Mary led group in worship…
Pastor Ray shared…
When we lift Him up, He lifts us up. He shows us things we didn’t know. I was reminded of this while we were worshiping this morning. Sandy and I were in a Sunday morning meeting in the church in Nice, France. We were in worship like this. The Holy Spirit showed me a picture of something that I was to do in the service. My son, Brian, and daughter-in-law, Tory, were also at the conference. But they weren’t in that service because they had left already to go to the airport to go back home on Sunday morning. What I saw in my spirit included them. It was a picture of something I would have them do in the service. But they were on their way out. I’m like, Wow, that must be a pipe dream. How could that be. All of a sudden, the door opened and they came in. They said their flight had been canceled. “So we’re here for the service.” I asked Brian to sing in other tongues. He sang out in other tongues in that service. Then that brought about other things for the local church there. We had recorded the service, including Brian singing in tongues. We sent it to Pastor Lynne’s sister, Lucy, in Montgomery, Al. She had the interpretation of the tongues and it included not just the church in Nice, but it included the entire body of Christ. You can’t make these things up. I’m just saying, when we don’t know, He knows. He’s got the bigger plan. And I know He’s trying to get us to get out of ourselves and just yield.
Always, when we ask for His presence, we better to real about it. We better be persistent about it. We better believe it. Otherwise, it’s only a “religious” thing.
I wanted to go over this thing and then play something for you. It has to do with the Hebrides Revival which was in 1948–52. It was a powerful move of God in response to the prayers of seven men and two elderly ladies who refused to let go of God and who wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. They believed He was a covenant-keeping God and that if they kept their part, God would be true to His promise to “heal their land.” There was a prayer meeting. I think it was part of the church service but the local blacksmith stood to pray. In the middle of his prayer, he stopped and raised his right hand to heaven and he continued, “Oh God, you made a promise to pour water on the dry ground, and Lord, it’s not happening.” He paused again and then continued, “Lord, I don’t know how the others here stand in your Presence; I don’t know how these ministers stand, but Lord, if I know anything about my own heart, I stand before you as an empty vessel, thirsting for thee and for a manifestation of Thy power.” He halted again and after a moment of tense silence cried, “Oh God, your honor is at stake; and I now challenge you to fulfill your covenant engagement and do what you promised to do.”
Here is a man praying the prayer of faith that heaven must answer. There are those in Arnol today who will verify the fact that while the brother prayed, the dishes on the dresser rattled as God turned loose His mighty power. Then wave after wave of divine power swept throughout the room. Simultaneously, the Spirit of God swept through the village. People could not sleep and houses were lit all night. People walked the streets in great conviction; others knelt by their bedsides crying for pardon. As the men left the prayer meeting, the preacher walked into a house for a glass of milk and found the lady of the house with seven others down upon their knees, crying out for God. Within 48 hours the drinking house (bar), usually crowded with drinking men of the village, was closed.
Fourteen young men who had been drinking there were gloriously converted. Those same men afterwards could be found three times a week with others down upon their knees before God, praying for their old associates and for the spread of revival. It was in this village that within 48 hours, many young people had surrendered their lives to Christ, and could also be found in the prayer meetings!
Among those converted the following night was a young boy of 16, named Donald. Donald became an outstanding prayer warrior and was asked often to pray in the meetings. One day Duncan Campbell found him in the barn with his Bible open. When interrupted he quietly said, “Excuse me a little, Mr. Campbell, I’m having an audience with the King.”
