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Preparing For Rain

Much has been prophesied about the soon-coming rains of revival that will carry with them the fulfilled expressions of many long-awaited promises carried deep within the hearts of God's people. But how can we position ourselves to see, receive, and steward the blessing that is approaching?

Can we live our lives in such a way as to see the eyes of the Lord cease from their searching to rest upon a house, a people, a region, and even a nation? Will He find hearts that are completely His that He may openly demonstrate and display His awesome power for the entire world to see and be changed (see 2 Chronicles 16:9)?

Faith and Patience

What is required of us to see these promises fulfilled that we might fully inherit the "all" that we have been given (see Ephesians 1:3)? It is in the working together of faith and patience that we inherit these promises (see Hebrews 6:7 and 12).

If asked, most of us would claim to be strong in faith with admitted room for growth in the area of patience. However, faith cannot be viewed as simply the act of believing or a conviction that something will come to pass. True faith is more so defined by what fuels our belief than what our belief produces or accomplishes (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-8a).

...faith [is] activated and energized and expressed and working through love.Galatians 5:6 AMP

Patience can be defined as the ability or willingness to suppress restlessness when confronted with delay. It speaks of perseverance without complaint or irritation. Patience, when practiced, becomes an active participant in partnering with the promise.

While patience often includes the posture of waiting, it is more about the position of our hearts being at rest in the midst of the waiting process. It comes down to a position of trusting the Lord to do something for us that is far greater than we could do for ourselves.

When faced with delay, our question should not be "how long do I have to wait" rather our question should be "what is it in me the Lord is looking to develop in this season and how can I posture myself accordingly?" The sooner we see this, the sooner the work within us is more fully engaged.

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. James 5:7-8

Establish Your Hearts

We must marry faith and patience as we allow the seeds of God's Word to be sown deep within our hearts. In so doing, the soil of our circumstances will begin to show the early signs of blessing and breakthrough as the long awaited promises of God are first conceived and then birthed.

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6:9

God has apportioned blessings to come upon and overtake those who respond in obedience to His voice. It is important to also recognize and cooperate with what the season we are in requires in order to see, receive, and steward these blessings.

The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season... Deuteronomy 28:12a

We are approaching the end of a season that has carried with it much delay. However, as we prepare to transition from where we have been to where we are called to be, the establishing of our hearts in faith and patience will be what brings us over the hump and into the land of promise.

A Dream

In the early hours of June 6th, 2012, I was given a vivid dream in which I was staying in an exquisite home made of stone. The house was full of character and, in some ways, felt alive. It was also exceptionally well built and solid, the kind of house that could have withstood any storm. The house was located at the end of a cobbled street, where the street, if followed to the end, would bring you right to my front door.

Throughout most of this dream, I was studying the Scriptures by candlelight while recording revelation with a quill pen and a fountain of blue ink. I was also wearing a type of bifocal glasses that, when reading, I would look through the bottom half of the lens and, when writing, I would look through the top half of the lens. 

Although my use of the bifocals would not seem conventional in the natural, I knew that in the dream they represented "new eyes" that are being given today to prepare us for tomorrow. These bifocals and their use spoke to me of a present-day revelation and understanding that would give us insight as to how to fully position ourselves for what God is unfolding in these last days.

In this dream, I could feel myself consumed in my study of the Word and my related writing, when all of a sudden I heard three very loud and somewhat alarming knocks at the door that coincided with three incredible and unexpected crackling roars of thunder. As I swung open the large wooden door, a cool yet forceful wind rushed through the doorway and filled the house.

As the wind whirled through the house it seemed to wrap itself around the candle in a clockwise motion. With this motion, it began to pull the light of the flame into the whirling wind until it became a radiant breath of light that fully illuminated the room while also shining a ray of what looked like living light through the opened door and into the night street.

As my eyes followed the path of light that had emerged from my doorway, I saw an advancing wall of water pushing its way toward me, bringing with it a deluge of heavy rain and crackling thunder. As I looked deeper into the street it became clear that the torrent was falling in a sideways stream.

As I peered into the street, I saw five young women, who looked to be in their early twenties, modestly dressed with a look of determination on their faces. They were scrambling through the streets beating feverishly on the doors of the surrounding houses that lined the cobble street.

I could feel they were on edge, emotionally. On one side they had great resolve and on the other side they appeared to be on the brink of despair. There was the sense that they were either going to "breakthrough" or "break down" depending on how the next few moments played out.

Although these women were pounding aggressively on their respective doors quite loudly, I could see through the windows of the surrounding homes that there was no one to respond. The houses were pitch black and there was no visible sign of life. Many of the homes had the look and feel of homes that had been abandoned.

