THE GREAT AWAKENING
--Marie Chapian

I posted most of the following on my blog, but I want to share it with you here, as well. I've just returned from our H.I.M. Leaders and Ministers' conference, and I feel like I've just been through a spiritual tornado. I've been in natural tornados and experienced the uprooting of trees and concrete sidewalks, the ripping off rooftops and the utter devastation of a landscape, but this was a tornado of a different sort. It was spiritual, quiet and deep. There were no flashes of lightning, no dripping oil, no feathers or gold dust this time, but we received such a powerful impartation of the reality of God, that I, for one, have been deeply impacted.

Jack Hayford and Peter Wagner talked to us about intercessory prayer. Now I've been an intercessor for years. I teach on intercession and I train intercessors. But the Holy Spirit took me to a new level of understanding as I entered into the spirit realm to learn more of what God is doing on the earth today. I believe if we, as intercessors, will see into the spirit realm and discern the tactics of demonic assignments, we will reach into the mind of the Holy Spirit and receive the prayer strategies to overcome and prevail for the purpose of the glory of God in each situation. Not all of us are called to the ministry of intercession, but I believe we are each called to intercessory prayer. The ministry of intercessory prayer is a full-time calling, which I'll talk about in another teaching (or you can get my CD's on the subject). This is a high priority calling and I love to teach on it. Thank God for our intercessors!

I made an another interesting observation at this conference for leaders, ministers and missionaries from around the world-and that is, that most of us took copious notes at each session. I sat between two pastors and their wives, and they each took notes as fast as their pens could write. Of course, I was madly taking notes, too. No matter how many years we serve God, we are always and forever students of the Word. I've observed that the most powerful ministers I've known are true humble students of the Word. Always learning, always growing, always reaching higher and higher into the heart and will of God. It's so beautiful.

Oh, and I'm always impressed by our director and apostolic leader, Chè Ahn. He and his wife, Sue, are the most humble, loving, real people you'll ever meet. The anointing over their leadership is so wonderful and refreshing, lives are renewed and uplifted by simply being in the room with them. It's amazing.

What the conference imprinted afresh on my heart is the urgency of the hour in which we live. Cindy Jacobs ministered also, and I bought a couple of her books. I'm reading her book on prophecy, and I thank the Lord for her. She has been with us in the past, but this time I felt something entirely new coming from her. More urgency.

James Goll talked about NOW being the time of a Great Awakening. James sobs as he talks, and you can feel the throbbing Presence of Lord. I'm telling you, the incomprehensible loving heart of God longs to embrace and bless us with His goodness and His tender mercies. I sense Him reaching out to us, calling with so much love-- He is our Perfect Guide , the lover of our souls. The time is now. The time to wake up is now.