​On Wednesday morning, as I was listening for God's quiet voice, I heard a sentence that led me to do more research on what was said. I heard, "Brokenness is the key to revival."  Our church has been contending for revival for quite some time, but this aspect of our pursuit has not been articulated before. Of course, the individuals who make up a church and the way they walk out their faith has an influence on what happens to the entire body. God knows how He made us and our potential for the future. His love for us compels Him to break off areas of our lives that compete with our focus on Him. God wants to be our first priority, so He actively targets for removal areas of our lives that keep us from being completely submitted to Him. He strips away and breaks off anything that hinders our intimacy with Him.
 
Moses is one that was transformed by the breaking that God sent his way. He went from a position of prestige and privilege, power and pride, to one of humility as a lowly shepherd who lived in a tent. It took God forty years to mold Moses into a God-reliant individual who would follow His directions to bring the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. When we look at the large picture, we should see that God had to break off and remove from Moses all that was Egyptian. Then He would do the same thing to the Israelites that Moses would oversee. God's intent was to liberate His people from bondage so that they could live in the fullness of HIs promises.
 
Spiritual maturity comes after we have been broken. Surrender, change, and growth are a part of being broken. This process is demonstrated beautifully in the life of Peter, the fisherman. Jesus chose him to be part of His inner circle. On numerous occasions Jesus poured into Peter's life to help in his preparation for what was to be his life of supernatural ministry after the ascension of Jesus. Peter needed to be broken of his desire to have everything go his way. He was chastised for his declaration that the Lord would not have to suffer and be killed. Jesus said, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns." (Matthew 16:23)
 
In another Peter refinement moment, Jesus warned him that he would fall away in fright. Peter makes a vow, declaring, "'I never will!'  'Truly I tell you,' Jesus answered, 'This very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.'"  (Matthew 26:34) We know that Peter went on to deny Jesus three times as he sat in the courtyard when Jesus went before the Sanhedrin. Scripture says that after the rooster crowed, Peter "wept bitterly." (Matthew 26:75) Other situations in the life of Peter contributed to his transformation and made him into a God-fearing, powerful man of God who was able to walk out his destiny of bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.
 
Why would God tell me that brokenness is the key to revival? I believe we must look at the components of revival to see the results. They include all the fruits of the Spirit:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22, 23) But the foundation for all of these is humility, and in humility we place the Lord in His proper position as head of our lives, and we yield to His plans and purposes for us. Our heartfelt prayer needs to be, "Father, break us and revive us so that you can mold us into Your image." Here is God's Word to us: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." (Psalm 51:17)

​Saturday, October 12, was a Yom Kippur like none other. There was a convergence of events that only God could have put together. Humility was the foundation for them as described in 2 Chronicles 7:14, 15. "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sins and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place." The holiest day on God's calendar is Yom Kippur or The Day of Atonement. It was the only day when the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies to make a blood offering for the sins of Israel. It was and continues to be the one annual day that God summons His people to repentance and renewal. Today we understand that God removed ungodliness and poured out redemption through the blood of His son, Jesus. His sacrifice removed our sin and shame for all time. The sacred Day of Atonement is to be one of fasting and prayer in acknowledgement of who God is and what He has done.
 
Joel 2:12-16 expresses God's heart for HIs people. "'Even now,' declares the Lord, 'return to me with all your heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning.’ Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity...Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, consecrate the assembly..."
 
In 2017 God set into motion another event that He wanted to happen on the Washington, D.C. Mall on the Day of Atonement. He gave His servant, Lou Engle, a dream of one million women coming to the Mall to pray for the next generation and our nation. At the time, Lou did not realize this would be The Day of Atonement. All he had was a date and an understanding that "the Lord was opening a door of opportunity for the saving of our nation." He was encouraged by his friend, Pastor Francis Frangipane, who had studied the history of revival. Francis learned that an organized prayer movement preceded every revival except one—The Jesus Movement of the late sixties. He spoke with God about this mystery and was told:  "I answered the prayers of a million mothers." Those prayers broke the chains of evil that tried to capture our youth.
 
