

We know what happened: The Holy Ghost fell, with visible fire appearing on the disciples’ heads. This holy outpouring took them to the streets of Jerusalem, where thousands of lifeless religious people saw and heard what was happening. Immediately the Spirit fell on that crowd, melting every mountain of opposition. Peter stood up to preach, and suddenly those who had rejected Jesus — masses who had hardened their hearts — melted at the mention of Christ’s name. And three thousand people cried out to be saved.

GOD’S FOCUS

Consider what God was doing. All around the world at that time, there were wars, uprisings, great darkness, empires invading nations. Multiple millions were busy with commerce, as cargo ships and trade caravans traversed the globe. Yet, God’s interest and focus was on a hundred and twenty humble, praying saints gathered in a small, rented room. What does this tell us? Simply put, when God strikes a match, there must be kindling for it to catch fire. As His Spirit blew on those saints at Pentecost, a flickering flame became a fire that soon would cover the whole earth.

Once again, the same cry is rising all over the world today.

Isaiah’s prophetic messages were heard throughout the nation. During this time there were great religious gatherings, complete with choirs and orchestras and people filling the synagogues. The people were well versed in the Scriptures and kept all the ordinances. Yet, in spite of all this activity — all the teaching, pageantry and good works — the atmosphere in the synagogues was dead. Doing God’s work had become drudgery, for one reason only: There was nothing of His presence in their rituals.

The prophet Micah spoke for God:

“O my people, what have I done unto thee? And wherein have I wearied thee? Testify against me” (Micah 6:3).

REND THE HEAVENS, LORD

The Lord was prodding His people, “Tell me, what have I done to burden you? I challenge you to testify of what I did to cause your lethargy.”

As Isaiah looked around, he was moved to say:

“There is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee. . . . Thy holy cities are a wilderness” (Isaiah 64:7, 10).

Essentially, Isaiah was saying, “Lord, You’ve blessed us with good teachers, music and programs. But we don’t have Your presence, Your fire, Your Holy Ghost power. I see no one calling out to You. Lord, rend the heavens! Come down and give us your touch.”

DEATH AMIDST PLENTY

Beloved, I suggest to you: What a picture of Christ’s church today. We have been blessed with more tools for evangelism than any other generation. We have more media outlets for the gospel — more books, websites, television and radio shows — than ever before.

Yet, it is still rare to come out of a church service today saying, “I was revived, made alive again, by being in God’s house.” Simply put, there is very little Holy Spirit power operating in much of the church. In my opinion, we are missing Isaiah’s cry: “Lord, reveal Yourself. Touch Your people once more.”

I am convinced the Lord is trying to break through to His people as never before.

As Scripture predicts, the devil has come down with great wrath, knowing his time is short (see Revelation 12:12). And right now God’s people need a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit, a supernatural touch even greater than the one at Pentecost.

Think of it: Jesus’ followers at Pentecost didn’t have to fear nuclear weapons. They didn’t face gay marriages in mainstream society. They didn’t tremble as the entire world economy teetered on the brink of collapse. It is clear we need Holy Ghost power to face these last days — it’s that simple.

CRY OF OUR HEART

Indeed, the cry that’s called for today was heard in Isaiah’s day:

“O that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence . . . to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! . . . For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him” (Isaiah 64:1, 2–4).

Where did this cry come from? It was uttered by a prophet grieving over the lethargy of God’s people, a man who clearly knew what was needed: a supernatural visitation from the Lord. Isaiah was saying, “Lord, we can’t go on as we have, with the same dead religious routine. We need a touch from You such as we have never known.”