Recovering the Fire of Holy Desperation
Grammy award-winning artist Billy Joel is one of the most creative songwriters of our time. Among his numerous hits is “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” As one of Joel’s more unique works, the song was birthed out of a conversation he had with Julian Lennon, son of legendary artist John Lennon.
Lennon had commented to Joel that the world had never been as problematic as it has been in Lennon’s lifetime. Joel challenged Lennon by citing multiple problems the world had faced throughout history. And the more Joel thought, the more he began to recall the problems the world had faced in his own lifetime. His reflections birthed the words of “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” which chronicled portions of world history from the time of Joel’s birth in 1949 to the time he wrote the song in 1989. The lyrics reference the dropping of the atomic bomb, the Korean War, the Bay of Pigs, Woodstock, Watergate, the outbreak of AIDS, as well as the word “vaccine” in reference to previous pandemics in history.
The world has had its share of fire. And the fire burns on and on, through a pandemic, a deeply polarized nation, the pain of racism, a web of addictions and deteriorating mental health–all under the dark umbrella of the disintegration of virtue in Western culture.
We do have fire. And while we didn’t start the fire, we need a new one. We need a fire of a different variety. We need transcendent fire that burns with transforming might.
We need primal fire. We need the primal fire that burned in the book of Acts. We need the primal fire that burned in the First and Second Great Awakenings.
Primal fire awakens. It liquifies the molasses of dead religion. It causes lukewarm coals to dance with flames again. It brings dry bones to life. And while only God can light primal fire, we must ask: Are we yet desperate for the primal fire of God to burn again?
Something new is stirring in small portions of God’s people in the West. People are crying out to God in unprecedented ways. It seems the embers of what we might call a desperation awakening are warming. What is a desperation awakening? A desperation awakening is characterized by a holy discontent among the people of God. It is rooted in the realization that only an authentic touching down of God’s primal power will renew and restore God’s church with the capacity needed to be a transforming agent in the culture. A desperation awakening under-girds our need to humble ourselves in repentance while turning to God as our true source.
How do we focus our attention in a desperation-awakening? How are we to direct our sense of holy discontent? If we are going to step into something in our lifetimes we’ve never seen before, then we must do things in our lifetimes we’ve never done before. Therefore, as we navigate these challenging days, here are seven pathways for channeling our desperation:
Desperation Awakening #1: Commit to Being a Part of the Fellowship of the Willing
Desperation awakenings aren’t embraced by the majority, but by the few. The majority know the current need is great, but it’s the minority who take action. When the Hebrides Revival broke out, there was no large mass of people crying out to God in prayer. There were, however, persons who were praying prayers of desperation. When the Asbury University revival broke out, the entire campus was not praying, but it was those who were willing. It was not a matter of everyone being involved in prayer. It was a fellowship of the willing. The question for you is: Will you join the fellowship of the willing? Are you desperate for a move of God in this much-needed hour of history? History demonstrates God doesn’t work through a majority. God works through the willing.
Recently, more local churches in the West are engaging in Prayer Summits, growing in their understanding of worship-based prayer, mobilizing prayer in the local church, and establishing 24/7 Prayer Rooms.
Many are rising into new waves of intercession and prayer in hopes of awakening. Will you be a part of the fellowship of the willing?
Desperation Awakening #2: Be Willing to Learn from the Global Church
Many of you have had the opportunity to spend time with our global sisters and brothers. While they, like many of us, have strategies and plans for ministry, I have repeatedly observed God’s primal fire burning in them. While not perfect, many of them lead movements reaching hundreds of thousands for Christ; and a few have reached a million or more. The primal power of God pulsating through the veins of their strategies in sharing the gospel and disciple-making is captivating. Many believe a rediscovery of this primal power is what is desperately needed in the western church.
What is the secret to the primal power flowing through their lives? I sat with a missionary representative a few months ago who shared the following out of a Southeast Asian country: “The prayer meeting in the village takes place every Friday night from 8:00 p.m. until 4:00 a.m., and they are witnessing many people coming to Christ throughout the week.”
I am not suggesting we must hold Friday night prayer meetings that last till 4:00 a.m. (nor am I discouraging it). But I am suggesting we take note of the powerful results emerging from God’s primal fires burning in the hearts of many global Christians, particularly when they are seeing critical masses come to know Christ in areas of the world that are highly antagonistic to the gospel. Will you be willing to learn from the global church?
