Epistles Of Awakening: Where Are The Revivalists Of My Time?

We cannot talk ourselves out of what we behaved ourselves into... Richmond Kwame Frimpong.

The above saying came to mind after I had a long night of meditation on how my generation can also spark a revival as the people of old did in their time. I was thinking about Apostle Johnson Sulleyman and how he read the Bible cover to cover 48 times and still reads volumes of Chapters a day. I was thinking about Papa Adeboye who fasts 40 Days several times in a year. Gbile Akanni and the Baba Lola’s who took the Gospel of revival personal and will tarry in Prayer with the word until they have no breadth- no wonder 100 cripples will come for their meeting and 98 will be healed completely. And even their dresses have the capacity to bring a mad man back to a state of mental sanity. In those days when someone dies, the men of God must confirm first because they have the capacity to bring the dead back to life but today we do autopsy. So, I asked myself, where are the revivalists of my time?

Sometimes when reading about these guys, it is as though they never had temptations of pride, fornication, theft, anger or immorality, wrong. The bible said Elijah was a man that had like passions like we are but the bible said yet he prayed. It means if we can rely on God despite our weaknesses, we can be the first group of people to spark an unbelievable yet undeniable revival.But where are the men and women who will say for the next three days we will only feed on water until we see God’s holiness in the land?

Unfortunately we have men who wish to raise the dead but can’t forgive the living, we have men who wish to fast but are in love with festivals, we have men who want to heal the sick yet don’t have love for the healthy, we have a generation of people who are glued to the pulpit and can’t trust anybody with the pulpit so they can go and get a fresh word from God for the flocks, a generation where first degree from the seminary is the requirement for making a divine decree. Ooh God!! where are the Peters of this generation who will move from the sea shores to the stadium to save the 3000’s with a fresh word from the Lord. Where are the John the Baptists who only feeds on locust and wild honey and could rebuke even soldiers with ammunitions and none could touch him? Where are the Daniels of Africa whom the lion refused for lunch and the three Hebrew boys whom the flame refused to burn because of what they carry? Where are the Hannah’s of those days who prayed and fasted until their pastors called them drunkards? Where are the Joshua’s who will tell the sun not to go down until they have attained victory. I asked myself again, Lord! Please where are the revivalists of my age?

Where from this hunger? It was a response to the scriptures in Hebrews Chapter Eleven verses Thirty- Two to Thirty- Six (Kindly read it yourself please, for time and space sake).

Guys, Gideon was the least in his family, yet he rose to the crescendo and pinnacle of ministry and made impact, he was a human being. God is calling you and I and even at 30 years we are still saying we are the last borns in our families. Well, Gideon was the last born too.

I heard and read about Archbishop Benson Idahosa who lived a life of fasting and prayer, entered the airport and insisted by his authority that an airplane will not take off until they carry his guests along, even when the plane was full and it was granted him. I read about John Hyde who prayed for three (3) days continuously until the knee took another shape and could step into India for a missionary work with one message “Lord give me India or I die”. We have heard the story of Father Nash who was an intercessor to Charles Finney, the man prayed until his knees became like the knees of a Carmel. Guys, I won’t even talk about Paul who was rejected by Asia. Now, for a whole continent to reject one man, hmmm. I asked myself where are the revivalists of our time? I will tell you the answer: we are locked up in churches and cell meetings, we have been employed by the corporate world because it look good to be in suits, we are trapped, and we deceived ourselves that we are only working for 10 years and by the time we realised we are on retirement and have not make any meaningful impact. Unfortunately God doesn’t recruit retirees and pensioners, we have conform to the standard of Baal and not even our environment can feel our impact. We have been told to pay tithe and pay offering and go to bed and the Lord will quicken the harvest, whiles sinners and our Christian members are dying and souls are perishing. We are locked up in marriages that wasn’t even God wish for us and our gifts are dying. Relationships with no destiny directional signs have truncated the viability of our ministry and so we sit and die like mere men as though we have never been anointed.

When we read about these stuffs, what does it spark in us? Revival. So what are we doing about it? Hoping. No, pastor, prophet, evangelist, teacher, apostle, student, family, artists etc. We can’t sit in the comfort of our rooms and the pulpits waiting for the phaphar of science and human philosophy to spark the revival we desire to see. Revivals are not wished for, they are provoked out of passion. I know after reading this, you will draw a time table for fasting, prayer, and personal night vigil and word diet. God will give you grace because that’s the intention of this letter.

Youth! Elijah was a man, Moses was a man, Job was a man, Elisha was a man, Paul was a man, Archbishop Idahosa was a man, Jephthah was a man, David was a man with numerous weaknesses yet he never lost a battle, Jeremiah was a man, Ezekiel was a man, R.W Shamback was a man, Kenneth Hagan was a man, Eastwood Anaba is a man, Archbishop Duncan William is a man, John Wesley was a man, John Hyde was a man but most importantly, you and I reading this missive are men too, so why can’t we do same? You know the answer best. Let’s meet at the wailing room tonight and take our place.

GOD KEEP US ON FIRE FOR LIFE UNTIL OUR GENERATION IS DELIVERED FROM ANY DECADENCE OF THE FLESH.

R. Duafah
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