What if God is not Reforming the Old as much as He is Birthing the New?

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D.

CREATE IN ME A NEW HEART

I read a Bible verse this morning that caused me to approach prayer differently in this unique season. In Psalm 51, David is responding to the Lord after he got exposed by the prophet Nathan for his sin with Bathsheba. In his repentance and longing for reconnection, he cried out to the Lord and said, 

 “Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

Psalm 51:10 (NIV)

As I looked a little deeper into this verse, I discovered that the word used for “create” (bara') here matches the one used in Genesis 1:1 (בָּרָא) where God created something out of nothing in the very beginning. Psalm 51:10 in The Message Translation reads like this:

“God, make a fresh start in me,
    shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.”

David was not simply asking God to reform and reshape his heart. He was not asking God to redeem what had gone wrong in his heart or to restore it to make it whole again. He was also not asking Him to fix what had been broken. From a place of repentance, David was pleading with the Lord for a new beginning, for a fresh start, for a brand-new heart. Psalm 51:10 in The Passion Translation says, “Create a new, clean heart within me.” David was asking God to create a brand-new heart to replace the old. He was willing to let the past die, never to be resurrected again, and instead receive a new heart. He was willing to be rebirthed into a new season. This was all in the context of wanting to be in closer relationship to God.

As I continued meditating on David’s prayer for a new heart, I was also reminded of the following verses:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NIV)

LETTING GO OF THE OLD TO RECEIVE THE NEW

In these verses, God promises to give us brand new hearts. There is a removal of the old and a reception of the new. This is such a radical exchange. Reading these verses stirred my heart and made me wonder if God wants to match this new epoch we’re stepping into with a brand-new heart. In the midst of this pandemic, one of my prayers up until now has been, God please reform my heart. Refine it to become like gold. Change whatever needs to be changed in my life and ministry so that I am in perfect alignment with Heaven. I invite the fire of God to come and purify my heart, thoughts, motives, and passions. I sense there is more not just for me but for us all. God, give us a Reformation.

Reform means to “re-form” or reshape something that already existed. Jeremiah 18 is a good example of this as the Potter decides to reform the clay that has been marred. Instead of throwing out the old clay and starting over, he chooses to reshape the existing clay. Thank God for this! And while that passage in Jeremiah 18 was a very significant “now word” for me a couple years back, it feels as though God is emphasizing a new word for me, and maybe for us, in this new season.

What if in this season, God is actually creating the new rather than reforming the old?

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love, teach on, and have been marked by Reformation fire; it indeed has had its significant time and place in history. I’m actually a trained revival historian who has given my life to research past moves of God. I’ve seen how history can prophesy into our future. But what if in this unique season, God wants to take us beyond Reformation of the past because He is creating something brand new? What if rather than reshape existing structures, mindsets, heart postures, He actually wants to do a new thing? What if He is waiting for us to surrender the old so that we can receive the New?

I think in this unprecedented time, we need to be open to the possibility and even expect God to do something never done before.  Maybe God wants to match this unprecedented storm with an unprecedented new move of God.

POSITIONING FOR THE NEW

Today, will we make room for God to birth a new thing within our hearts, families, and churches? Will we let go of the old to receive the new? Will we let go of what’s safe, for something that’s dangerously outside of our comfort zones? Will we lean in close to the Father’s heartbeat to hear what new thing He might want to birth in and through us in this season?

What if on the other side of this pandemic, we don’t just have reformed hearts, but we have brand new ones instead? Or what if the church isn’t just reformed to become a better model of the one it was before the pandemic, but it becomes a brand new wineskin so much so that people don’t even recognize it because it’s so fresh, vibrant, and able to steward the new wine of the season? What if the following Scripture is actually a “now word”? 

“Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”

Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)

What if in our present times, God is wanting to do something so completely new that we have never experienced or even heard of in our lifetime (Joshua 3:1-4)? What if the new thing God wants to do is so different from what we’ve seen before, so outside of our boxes, that it’s even offensive to some because they have no grid, box, or program it will fit nicely into (John 12:3)? What if the Holy Spirit wants to lead our lives, ministries, and churches beyond all of our best plans, strategies, visions, histories, and agendas in a whole new way that looks nothing like what we’ve ever experienced before?

