When we create space for God to move, He always does. It’s wonderful. People get touched, healed, and marked by His love. And then there’s those times when we get caught up into a momentum that is so much bigger than anyone could imagine. That’s when we see a move of God take place where all we want to do is stay out of the way so we don’t hinder what God is doing. Well, this weekend in Fredericksburg, Virginia we experienced all of these scenarios. God moved in a special way when we created space for Him to move and we also experienced a tangible move of God. I give a brief overview and then highlight the youth meeting in detail below. Enjoy the ride!

Friday Encounter Revival Night

The Friday night Revival meeting was so tender as we cultivated space to simply be in His presence together. Kim Hager was leading worship during the encounter and ministry time as seen in photo above. To access some of her music go HERE.

Writing in the Glory Workshop

On Saturday during the impartation time in the Writing in the Glory workshop, God crashed in and marked people with His power and unlocked their voices. We also had our youngest graduate who was a two month old baby named Revival join us! I am literally carrying Revival in that picture!!!

Focus

In the Sunday morning church service, I shared from my recent transition the need to throw off everything that hinders, even the good things, and run the race with endurance keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2). Here’s a 2 minute clip to encourage you below to step into the gold God has for you in this season.

I Give You My Yes

Then on Sunday night with the youth group, we experienced a unique move of God unfold before our very eyes.

Immediately following the meeting that evening at 11:54 pm on March 31, 2019, I wrote the following account:

I just left the prayer room tonight at 11pm. I went there at 6pm for a youth meeting, my last event after a packed weekend of a revival encounter night, writing in the glory workshop, and preaching at church this morning. To be honest, I was pretty tired and had no idea what I was going to share this evening. I was grateful to get time in God’s presence in worship to hear His agenda for the night. It was during that time that I began to get downloads for the evening.

Then after worship, I did something I’ve never really done before in a meeting. At the very beginning of my talk, I gathered all of the youth up to the front and then invited them to sit down as if we were encircling around a camp fire, except we were going to camp around God’s presence and I was going to tell Holy Ghost stories. I started by sharing about the Welsh Revival and how it was really catalyzed by a teenage girl named Florrie Evans who, in her youth group, boldly declared that she loved Jesus with all her heart. This declaration of love lit a flame which spread to Evan Roberts who eventually stewarded and led the revival that in only 4 months brought in over 100,000 salvations.

Then I shared a little bit about the Azusa Street Revival and what happened when a handful of people gathered together in a home with their only agenda to encounter God. Revival broke out from that little house on Bonnie Brae Street in Los Angeles in 1906 and has impacted us generations later. I shared briefly about Pandita Ramabai in India and the revival that broke out at her orphanage. When the children were praying and going after God one night, what appeared to be fire rested on one of the girls and it looked so real that another girl got a bucket of water and was about to throw it on her until she realized that it was the fire of God. (I found out later that this youth group had experienced something similar on their youth retreat not long before). I next shared my Miracle Flight story and how one yes can lead to another yes and can actually have ripple effects beyond what we could even see.

After encouraging them to all stand and put out their hands to receive, I prayed for a fresh baptism of the Spirit and fire. Then after God was touching them, I felt to create space for the youth to share anything they felt was a corporate word of encouragement for the group. A few shared their hearts and what God had shown them which was so good. Then I felt there was a guy supposed to share, especially since all of those who came up were girls. After a while when no one came up, a girl came up with tears in her eyes to share and encourage people to give God even their weak yes (thank God she didn’t let the barrier of not fitting the description hold her back from releasing what God was burdening on her heart to release). This was the Holy Spirit’s direction for what would take place next.

Then the Spirit led to open up the microphone and an invitation for whoever felt to come up and say their renewed yes to follow Jesus wholeheartedly. This was a prophetic act that I believed would unlock something. Then I stood there amazed as I watched a tangible move of God take place with this youth group.

One by one, they slowly came up and said their yes to follow Jesus with their whole hearts. They did not rush up to the microphone to say yes flippantly, but really considered and counted the cost before stepping out. These were already Christians so it was no altar call for salvation but for wholehearted yieldedness and consecration. It was a laying down of their lives to say yes to whatever God called them to. Many were weeping. Even some who never made it up to say yes were weeping. Whenever one spoke out their yes, it was important to cover them in prayer. As we continued to wait on God, many were kneeling and weeping before the Lord while others were hugging and praying for their friends.

I had never experienced anything like this before in my life in a youth group. Whenever I release the Welsh Revival or the Azusa Revival, something powerful and deep always happens. This time it was both revivals released at the same night with a youth group that was hungry for God and even preparing to send several into Iraq to release worship there. It was one of those moments of stepping into a momentum so great where everyone just gets swept up into God’s divine purposes.

Many of the youth stayed kneeling or positioning themselves to encounter God even as parents showed up. Youth group was supposed to end around 8pm but even until 9pm many of the youth were still encountering God and getting marked by His consecrated fire. Around 9:30 or 10, there was just a handful of youth left along with some parents and youth leaders present. Then one of the beautiful girls who was on the youth team to the Middle East leaving this week, went to the piano and with tears in her eyes played and sang out to Jesus and also flowed in prophetic intercession over the sons and daughters in the Middle East that are so loved by God (her mother told me that this was the first time she had ever stepped out to do something like this). Another girl got up and danced which I found out later she had not done for a year. Then we just sat there and soaked in God’s presence as these beautiful surrendered lovers of Jesus worshiped for another hour. Their moms were getting wrecked in the back watching their daughters flow so freely and yielded to the Holy Spirit. I ended up leaving at 11pm and they were still going. There was so much freedom in the house. The next day I found out that they stayed worshipping there until 1:00 a.m.

While I see God move every time we create space and give Him room to come in our meetings, I don’t always see or experience a tangible move of God as profound as this one. It feels like we stepped into something so much bigger than ourselves. I’m so grateful for the timing and opportunity to witness and be swept up in this move of God here for such a time as this. What a deep well this place is and I’m so excited for the new season God is inviting them into.

Testimonies

Watch the video below at minute 7:00-17:00 to see some of the testimonies from the youth that they released the next evening in the prayer meeting.

I am so thankful for Kim Hager welcoming me to minister in this city and launching the pioneering Walking on Water groups here, David Bradshaw for what he has built and cultivated here, Aaron the youth pastor who has been making room for the Holy Spirit and is hungry to see God move, Havilah for the courage to say yes, Susan for welcoming me in the women’s ministry, Scott Bradshaw for the revival history tour, Bill & Nancy for hosting me, Liz for that epic massage, Emily for those timeless stories, Joan Hutter for introducing me to the inheritance in Virginia and coming out twice to support what God is doing in Fredericksburg, and everyone who was a part of making this such an unforgettable week. I am excited for what God is doing and continuing to do in greater measures here in Virginia. May all who read this receive a fresh wind of the Spirit and a deeper fire of consecration marking you so you are ready and perfectly positioned to steward the incoming harvest that is already upon us. All for His glory, Holy Spirit come!

*If you want to learn more about the Azusa Street Revival, The Welsh Revival, and Pandita Ramabai’s revival in India, check out Ignite Azusa or join our School of Pioneering Revival