The church I pastor, Passion Church, recently held a conference called Vision 2020. It was a wonderful time of worship, abiding in God’s presence, hearing impactful preaching and receiving Spirit-led ministry.
I started the conference with a message calling the church back to true worship and devotion. Revival and awakening are a by-product of the depth of our love and devotion to Jesus. If you would like to purchase recordings of the conference, visit the Passion Church website.
This week’s blog will continue the theme of the church’s need for fresh consecration and devotion to Jesus if we want to see revival and awakening in our cities and nations. I believe the body of Christ is on the verge of another awakening, but it begins with allowing our hearts to be completely crucified and yielded to Jesus (Gal. 2:20, 6:14).
Since the beginning of the year, God has highlighted three things to me:
First, the church must maintain its first love—a pure worship of Jesus.
It is important for the church to remain in the essentials of the faith—worship of Jesus free of selfish motivation, a desire to obey His Word, to live a consecrated and disciplined life, and to maintain a passion to reach the world with the Good News. As people of faith, we honor and value Jesus for our salvation and His gifts given. Further, God’s grace empowers us to do our assignment, and the Holy Spirit gives us hope, comfort and revelation. But first, we love Jesus wholeheartedly!
John 4:23 (NKJV) says, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.”
The heart of worship is Jesus! He is our affection and desire. We pursue Him, not His gifts or His benefits. We worship the King in holiness, in singularity of heart. No other gods before us, no other false affections. This is worship in Spirit and in truth.
As we worship Jesus in Spirit and in truth, Holy Spirit gifts and prophecy flow and revival can occur. Genuine prophecy flows from the heart of God toward humanity. Revelation flows from intimacy with Jesus and communion with the Holy Spirit, our friend and helper. He guides us into all truth, speaks what He hears, and reveals God’s plans and purposes to us. Revival flows from the river of God’s presence to dry and weary places.
Secondly, we must understand the importance of fellowship and partnership with the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is drawing the church back to the heart of worship, holiness and power. There is a clarion invitation, and as we respond in humility and righteousness, God’s greater glory can be released. God is highlighting the importance of the Holy Spirit in this season. Why?
The Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of the promise Jesus made to the disciples that He would send another Comforter, the Spirit of truth who would abide with them, and with us, forever (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit was given to teach us, to bring all things to remembrance. He was to testify of Jesus; convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment; and He empowers us with courage and wisdom to proclaim Christ in our world. Believers are anointed by the Holy Spirit, who abides with us and teaches us all things (1 John 2:20, 27).
The Holy Spirit is our Comforter, our friend and our helper in time of need. Jesus is the rock, the source. The Holy Spirit is the river that never runs dry, never wearies, never quits and never stops flowing! We can dam up the river, but God’s desire is that the Holy Spirit would run freely through our lives as living water to bring life to barren places. To realize individually and corporately what God has promised, we must learn to partner with the Holy Spirit.
Miracles don’t occur because we will them into being. No, as we agree with God’s Word, pray and trust the power of the Holy Spirit working in and with us, all things become possible!
Third, expect the prophesied season of harvest and miracles.
Quite often before revival occurs, God reveals what He is about to do. The Lord has been revealing for some time through His prophets that a great harvest of souls is coming. Jesus said in the parable of the wheat and the tares regarding this final harvest, “…the harvest is the end of the age…” (Matt. 13:39, NKJV). The last-day church will see the greatest harvest!
The Lord is inviting us to see the world as ready for harvest now—with Jesus it is always harvest time (see John 4:27-42). With the eyes of faith, the church must look at society differently, not as broken and hopeless; rather, ready to be harvested. Further, the acceleration of the harvest has begun (see Amos 9:11-12). In many parts of the world, dramatic church growth has been occurring for some time.
Along with this harvest, there is a resurgence of apostolic authority and power to advance God’s kingdom and help with this harvest. The church should pray, evangelize and trust God for healing and miracles, but ultimately it is God who releases the power of His Spirit to reap the harvest.
As we position ourselves through sincere worship and devotion of God, we can expect His Spirit to move in power, healing and miracles to occur, and many to come into the kingdom! {eoa}
Bob Sawvelle is the founding and senior leader of Passion Church in Tucson, Arizona. Passion Church is a vibrant, kingdom-minded church in the heart of Tucson that values God’s love and presence. He is a Doctor of Ministry doctoral mentor for the Randy Clark Scholars cohort at United Theological Seminary (UTS), an adjunct professor teaching master’s-level classes in evangelism, discipleship and church planting with the Global Awakening Theological Seminary (GATS), and an online course facilitator for Global Awakening’s Christian Healing Certification Program (CHCP) and Christian Prophetic Certification Program (CPCP).
Billy Hallowell 
James Lasher