Some of the most vivid outpouring came when Donald was asked to pray. In the police station one night in Barvas, he simply stood up, clasped his hands together and uttered one word: “Father.” Everyone melted into tears as the presence of God filled the station. In Callenish, he prayed until the power of God laid hold of those who were dead in sins, transforming them into the living stones in the temple of God. One of the most outstanding anointings of prayer happened when Donald was in Bernera, a small island off the coast of Lewis. Duncan Campbell was assisting at a communion service; the atmosphere was heavy and the preaching difficult, so he sent to Barvas for some men to come and assist in prayer. They prayed, but the spiritual bondage persisted, so much so that halfway through the sermon, Duncan stopped preaching. Just then he noticed Donald, visibly moved under a deep burden for souls. He thought, “This boy is in touch with God, and living nearer to the Savior than I am.” He said, “Donald, will you lead us in prayer?” The young lad rose to his feet and made reference to the fourth chapter of Revelation which he had been reading that morning. “Oh God, I seem to be gazing through an open door. I see the Lamb in the midst of the Throne, with the keys of death and hell at His girdle.” He began to sob, then lifting his eyes toward heaven, cried, “Oh God, there is power, let it loose!” The Spirit of God swept into the building and the heavens were opened. The church resembled a battlefield. On one side, many were prostrated over the seats weeping and sighing; on the other side some were affected by throwing their arms up in the air in a rigid posture for an hour. God had come!
Outside, startling things were taking place. The Spirit of God was sweeping over the homes and area surrounding the village, and many people came under the convicting power of the Spirit. Fishermen out in their boats; men behind their looms; men at the pit bank; a merchant out in his truck; school teachers examining their papers were gripped by the power of God and by 10 O’clock the roads were streaming with people from every direction, making their way to the church. As the preacher came out of the church, the Holy Spirit swept in among the people in the road like a wind. They gripped each other in fear. In agony of soul, they trembled; many wept and some fell to the ground under great conviction of sin. Several men were found laying by the side of the road in such distress that they could not even speak. Yet they had not been anywhere near the church!”
Pastor Ray shared…
I’m not reading this so we can duplicate what they did. I’m reading it so you will be encouraged. He did it. He will do it again. He is doing it. We have a huge part to play.
So great was the supernatural moving of God that most of the homes did not escape the conviction of the Spirit, and the routine of business was stopped, that the islanders might seek the face of God like Nineveh of Bible Days. The town was changed, lives and homes transformed and even the fishing fleet, as it sailed out into the bay took with it a musical director, to lead them in prayer and worship singing.
Pastor Ray…
Now I’m going to play this short clip. It’s a pastor that gives a short summary of what took place.
Clip plays…
…one was 84 years old and one was 82 years old. One was blind and the other was humped over so badly she was arched over. But they had passion for revival. They wanted God to work. This is what happened. They couldn’t even get out to the church to pray. They couldn’t get out to the church to worship. Their house became a place to meet. People came in. They got so passionate about revival coming to their isle, the isle of Lewis. They confronted the preacher and wanted to know if he was thoroughly right with God. And they prayed and prayed and prayed. And they had seen the Lord, they said, with the church filled up and God blessing them with great overflow. And the fire of God struck, that tiny little obscure place off the coast of Scotland. And when it happened, there was a young teenage boy that got saved in it. His name was Donald. And the preacher became so dependent upon Donald and so close to him, he would ask him to lead in public prayers and help him with the meetings. And he did. Oh, how God worked. People began to hear about it and the revival fire spread. And God blessed in a great way. Those two old women, the kind of people that people don’t want in their church anymore.
And from that same island, there was a young girl who was a cousin to Donald Smith who immigrated to America. Her name was Maryanne Smith McCloud. She came to America in 1936. She met a man named Fred. They fell in love and were married. God blessed in a great way. And those old women were her aunts. And they came out of that fiery revival. They sent a Bible that had been used in a special way in that revival to Maryanne. She started having children. In 1937, she had her first child and named him after his father, Fred. Then she had her second child named after herself, Maryanne. Then she had her third child, Elizabeth. Then she had her fourth child, and she was so impacted by this teenaged boy God had used in that revival that she named him Donald. And she gave him that Hebrides Revival Bible. He was born in 1946. He’s now the 45th President of the United States. And that revival Bible is in the Oval Office. I’m saying to you, I don’t know how or why, I don’t know how it all comes together. But I believe God is putting some things together to give us just a window, just a window if He can find some open people who know what the wind is for.
