He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name sake – Psalm 23:4

Have you ever wondered why there are so many professing Christians in America, yet so few cities that have been truly transformed for Christ? Or why in prayer meetings and conferences, we passionately cry out for nations to be saved in a day; yet our local spheres of influences remain largely unchanged year after year?

For a community, a city or a nation to be gripped with revival, a man or woman must first be fully gripped by God. Personal visitation is always the catalyst for revival. Visitation always precedes transformation. In order to shake the nation for God, we must first let God shake us! Throughout history God has always used weak, broken vessels whose fragility is the perfect conduit for His glory and power to change cities and nations. The truth is God doesn’t wait until we have “arrived” at our destiny to encounter us, rather He uses personal visitation as a key part of our commissioning.

Seventy percent of the Bible is about trances, dreams, visions, signs and wonders, angelic encounters, and other supernatural accounts of God’s visiting men and women. God is not a respecter of persons, could it be that He wants to meet with you? Unfortunately, many Christians in America don’t believe in visitations from God because they don’t believe in the supernatural. The Western church as a whole is barren because of its utter dependence on logic and intellectualism. We know the Word of God, but we lack the experience of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, church is little more than a routine, a social club devoid of mass salvation, deliverance and other supernatural touches.

We claim to believe that the Bible is true, yet somehow we ignore the fact that Jesus commissioned us to walk in greater works than He did. Miracles are not an option, but rather a trademark of Basic Christianity. Why is there such a resistance to the supernatural? For many of us, the answer is fear as well as not submitting ourselves wholeheartedly to the Word of God and its instructions. For some reason, it appears that we’re more fearful of Satan, rather than being desperate of experiencing an encounter with God.

Sometimes we give more credit to what Satan can do rather than what God can do. For lives, cities and nations to be changed, personal, supernatural visitations from God are essential. These aren’t just radical joy rides in the Spirit, they are DNA altering experiences that transform us, giving us the faith and confidence to believe for and do the impossible. Just as God used people in the Bible, He needs people today that will submit themselves to Him to be used by Him. When a revival begins to burn in the hearts of Christians together we can change nations, cities, states and communities. We have to work together, we must be committed to God in order for His Spirit to dwell within us and move through us.

As we feast upon His Word with prayer and fasting, His Word will conform and transform us. Then we will begin to have a thirst and a seeking in hearts to submit to Him in every area of our life. The Fruit of the Spirit will begin to manifest in us and through us; then will we pray without interruptions. We will fast without our pastor calling a fast; and we will take the time to read and study His Word. When the fire of revival will begin in us then will it spread abroad.