UNBLOCKING THE WELL OF THE LIVING WORD

Two elderly women, Peggy and Christine Smith, 82 and 84 years old, one was blind and the other doubled over with arthritis got on their knees to pray , in 1949 in Barvas on the isle of Lewis. At 10 o’clock in the evening on Tuesdays, and at 10 o’clock in the evening on Fridays, they waited and prayed until 4 o’clock in the morning, each week for many months and they had but one promise from God.. and that promise was, Isaiah 44:3 “I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground I will pour out my spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your descendants”.(1) They faced a desperate challenge.. no young people in their church… and they saw God powerfully answer their prayer, with the glory of the Lord revealed through deep conviction of sin .. and in a matter of months a whole community with no unsaved in the parish.

We face a similarly desperate challenge today.. but we can stand on the promises that Peggy Smith and Kenneth Macdonald laid hold of, and call out to the Lord to unblock the wells of revival today! We can redig the wells of revival dug by our spiritual forefathers and foremothers! Just as Isaac reopened the well that was dug in the time of his father Abraham Genesis 26:18, we can redig the well of revival , today that opened in the Isle of Lewis just over 70 years ago.

It is time for the Lord to pour out his spirit again… on the thirsty land. He will do it, as we unblock the wells of the past. The Lord gave our spiritual forefathers a promise and they stood on that promise.. and they reminded the Lord that he is a covenant-keeping God. ‘John Dawson said, “Covenant is much more than a sterile legal transaction. God’s covenants are covenants of divine passion initiated with those who have moved His great heart. Therefore when we pray, ‘ Lord, remember David (say), it evokes such memories in the Father, of the man after His own heart, that he cannot contain Himself. These memories stir Him to act”’(2) Lou Engle says that scriptures says that the Lord deals with Gentile nations in 70 year cycles. It is just over 70 years, since that awakening broke out on the British Isles, on the isle of Lewis following the prayers of two elderly ladies and a group of young men. Let’s remind the Lord in prayer that he is a covenant- keeping God, that we live in those same British Isles today, that we are their spiritual descendants and that we are thirsty for him to do it again today, in our day. Matt Redman wrote a song(3) with the words:

Salvation spring up from the ground

Lord rend the heavens and come down,

Seek the lost and heal the lame,

Jesus bring glory to your name

Yes the Lord is looking for men and women to intercede , to stand in the gap.. for another youth awakening

..and…yes he is calling us to perform that priestly function in Joel 2 and weep and confess the sins of our nation, but he is also calling us to pray and intercede like Abraham and Moses did, and like Peggy and Christine Smith and Kenneth Macdonald.

Lord, we remind you of your word in Isaiah 44:3, “I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground I will pour out my spirit on your offspring and my blessing on your descendants”… that you gave to Peggy Smith and Kenneth Macdonald over 70 years ago.(4) We remind you that you are a covenant-keeping God. You cannot fail us Lord we are thirsty too, today.. so pour out your spirit, rend the heavens and come down and may salvation spring up from the ground, come seek the lost and heal the lame, THAT GLORY MIGHT BE BROUGHT TO YOUR NAME LORD JESUS!

REFERENCES

(1) Zondervan NIV Study Bible (K. L. Barker, Ed.; Full rev. …

(2) Engle Digging the wells of revival, 60, 7.

(3) http://www.lyricsondemand.com/m/mattredmanlyrics/

salvationlyrics.html

(4)www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXIZOSWvXaE