It has been some time since we have focused on Youth Awakening and it is a strong desire of my heart to see this happen in my lifetime. In the book The Call of Elijah's Revolution Lou Engle and I write about the need to seek to inspire an entire generation "to exchange temporal pleasures for a radical and passionate leap into the spiritual joy of Jesus Christ. To be propelled into joining the cries of other lovers of the Savior" as we ask, "Is there not a cause in the land?" And His answer is, "Yes!"
Join me this week in our global PrayerStorm efforts as we call for the flames of revival to kindle in our hearts for the next Great Awakening, Young and older alike. Youth Awakening has no age limit and needs to be crossing every sector and age range in order to experience the fullness of Revival in the earth. I also encourage you to listen to my free mp3 message below "Pray for your Campus".
Let’s pray this week with all our hearts for spiritual leaders of every age to rise up and kindle the fires of revival that lead to the Greatest Awakening we have yet seen. As Jesus said, "If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto myself."
A Youth Extravaganza that will Rock the Nations
Revolutions rarely begin suddenly. Instead, they grow up over time as people become less and less satisfied with conditions as they are. One incident leads to another and tensions mount until finally one catalytic event becomes the flash point that propels them into action. The American Revolution did not occur overnight. Among other things, it arose because of a long series of actions by the British Parliament that many colonists felt were attacks on their civil liberties. Discontent and unrest grew until April 1775 when clashes between colonial militia and British regulars at Concord and Lexington, Massachusetts, became the flash point that sparked the colonies into open rebellion.
A spiritual revolution is underway in America, and it is already going global. The Holy Spirit is the instigator and He is doing a mighty work in the midst of God ’s people. Like any other revolution, the decay of the moral climate had been building up for some time.
Many people remember Stand in the Gap, the Promise Keepers-sponsored meeting on October 4, 1997, which brought hundreds of thousands of men from every denomination and walk of life together on the Mall in Washington, DC. Businessmen and bikers, engineers and architects, doctors and lawyers, students and teachers stood side by side for hours and worshiped, confessed, repented, and prayed together. It was a seminal event.
One year earlier, in November 1996, James (Jim) Goll had a dream that was prophetically related to these mass gatherings in the nation ’s capital.
I heard an audible voice which said, “Out of the belly of the Promise Keepers movement will come forth a youth extravaganza that will rock the nations. The stadiums will be filled. The stadiums will be filled as out of the belly of the Promise Keepers movement comes forth a youth extravaganza that will rock the nations. ”
I awoke from this dream to the awareness of the presence of God permeating the bedroom. Immediately I was catapulted into an open vision where I saw a massive outdoor football stadium filled with young people who were radically worshiping God. Beams of laser light crisscrossed the sky and came together to form a huge cross that was high and lifted up above the stadium. At the same time an enormous screen at one end of the stadium was displaying a graphic multimedia presentation of the crucifixion of Christ. As a hammer pounded nails through the wrists of Jesus, in the background I heard people singing “Didn ’t He, ” an old song from the Jesus Movement of the 1970s, with the words, “And the hammer fell on the wooden nails …”
As all this was occuring, the spirit of conviction of sin began falling upon the young people, and they started crying out to the Lord for mercy and screaming, “What must I do to be saved? ” It was then that I heard aloud in the room once again the words, “Out of the belly of the Promise Keepers movement will come forth a youth extravaganza that will rock the nations. ”
At that time I had no idea at all that a year later the Promise Keepers would be holding Stand in the Gap in Washington, DC, or that in another three years hundreds of thousands of young people would gather at the same place for The Call DC.
Restoring the Hearts of the Fathers and the Children
The closing verses of the last book of the Old Testament contain a remarkable prophecy. After spending three chapters taking the Israelites to task for their public and private sins and for rebelling against God, Malachi ends with these encouraging words from the Lord:
Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse (Malachi 4:4-6).