Remembering how Queen Esther, along with Mordecai and the Jews in Persia, had fasted and prayed for their nation, Lou knew that another Esther moment was before America. He was greatly encouraged when he realized that the target date was The Day of Atonement. Lou set up a web site to explain what God was up to. The site explains that the "public battle for the revival and reformation of America" would occur at the seat of the US government. It was Esther's intercession before the king that saved the Jews from genocide. “Now, her story has become the divine template and inspiration for every generation who lives under the shadow of anti-Christ legislation, persecution, and anti-family ideologies which threaten to destroy the very social fabric and foundation that a nation was built upon, was preserved by, and by which it prospered."
 
The God-given, "holy prescription" to heal our land is still Joel 2:12-16. This prescription was followed yesterday at the D.C. Mall on Yom Kippur. The assembly of about 250,000 people consecrated themselves in what was called a "Global Esther Moment." In a posture of humility, sins were confessed, repentance took place, and the spirit of Ishtar (one of rebellion, sexual immorality, and perversion that is trying to possess our nation) was broken. Decrees were made to agree with the Kingdom of Heaven. The ten-hour gathering concluded with communion where we were reminded that we are a Covenant people, led by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is time for us to take back our nation! Who knows if we were not put into our positions for "such a time as this?"

Why is it that some children seem to be born with a predisposition toward a specific focus in life? My only explanation for this is that God makes it part of their DNA. Such was the case for Evan Roberts, a young revivalist from Wales with an unquenchable passion for the presence of the Lord. Born on June 8, 1878, he was part of a family of Calvinist-Methodists. I surmise that God intended this to be, so that his hunger for revival would be encouraged. As was the case with most men who lived in Southern Wales, Evan's father worked in the coal mines. When he was in a mining accident, Evan was taken out of school to work in the mines. However, his love of the Lord and of God's Word was the foundation upon which he built his life. His Bible went to the mines with him daily. He even shared a Scripture with the workers as they went down into the mine and encouraged them to meditate on it during the workday.
 
It was at age 13 that Evan had an encounter with God at his church named Moriah Chapel. He became obsessed with living a life that pleased the Lord and regularly asked himself the question, "What would Jesus do?" Evan's life as a teenager was marked by fervent prayer. His dedication to God and desire for intimacy with Him brought him spiritual power. He felt called to enter full-time ministry and focused his long prayers on asking God to bring revival to his Welsh community. He told the congregation at Moriah Chapel, "I have reached out my hand and touched the flame. I am burning and waiting for a sign." (Page 82, God's Generals by Roberts Liardon)
 
On October 31, 1904, Evan's 13-year prayer burden was answered. He saw the fruit of his prayers through a revival that broke out among a group of young people who received Christ as their personal Savior. While the Holy Spirit was poured out in the southern part of Wales, God orchestrated revival in villages in north Wales. At Moriah, Evan shared his belief that God had promised to save 100,000 individuals. Revival meetings took place nightly. Those who attended the meetings were instructed by Evan to "Pray, believe, and wait." He also told them to pray a specific prayer: "Send the Holy Spirit now for Jesus Christ's sake."
 
Revival spilled out on to the streets and into homes, workplaces, and shops. Many traveled from England and Scotland to participate in the Wales revival. The bulk of their meeting time was filled with singing. But Evan was convinced of the priority of prayer. He said, "We may sing all night without saving. It is prayer that tells, that saves, and that brings heaven down among us. Pray, friends, pray!"
 
The consistent, fervent, unending prayers of a young man transformed the southern part of Wales and spread revival around the country and into others. Evan believed that the Holy Spirit of God would bring revival as the prayer bowls in heaven were filled. Oh, how I desire to see that conviction fall upon our nation! I believe that only the Lord can change the destructive path we are on and bring us back to the godly foundations from which we have fallen. Evan Robert would pray:  "Bend the church and save the world. Bend me. Bend me." Let us join together in this prayer to fill the bowls in heaven so that they overflow and pour revival upon us.

