I always associated "revival" with bringing people to Jesus... until last night. 

The definition of revival is "restoration to life back into the spirit". 

My church has this thing we call "House Fires". There are different people from our church who host them at their house. Everyone who wants to attend chooses one of the locations to make their "home group" and then we all meet there on the second and fourth Saturday's of the month.  These have been going on since the beginning of the year but last night was the first one I finally attended and it was definitely a divine appointment. 

At these meetings we usually go over notes that the pastor shares from a previous sermon. Last night we were discussing revival. As I sat there listening to everyone share their thoughts Holy Spirit was giving me revelation and nudging me to share with the group. I didn't want to but I knew it was what God wanted me to do.  This was what I shared...

When God opened my spiritual eyes and awakened me in November of 2020 I was on fire for Jesus. I had a desire that burned deep within me for God and my life revolved around Him. For the following year and a half I lived a bowed down, totally sold out life for Jesus and as a result I lived in the glory of Jesus and walked in His favor abundantly. 

But then the enemy found a way in and I slowly fell away from the things of God. He's very sly and sneaky. The past two months have been a real struggle for me. It started by me not making it to church on occasions because of schedules and timing issues. Then I started to fall into sin and I became a slave to temptations. I quit reading the Bible and then the enemy shut my mouth. The prayers that were made powerful by the authority and faith I carried through Jesus became non-existent. I was in a constant battle between good and evil and my mind was the battleground. I felt like I was just there, going through the motions but not feeling the anointing I once had. I wanted to get back to that position I was once in... I wanted to feel that fire I once burned with. Every time I would go to church and get refueled the enemy would come in and smother the flames. 

But then everything changed. On Sunday May 15th I woke up feeling sick and overcome with a terrible feeling of heartburn. I was struggling to get up and get ready for church and with the way I was feeling I just wanted to go back to bed. I knew it was demonic. As I lay in bed I remember thinking... the enemy is really pushing and I need to push that much harder. I text a dear friend from my church who I feel has taken me under her wing and also happens to be the leader of my House Fire group. I said "Good morning! Today's word is gonna be for me. The enemy is fighting me big time to get to church today." She responded with "No weapon formed against you shall prosper! Get to the house of the Lord today! Submit to God, Resist the devil, and he will flee!" 

I was about halfway to church when all of a sudden something broke in the spiritual realm. The nauseating feelings and the heartburn disappeared literally in the blink of an eye. When I got to church her husband came up and asked me how I was feeling. As I told him what had happened he told me he and his wife had been praying the whole way to church for me. Thank God for Kingdom relationships! It was their prayers that broke the attack of the enemy against me.

As Pastor Shawn was preaching on revival he began to speak about Revelations 2:5 "Repent and do thy first works over". I knew right then that's what I needed. As he continued he told us to take about thirty seconds and make an altar right where we were and re-dedicate our lives to Jesus. That's exactly what I did and from that moment on my relationship with God began to be restored. 

As the week passed into the next I began reading my Bible again, I began to worship again, and I began to pray powerful prayers that change things in the atmosphere and make demons flee. I began taking every thought captive that wasn't of God and as a result the struggle between good and evil in my mind began to disappear. It was no longer a struggle to make it to church and it became my priority again. 

The other day Holy Spirit brought to memory a vision of my past. I was still living in Pennsylvania and I would come home from work, turn my playlist on YouTube on the television and I would stand in my bedroom worshiping and praising God. There was one song in particular, "Fragrance to Fire" that I would literally dance before the Lord while worshiping to it. Totally out of character for me but it was between me and God. The lyrics explain that my worship would create a fragrance that rose up to the Father and would turn into fire as it reached him and it would release noises, thundering, and earthquakes as a response to my worship. This worship was my weapon I use against the enemy. I worshipped to this song for the first time in many months and this played a part in my turn around. 

As I sat at this house fire last night I realized revival isn't just about bringing people to Jesus... it's about reviving us as Christians. And it was in this moment Holy Spirit gave me revelation that I was in the middle of my own personal revival. God was reviving me! Glory to God! 

Being there last night restored my soul and filled me with joy and hope and fire. It was definitely a divine appointment!

There is so much joy and peace to be found in a relationship with God. So many don't know what they are missing out on. As you read this I bind every demonic spirit that is binding and blinding you and I decree and declare Acts 26:18 over your life... that your eyes are being opened from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to the power of God. I pray that Holy Spirit encounters you and nudges you and may you long for the things of God instead of the things of the world. I pray you experience revival for yourself!

I pray this has blessed you in some way. If you'd like to receive new blog post notifications you can subscribe. If you'd like to leave a prayer request or a testimony please feel free to do so.

May God bless you!

Much love,

Holly W <3