During worship on a recent Sunday morning at Impact International of Bristol, the Lord began to reveal a vision to me. I saw an oil field, abundant and flowing with rich oil.
Separating the surface and the reservoir of oil was a layer of hard rock. In my spirit, I knew the rock was slate. As I began to pray over what I was seeing, I saw the ground being broken up. The breaking started first on the surface level and then moved to penetrating deeper into the ground.
As it reached the slate, the breaking began to slow down. It did however, remain persistent. The slate began to break and give way as this unseen force drove through each layer. Like a spiritual jackhammer, this supernatural “breakthrough” penetrated through the slate and drew closer to the flowing river of oil underneath. Suddenly, contact was made as the last segment of earth relinquished to this relentless force. The oil then literally exploded through to the surface of the ground as if it were under intense pressure. It became an “oil gusher” with a constant and powerful surge!
“What Am I Seeing Lord?”
The Lord began to say, “The oil is a deeper level of My anointing, a deeper level of healing and deliverance. The oil is the manifestation of revival. The hard rock or slate separates many from reaching the reservoir of My next level of anointing. The persistent force that broke through from the surface through the slate and made contact with the river of oil is the continual intercessory prayers and the sacrifice of praise and worship. The breaking through is the times of fasting and the released prophetic words.”
Each of these acted as a spiritual jackhammer that literally moved Earth to reach a new revelation and anointing from heaven. Needless to say, that morning worship service erupted into a wave of God’s glory that carried on well into the afternoon. Holy Spirit just took over the service!
A couple of days later after returning to my hotel room as I was traveling, I felt prompted to look up the characteristics of slate. I found that slate is a very hard rock that is formed when shale is exposed to intense pressure and high temperatures!
Many have been experiencing intense pressure and “high” temperatures in their personal lives and in their ministries. Families and finances may have been under attack, and many leaders may have felt like giving up. These attacks have formed a layer of slate between your current dwelling place and a next level anointing! The attacks exist to make you give up before reaching the oil of restoration, release and revival!
There is a “breakthrough” for those who will not relent! In Mark 2:4 we see what happens when determined people refuse to be separated from their miracle.
“When they could not come near Him due to the crowding, they uncovered the roof where He was. When they had broken it open, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay” (Mark 2:4, MEV).
The book of Luke (5:17) further explains that the reason they could not reach Jesus through conventional means was because there was a large crowd, partly composed of Pharisees and doctors of the law. The power of the Lord was there to heal, but the only recorded healing was due to people who apprehended the promise by breaking through the roof! This is a perfect picture of intercessory prayer and the power of desperation!
Desperation will break through the hard places and tap into the miraculous!
God told Israel this in Hosea.
“Sow to yourselves righteousness, reap mercy, break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until He comes and rains righteousness upon you” (Hos. 10:12, MEV).
Fallow ground is ground that, at one time, was tilled but has been left dormant and allowed to harden. God was speaking to Israel about a heart issue. The spirit of religion, disappointment and the pressure to please man can harden the soil of our hearts and keep us from the rich, flowing rivers of a next-level anointing and awakening.
I believe that this is twofold in that it’s not just the ground of our hearts that needs to be cultivated for awakening, but the ground that was once tilled by the revivalists of yesterday as well. The ground plowed by spiritual generals like Smith Wigglesworth, Oral Roberts, Maria Woodworth Etter and John G. Lake will once again produce in this generation as God releases this gusher of oil on His people.
I hear the Lord saying, “The relentless will tap into the release! They will uncover and uncap an untapped river of My glory and power!”
While the slate (hard times of heat and intense pressure) may have tried to separate many of us from reaching a reservoir of revival, those who keep digging the well will be rewarded with a gusher of His oil!
Jason Tanksley has lived his life as a servant, first in the United States military, then as a spiritual son to Ryan LeStrange, and currently as a shepherd. He is the campus pastor of Impact International Ministry of Bristol, Virginia. Jason has a vision to see people burn with fire and press for revival to affect their family, church, city, region and country. He is a man after the heart of God, always desiring to inspire others.
Ron Allen 
Charisma Media Staff 
Abby Trivett 
