Before the outpouring in Argentina that
started under Ed Miller's ministry, there were only three believers in his church that met each night for prayer. One night
a woman among them confessed that she had the strange urge to hit a table during their meeting. She felt shy about it, but
Miller sensed it was God leading her and so he had everyone there come and hit the table. When the girl's turn came she tapped
the table, and suddenly they were all struck to the floor by God's power. They also began to speak freely in tongues, which
they had never experienced before. Soon their church grew to capacity and a mighty revival broke out that swept across the
country.
It is very
important when we are crying out for the Lord to move that we set our hearts to obey Him in anything He tells us to do. Often
He will give us the most absurd commands, just to test our level of submission. The glory that is released though is well
worth the cost!
I have been
in prayer meetings before where someone simply knelt down in worship, and somehow that one act seemed to lead everyone into
a deeper realm of God's presence. My mom has told about how she once walked around a church backwards when God told her to,
and the whole building became overcome with holy laughter! There was another time when I heard a person just make a loud noise
in the middle of a service, but it completely flowed with what was going on. And the supernatural activity in the room increased
at the same instance that the individual let lose.
God does
not always explain to us why He wants us to behave in a certain way, but I am sure one of the primary reasons is to humble
us. We can be completely embarrassed when the Spirit moves upon us, but we will give in because we are filled with such rapturous
joy. Nothing else matters in moments like these.
Sometimes
people are afraid to release God's glory in the manner He is calling them to. They may worry that they will interrupt the
worship of others, or that things might get out of control and they will do something they would regret. If it is the Lord
leading them to act this way though, there will be a grace to do it despite all the questions in their minds. A strength will
rise up in their hearts which gives them peace, knowing they are in the Father's will. And if there is freedom in their church
to move wildly in the Spirit, the others around them will generally view the manifestation as beautiful and reverent.
1 Corinthians
1:18 says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it
is the power of God.” God can bring us to a cross, a place of surrender, with what appears to be great foolishness.
Yet we know it is the power of God when we experience the fruit of it!
I think of
another example, Heidi Bakker, who was led to do a headstand in the Toronto Revival. As a result, her world was “turned
upside down,” and she was used to plant hundreds of churches throughout Africa. She now travels internationally speaking
about the nature of God and His miracle working love.
We often
pray, “God, rend the heavens and come down!” Sometimes His just waiting for us to rend our hearts and let Him
move. No matter how we are called to express it, let us seek
to be those who say, “Here I am, send me!” (Isaiah 6:8) It is a prayer God will surely answer.
