There was once an echo that cried out loudly from an upper room where His wind blew and a roar arose. The sound of the echo that day was something new but being His echo was not.
Ezekiel once echoed and raised an army from the dry bones and His spirit breathed life into them. Moses was His echo after coming down from the mountain. John the Baptist was His echo preparing the way. Where is the echo today?
The church is too quiet. Where has our roar gone? The enemy is after your roar. (Prov. 28:1, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”)
We have the answer for the hurting, broken and weary! Maybe we have forgotten where our roar started. What began on the cross culminated in an upper room. There was a roar that rose from an upper room—a roar that forever changed history and birthed the New Testament church, a roar that came from an unknown deep cries out to deep place; a roar that could not be silenced!
“When this sound occurred, the crowd came together and were confounded, because each man heard them speaking in his own language” (Acts 2:6).
But first let’s back up and remember before the roar was heard. Go with me to the darkest moment in history. Jesus was the Lamb led to the slaughter. Hanging high in the air. Mounted as Satan’s trophy. The disciples were weeping in agony. Mary watched as her son died for sons and daughters. Heaven remained quiet.
At 3 p.m., He cried out. “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit” (John 19:30).
Let me ask you today: Is there a cry within your spirit for more? The roar will always start with a groan. “Yet when holy lovers of God cry out to him with all their hearts, the Lord will hear them and come to rescue them from all their troubles” (Ps. 34:17, TPT).
I realize that many reading today are increasingly agitated. You feel a yearning for more. You are unhappy with your present lot in life. You know that you were created for more, but the more seems so far away. You feel the groan.
Maybe it’s one of frustration or agitation or one of desperation. But in the distance, maybe even faintly within your spirit, you hear a knock at the door. He is always knocking. Revelation 3:20 (MEV) says, “Listen! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me.” God will and can suddenly arouse you from your normal. Are you listening? Is there a cry in your spirit for more?
The Sound of Devastation Leads to Desperation
“Just then Jesus passionately cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last.” (Mark 15:37).
Devastation is an alarm clock! Let me share personally with you about a recent “alarm clock” moment in our lives. It began with a doctor’s report, a diagnosis of cancer in the blood, the word “leukemia.” That devastation moment aroused within us a desperation that brought us to our altar. Every morning and every evening! “Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on the altar and wait for your fire to fall upon my heart” (Ps. 5:3b).
The sound of devastation leads to desperation. Look at the disciples. The disciples were now alone. Jesus had died, arose and 40 days later ascended. Now they needed a God-interruption! Just before He ascended, He had given them a promise. “And I will send the fulfillment of the Father’s promise [Holy Spirit] to you. So stay here in the city until the mighty power of heaven falls upon you and wraps around you” (Luke 24:49).
God the Father had created His masterpiece called humanity so He could have fellowship. Jesus the Son of God came to seek and to save that which was lost! The Holy Spirit came to guide you into righteousness, friendship and purpose with God.
Who is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Trinity? His name is Holy Spirit! He is my Counselor! Oftentimes, He is now forced to fly under the radar, live in the gymnasiums of youth services, the Bible studies of homes and encounter weekends twice a year. But He has always been here. From the beginning, God’s Spirit was here!
“First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss” (Gen. 1:1-2, MSG).
Noah would send forth a dove, in Genesis 8:12 (MEV), “He waited another seven days and sent out the dove again, but it did not return to him again.”
Isaiah prophesied about the upper room. “Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people, to whom he said, ‘This is the resting place, let the weary rest’; and, ‘This is the place of repose’— but they would not listen” (Isa. 28:11-12, NIV).
John the Baptist had made the introduction of who would bring him. Luke 3:16, “John answered them all, ‘I indeed baptize you with water. But One mightier than I is coming, the strings of whose shoes I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire'” (Luke 3:16, MEV).
Jesus had promised him. “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, that He may be with you forever: the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, for it does not see Him, neither does it know Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you fatherless. I will come to you” (John 14:16-18).
