Leanne Payne, in her book Listening Prayer, warns us, “We can all too easily substitute practicing the presence of the self rather than practicing the presence of God. We all too easily practice the self-deceiving art of self-projection, putting our words in God’s mouth, rather than the other way around. We become both the initiator and the responder, and we become self-deceived in the process.” Ouch. Well said and well received.  Read More

Today, God wants to give each of us clarity in recognizing His manifest presence. In His landmark book An Humble Attempt, Jonathan Edwards wrote perhaps the clearest defense of encountering God’s manifest presence ever written.  Read More

Don’t be afraid of making promises to God. Is it possible that we have become so addicted to failure that we are afraid to even establish godly goals and resolutions? It may be time to take a lesson from Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758).  Read More

Ambrose Whaley was a retired blacksmith and a Methodist lay preacher. He was known in his community as a mighty intercessor. When Armin Gesswein met him at a red barn in the countryside, Armin introduced himself and said, “Uncle Am, I would love to pray with you.” At once the elderly man jumped to him feet, walked across the driveway to an old red barn, and climbed up a ladder into the hayloft where there were two big Bibles lying open. Both men got on their knees in front of an open Bible. Uncle Am was 73; Armin Gesswein was 24. Gesswein reports, “With an eagle-look in his eyes, he said to me, ‘If you want to learn to pray, young man, learn to plead the promises of God.’”  Read More

Pearl Lotte Good, the legendary personal intercessor of Billy Graham, was a personal friend of prayer-revivalist Armin Gesswein. When she first attended the Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles in 1949, she not only listened to Billy Graham preach, she went to the tent across the street to pray. Armin Gesswein was leading that prayer meeting. Armin was impressed by her conviction, her burden, and her spiritual muscle.  Read More

On this day, February 22, in the year of our Lord 1972, Mrs. Pearl Lotte Goode died. The last twenty-three years of her life, she had been the legendary level 1 personal intercessor for Billy Graham. She had travelled some 48,000 miles on Greyhound buses, attended twenty-eight Billy Graham Crusades, some of which lasted for weeks on end, staying in hotel rooms in the Crusade cities all at her own expense.  Read More

In 1858, the Washington National Intelligence, a leading newspaper, reported that daily prayer meetings were held in 150 towns in Massachusetts, 200 in New York, 60 in New Jersey, 64 in Pennsylvania, and 200 in Ohio. It is estimated that, of the United States population of thirty million, nearly two million were born again during this remarkable move of God’s Holy Spirit.  Read More

In December 1904, New York and New Jersey experienced a dramatic move of God’s Spirit. City newspapers published daily columns entitled “The Fires of Pentecost,” “Yesterday’s Conversions,” and “The Power of Prayer.” In Atlantic City, with a population at the time of 6,000 people, 5,950 were reportedly born again. One article reported, “Pentecost was literally repeated… spacious churches crowded to over-flowing, and great processions passing through the streets.”  Read More

When we encounter the manifest presence of Christ, it is only natural to long for His presence to fill our neighborhoods and our region—to want the water level of the Holy Spirit to rise around us.  Read More

Off the northwest coast of Scotland, the rugged Hebrides Islands received a remarkable outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit in 1828. “O God, I seem to be gazing through an open door. I see the Lamb in the midst of the throne,” one fifteen-year-old youth cried in public prayer. “O God, there is power there; let it loose!” That’s all it took. The floodgates of heaven suddenly opened. People were sobbing, lying on the floor, begging for mercy.  Read More

The New Testament prayer meeting reveals the master plan of Jesus. The last thing Jesus did on earth was to build that prayer meeting, and it is the only thing He left behind on planet Earth when He ascended to heaven. With this He unfolded His master plan for His Church, for true Christian unity, for evangelism, for spiritual awakening and revival, for dynamic church growth, for birthing and battling, for the fulfillment of Acts 1:8.  Read More

On this day, February 16, in the year of our Lord 1908, a large gathering of pastors and church leaders gathered in Atlanta. The meetings were characterized by extended prayer. The glory of God came like a cloud. One participant reported, “A cloudburst of glory…the fire came down! Who can describe this moment!” The waves of Holy Spirit activity continued long after the conference. When pastors returned to their churches, they took with them what they had received. Church after church experienced a profound move of the Holy Spirit. Lord, do it again in our day!  Read More