Pastor Ray shared…
He’s looking for people who know what to do. We have seen what to do. We have experienced His presence. But we agree with that pastor that said he believes the window has been opened and God is looking for people to go through. Get more into His will and in the way that those people back then in the 50s, just refused to hear no. They trusted what He said would come to pass. So, for us this morning, how do we see this family, Living Word Christian Center? That’s a question that came up in my heart. How are we seeing it in our hearts? These two older women, one was blind and the other could hardly walk. They’re the type of people that church isn’t seeking after them. But we want everything to do with every Holy Spirit filled, directed, anointed people that we can come in contact with. We don’t want to be surrounded by people of doubt. The way they saw their church, let’s see this church, Living Word Christian Center. Let me paint a picture. We do not have room to hold all the people. There are so many new people coming to God out of the darkness and into the light. I’ve seen this before, vans and buses pulling up to the front doors, bringing those that have been bound in sickness, taking them out of the hospitals and bringing them here for delivery. Souls coming. Thank God for what has already taken place. But even to a greater degree, where we’ll not be satisfied but we’ll keep calling and calling and calling for a move of God. It’s no wonder that we have the scripture in the lobby posted, “If you don’t quit, you win.” What does that mean? Souls beyond what we could ever think. People coming to God. Be ready. For the days that were yesterday will not be like the days that are to come. For we’ve called and we’ve required it, year after year as a necessity. For God’s glory and presence. An outpouring of His presence to come. To manifest like never before.
Prayed…
Father, we put no limitations on it. We don’t try to see it the way we think we should see it. We step out in faith and desire to see how You see. How do You see, Lord? How do You see us? How do You see this church. We want You. We need You. We have to have Your presence. By declaration of faith, we repent for the status quo. We want to come up! We believe as a church, we’re coming up together.
We pray over our pastors, Mac and Lynne Hammond. We bring them before heaven. We pray for supernatural, Holy Spirit strength from heaven.
Pastor Ray shared…
I can think of things in the natural that we could pray for them about, but let’s, instead, pray for them in tongues. There are more than enough of us here to hold them up and pray for God’s perfect will for them.
Prayed in the spirit for pastors…
Freedom, freedom… we speak freedom and liberty… and lift them… encompass them…
Duncan Campbell, in his biography by Andrew Woolsey, describes the revival as “A community saturated with God.” He goes on, “The presence of God was a universal, inescapable fact: at home, in the church and by the roadside. Many who visited Lewis during this time became vividly conscious of the spiritual atmosphere before they reached the island.” “The scripture, ‘Wither shall I go from your Spirit, or wither shall I flee from your Presence?’ took on a very real meaning. One night a man went to the manse in great concern of his soul. He was brought into the study and the minister asked him, ‘What happened to you, I have not seen you in any of the services?’ “No,” he replied, ‘But, I can’t get away from the spirit.” “Another man was frightened by what his sister reported of the revival. He actually prayed that God would keep Duncan Campbell away from his village; he did not want to be converted. But Duncan arrived in his village. The man kept well away from the meetings at first, but eventually gave in. In the service Duncan Campbell made a reference to ‘those who had made vows to God while they were in danger at sea.’ That’s me (his boat had been torpedoed during the war), my sister must have told him about me. I’ll settle with her when I get out of the meeting. But conviction seized him and increased as the day went on. Duncan Campbell visited him and
prayed with him. That night the burden was unbearable and when Duncan asked the seekers to come to the vestry for prayer – he rushed to the room to give his life to God. He had difficulty in understanding the message of salvation, but eventually broke through. He saw at his feet the chains and locks of sin which had bound him. It was so real that he leaped up in ecstasy, thinking he was leaping straight to heaven. Later he met one of the elders by the roadside and a circle of light seemed to envelope them. Looking up he found himself looking into the face of the Savior. Not everyone had that same spectacular experience but it was not uncommon.