Why should Passover be important for Christians? Robert Heidler, in his book The Messianic Church Arising, gives us several explanations:
 
(1) The root of our faith comes from the Jews, and we are spiritually united with Israel.
(2) Our Scriptures contain multiple references to the celebration of Passover and tell us to remember God's Word. "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord." (Exodus 12:14)
(3) Passover is included as part of God's plan of salvation. Without Passover the Jews would have died in Egypt and Jesus would not have been born. Without Jesus there is no salvation.
(4) Passover teaches us about Jesus—The Passover Lamb. (1 Corinthians 5:7) It was by His blood that we were redeemed and set free to walk in the promises of God.
 
Robert Heidler's book explains that "Every element (of Passover) points to Jesus." Jesus is the One who brings us deliverance, redemption, and freedom. He celebrated the Passover with His disciples:  "Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, 'Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.'" (Luke 22:7)
 
Under two kings of Judah, the temple was cleansed, items of defilement were removed from the sanctuary, and the covenant with the Lord was renewed. Hezekiah had the Levites consecrate themselves so that they could make sacrifices to the Lord. He then reinstated the practice of celebrating Passover. Though it was done in the second month of the year instead of the first, God was pleased with their offerings and blessed the people. A spirit of generosity came upon them as they were revived. (2 Chronicles 30)
 
Josiah's acts of devotion to the Lord are recorded in 2 Chronicles 34 and 35. He destroyed idols, purified the land and the temple, and read the Book of the Covenant. He reinstituted the celebration of Passover in Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 35:18 tells us, "...none of the kings of Israel had ever celebrated such a Passover as did Josiah..." A celebration like this brings unity to the community and revives it.
 
It appears that the celebration of Passover is directly linked with revival. My belief is that if the church began to acknowledge and honor Passover, She would be renewed and revived. Even the simple act of reading the Biblical accounts of Passover and acknowledging that Jesus is our Passover Lamb could begin a revival of our faith. Wednesday at sundown begins Passover. Are we ready to celebrate?

Most of the prophets in the Old Testament wrote about a remnant in Israel who would return to the Lord after turning their backs on Him. Micah is one of them. "The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many people like dew from the Lord, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for anyone or depend on man. The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations in the midst of many peoples..." (Micah 5:7-8)
 
On Wednesday, February 1, there was a remnant of congress people (16) who met before dawn in the Museum of the Bible. Their unique gathering was called "The National Gathering of Prayer and Repentance." Almost 60 individuals from different nations, organization, and political districts met to humble themselves and seek God's face. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Majority Leader, Steve Scalise led those who came from Congress. The event, co-hosted by president of the Family Research Council, Tony Perkins, and Pastor Jim Garlow, included Anne Graham Lotz, Ambassador Sam Brownback, Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, former congresswoman Michele Backman, and 19-year-old Jacob Kersey, the young man who resigned from the Georgia police department after coming under fire for posting a Bible verse about marriage.
 
As they prayed, many confessed our sins and asked God for wisdom. Congresswoman Mary Miller (IL) humbly asked God to intervene and deliver us from going our own way and thinking our own thoughts. She cried out, "Help us to acknowledge our need of You, our need to weep and mourn over our pride, our immorality, child abuse, and idolatry. Draw us back to You and to Your Word." Representative Daniel Bishop (NC) prayed, "We repent for acquiescing in the status quo. Forgive us for our lack of courage, our resignation, our cynicism, our hopelessness, our narrow self-interest, and ambitions. Forgive us for making our government an idol and then for turning a blind eye as its instrumentalities have accumulated power and turned it against the humanity, the dignity, and the rights with which You endowed the people."
 
Leader Steve Scalise read from Psalm 33. In this psalm we are told to sing a new song to the Lord. It continues:  "For the word of the Lord is right and true; He is faithful in all He does. The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of His unfailing love...Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people revere Him...Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He chose for His inheritance...But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in You."  
 
Truly, the Lord is the only hope for our nation. I am sure He heard the prayers of the remnant who met at the Bible Museum. We must join in their prayers of confessions and repentance to our God. We must pray for the fear of the Lord to fall upon the people of the United States of America and that all of us would revere Him. 

