The following excerpt was taken From Holy Laughter to Holy Fire by Michael L. Brown:
The servant of the Lord is highly flammable. Some things are combustible, other things are not. Dry wood burns; water puts the fire out. It’s the same with electricity. Some things are good conductors; others are not. High-voltage wires can carry quite a shock; thick rubber will stop the watts in their tracks. So also in the Spirit: A pure heart is easily ignited; unbelief and sin will quickly quench the flames. A holy life will transmit the Spirit’s jolt; the flesh will blunt the force. What about you? What is your spiritual composition?
Missionary Amy Carmichael had prayed, “Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.” Jim Elliot, martyred by the Auca Indians, expanded on this:
God makes His ministers a flame of fire. Am I ignitable? God, deliver me from the dread asbestos of “other things.” Saturate me with the oil of Thy Spirit that I may be a flame. Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.
Are you combustible?
(If you take it down to a service, if the Holy Spirit is in residence, He is welcome, there is always sparks. So where you get in a service and there is no presence, you can’t sense Him, it just seems dead. You know right in that place there will be no fire lit up. There is no ignition. It’s sort of like you have the asbestos on. I hate that when that happens.)
There had been months of prayer for revival in the parish of Barvas in the Hebrides. A group of men met three nights a week, praying until four or five in the morning. Still, ignition was not achieved until a young deacon stood up one night and read from Psalm 24:
“Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD.” (Ps. 24:3–5a, KJV)
Duncan Campbell describes what happened next: he read the Psalm again. Then faced his praying companions with these words: “Brethren, we have been praying for weeks, waiting upon God. Now I would like to ask, Are our hands clean? Are our hearts pure?”
In the wee hours of that morning, the Spirit of God swept into the barn. Had you gone there at four you would have found three of the men in a trance, prostrate on the floor. They had prayed until they passed out of consciousness.”
The revival had begun. The fire was beginning to burn. Combustion was realized! Sin had been removed. Are we ready to burn?
Speaking of His forerunner, Jesus said, “John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light” (John 5:35). Speaking of us all, Wigglesworth exclaimed, “Oh, if God has His way, we should be like torches, purifying the very atmosphere wherever we go, moving back the forces of wickedness.”
God Himself is a consuming fire. Those who live in His Presence become like Him. The hymn writers of old knew this:
O that in me the sacred fire
Might now begin to glow,
Burn up the dross of base desire,
And make the mountains flow!
This was also the foundation of the early Salvation Army:
To make my weak heart strong and brave,
Send the fire
To live a dying world to save, send the fire.
Oh, see me on Thy altar lay
My life, my all, this very day;
To crown the offering now, I pray:
Send the fire!
In the same way, when the saintly Methodist leader John Fletcher prayed for the fullness of the Holy Spirit, he prayed for fire:
Lord, I stand in need of oil. My lamp burns dimly. It is more like a smoking flax than a burning and shining light. Oh, quench it not, raise it to a flame!
I want a “power from on high”; I want penetrating, lasting “unction of the Holy One”; I want my vessel full of oil; I want a lamp of heavenly illumination, and a fire of divine love burning day and night in my heart; I want a full application of the blood which cleanseth from all sin, and a strong faith in thy sanctifying word ….
I do now believe that thou canst and wilt thus baptize me with the Holy Ghost and with fire; help me against my unbelief; confirm and increase my faith. Lord, I have need to be thus baptized by thee, and I am straitened till this baptism is accomplished.”
O Lord, send the fire! We’re ready to burn.
Revival, above everything else, is a glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is the restoration of Him to the center of the Church… It leads to our hymns, our anthems of praise: Christ the center of the Church.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Revival
Revival is a new discovery of Jesus.