Now the disciples were stuck in a room waiting on the promise. Desperation leads to the restoration of the roar! Stuck between “Amen” and “There it is!” The Lamb of God had surrendered His spirit and breath in order to save lost humanity. They needed His Spirit. Now they were in the waiting room!
Suddenlies Are Preceded by Obedience
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. There appeared to them tongues as of fire, being distributed and resting on each of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to speak” (Acts 2:1-4).
It is in the waiting room that prayers lives awaken! The slumber of the bride has caused a release of the unprecedented plunder of God’s storehouse and harvest by the enemy. He is now unabated by a church that once stood its ground but has now gone underground for fear of being exposed by our lack of purpose.
It is time to restore your roar! History is never made by those who choose to sit out the fight but by those were willing to relinquish their fear and stand their ground against evil. It is time to allow desperation to once again lead to the restoration of your roar and the roar He is longing to hear. Amos 3:8 says, “The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?”
Let me share with you three keys to finding your roar:
- It was the right time. Fifty-three days after devastation, as promised, the Holy Spirit came and the New Testament church was birthed. One hundred twenty gathered; 120 waited; 120 cried out. I love numbers, and if you look at 120, you see: 100 (election process) + 20 (expectancy) = elected group with expectancy! God in his brilliance birthed the New Testament church on the day that the harvest feast was beginning. Pentecost, the feast of Pentekostos, meaning “50th,” came 50 days after Passover. In the Old Testament, it was also known as the harvest festival (Lev. 23:9-16). It was also called the Feast of Weeks, Shavuot,”which Jews celebrate as God’s revealing of the law at Mount Sinai (Ex. 34:22)—the seventh Sunday after Easter. God chooses timing, the kairos (appointed time) Could this be the appointed time? They were desperate. They waited 10 days. The number 10 meaning completeness in divine order—the beginning of one period and the ending of another.
- It was the right attitude. They were in one mind and one accord! They checked their religion at the door! Their door knob was expectation. God always chooses places to pour out His Spirit that have decided “we must have a move of God”. Too often we have rejected a move of the Holy Spirit as yesterday’s move of God when, in fact, God desires to move past your daily facade into a face-to-face encounter.
Ephesians 5:18b says, “Be filled with the [Holy] Spirit.”
“For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body” (1 Cor. 12:13a).
“Eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit” (1 Cor. 14:1b, NIV).
Many gifts but one Spirit: see 1 Corinthians 12:4-7.
“The manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for the common good. … But that one and very same Spirit works all these, dividing to each one individually as He will.”
Tongues are a sign to the unbeliever (see 1 Cor. 14:22).
All of the gifts are done in order (see 1 Cor. 14:40).
- It was the right place. The upper room. Place—Greek, “epi,” the center of earthquake!
God will show up in the house that has decided He is welcome.
The roar has sound waves. When the church awakens to the Holy Spirit who has been longing to come inside of their sanctuaries and homes, they will soon discover that the world will come running to the sound of freedom coming from their dwellings.
Your awakening will cause others to hear a sound and come running to find freedom. Right now, God is looking for bold and courageous leaders who have a holy fear of the Lord to arise and stand firm. These are those who are not worried about losing their reputations or their standing but understand that they gain strength and purpose in God.
You were rescued, revived and restored for something greater than yourself. With great freedom and blessing comes great responsibility. God not only wants you to walk free of fear, but He also wants to see you rescue and revive both those around you and the next generation of freedom fighters.
Your courage is so important in raising up a new generation equipped to keep the fire of God burning in the world. It is time to roar over the land God has given us. It is time to restore your roar.
This powerful message by evangelist Pat Schatzline was shared on June 9, 2019, on Pentecost Sunday at Faith Assembly in Orlando, Florida. Quotes in this blog are taken from Restore the Roar, the new book by Pat and Karen Schatzline. You can purchase the No. 1 new release best-seller in Christian Faith books, by visiting restoretheroarbook.com
Click on the video below to watch and hear evangelist Pat Schatzline preach this powerful message from Pentecost Sunday at Faith Assembly in Orlando.
Billy Hallowell 
James Lasher