First, the Lord charges the people to “remember the law of Moses ” as found in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, and as embodied specifically in the Ten Commandments, which they were violating. Then He promises to send “Elijah the prophet ” to usher in a period of restoration that will turn the hearts of the fathers and the children to each other and back to God. This transgenerational awakening will occur “before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord ” and will prevent the “curse ” of God ’s judgment from smiting the land or even reverse it if necessary.
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke make it clear that John the Baptist was the historical fulfillment of God ’s promise in Malachi to “send …Elijah the prophet. ”4 John was also the prophetic forerunner who prepared the way for the coming of Christ. Through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus certainly turned the hearts of many fathers (and mothers) and children back to the heavenly Father and inaugurated an age of grace in which the judgment of God is averted to give everyone an opportunity to hear the gospel and repent.
However, the nature of biblical prophecy is such that in many instances there may be more than one fulfillment. In Malachi 4:5, for example, the phrase “the great and terrible day of the Lord ” is a common prophetic expression understood to refer not so much to Christ ’s first coming as to His second coming. In this context Malachi 4:5-6 can be seen as prophesying a spirit of Elijah that will arise in the endtimes, igniting a transgenerational awakening that will turn the hearts of the fathers and the children back to God and prepare the way for the triumphant return of Christ.
Already there are signs that this has begun to happen. Stand in the Gap was powerful and significant evidence that the Promise Keepers movement has an anointing of turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and back to the Father. This anointing even now has moved beyond the borders of the United States and entered Europe and other lands. Many Christian leaders believe it will continue to progress across the globe as a forerunner ministry that is part of a latter-day fulfillment of Malachi ’s prophecy.
Then, “out of the belly of the Promise Keepers movement ” and sparked by Columbine, came The Call DC, one of several indicators signifying the arising of a new generation of “children ” whose hearts are being turned back both to their earthly fathers and to their heavenly Father.
The Call DC was not a one-time event. It was a catalyst that opened a door to new beginnings. On September 22, 2001, The Call New England drew an estimated 50,000 believers to Boston ’s City Hall Plaza. For 12 hours participants fasted, repented for the sins of both the church and the nation, and prayed for revival, spiritual transformation, and ethnic, gender, and generational reconciliation in every area of society. This solemn assembly was especially urgent and timely in the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington just 11 days earlier.
Similar gatherings occured in San Francisco, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City (June 29, 2002), Nashville (7/7/2007), Las Vegas (9/2007), Ohio (1/2008), Birmingham (4/2008), San Diego (11/2008)and other cities as well as international locations such as England (July 13, 2002), Germany, Korea (November 2002), the Philippines (November 30, 2002) and in Israel (5/11/2008). This radical voice crying in the wilderness is going to spread like a prairie grass fire across the nations of the earth.
A revolution is underway today in a spiritual and moral environment that resembles in many respects that which existed in Israel when the original prophet Elijah made his mark. This is movement is not limited to The Call – but it has been a mighty force to get the ball rolling. Let the joining of the genrations arise. Let prayer for the greatest youth awakening the world has ever seen mount in every nation of the earth.
Let us storm heaven with prayer until one billion youth have come into the Kingdom of God for such a time as this!
Practical Connection Points:
1. Make history with us by being a part of the PrayerStorm weekly thrust targeting the Greatest Youth Awakening the World has Ever Seen. Visit www.prayerstorm.com to sign up.
2. Go to www.campustransformation.com and www.campusamerica.org to get more practical information on networking and how to start a 24/7 campus house of prayer.
3. Go to www.thecall.com to receive information on participating in one of many regional, national and international calls for solemn assemblies with worship, prayer and fasting around the world.
Lord, we call forth in our day and in this generation, the Greatest Youth Awakening the world has ever seen. You have done it before, now do it again! Release a move of God that will usher in one billion souls into Your kingdom for Jesus Christ sake. Send revival 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!
James W. Goll
In Jesus Great Name, Amen and Amen!
