The great prophet Isaiah cried out to God, "Oh, that You would rend the heavens and that you would come down and that the mountains would shake at Your presence." This has been the passionate plea of a holy remnant of believers throughout the generations who have been desperate for Heaven-sent revival. They have cried out for the restoration of the Presence of God in their lives and in the church. No doubt, it was the cry of Luther, leader of the Great Reformation, who wept over the corruption, apostasy and spiritual impotency of the church of his day. It surely was the cry of John Wesley, the fountain head of the great Methodist revival of the 1770's, who was sickened by the same church scene. It had to have been the cry of Charles Finney as he surveyed the divisions and fighting among the churches in New York prior to the great revivals there. It certainly was the cry of blind and aged Peggy Smith and her invalid sister in the late 1940's as they lamented over the churches of the Hebrides Islands of Scotland. The churches were devoid of the power of God and vacated by the youth. It must have been the cry of young Evan Roberts in 1905 Wales as hungered for a mighty visitation of God that would free his nation from the slavery religion and from sin.
"Oh, that you would rend the Heavens and come down" has always been the cry of the true Church, that living organism...the Body of Christ. That cry is rising in crescendo throughout the world again.
Oh, what a dark hour in which we live! While visiting the web sites of many evangelical, "spirit-filled" churches, we see the church of today seeking relevancy in the world, to "reach" people. Their methodology has been to offer people quite a religious shopping mall of offerings. Home groups and classes are offered in an array of interests such as "Improving Your Sex Life, Learn to Play Basketball, Mastering French, Photography Made Easy, Praise and Exercise, Motorcycles are Fun and How to Invest and Make Money." These web sites offer Christian cantatas, musicals, and dramatic presentations. The web sites listed world-renown televangelists, celebrities and famous musical groups making special appearances at their churches. Many dinners, fellowship banquets, and fund raising gatherings garnered much of web site space.
However, there are some things strangely missing on these beautiful web sites. Where are the listings for the home groups whose focus is prevailing prayer, where are the announcements for "fasting" banquets where Christians gather, weep, fast and pray for an awakening in our day, where is the schedule for speakers like Father Nash (the prayer engine behind Finney's great revivals and who died on his knees in intercession
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