Whatever Happened to the Power of God?

So tonight, I led The Uprising, Innerface’s college group. For a while, I wasn’t sure what I was going to talk about, then as I prayed and looked through my resources, I came across a book that I haven’t read in a while, “Whatever Happened to the Power of God?” by Dr. Michael L. Brown. The book talks about a lot of different things pertaining to why we don’t see a move of God like the book of Acts or even like we did 100 years ago.

I only covered the first 1.5 chapters of the book for the discussion, and it was a heavy one. I knew based on my study and writing the teaching that it would be a heavy one that required the presence of God. I know I needed him for a few reasons. First, the things I wrote were strongly convicting me, and I knew that God needed to do some work on me first. I also knew that a word like this one really needed God’s touch on it, otherwise it could come off as a bashing message. I desperately wanted God to show up and do something. And show up He did.

But before I get there, I’ll highlight parts of the discussion. One of the things that really struck me was the opening line. “We don’t know much about the gospel.” We went on to talk about how we SAY that we know our friends and neighbors are going to hell, but how much does that really weigh on our hearts and minds? For most, probably not much. We are too concerned with what we see that what is unseen is of little concern when it really comes down to it. We don’t want to be inconvenienced, so we don’t step out. “The church today is not fully experiencing what Jesus died for and not becoming what he prayed for.”

I gave an analogy of a family that has an abundance of food every meal in a land of severe famine. The starving people around would KNOW that you had food, and would not hesitate chasing you down asking for some nourishment. Then I asked why people aren’t running to the church or to us begging us to show them the way to Life. That was something that none of them (including me) had pondered. Why isn’t the world knocking down the doors of the church trying to get in?

We say we want God to move, we have prayer meetings dedicated to God bringing revival. But do we REALLY understand what that truly means? Often, we don’t, or we would pray differently. If we REALLY understood what it is we are praying for, our prayers would change dramatically. God wants to pour out His Spirit, but for the sake of the saints, He can’t. I sincerely believe with all of my heart that if God poured out His Spirit like in Acts, many in the church would fall over dead, literally. I know those are bold words, but I truly believe them.

In Acts, the whole book is dedicated to what the Holy Spirit did through the men and women of God immediately following Christ’s ascension. Tremendous salvations, awesome miracles, incredible healings and deliverances all took place in the book of Acts. Peter preached his first message, and 3,000 people got saved. People were being added to the church daily. Peter would walk, and his shadow would fall on some, and they would get healed. Paul, one of the greatest persecutors of the church has a radical conversion, and sees incredible miracles take place in his ministry. God is moving.

But severe judgment also took place in Acts. Ananias and Sapphira told a lie to the people of God, and God struck them down. God was seriously moving in ways that we can only imagine today. But judgment was also falling in ways that we only read about. The reason I believe that a move of God that we WANT to happen would kill people in the church is because it did in the past. People took the things of God lightly, and God destroyed them.

God MUST show Himself to be holy. Whether that means through our obedience to His will, or through our punishment of disobedience, God WILL show Himself to be holy to the world. For those in disobedience, He will give a “grace period,’ but that only lasts for so long before it becomes about His name and not you anymore. And that is when the judgment comes. And today, most of the church is in disobedience. But God in His infinite wisdom, spares us severe judgment as in the days of old by simply holding back the outpouring that WE claim we so desperately want.

After the discussion, I posed the question, “Are you willing to do what it takes to really see God move? Judgment begins in the house of God.” I told them to find a place and just figure out if you are willing to do your part in that move by surrendering COMPLETELY to Him and walking in His ways, with the UTMOST integrity. I got on my knees and thanked God for speaking through me, and then prayed that I would let God do in me what He always wanted to do, but couldn’t because I was in the way. After, I glanced around to see many of the college students weeping before the Lord, just letting Him get in and do some rearranging in their lives. God showed up and really moved on some people. It was awesome, thank you Lord!