Posted: 06/03/2016 at 1:12pm
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Get Prepared for
the 'Greatest Youth Awakening the World Has Ever Seen'
10:00AM
EDT 5/23/2016 James W. Goll
There is more prayer today than ever before
for a youth awakening. (IHOP Facebook page)
The time has come for
another Great Awakening! In 1967, a youth revival called the Jesus People
Movement started and it swept across the country, exploding in
colleges and coffeehouses.
People were being saved
everywhere. It was radical. At the time I was young and caught up right in the
middle of it while attending Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg,
Missouri.
Now, close to 50 years
later, we are crying out, "Do it again, God! Way beyond the Jesus
People movement! Way beyond the charismatic movement! Do it again, God! Do it
again in this generation!" With youth-oriented prayer movements
like The Call chaired by Lou Engle and IHOP led by Mike Bickle,
united by scores of prayer networks globally, we have more prayer today for a
youth awakening than any previous time in church history.
I can feel it. I can
smell it. I know it. Yes, we're turning the corner towards the greatest
youth awakening that the world has ever seen. It has happened before. It can
happen again. It's time for another shock wave of signs and wonders from the
Holy Spirit to hit the church and cause the body of Christ to awaken. Why not
now?
Frankly, I believe I have
been saved from death almost four times to be alive for this hour. He has
preserved my life so I can be one of the many fathers to a generation in need.
I have the honor of participating in a new church planted in the heart of
Nashville, Tennessee, called "The Belonging." What a joy on Tuesday
nights to be among hundreds of young people radically praising God. Consider
the revival occurring in a high school auditorium in West Virginia today, or
the glory outpourings in San Diego, California, called the West Coast Rumble, going
into their 100th straight night.
These are the rumblings
and beginnings of the new wine of His presence being poured out into new
wineskins once again! At a 50-year mark of Jubilee, it is time for the captives
to be set free and good news to be preached to the poor. Praise the Lord!
Revolution Almost Always
Begins with Young Adults
Almost every revolution
has started with students on a college or university campus. Throughout
history, both bad and good revolutions frequently begin because student-aged
young people are hungry for change and willing to lay down their lives for a
cause, whether political, social or spiritual. Think of revolutions such as
Marxism, Nazism and Communism, or even Pentecostalism and the Jesus People
movement.
Campuses are where future
leaders are collected together in one place and are being trained. They are
influenced by powerful voices and trends, and they influence each other.
Educational institutions also host many young people from other countries. In
fact, there are more than 550,000 international students
currently attending American universities.
Young adulthood is a time
of great change. Statistics show that more than 77 percent of all Christians
made their decisions for Christ before they turned 21. A spiritual
awakening among young adults is a prophetic promise for an entire generation.
If Christians can reach
campuses for Christ, God can, in turn, reach cities and nations. The words that
the apostle Paul wrote to the young man Timothy can apply to young adults on campuses
today:
"This command I
commit to you, my son Timothy, according to the prophecies that were previously
given to you, that by them you might fight a good fight" (1 Tim. 1:18).
Throughout Christian
history, spiritual battles result in spiritual awakenings, and young people are
clearly at the center. Here is a taste of some of these mighty moves of
God, detailed more fully in my book Prayer Storm.
Campus Ministry, Cambridge-Style
In 1799, an evangelical
move of the Holy Spirit began at King's College in Cambridge, England. It began
with the conversion of a student named Charles Simeon. This movement progressed
slowly but surely for years until there was enough evangelical activity that,
by 1877, students from across the 17 colleges of Cambridge organized the
Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (CICCU), which in turn caused an
increased interest in salvation and missions. An evangelistic campaign led by
D.L. Moody and Ira Sankey resulted in a noticeable increase in enrollment in
theology schools and missions involvement, including the launching of the
"Cambridge Seven" to China, led by well-known cricket player C.T.
Studd.
More than a century
later, CICCU still exists as Cambridge's longest-tenured student group, and
CICCU has helped with the formation of InterVarsity organizations across Great
Britain and North America. Campus ministries such as InterVarsity, Campus
Crusade for Christ and the Navigators have helped immeasurably to spur the
growth of evangelical faith over the past 50-plus years.
Evan Roberts and the
Welsh Revival of 1904
Young Evan Roberts began
to seek the Lord when he was only 13 years old. By the time he was 26, his
earnest prayerful efforts brought revival to his hometown in Wales. In a short
time, the Spirit of God came so powerfully that 100,000 people across the
country gave their lives to Christ. The effects of that Welsh Revival are still
being felt today, especially because of its contributions to the birth of
Pentecostalism in the United States and across the world.
Evan Roberts' simple
prayer was "Send the Spirit now for Jesus Christ's sake," and
"Send the Spirit now more powerfully for Jesus Christ's sake." He was
a young man, but people of all ages responded to the Gospel message because of
his revolutionary zeal and his humble, prayerful obedience to the Holy Spirit.
The Role of Prayer in
Student Revivals
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In order to understand
revival, we must understand the role of prayer in the history of revivals. J.
Edwin Orr, the famous revival historian, said, "Young people in
student-led prayer cells have been at the forefront in almost every
awakening."
For example, the Moravian
24/7 prayer and missionary movement that was started in 1727 by Count Nikolaus
Ludwig von Zinzendorf was built on his youthful zeal. By the time he graduated
from the equivalent of high school at the age of 16, Zinzendorf had started no
fewer than seven different student prayer groups, and he continued his prayer
disciplines while he was a student at the University of Wittenberg from 1716 to
1719.
The First Great Awakening
in North America and Europe was ignited by a Yale University graduate named
Jonathan Edwards and by Oxford students John Wesley and George Whitefield. The
Second Great Awakening was sparked by Timothy Dwight, the grandson of Jonathan
Edwards, at Yale University. After his 1797 message to Yale students, nearly half
of Yale's student body came to Christ in a few short months.
Samuel Mills was a
freshman at Williams College in Massachusetts in 1806, when he met with four
friends for prayer about revival and world missions. When a rainstorm hit, they
took refuge under a haystack and continued to pray (thus becoming known as the
"Haystack Five").
"When the rain
subsided, Mills stood up, slammed his fist into his hand, and announced 'We can
do this, if we will!'" wrote Jaeson Ma.
"These five young collegians stepped out in faith and not only initiated
the first nationwide student movement, but also began the first six mission
agencies from North America. Although there were just 25 colleges in America
(averaging about a hundred students each) at the time, the "Haystack
Five" helped launch small world mission study and prayer clusters on many
of them."
About 80 years later,
Luther Wishard, a 20-something young man who had just been appointed as a
leader in the YMCA, heard the story of the Haystack Five. Inspired by the
story, he committed himself to a revival of the same vision and went on to
found the Student Volunteer Movement, which became the largest missions
movement of all time. Over the next generation, students on every campus in the
U.S. committed themselves to the "evangelization of the world in this
generation." Over 20,000 of them sailed to the foreign mission field,
and over 80,000 others had personally committed themselves to prayer and to
financially support those being sent out. These are just a few examples of the
phenomenal revival zeal that has come out of the college-age generation.
The Law of Night-and-Day
Prayer
Anyone who signs up for Prayer Storm already appreciates
the value of 24/7, day-and-night, night-and-day prayer. This Scripture is a
familiar one:
Luke 18:7-8 says,
"And shall not God avenge His own elect and be patient with them, who cry
day and night to Him? I tell you, He will avenge them speedily.
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"
This passage portrays
night-and-day prayer. Why are we convinced that this is what's called for and
that it is going to be effective? I have assembled the following list of
reasons:
- 24/7
worship and prayer is what is done in heaven. Let it therefore be done on
earth!
- 24/7
worship and prayer releases God's justice on the earth.
- 24/7
worship and prayer fuels the Great Commission (see Matt. 28:19).
- 24/7
worship and prayer hinders the plans of the devil.
- 24/7
worship and prayer releases revival breakthrough.
- 24/7
worship and prayer prepares the way for Christ's Second Coming.
As I have often said, a
sustained move of God is comprised of three generations, because God is the God
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—three generations walking together as one
generation. We need the wisdom of the older, the resources of the middle and
the zeal of the younger. We need the synergy of all three.
Regardless of which
chronological generation you are currently a part of, there is one thing every
one of them must do, and that's pray. You might not be able to do anything else
except pray. Pray up a prayer storm. Pray!
I declare that the
greatest youth awakening that the world has ever seen is coming upon the stage
of time. Now is the time. This is the generation. The joining of the
generations is upon us. My people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power
(Ps. 110:3). Let another historic awakening begin now for Jesus Christ's
sake.
I have personally
dedicated my life and ministry to this purpose, and I fully expect to witness
the greatest youth awakening the world has ever seen with my own eyes. Let's
pray the way Jesus taught us. Let's pray to the Lord of the harvest that He
sends forth laborers into the field. It will happen. It is already here.
"Lord, we call forth
in our day and in this generation the greatest youth awakening that the world
has ever seen. You have done it before, now do it again—even better and bigger
and more powerfully. Release Your Spirit and send Your angels to usher in one
billion more souls for Your Kingdom, for Jesus Christ's sake. Send revival!
Send it now! Move quickly, Holy Spirit, and raise up the greatest youth prayer
army of all time. We declare that these prayers are in agreement with Your
prophetic purposes for this generation, and we praise Your holy name. Amen and
Amen!"
For the original article,
visit encountersnetwork.com.
Dr. James Goll is the founder of Encounters Network, Prayer Storm and helps carry on the
work of Compassion Acts. For information on his online school visit: geteschool.com. James continues to live
in Tennessee and is a joyful father and grandfather today.
Edited by Moderator on 06/03/2016 at 1:20pm
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