I am not saying all of this so that you throw away everything you’ve spent your life building up until now. But I do feel that our generation is pregnant with birthing the next great awakening. Indeed, the billion-soul harvest has already begun for those who have eyes to see. Don’t be surprised if the next great awakening comes in a way we’ve never seen throughout history before, or even in the midst of or on the other side of the Covid-19 crisis and economic downturn. Be prepared just in case God wants to completely transform, turn upside-down, set new foundations, and radically transform everything you’ve done up until this point. Don’t be surprised if everything in your world looks different soon, this actually might be the work of God.

A TIME TO RISK LIKE NEVER BEFORE

There is no other time in history where the entire world been affected as it has today. There has been a global pause or reset for many of the people not on the front lines. I feel that now, more than ever, is our moment to press in for a mighty move of the Spirit no matter what that might look like. Now is our time to dream outside of the box, courageously follow our hearts, and move beyond reforming old ways so that we can lean into receiving and helping to birth the new thing on God’s heart.

It’s time to lean into intimacy with Jesus and to move wherever the Holy Spirit is leading, even if it’s into uncharted territory. There needs to be a yieldedness and willingness to move wherever the Spirit leads in the smallest of details to the greatest even when we don’t understand why. There’s never been a more opportune time to risk on the other side of this pandemic.

Enough time has now passed, change is inevitable. Normal will never look the same. I feel that the reformation of heart we have leaned into has prepared us precisely for this moment in history. I believe that we are currently in a birthing season and that God wants to move beyond reforming what has already existed into birthing something new.

On April 9, 1906, the Azusa Street Revival was birthed when a small group of family and friends gathered in a home with one agenda, to encounter more of God. This ignited the Pentecostal movement that has since impacted the world in a tremendous way. Just months before this revival, on November 16, 1905, an intercessor in Los Angeles named Frank Bartleman felt a stirring similar to what many of us might be feeling today. He said,

“Pentecost” is knocking at our doors. The revival for our country is no longer a question. Slowly but surely the tide has been rising until in the very near future we believe for a deluge of salvation that will sweep all before it…

Heroes will arise from the dust of obscure and despised circumstances, whose names will be emblazoned on Heaven’s eternal page of fame…Brother, sister, if we all believed God can you realize what would happen? Many of us here are living for nothing else. A volume of believing prayer is ascending to the throne night and day. Los Angeles, Southern California, and the whole continent shall surely find itself ere long in the throes of a mighty revival, by the Spirit and power of God.[i]

Truly, we too will see “heroes will arise from the dust of obscure and despised circumstances.” Even if what God is doing in this new season feels uncomfortable because we’ve never seen or felt Him move like this before, remember that in this season, God is doing a New Thing. He’s inviting us to lean in close to His heart so that we can see and receive the new thing He has or us. 

PRAYER FOR A NEW HEART

This is my new prayer. If your heart resonates, feel free to pray this as your own.

God, I ask you in this moment to give me the strength to let go of every structure, discipline, strategy, reputation, previous success or failure that I’ve held dear to. Give me the grace to come to a place of absolute surrender of the old in my life. Help me to lay it all on the altar and to ask for Your fire to come. As I surrender everything I’ve known and lay my life at Your feet, I also invite the Holy Spirit to come and fill every cell in my body with Your power. Give me the courage I will need to welcome the new that You have for me in this season regardless of what it looks or feels like. I want more of You Jesus no matter what the cost. Let me heart explode with love for You and Your people like never before. Help me to recognize my need for You today.

God, create in me a new heart for this new season. Give me a new wine skin for the new wine You are pouring out. Give me a new mind to know You more. Fill my life with new hopes, dreams, visions, and a new reality of Your amazing love. Give me a new capacity to connect more deeply with You than ever before. Lord, Create in me a new heart and birth a new thing through me for such a time as this. Yes, and amen and let it be so for the glory of King Jesus.

Be blessed by this song based off of Psalm 51:10 written by Keith Green

Also, this is a beautiful song about God releasing new wine through our lives.

Resources

For practical tools in learning how to Position yourself for the Incoming Harvest to fully step into what God is doing in our generation, read Positioning for the Incoming Revival, join us in one of our upcoming online Live School of Revivals, or go through the Pioneering Revival Ecourse below.

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NOTES:

[i] The word used for “new” here is chadash which also meant fresh. Chadash comes from the root word “renew” that was used in the second part of Psalm 51:10 to renew a right spirit in me. This word was also described as “to polish a sword or cutting.” From Old English, the word new meant "made or established for the first time, fresh, recently made or grown; unheard-of, different from the old; untried, inexperienced, unused."