Has your encounter with the manifest presence of Christ ever left you face down in worship? May your encounter with the manifest presence of Christ bring you to your knees today in His presence.  Read More

Because we are by nature dead to God, every person who becomes a God-seeker has experienced three miracles: The self-revealing God has chosen to make Himself known. That’s a miracle! God raised from the dead his or her ability to know Him. That’s a miracle! God put in that person a desire to seek Him. That’s a miracle!  Read More

On this day, February 13, in the year of our Lord 1907, the Holy Spirit came with manifesting power to Cleveland, Ohio. Pastor Warren Cramer had invited Ivey Campbell to preach. The Spirit of God came and the meetings lasted four weeks. Dozens of people were filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke in tongues (including two people who spoke in what was identified as perfect Latin). In the next several months, the revival spread to dozens of other churches and Christian schools in the city of Cleveland.   Read More

It’s time to repent of being theoretical supernaturalists while we are in reality practicing naturalists. You cannot follow Jesus Christ and remain a naturalist who only believes what he sees. Jesus walked on water, cast out demons, raised twelve-year old’s from the dead, met with Elijah and Moses on a shining mountain, and fed thousands of people with a little boy’s lunch. Since when do we allow the culture to dictate our theology?  Read More

Dr. Jay Vernon McGee was a dear brother in Christ, a great radio Bible teacher who taught that healing and other manifestations in the Holy Spirit had ceased in the first century. His teaching was broadcast on more than 400 radio stations and translated into more than 100 languages. Then he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. After radical surgery, doctors gave him only six months to live. People all over the world prayed for his healing, and—though it contradicted McGee’s own theology—God graciously chose to heal him. He lived another twenty-three years! God really does have a sense of humor, doesn’t He?  Read More

On this day, February 10, in the year of our Lord 1927, God poured out His Holy Spirit in Shanghai, China. John Sung was immediately filled with inexpressible joy. He had made it his regular habit to be up every morning at 5 AM and pray for two to three hours. He was convinced that prayer was the most important work of the believer. He not only asked, he received!  Read More

Allow me to introduce you to the box. In many ways, it’s a large box. It contains public schools, government buildings, justice buildings, most of the arts and sciences. The box was taught by Immanuel Kontz, Soren Kierkegaard, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Jean Paul Sarte, and a host of other systems thinkers. If you grew up in the western world, you have grown up in the box. In another way, it’s a very small box. It does not contain prayer, worship, awe, contrition, or repentance. And God is definitely not in the box. When Jesus rose from the dead He broke the lid off the box.  Read More

Nearly every protestant denomination grew out of a rock solid belief in the promise of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. The Methodists started with a solid conviction of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. John Wesley would not ordain anyone into ministry who could not give clear testimony of being filled with the Holy Spirit. The Presbyterians and those in the Reformed tradition believed in the filling of the Holy Spirit. John Calvin himself referred to the church as “the fellowship of the flaming heart,” and he adopted the flaming heart as the symbol of his movement.  Read More

The Holy Spirit specializes in doing for us what would be impossible for us to do for ourselves. The Spirit of God is frequently identified as the Holy Spirit, or the “Spirit of Holiness,” because when it comes to making us holy, He has the corner on the market. He empowers us to put sin to death. We are told in Romans 8:13, “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” When was the last time, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you put sin to death in your own life?  Read More

If you have discouragement, you did not get it from God. God is the God of all encouragement. Most translations of 2 Corinthians 1:3 read, “The God of all comfort.” The word translated “comfort” is the Greek word parakaleo, which means, “encouragement.” God is the God of all encouragement. Armin Gesswein used to say, “Discouragement is a sin; it won’t send you to hell, but it will make you feel like you are living there.”  Read More

The Holy Spirit is on fire, and He wants to set you on fire today. Too many Christians are afraid of false fire, misfire, or backfire. Don’t allow your fear of fire to keep you from encountering the fullness of Christ. When the Apostle Paul tells the Christians in Thessalonica, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire,” he is not telling them to start a fire. You do not need to start a fire for God. You simply need to allow God to set you on fire.  Read More

Do not underestimate the power of hope. God not only wants you to have hope, He wants you to overflow with hope. Our God is a God of hope. From His perspective there is never a hopeless person, hopeless cause, or hopeless situation. If you have hopelessness, you did not get it from God.  Read More