Harvests are linked with God's feasts. In ancient Israel, before the yearly summer wheat harvest began, the people of God would gather in Jerusalem to celebrate Shavuot (The Feast of Weeks). It marks the beginning of the great wheat harvest. Before the harvest actually took place, the Jews would go out into their fields and pick the best of the crop to bring as an offering to the Lord at the Temple. They used their initial harvest to make two loaves of bread that would be used as a first fruits offering or Bikoreem. Obviously, these loaves contained leaven, signifying sin. It is thought that two loaves could represent the two houses of God (Judah and Ephraim) who both fall short of the glory of the Lord. They could also stand for Jew and Gentile or the Old and New Testament. Either way, they were used as a wave offering at the Temple.
 
Shavuot also became a celebration of the giving of Torah. It was during this period that the children of Israel would have been at Mt. Sinai where Moses received the two tablets containing the Ten Commandments and other laws. God had commanded the Jews to count seven full weeks from the second day of Passover to determine the exact day when they would bring Him an offering of first fruits (the new grain). (Leviticus 23:15-21) After celebrating, all the people would go out to the fields and reap their great summer harvest.
 
Is it any wonder that God chose this festival as the time when he would pour out His Spirit on the disciples and those gathered with them in the Upper Room? The church calls this day Pentecost (meaning 50 days). At the Pentecost celebration 2,000 years ago, God was offering the first fruits of the harvest to come. He was giving a demonstration of the spiritual empowerment for those who became part of the Kingdom of God. Three thousand souls were added to the ranks of Christianity that day. It was a mighty beginning! In some circles, this day is designated as the day that the Church became the Bride of Christ. Hebrew tradition encourages the groom to bring a gift to the bride. On this day, our bridegroom, Jesus, gave to His bride, the Church, the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is only the Spirit-filled Believer that is able to go out and fulfill the commission they are given to bring life to the lost.
 
Here are some interesting facts to consider that make this year's celebration of Pentecost particularly exciting. In Song of Solomon 8:4 the bride says, "Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you..." I learned from Rabbi Jonathan Cahn that the word "charge" in Hebrew is "shaba." Shavuot comes from the root word shaba. Therefore, Pentecost could be called "the day of charging." We are charged to live a life of commitment to God by His Spirit. He gave us the power and authority to live an anointed life of joy, praise, and victory that impacts everyone around us.
 
I believe that the glory of God is magnified during times of the feasts when communities gather to glorify Him and remember what He has done. There are seasonal portals opened to the heavens where the supernatural activity of God is increased. We are called to recognize God's special seasons by setting ourselves apart to worship Him and to advance His Kingdom. I am anticipating a breakthrough. Every seven years God commands His people to rest and watch Him pour out provision and revelation in abundance. This is called the Shmita year, and we are currently in that year. In addition, both Shavuot and Pentecost fall on the same day. This rarely happens—usually only every ten years. Also, look at the year we are in. It is 2022! Two is the number of agreement, one accord, and union (as in marriage). This is a year of the double portion. Let us not miss our appointment to meet with the Lord. These "kairos" or opportune moments are opportunities to bring heaven to earth. This is our time to advance the harvest as we welcome revival to the earth.

King David set up his son Solomon with every benefit possible so that he could succeed in building the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. The favor of the Lord was upon Solomon in that God gave him wisdom, riches, and fame. Yet, Solomon did not use the wisdom given to him. Footnotes from the Chronological Life Application Study Bible explain: "Wisdom is only effective when it is put into action. Early in his life, Solomon had the sense to recognize his need for wisdom. But by the time Solomon asked for wisdom to rule his kingdom, he had already started a habit that would make wisdom ineffective for his own life—he sealed a pact with Egypt by marrying Pharaoh's daughter. She was the first of hundreds of wives married for political reasons. In doing this, Solomon went against not only his father's last words but also against God's direct commands." (Page 607)
 
There are so many problems with Solomon's chosen lifestyle. I believe the major one is his failure to follow the Ten Commandments, especially the first one, as it lays the foundation for all the others: "You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3) It is difficult to understand how Solomon could have gone so far astray. It was he who penned Proverbs 1:7. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." The fear of the Lord is such a deep reverence and respect for God that we have no higher priority than honoring Him and His laws.
 
