She knew nothing about God.
Raised in a non-religious home, she attended a secular school nestled in a post-Christian culture. Church had absolutely no place in this 17-year-old’s life.
Out of the blue, she had a vivid dream one night. God came to her and said, “You need to read Luke’s gospel.” As she heard these words, she saw an open Bible.
Waking up confused, she thought, “I don’t even know if we have a Bible in our house.” She turned on the light. and there was a Bible on her bedstand open to the gospel of Luke.
It terrified her. But she could not keep herself from reading it.
Deep Love
To her surprise, some of her friends had similar dreams. Not knowing what was happening, four of them went to a nearby church to talk to the pastor. He explained that God was pursuing them out of a deep love and wanted a relationship with them. Some of them turned their lives over to Christ on the spot.
One of the girls told her story to 11 of her friends and invited them to church. Amazingly, all 11 of them came! Several of them also gave their lives to Christ.
Chain Reaction
It’s now a pattern. Rev. Stephen Foster, the pastor at St. Aldates Anglican Church in Oxford, England, said they have started seeing numerous chain reaction conversions. When a person came to Christ, he or she would bring friends or family with them. These new persons would then come to Christ and bring others with them.
After a long season of decline, this church that has been a place of Christian worship for over 1,000 years is now filled with young people and young adults. A new commitment to deep and persistent prayer has turned the spiritual tide, and they are witnessing a move of God like never before.
Palpable
Another account came from the pastor at Red Church in Australia. His congregation had been stymied by the COVID shutdown. In desperation, they leaned heavily into prayer. As they prayed for revival, the Holy Spirit showed up in palpable ways.
One Sunday, hundreds of people were so touched by the presence and love of God, they couldn’t stop worshipping, praying and opening their hearts to God. As the Spirit moved, there was no time for a sermon – and no need for one. The 9:00 and 11:00 am services blended into each other. Pastor Mark Sayers said Jesus did more in people’s lives in those few hours than they had seen in years. Jesus knows how to meet our deepest needs.
Story after story like these were told at the recent New Room Conference in Houston. Pastors and church leaders from New York City, Cape Town, South Africa, various other African nations, the British Isles and the city of Houston all reported outpourings of the Holy Spirit. In each case, the Risen Jesus showed up to save, heal, change lives and dismantle destructive systems of injustice. It was both awe-inspiring and humbling.
Desperation
There was one other common denominator: desperation. In every situation, the leaders had come to the end of themselves. Personal performance, platform ministry, material resources, and determined human effort was simply not making a dent in these respective cultures. Even if church leaders had butts in seats, they were not seeing hearts transformed.
Out of desperation, they each threw themselves on the mercy of God and travailed in prayer. Often this meant praying for two or more hours a day, holding all-night prayer vigils and entering seasons of fasting and prayer. These leaders typically prayed for months or longer before seeing any spiritual fruit, but when the Spirit came, he came with life-altering power and love.
What is your church’s strategy for reaching people far from God who have no apparent interest in spiritual things? Do you long to see people discover how much God loves them and be healed body and soul? Jesus is still in the business of setting people free from fears, hurts, habits and oppressive structures.
Passionate
In fact, God is so passionate about this emerging generation, God would wake them up in the middle of the night to call them into a relationship.
What else might God do if we would simply humble ourselves and pray?
Let’s start here: Dear Lord, give us the gift of desperation.
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Roger Ross
A native of Cambridge, Illinois, Roger has served as a pastor in Texas, the British Channel Island of Guernsey, and Illinois. While in Illinois, he led teams that planted two new churches and served for 10 years as the lead pastor of one of the largest United Methodist Churches in the Midwest. It was his privilege to serve as the Director of Congregational Excellence in the Missouri Conference before coming into his current role with Spiritual Leadership, Inc (SLI).
Roger now comes alongside pastors, non-profit leaders and their leadership teams as an executive coach, specializing in leadership that inspires change. As a side gig, he loves teaching evangelism and church planting as an adjunct professor at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Texas.
Other passions of his include SCUBA diving in warm blue water, Krispy Kremes, and board games with family and friends. He also has a weakness for golf.
Roger is the author of three books, Meet The Goodpeople: Wesley’s 7 Ways to Share Faith, Come Back: Returning to the Life You Were Made For, and Come Back Participant Guide, all through Abingdon Press.
Now for the best part. Roger is married to Leanne Klein Ross, and they live Bloomington, Illinois. God has blessed them with two adult children, a son-in-law, several tropical fish, and one adorable granddog.
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