I suddenly remembered the knock that had been on my own door. I looked down and saw the young woman at my door. Her hands were trembling in desperation as she clasped them together and motioned to me, crying out: "Please sir, there is no one to declare RESTORE!"

But this is a people robbed and plundered; all of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prison houses; they are for prey, and no one delivers; for plunder, and no one says, "Restore!" Who among you will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come? Isaiah 42:22-23

Let's take a look at some of the prophetic applications that come with this dream as well as how to position ourselves for the soon-coming rains of revival. With this approaching outpouring, the God of glory is preparing to thunder over the waters of our day. The power and majesty of His voice will usher in the much-needed breakthrough and birthing of His intended purposes for the hour in which we live (see Psalm 29).

A Spiritual House

The house in this dream represents houses that are revelatory and relational in nature. These houses have not been founded upon the wisdom of man, but built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ according to the heavenly blueprint.

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4-5

In coming to the Lord we are also joined to one another as living stones in the building of His house. It is in this place that we assume the priestly privilege of offering to God that which He truly desires of us.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart – these, O God, You will not despise. Psalm 51:17

These sacrifices are not only a sweet smelling fragrance to God, but also the kindling and fuel upon which the fires of revival fall. It is in this place of humility, as we draw near to Him, that He draws near to us (see James 4:6, 8).

For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." Isaiah 57:15

Just about every significant move of God has been preceded by a remnant of people gathered in relationship around a prophetic promise with an insatiable desire to meet with God. We can see this truth repeated throughout history as well as documented within the pages of Scripture.

This house represents an invitation to a position and place that is available to all of us. This is the place where we find our family or tribe (see Psalm 68:6). It is where we find protection from the storms of life (see Proverbs 18:10). It is the place where our hearts are encouraged and knit together in God (see Colossians 2:2). It is the place where iron sharpens iron as we draw the best out of one another (see Proverbs 27:17). It is home, and it is found in Him. 

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22

A City For a Dwelling Place

So often in Christianity, we are looking to get to the next new place that God is moving, and although this type of pursuit is great and strongly encouraged, there is something higher and it is reserved for the hungry! You see, the hungry bring the next move of God to them!

He turns a wilderness into pools of water, and dry land into watersprings. There He makes the hungry dwell, that they may establish a city for a dwelling place, and sow fields and plant vineyards, that they may yield a fruitful harvest. Psalm 107:35-37

If you find yourself in a dry land or a wilderness season, ask the Lord for the grace of hunger and watch how He begins to visit you through His Word. Before you know it, you will begin to see your life, your land, and your season transformed as you turn to the Word and behold His glory (see 2 Corinthians 3:16-18).

New Eyes

For those who desire it, the Lord is allowing us to look into the depth of His Word with "New Eyes" whereby we will see by revelation beautiful truths in a way that we have not seen in times past; restoring the Lord's original intent and purpose for creation. With this illumination, we will be given insight and understanding as to how to position ourselves for what's coming.

With these "New Eyes" also comes an all-consuming hunger for the Word of God. I am humbled to say that this has also been the case for me in the natural since having this encounter.

This tells me that there is an impartation being granted to us that will bring with it a dramatic increase in revelation and our ability to "eat the book" as John was told in Revelation 10 (see verses 1-8 as well as Ezekiel 3:1-3). 

In the same way that the Lord Jesus was the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us as we beheld His Glory (see John 1:14), we too must take hold of the Word and consume all that it contains until we become the Word. It is from this place that we become the pure, prophetic representation of His voice to the world around us.

Houses That Restore Will Be Houses of Much More

It is of utmost importance during this season that we not be so immersed in what we are doing for God that we miss the knock of God. It would have been easy, in the midst of my personal preparation, for me to dismiss the knock at my door.

In opening the door, I was given three things: First, the light that I had been given significantly increased; secondly, I was able to see clearly what is coming; and thirdly, I was able to "hear for the time to come."

In a time of restoration, the prophet Zechariah exhorted Judah, saying: "Ask the Lord for rain in the time of the latter rain..." (Zechariah 10:1a).

The Need For Restoration

In this dream, the need for restoration preceded the soon coming rains of revival.

Restoration, by definition, is the action of returning something (or someone) to a former owner, place, or condition. In the same way that "restoration is the action of returning...," it can also be said that the act of "returning" initiates the process of restoration.

When God restores someone or something, He does not simply restore that person or that thing from the place where they had fallen. When the Lord restores, He restores back to His original intent and purpose for that individual, place, or thing. We are all in a process of restoration.

Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth. Hosea 6:1-3