Imagine this king making an alliance with the nation of Egypt after Israel's history of being in slavery to the Egyptian rulers for 430 years! When Solomon made this and other pacts with foreign nations, he would marry a daughter of their king and bring her to Jerusalem. She would bring her idols to her new home. Solomon would build his new wife a temple for her idols. This foolish pattern brought him into worship of many foreign gods and the disrespect of the first commandment—the foundation of a life that honors the One True God.
 
Over 500 years later, Nehemiah, the one who led the Jewish remnant to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, noticed that some of the men of Judah had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. Their wives led them astray, and Nehemiah had to lay down the law for them. "You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves. Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon, king of Israel, sinned?" (Nehemiah 13:25-26)
 
Idols take many forms. Anything that takes on more value than God is an idol. As I pointed out before, if the Lord is first in our lives, all ten of the Commandments should be followed. Moses told the Israelites that if they obeyed what the Lord had taught them it would go well with them and they would "increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors promised you." (Deuteronomy 6:3) Moses went on to sum up all God's commandments in two sentences: "Hear, O Israel:  The Lord your God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) This Jewish prayer is known as the "Shema," meaning "Hear." It is the centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayers.
 
I grieve for myself and those in our nation because we have embraced so many idols. The nation of the United States was established on godly principles. In fact, numerous government buildings have the Ten Commandments etched in stone or hanging on the walls of their entrances. How have we gone so far astray? Can we find our way back? There is such a need for the fear of the Lord and a spirit of repentance to fall on our nation. Many are asking God to revive us. We are in desperate need of revival so that we remember who God is and what He has done for us. Will you join me in prayer for the transformation of the people of America?

​"One of the greatest lies of Satan is that we don't have enough time to pray.  However, all of us have enough time to sleep, eat, and breathe.  As soon as we realize that praying is as important as sleeping, eating, and breathing, we will be amazed at how much time will be available to us for prayer." (p. xix)  This is a quote from David Yonggi Cho's book, Prayer That Brings Revival.  I could not let the passing of this man of prayer go by without looking at his life and extracting some of the gems he left to guide us in our walk with the Lord.  Cho died on September 14, 2021, at the age of 85, after spending since July 2020, in the hospital because he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage.
 
Raised a Buddhist in South Korea in a poverty-stricken family, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis at the age of 19 and given four months to live.  It seems God had other plans and sent a high school girl to visit him daily while he was sick so that she could tell him about Jesus.  Cho watched as she prayed for him and saw tears streaming down her cheeks.  Her act of compassion touched him so much that he agreed to read the Bible.  Jesus met him during his sickness, and he rose from his deathbed within six months. Convinced that Jesus is the only true God, Cho attended the Assemblies of God Bible School and graduated in 1958.  
 
It was Pastor Cho's desire to build the largest church in Korea.  He started small with just a few people.  With no building, he obtained an old American service tent, pitched it next to a dump, and began to pray.  As he specifically verbalized his needs to God, what he described began to come to him.  By 1980 there was a physical building, 150,000 church members, and 10,000 home groups.  His church eventually became the largest church in the world.  On page 113 of his book he writes, "Everyone who is willing to wait upon the Lord can be qualified to carry out the great task before them because the source of their strength is not natural but spiritual."  Indeed, prayer was the foundation of his ministry.  He devoted hours of each day in prayer to the Lord.
 
Since the foundation of his church was prayer, Pastor Cho felt the need to develop a place near the church strictly for prayer and fasting.  Established in 1973, it became known as Prayer Mountain and can accommodate up to 10,000 people.  The site is close to the border of North Korea.  Each year about 100,000 Christians visit Prayer Mountain to pray and fast.  There are 214 individual prayer grottos carved out of the mountainside.  Each grotto is meant for one person and contains only bare essentials—a light and fan.  In addition to the grottos, there are outdoor spaces on the hilltops and chapels where groups of people can pray inside. The constant sound of prayer can be heard all around Prayer Mountain.  Pastor Cho, when asked about the secret to the success of his church exclaimed, "I pray, and I obey.”  Amen! My husband is one of the thousands of Christians who spent time in prayer in one of the grottos.  Not only this, but he also had a personal visit with Pastor Cho who prayed for him.  This humble man has inspired millions of people to devote themselves to prayer.
 
