Awakening the Generations
(This Weekly Prayer Summary was written by Lisa Ang, assistant director of the CBC English Prayer Ministry, and edited by Brigitta Tedja)
Pastor Eric Butler blessed us for the entire weekend, starting with the younger generations on Friday evening and then equipping the leaders on Saturday. He started today’s service by giving Jesus all the praise, honor and the glory.
God is up to something good and new. He is changing everything in the church. It is a transition time, an exciting time to see things shift and change, not only in music, but in directions and strategies. We need to have a passion for the harvest of God.
Pastor Eric shared a testimony of a time when he ministered in Brazil. People in Brazil go crazy when watching soccer matches as they see their team score a goal. Other sports like football and basketball have a similar vibe. The team supporters have an expectation that their team or their favorite players will score; and when that happens, they erupt with joy and excitement.
In order for God to use you, you have to have an expectation! In this season, we need to have a high expectation for the Lord to do something great. We need excitement, enthusiasm, a fresh passion in the church today, for all generations, not just for a certain age group.
God is about to do something BIG!
Revival: Revival is when God releases a special work of grace that reveals His power and presence amongst Christians. The word “revival” means to bring back to life. It cannot be used in talking about reaching the lost, because the lost was never alive to begin with.
Renewal: When committed Christians that have been worn out from laboring in the Lord; God sends the spirit of renewal to restore them to vibrancy.
Acts 3:21 (NKJV) “Whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.”
Awakening: When revival spills over and begins affecting surrounding communities.
God is about to do all these three things in the Church. We need all these three things to happen in our lives. How can God have these things to occur?
Matthew 9:17 (NKJV) “Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins [a]break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
You cannot put new wine into an old wineskin. In other words, there needs to be a better-quality skin developed in order to receive what was going to be poured out in those years when Jesus was ministering when He was with His disciples.
If the new goes in the old, you will lose the old and the new. Let us preserve what was given to us to this point and let us develop a new quality structure to hold the revelation that will be the fuel to help us to advance.
God is creating a new and fresh structure so that we can hold the new revelations to advance together.
The old will not be left behind, the old and the new will advance TOGETHER.
Matthew 9:18-26 (NKJV) “While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.’ So, Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples. And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, ‘If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.’ But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her, He said, ‘Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And the woman was made well from that hour. When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, ‘Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.’ And they ridiculed Him. But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this went out into all that land.”
In Matthew 9:18, Jesus was met with Jairus, an important figure, requesting Jesus to raise his twelve-year-old daughter from death. As Jesus was walking towards this man’s house, Jesus was met by a woman with the issue of blood for twelve years. These two characters in this story are very significant:
A twelve-year-old girl that Jesus was about to pray for
A mature woman who had the issue of blood for twelve years
The number twelve is significant in biblical numerology. It is the number for administration, government, and apostolic gift. It signifies the governmental aspect of God. There were 12 patriarch, 12 apostle, 24 elders. You see the number twelve over and over again where the government of God is setup properly.
These two characters, each from a different generation, were in the path of Jesus as He was moving. Time is significant here because twelve also represents the apostolic gift.
One of the things that has to come back to the Church is the functioning of the apostolic gift in its proper context.
** Pastor Eric honored the Apostle in the house: Pastors Paul Tan and Joyce Tan. He reminded the CBC congregation that we are sitting in the honor of an Apostle within the body of Christ. Do not take them for granted. They are valuable to the body of Christ and to the entire world and God has allowed them to be our pastors to shape our lives. **
We need to put the true Kingdom authority within the proper context. The church is founded on the foundation of an apostle and prophet with Jesus as its chief cornerstone.
The church is not only about grace, mercy, and love;
There is another side of the church that includes authority, strength, order, structure, and kingdom.
Twelve is the number for the apostolic gift. The woman with the issue of blood planted herself in the pathway of power. She had the faith that if she could touch Jesus, even just His hem, she will be healed. She received healing and Jesus went on walking towards Jairus’ house. The woman with the issue of blood represents the old season. She has to go press through a lot of things in order to get to Jesus:
She had to press through the law that stated that if you are bleeding, you are barred from the public
She had to press through the gender rules because she is a woman and she was not supposed to touch a rabbi
She had to press through the crowd
Jairus’ daughter represents the next administration or the next move of God. It was a custom in those days to have professional wailers to mourn the dead. Jairus’ house was filled with wailers. When Jesus came to the house, He had to put all the wailers out, He had to put all fear and unbelief out before He can move in and raise the girl from the dead.
To be clear, the story shows three different generations:
1 generation that is older (the crowd)
1 generation that has been pressing, weary, bleeding (woman with the issue of blood)
1 generation that is asleep (Jairus’ daughter)
The grief of previous season must end in order for you to go to the next season.
God is ready to bring us to the next season, but some of us are still hung up on what happened in the last season (past offenses). As Jesus awakened Jairus’ daughter, He will awaken the next generation. Many of the people in this generation have never seen a revival (Pensacola Revival, Toronto Blessing, etc.). As one generation is crawling, trying to touch Jesus’ hem; as one generation gets weary and began to go down; it is time to pass the baton to the next generation. They have the youth and the vigor. Let them get back up and start to run, but the key is “Do they know who they are running with?” and “Do they know who they are running for?”
Joshua 14:12 (NKJV) “Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said.”
Joshua 15 (NKJV) “Now it was so, when she came to him, that she persuaded him to ask her father for a field. So, she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, ‘What do you wish?’ She answered, ‘Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.’ So, he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.”