[i] Frank Bartleman, How Pentecost Came to Los Angeles: As it Was in the Beginning. 2nd edition (Los Angeles, CA: Frank Bartleman, originally April 1925), 39 and now printed by Christian Classic Ethereal Library (Grand Rapids, MI) accessible http://www.ccel.org/ccel/bartleman/los.pdf (accessed January 25, 2016).

by Jennifer A. Miskov, Ph.D.

For the past seven years, I have been a part of building a revival culture in an intentional worshiping community called Destiny House. Every Friday morning, we opened our doors for a worship encounter time and essentially hosted a house church together. Because this has been such a huge part of my life, many might think I would naturally lean toward the deconstruction of the formal church structure and move away from anything “organized” or institutionalized. However, from personal experience of being committed to the wider church at the same time and a recent epiphany when reading the book of Acts, I cannot say that house church is the only way forward, though I do believe it is essential and will play an important role for where God is taking us next. We all are the church and that can come in lots of different shapes and sizes (1 Peter 2:5). Ultimately, the kingdom of God is all about family, however that might look in our day.

I have friends who lead churches, movements, and even stadium events that I fully believe in, support, and have participated in. Because of these things, while I tend to overemphasize the smaller more intimate spaces of connection, I also believe there is something important about the larger gatherings, whether that be weekly celebrations with the wider body of Christ or even stadium events to go after mass evangelism. As we continue together on this journey of reframing what the church can look like in our generation, please note that this article is an invitation into my current thought process which is still being shaped. I am also not trying to define what church is here but may attempt that another time. I look forward to the dialogue that will come.

Since we are all members of the Body of Christ, it is important we stay connected to Him and to each other, so we can fulfill His purposes on the earth (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). Each one of us plays a special role in what God is doing in our generation. We need each other to be able to step into the fulness of our destinies (Ephesians 3:20). Both church gatherings with the entire community coming together and cultivating revival in family around God’s presence in smaller settings can go side by side to strengthen our connection as the Body of Christ.

During an in-depth study in the book of Acts, some Scriptures stood out for me that demonstrate the value for both larger formal gatherings with corporate direction and the more spontaneous organic ones that take place in smaller settings (this is a generalization). After Pentecost when many were added to the church, to continue to steward the fire they had just received, the Christians in the early church

Continued daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:46-47

A little later in Acts 5, Peter and the other apostles were imprisoned, beaten, and told to be silent for their faith. They left that persecution rejoicing for being found worthy to co-suffer for the sake of Christ. Right after this in Acts 5:42 it says, “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”

The apostles in the book of Acts gathered in the temple, or what we might call a more organized place of worship or church, to proclaim the gospel and they also met in private homes to disciple the new converts. They realized the importance of meeting together in the wider corporate meetings to teach the truth and share vision and also saw significance in nurturing the newer believers in the smaller setting of a home. The rhythm of the Christian life in the early church was not either larger gatherings or house meetings for connection in the midst of the move of God, it was both and more.  

Acts provides us with a paradigm for healthy growth and discipleship within the Body of Christ. Wider church celebrations are just one leg of building healthy community. The other leg is meeting together in smaller groups in the intimate space of the home or other place. Location is not important. Connection is, no matter how that might look. Having a balance of both corporate times to be together to worship as well as making time to connect in smaller groups so that each one is fully known, can be important elements in spiritual growth. It is easy to go to a weekend celebration service and hide in the back. But in a smaller setting, each person has the opportunity to be seen and loved at a deeper level. And at the same time, if one only shows up at a house church that is in isolation from the wider body of Christ, it has the potential to become ingrown and get weird.

If we were to lean heavily or only on one of these legs, either the larger church gatherings or the smaller homegroup meetings, there would be an imbalance, and something would still be missing. It’s hard to run with only one leg. It’s not a question of either big church or small group house meeting, but it’s a both/and more opportunity to be walking, and running, in the fullness of what God intended for us as the Body of Christ. God is always moving. We need two legs to swiftly run after Him.

In this dialogue of exploring what it looks like to become the Body of Christ in the fullest measure, I pray that God surrounds you with your people to run with in this season. May you discover your tribe within a tribe so that you can grow into the full maturity of all that God has destined for you.

*To dive a bit deeper into learning how to find your tribe and also developing rhythms of doing life together, see blog entitled Finding Your Tribe.

**To learn more about our rhythm of doing life together at Destiny House go here or get access to the Walking on Water E-course that goes into great depth with several sessions exclusively about our story and community life there.