As I read Pastor Cho's story about starting his church in a tent, I thought about Moses, who used to pitch a tent outside the Israelite camp.  (Exodus 33:7)  It was called "The Tent of Meeting" because the Lord met Moses there "face-to-face."  Then, I remembered how Jesus went up on a mountainside to pray and meet with Father God at the end of the day or before ministering. (Matthew 14:23)  Perhaps Pastor Cho was inspired by these stories in the Bible.  He certainly has drawn the multitudes to Jesus.  Another quote from his book, Prayer That Brings Revival, gives Cho's perspective on prayer.  "Prayer creates a personal change in your life.  Nothing you can do will benefit you more than prayer.  Through prayer you create an account balance in your favor in God's spiritual bank.  Through prayer, you will benefit spiritually,  mentally, and physically." (p. 34)  Pastor Cho wrote from experience!
 
We should take heed of Pastor Cho's words of wisdom.  He says, "As air is the breath of life, so prayer is the breath of faith."  We must build our faith through our dedication to prayer.  It is life changing!

​The Olympics originated in Olympia, Greece about 3,000 years ago.  They started as a religious festival honoring Zeus in the 8th century BC and continued until the 4th century AD.  In 393 AD, Christian Emperor Theodosius The First banned "pagan" festivals, which ended the Olympics for almost 12 centuries.  The first modern Olympics took place in 1896 in Athens with 12 participating nations.  Fire became part of the ceremony during the 1928 Summer Olympics.  Inspired by the ancient Greek drawings and writings of Plutarch, Dr. Carl Diem of Germany introduced the Torch Relay.  It was not until 1938 that the flame also became part of the Winter Olympics.
 
The flame was meant to emphasize the link between the ancient and modern games.  In the ancient ceremonies, the flame was kindled using a type of crucible positioned to face the sun so that its rays concentrated on one spot and set fire to dry grass.  Today there is a ceremony in Olympia, Greece where a parabolic mirror catches the sun's rays to ignite a flame.  Several months before the games a flame is lit, and a torch relay begins where runners move from region to region until the torch reaches its destination of the host country.  This Torch Relay is meant to express the handing down of the fire from generation to generation.
 
In the Body of Christ there is a remnant of Believers in Jesus who understand the importance of keeping the flame of the Lord burning.  The first covenant made by God with man came through the Father of our Faith, Abraham, or Abram.  In this unilateral covenant, God gave Abram a dream where a smoking pot and flaming torch passed between animals cut in half as a sacrifice.  A smoking pot was a small clay container shaped like a beehive, 2' to 3' in diameter, and called a "tannur" in Hebrew.  The flaming torch signified the holy presence of the Lord moving among HIs people.  "Lapped" is the Hebrew word for the flashing light.
 
It is thought that the passing of these two objects between the two halves of a sacrifice represent the manifestation of God and confirm the covenant that He was making with Abram and all of Israel.  God showed Abram that his descendants would go through suffering before He would give them an inheritance of the Promised Land.  Here is how Genesis 15:17-18 describes what took place:  "When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between pieces.  On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, 'To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River, the Euphrates—'"  
 
After the Israelites spent 400 years in slavery to the Egyptians, God prepared a deliverer to lead them out of bondage.  The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses "in flames of fire from within a bush." (Exodus 3:2) While traveling through the wilderness, the children of Israel constructed a tabernacle that became the center of their lives.  "So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels." (Exodus 40:38) God made it clear to Aaron the priest that burnt sacrifices were to be offered to Him daily.  He was told, "The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out...The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out." (Leviticus 6:12-13)
 
Believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have been handed the mandate to keep the flame of God burning.  Today that flame represents our unabandoned worship of the Lord—a lifestyle of sacrificial love of God and those around us.  Just as the flame of the Olympics symbolizes the link between the ancient and modern games, the flame of God has been a consistent symbol of our priestly duty to keep the flame of worship alive.  In addition, just as the flaming torch is handed down from one person to another until it reaches its destination, we must keep the flame shining brightly and pass it from one generation to the next.  Let us think back on the introduction of the flaming torch to Abraham, remember how fire has been used by God to refine and define His people, and recommit and choose to select a lifestyle of sacrificial worship that pleases God and draws Him closer to us.

