Revive Me
"My soul clings to the dust; Revive me according to Your word.”
- Psalm 119:25
I cannot believe how quickly my time at YWAM has flown by. Next week at this time I will be on a flight to the Philippines. I, along with the rest of my team, are extremely excited for all that the Lord is going to do in and through us as He has revealed His heart for His people there. I believe that God is absolutely leading us into this transition and I anticipate the Filipino people will win over our hearts quickly; however, it is also an emotional time for us here as we will say goodbye to people on our campus who have poured into us over the last three months.
The last 5 weeks have been filled with incredible encounters with the Lord. Early on in February I began to pray “God revive me, revive my generation, awaken this nation”. He responded by showing me that He had already been doing just that. At our prayer burn, we committed a slot of time to intercede specifically for Gen Z. The very next week, God would pour His Spirit out over the students at Asbury University and not long after that fire would spread to many other universities. During this time we were scheduled for “Revival Week” at YWAM. We had a guest speaker named Glenn Sheppard who shared the history of revival, the price of revival, and the cost for sustaining revival. He prayed over each of us individually, that we would catch the Father’s heart and burn with fire for Him. At the beginning of that week I had a detailed dream where the Lord showed me two specific places in Missouri that He wanted to send revival. In the dream it felt as though the Holy Spirit was inviting people in these places to “stay a little longer”, but everyone was quick to leave and follow the plans that they had made for the day. In both of these situations I was left weeping and pleading that the Lord would not pass us by. I woke up that day unable to move away from Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” That morning as I arrived at class it was announced that our team would head to Asbury University!
At Asbury no title, name, or person was highlighted. Even Asbury itself wasn’t a topic of conversation. Only Jesus was magnified. Every song sung, every testimony, and every word spoken was about Him. As soon as you enter the chapel you couldn't help but feel a purity in the room. I saw people desperately flood the altars and eventually get up with the most beautiful smiles painted over them, simply because they were touched by Jesus. This revival we are seeing isn’t happening only in Kentucky, or college campuses, or churches- it’s been happening all over the world. I Truly believe that in this hour God desires to pour His Spirit out on all flesh. When we linger out of a lovesick desperation for Him, He lingers too. Will we choose to hunger and thirst for Him more than anything else? Will we humble ourselves and allow Him to do a new work in us?
Revival isn’t just a loud meeting full of people with a lot of excitement, prayer, and preaching- though those are great things. To revive means to restore life. Did you know that God could restore you to life right where you are? Do you know that He longs to breathe life into you? He’s placed giftings and callings inside some of you that may have been choked out by the deadly weeds of sin and apathy but He is willing to fill you with rivers of living waters that can cleanse you. He has created you for overflow.
In this season I have seen Him begin to revive the things that appeared dead in my life. Where I once felt as though I was voiceless, I realized I do not need permission to step out in obedience and speak. Where I once felt weak, I have been revitalized and have seen the Lord’s strength. Where I once felt timid and afraid, I have begun to embrace facing fears because every time I do, I get to encounter the Father in a way I have not before. Where I once was passive, I have become captivated and activated by the love of God. He has brought me back to my first love.
I am so grateful for a living God, who brings us from death to life! There is a Man who has fire in His eyes and He is setting my heart ablaze. Even now, I know that He is preparing many hearts in the Philippines to receive His word, to receive healing, to receive freedom, and to receive this beautiful gift of eternal life with Him. God is already reviving the people of the Philippines and I am honored that He has chosen to send me and work through me in the lives of these beautiful people. In praying for the Philippines something the Lord revealed to me is that He desires to bring entire families in the Philippines to Him and reconcile them to one another. I really just look forward to seeing all that the Lord will do throughout these next couple of months in YWAM and the Philippines!
Prayer Requests:
- The people in the Philippines
- Health for my team
-Continued unity in my team
- Continued courage, especially in the Philippines, to share the gospel and face fears of stepping out in obedience to the Lord
- The Lord’s leadership & provision into the next season after YWAM. He has begun to show me tidbits of what it may look like but I still need direction
Sincerely,
Jessica Lawrence
Revival Week: Being prayed over by my classmates and Glenn Sheppard.
On the way to Asbury we stopped in St. Louis at Bethany’s family’s church. We had the privilege of meeting her family and having a very nice meal!
We made it to Asbury! We waited in line for a couple of hours as it rained.
Our friends Jeremy and Mary Gin (they were mentioned in the last newsletter under the prayer request column) tagged along with us! Corporate prayer was already starting outside of the chapel.
Asbury!
Bible burn photo! We read the bible from cover to cover as a school.
Group photo in front of Compass Elementary! We will miss this place. So grateful to have seen students here give their life to Jesus and also very thankful for Minding the Gap teaching us how to share the gospel and disciple well in a public school setting.
I got rebaptized! Symbolic of me decided to exchange my life with the life of Jesus’s daily. I am dead to myself and alive in Christ!
So blessed with these girls and grateful that we were able to be baptized together!
My beautiful roommates! Anna and Jelaina
My entire DTS at Love Feast! Love Feast is a dinner organized by those on campus who have poured into us for the last 3 months. This is a time of celebrating all that God has done in our lives, speaking encouragement into us, and releasing us into the next season.
Hannah is my one on one. She has helped me process a lot of this time in my DTS and she will continue to walk with me throughout my outreach period.
Milkshake night!
This is Lydia. We call her little miss sunshine here because she’s 4’11 and the epitome of sunshine.
Who are we as a team and what are we bringing with us into the Philippines?
Work duty crew!
LC’s with the grandparents last week! I am so grateful they got to stop by, even if it could only be for a short time. We had good BBQ and time together on campus.
Grateful for fiery friends. Monet and Cori are with AIM to Love and stopped by to visit in KC. We were on our way to the Union Station when it started snowing on us!
It was such a joy to visit with my mom and brother. We got to catch up a lot and it was amazing to hear all that the Lord is doing in their lives!