God is not leaving anyone behind on His next move.
It will be the older, the mature and the youth, the young,
they all will be moving together in the river of God.
Awakening is when revival spills over into the community. We may live in a nice community, but that does not mean we no longer need Jesus. We still need His touch where His anointing flows to satisfy our longing for God.
One generation is supposed to prepare someone from the next generation. Abraham was promised a child (Isaac), but he also had another child (Ishmael) - read Abraham’s story in the book of Genesis. Abraham did not dislike Ishmael; Ishmael was his son, but he had to kick Ishmael out. Hagar and Ishmael were left to die, but an angel of the Lord came and saved them. Notice that Hagar and Ishmael were from two different generations; the older generation was dying (Hagar), but an angel of the Lord came to save them because God heard the cry of the younger generation (Ishmael). The angel showed Hagar and Ishmael a well where they can drink from. There is a well of revival waiting for the younger generation. One generation has to impart and lay hands on the next generation to be able to carry the next move of God forward.
Are you part of the generation who are crying out for God?
Are you part of the generation who are asleep and need awakening?
Fresh anointing does not come from bottles, it comes from the well.
IF Generation Z is awakened and equipped and unleashed; they will change the way we do ministry forever. They will seek to stop human trafficking, as well as all soul trafficking.
IF Generation Z is awakened and equipped and unleashed; they will use technology in a mind-blowing way to advance the Gospel. They will share their stories unashamedly on different social media platforms to communicate the Gospel.
IF Generation Z is awakened and equipped and unleashed; youth groups will no longer be a sanctified group of friends to hang out, it will be gathering of prayer warriors and Gospel advances who come together to share war stories from the week.
IF Generation Z is awakened and equipped and unleashed; stories of changed lives, souls saved, and mobilized teenagers will start circulating online and a revival underground will begin that turns sparks of spiritual awakening into an unstoppable inferno that will burn up the dead wood of religion and traditions and move people into a process that set churches ablaze with presence of God. Revival will spread out from the youth room to church auditoriums to the streets.
God is about to do something BIG and we better be ready for it!
We are moving into a new season. When the presence of God is beginning to move to a new season, we see some of the following happen:
1. New Identity: Your personal identity will be transformed, which will include your ability to overcome the mountain from the past season that has been hindering your progress.
Isaiah 41:8-10 (NKJV) “But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham, My friend. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions, and said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
Zechariah 4:6 (NKJV) “So he answered and said to me: ‘This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel; ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
2. New Garment of Favor: Things will work out for you. God will bless you. God uses broken people all the time. Do not let the enemy rob you from your destiny.
Luke 15:22 (NKJV) “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.’”
We need to pray for all age groups, from kindergarten on up. Stop thinking that little children do not understand things. The little ones are more spiritually open. Look at the story of Samuel. God will use even the younger ones.
1 Samuel 2:18-19 (NKJV) “But Samuel ministered before the Lord, even as a child, wearing a linen ephod. Moreover, his mother used to make him a little robe, and bring it to him year by year when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.”
3. New Relationship: Divine connections. You will not be the same group of people. God will bring new people into your life and they will be a blessing to your life.
4. New Acts Will Take Place: Demonstration of the Spirit of God. Miracles, signs, and wonders.
Acts 5:15 (NKJV) “. . . so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.”
Get Your FAITH and EXPECTATION UP!
It takes FAITH and EXPECTATION that is going to bless your generation.
It takes FAITH and EXPECTATION for the older generation to keep pushing and cheering for the younger generations to take their place.
Prayer Points:
Pray to have an expectation for God to do something new and big.
Pray for revival, renewal, and an awakening.
Ask God to help you to create a new wineskin/structure to hold the new revelation He is about to download to you as individuals, for your family, and for CBC.
Ask God to help us honor and respect the older generations and to embrace the new generations. The new things that God is about to do need multiple generations working together. Each generation has its place and purpose. Pray for God to bridge the gap between the generations. Pray for unity between the generations. Pray that we advance together.
Pray for Holy Spirit to help us understand the authority aspect of the church. Pray for Holy Spirit to help us show respect and honor to the apostles and prophets, especially the ones in our house, Pastors Paul & Joyce Tan.
Pray for Holy Spirit to help us to not dwell in the past. Forgive those we need to forgive. Ask God to heal the past wounds and help us move on. The new move of God is much bigger than your past. Pray to release the grief of the past season in order to enter into the new season.
Ask Holy Spirit to show you if you are part of the generation who are crying out for God or are you part of the generation who are asleep and need awakening? Ask God for wisdom on what to do with that revelation.
Pray for God to strengthen the older generation to keep pressing through, help the older generation to run with the younger, so that the younger generation know they are not running alone; so that the younger generation know who they are running for. Release the mantle of wisdom, mentorship, and discipleship upon the older generation to teach the younger ones.
Pray for that impartation and for a smooth transition from the older to the younger generation for the well of revival is for the younger generations to take on.
Pray that we are transformed into our new identity, that we will have a new garment of favor, that there will be new relationships and divine connections, and that God will use us in new acts of signs, wonders, and miracles.
Pray for God to AWAKEN you! Set a new level of FAITH & EXPECTATIONS! Ask for a download of fresh and new revelation. Let go of apathy. Let our awakening spill over into our community.
Continue to pray for the building of the Ministry Center.