​Water seeks the lowest level and the path of least resistance.  Those who drill wells know this as they evaluate an area to drill a hole for the extraction of water.  Those who drill artesian wells (one where water flows up like a fountain from internal pressure) place a bit on a long shaft.  They select their bit according to the type of ground formation to be drilled into.  The driller will be looking for the underground aquifer that will supply the greatest amount of water.  The well must be cased from the surface down to the place where the hole becomes smaller to protect the water from contamination.  A cap is placed on top of the well to prevent insects and small animals from accessing the well.  Water is brought up from the aquifer to ground level by a pump.
 
In Biblical days wells had to be dug by hand.  Genesis 26 tells us about the land of Gerar where Abraham dug wells.  Afterward, his son Isaac sowed into the land that was his father's.  God blessed Isaac so abundantly that the Philistines were jealous of him and stopped up the wells dug by Abraham.  Isaac had his herdsmen dig new wells in the valley so there was sufficient water for everyone.
 
Well water gushing from the ground below has been used to represent the Holy Spirit bubbling up and drenching us with God's blessing of revival.  Currently, many are praying that God will uncap the wells of revival in our country and around the world.  Since the Church is to be the Bride of Christ, what better place to reopen the wells where revival once flowed?  The forward of a book called Revival Fire by Wesley Duewel reminds us that God has not forgotten His covenant with the Church.  "When the tide of evil threatens to overwhelm the church, 'The Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against the enemy.' (Isaiah 59:19-KJV) and spiritual recovery and revival ensue."  I believe prayers for revival are being collected in the bowls of heaven. (Revelation 5:8)  We must continue to pray for the uncapping of the wells of revival for the saving of our churches and nation.
 
1994 was a special year for my church, The Crossing in Washington Crossing, PA.  A well of revival was opened as we had an encounter with Holy Spirit.  For several years, the sweet presence of the Lord came upon us and stayed with us.  In a physical confirmation of the presence of His Spirit, a dove came and nested on a ledge at the back of the church.  It stayed for months!  That time was such a blessing for us!
 
In an interesting post on "Give Him 15" by Dutch Sheets, he tells how his friend Gina Gholston had a dream that a well-drilling rig was parked at the Red River Meeting House where revival took place in 1800.  As it began to drill, it hit a gusher and water moved upward in massive quantities.  This dream was interpreted to mean that God has plans to initiate another move of His Spirit that will be even more magnificent than the first one.  This dream has a special significance for my church, The Crossing.  I worked for the builder who drilled the well for our property.  To get an adequate flow of water, the bit had to go below 800 feet.  Even though that well would have passed inspection, our builder felt that the water would not be sufficient for the number of people who would come to be part of our  congregation.  So, he drilled a second well!  Again, the driller had to go very deep, but, Praise God, the bit hit an aquifer that runs under the property, and the water gushed forth like "Old Faithful."  It is my opinion that The Crossing is in store for another revival, more powerful than the first one, and that the wells on our property represent the size of the outpourings.
 
We cannot allow ourselves to be weary in praying.  Our prayers are opening a way for the Spirit of God to re-open the wells of revival.  We must bow low and remove from our lives anything that might interfere with the Lord's plans.  The enemy of our souls would like to stop up our wells, just like the Philistines did for Isaac. We, as warriors of prayer, can defeat the enemy.  I believe that the Lord is not only opening old wells, but also drilling new ones.  Together these wells of revival will blanket our nation and the world.  We used to sing a song called "Take us to the River," by Robin Mark.  It portrays my heart for this season.  The chorus declares, "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon us.  This is the year of the Lord."  As our prayers open the wells of revival, they will converge to make a river of revival that touches the world.  Hallelujah!