James S. Stewart, in Duncan Campbell’s The Lewis Awakening
Prayed…
Thank You for Your presence, Lord
For the power of Your Holy Spirit
For fresh fire this morning
We are opening up our hearts for more of Your presence
For the bright light
We welcome this presence, this touch of fire
Bringing forth a holy desire for more
Directing us to send out the fire from within
That we would be the light for the lost and dying world
All consuming light from heaven
It lifts up the Church
Bringing it up into more of Your good news light
You said light be and it was, it was
The things that You have said, surely every single one shall come to pass
Those in need today, a 911 situation
We declare strength from heaven through the power of Your blood
Be restored once again – light burning so bright
Revealing heaven’s ways
For the whole body too
We see Your fire moving throughout Your body today
Every heart be softened
Every internal part, parts of the body
Positions, plans, and purposes set on fire by Your Spirit
Can we? will we?
We will, we can – rising up in all Your glory
Setting us into our places and positions
We are calling the ministries and ministers up, up, up
Great fire, heaven’s fire
That Your power might flow
That the Church would grow
Your plan brought to pass, every single call
Yes to You, Lord!
Shaking it up, turning it around
In some ways, a paradigm shift to turn it around
Supernatural signs and wonders
Uncovering the enemies plans
We overcome because You overcame
We overcome through the blood
The blood over the Church!
Protection through the blood
Your dominating word in operation
The whole church, all of the members of the body
Revealed for what it was planned to be
Plans of the enemy brought to light
Drawings of the flesh toward the enemy be exposed in Jesus’ name
Declaring over the Church “Straighten up!”
This is the way it should be and this is the way it will be
Speaking over the base of operation of the Church
Assignments, things that You have already revealed in our hearts
Be multiplied, every piece has already been given
We take the assignments from heaven today
WE ARE GOING ALL THE WAY
The fire burns up all that dross
Sets us on the course – ignited from heaven
Thank You, Father, for revelation concerning those assignments
Showing forth – these are pieces to the puzzle that makes up the plan
Yes, money is involved
Calling forth every resource
We bring these things together
One plan, one purpose, one body
United!
The Master’s plan
The Master’s steps
The Master’s eyes
The Master’s ears
The Master’s voice on this earth
OOHHHHHH that’s the Church!
Rising up, lifted up!
Places, positions, names, people – specific ones
Leaders!
Covered, covered with the blood
Rise up! Rise up! Rise up!
It’s combustion, it’s an enlightenment
Fire, hot, bright fire that ignites and brings the Church to the entrance and right on in
Absolutely every need met
Things we didn’t know about
Supernatural signs, events, wholeness, wellness, strength
Your joy, internal strength brings it about!
So enter in, saith the Lord, and draw that strength and take that light
Ooooohhhhh!
Taking you beyond those things you did not know
These are days of increase
By the Spirit we take, we receive
The fuel, the fuel to burn that light bright
Keep that flame in sight, to bring restoration wherever we go
Bringing fire light to those who have never heard
Getting them out of that dark way and set on fire
Some are in position of high authority over this nation
We see that light, that their eyes would see and ears would hear
Hearts would be open
Changes, changes
This is how it shall be – a lifted up Church
Good news, life!
Heart after heart after heart being changed
It’s new; it is not the way it was
These are new
Ms. Annie led us in song…
♪ When you carry My flame , when you carry My name
Nothing, nothing, nothing will be the same
By the power in My Name
By the power of My name
Carry My flame, carry My flame
And nothing will be the same
Because everything by My power will be rearranged
Rearranged by My healing, rearranged by My revealing, rearranged by My blood
Where forgiveness and deliverance flows like a flood
So carry My flame and you carry My name
And nothing shall be the same
And You carry My flame and speak in My name
Nothing, nothing shall be the same
I am revealing, I am revealing Myself
I am revealing, I am revealing Who I AM
I am revealing, I am not concealing, I am revealing
I AM, I AM that I AM ♪
Continued praying…
We are so thankful, Lord, that You are showing and not hiding
Thank You for what was done on that Cross when Jesus said “It is finished”
You made us to be righteous through the precious shed blood
Our hearts our open, we will continue to receive