Desperation Awakening #3: Learn from God’s Awakening Movements in History
Seeing what God has done in history is a great way to feed one’s faith in a desperation awakening. Consider building a library of resources on revival and awakening. Reading widely about God’s miraculous movements in the past builds our understanding and our faith for what is possible in the future.
Several years ago I began building a missionary library. Throughout history, many missionaries believe(d) in what I would call, “the God of the now.” Their lives and ministries are filled with stories of God showing up in miraculous ways.
These stories feed our faith in tandem with the scriptures to build our understanding and belief so God can stir the primal fires of awakening again. In acting on our fires of desperation, will you be willing to learn from the history of awakenings and from those who believe in “the God of the now”?
Desperation Awakening #4: Labor to Posture the Church for Awakening
If you own a sailboat, you hope for the winds to blow, and you study the best methods of tacking. But sooner or later you must leave the safety of the harbor and hoist the sails. Local churches must do the same. While only God can choose to move in Holy Spirit power among His people, the Church can choose to posture herself for moves of the Holy Spirit.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, camp meetings were in their heyday in North America. These protracted times of people coming together postured entire communities for experiencing renewal and awakening.
While our culture is no longer optimally geared for breaking away for protracted times at camp meetings, consider hosting a yearly spiritual renewal conference along with other renewal gatherings on your church campus. There are numerous speakers and teachers in the Wesleyan tribe who have hearts for awakening. Pray, fast, and invite them to come. Organize the church to pray even more. And while only God can choose to blow the winds of the primal fires of the Holy Spirit, the sails of the church are hoisted and postured as Christ’s body gathers corporately to seek, pray, repent, and align with the heart of God in hopes of experiencing His renewing and awakening power. Will you consider posturing the church for awakening?
Desperation Awakening #5: Pray Strategically
Prayer gatherings need Spirit-initiated, Scripture-based direction. It’s important for those who lead prayer groups to foster the ability for groups to discern “For what and for whom do we need to pray at this time?” While praying for the sick is good, we must also discern God’s leading in taking prayer on the offensive in advancing God’s Kingdom (Matthew 6:10).
Militaries don’t win wars without strategic plans, and we don’t win spiritual battles without praying strategically. Take note of the prayers found in Scripture and pray them into your circumstances.
A little more than a year ago one of our prayer groups spent months praying for the spiritual awakening of Boston and Birmingham. Another prayer group prayed strictly for the spiritual awakening of teachers and students in our city. One group spent an hour a week praying for God to awaken our nation in a way that heals racial divides. Another prayer gathering spent time praying for God to raise up new John Wesleys and Phoebe Palmers who will serve as catalysts for spiritual awakening among the nations. Will you be willing to pray strategically?
Desperation Awakening #6: Align with the Best of our Tradition
Many of us overlook the primal characteristics of the early Wesleyan movement. We often accentuate the forms of discipleship Wesley created (and we should), without accentuating the primal fires that burned and fueled the forms.
Remember John Wesley’s reflections on an early Methodist love feast and its accompanying time of prayer:
Mr. Hall, Hinching, Ingham, Whitefield, Hutching, and my brother Charles were present at our love feast in Fetter Lane with about 60 of our brethren. About three in the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy and many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from that awe and amazement at the presence of His majesty, we broke out with one voice, ‘We praise Thee, O God, we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.’
The evangelist George Whitefield, who was also present at the love feast, recorded the following concerning the days that followed;
It was a Pentecostal season indeed, sometimes whole nights were spent in prayer. Often we have been filled as with new wine, and often I have seen them overwhelmed with the Divine Presence, and cry out, “Will God, indeed, dwell with men on earth? How dreadful is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven!”
We come out of a praying tradition that experienced renewal through the primal fire that flowed as a result of communion with God in prayer. Will you align with the best of our tradition?
Desperation Awakening #7: Commit to Patterns of Life-Giving Discipleship
The Wesleyan revival was sustained in large part because the early Methodists were committed to ongoing patterns of methodical, accountable discipleship. We should take note. Accountable discipleship was not a consumerist option for the early Methodists; it was a loving requirement that sustained revival and developed Christians into sanctified lives.
We didn’t start the fire, but it’s not too late to trust God to ignite a new one. Let the fires of a desperation awakening burn brightly in hopes of God lighting the primal fires of spiritual awakening again.
(Posted with the author’s permission.)
Rev. Paul Lawler serves as the Lead Pastor of Christ Church Birmingham, a United Methodist congregation focused on discipleship and global mission.