Ask for the Rain: Receiving Your Inheritance of Revival & Outpouring

by Larry Sparks

“I think you’re looking for this book,” he amazingly said to me. I shook at this sign.

“Lou is looking for this right now.” You guessed it; it was Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting by Derek Prince. For 20 years I’ve locked onto this amazing window to heaven.

Revival waits for an intercessory voice who says “Amen” to every promise that Heaven has already said yes to.

It’s not about asking God to send down more of the Holy Spirit; we’re asking God to help us live our lives in such a way that the Spirit is granted permission to be released through us in a greater demonstration. It’s not about more of God coming down from Heaven; it’s about more of God coming out of His people and being visibly manifested in the earth. We

Absolutely

Wouldn’t it be glorious if ministers across the country said to their flocks on Sunday, “We’re not having church today! We’re not going on with an empty routine! No new programs or plans! We’re going to confess our sins to God and acknowledge our spiritual bankruptcy. And we’re going to stay here all morning and pray for revival.” What would happen to our country if congregations did this just one Sunday each month, without giving up or losing heart? The face of our nation would change.

Oh wow, why not just do it!

The question is, are you willing to respond to His stirrings? Are you willing to become consumed to the core of your being with desire for God? Are you willing to let Him strip you of all confidence in the flesh until you get to the point of total dependence on Him? Are you willing—in brokenness and humility—to stand out from the crowd that is apparently satisfied with leftover bread? Are you willing to be emptied and emptied again so that God can fully fill you? The choice is entirely yours. How far are you willing to go?

I have learned that revival is definitely not church as usual. “Usual” represents what we have become accustomed to—our concept of normal Christianity. When revival comes, everything changes. Normal becomes radically redefined.

for anyone who wanted to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Revival happens when you can feel the weighty atmosphere of God’s Presence to the point that it becomes therapeutic. Duncan Campbell defined this measure of glory as a “community saturated with God.”

Saturated Full to overflowing, comes out if you put any more in

Prayer—and persistent prayer at that—has played an integral role in every recorded move of God throughout history. Why? God is looking for the voice on earth that cries out amen to everything Heaven has already said Yes to. Revival prayer refuses to let go of God’s promises until those promises become released in our lives and cities. You will see a powerful example of this in the prayer efforts that helped birth the Hebrides Revival back in 1949.

I was awakened every night a little after one o’clock. This was most strange, for through the years I slept like a rock, and no disturbance in my room would awaken me. From that hour I was taken into divine fellowship for about four hours. What it was I cannot tell you, except that it was divine. About five o’clock I was again allowed to sleep on till about nine. At this time I was again taken up into the same experience as in the earlier hours of the morning until about twelve o’clock.11

Do it to me God

When His manifest Presence is evidenced in the church, not much else matters. When God is in the house, all the focus is on Him. I was in Kentucky for meetings. I was supposed to teach six times to various audiences. The first morning, I taught the pastors to get ready for God to move in. I remember telling them, “When God is in the house, you don’t even have to preach.” Not preach? Will we backslide? Will the people be confused? they wondered. I responded to their questions by telling them again to “Get ready!” Little did I know that very night the Presence of God would explode into that same auditorium. That evening, His Presence was so mighty that there was never one word spoken from the microphone. No one said, “Welcome to the service.” No one said, “Don Nori is here.” No one took an offering. No one led worship—but the worship of the Lord arose in the building. I looked at the pastor and he could hardly stand up. I said, “Pastor, I don’t think I should preach tonight.” He looked at me and said, “You’re not preaching tonight?” I said, “Pastor, when the Man is in the house, this man has got nothing to say.” We watched people cry out to God. We watched children get saved with no one leading them to the Lord. It was a glorious time! We also saw pastors who came into the back of the church to see what would happen. They were amazed as their wives began to dance and shout in the Presence of God. By the end of the night, everybody was dancing and singing. People started to l...

Increase comes through hungry people—not necessarily people who are going in “kicking and screaming.” While God could indeed break out in a sovereign way among people who don’t really desire His “disruptive” revival activity, His preference is to subtly move upon a community first, calling forth the hungry. Their hunger then becomes contagious, calling others to pursue the Reviver. It’s in these seasons that the Lord gently warms hearts to be prepared to welcome the fullness of His Spirit. I see this happening across the earth right now.