Several years ago I found myself in a very uncomfortable situation when John Wimber was called away from a conference. I was in Oklahoma City helping John who was leading a healing conference. After the Friday evening session, John informed me that he had been called home, and needed me to finish the conference for him. The thought of having to fill John's shoes, so to speak, and minister to nearly 2,000 people by myself was terrifying.
My anxiety became overwhelming. The thought of being alone triggered insecurities and undermined my confidence, producing an incredibly painful knot of fear in my stomach.
I had recently been reading about Jesus' relationship with His Father, and as I became increasingly desperate, I cried out to God, "Father, I know you love your Son Jesus, and your word says that you love me too. I need to feel your love now!"
Instantly, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit fall on me, and as I continued to pray, the presence grew stronger, and a warm surge moved through my body to the knot in my stomach, which disappeared. I began weeping in relief, thanking God for this experience which was unlike anything that had happened to me up to that point. I asked the Lord, "What was that?" and the Holy Spirit seemed to whisper in response, "That is the love of your heavenly Father for you."
This touch of love from my heavenly Father had a tremendous impact. My tears were relieved, peace washed over me, and I was filled with a sense of the Lord's nearness. I felt ready to go into the conference and minister. During ministry I sensed the strong presence of the Lord's power to bring healing and I was able to hear the Lord's voice directing me. I realized that in order to conduct ministry in the Kingdom I needed to be secured in the Father's love. That security enabled me to be successful in bringing a powerful healing ministry to earth.
I see in this experience the essential elements of revival: the Holy Spirit came and ministered to me in power bringing an outpouring of the Father's love, and that power and love prepared me to minister to others. As we look to the Bible and to past revivals to provide a context for this current renewal, I believe that these elements are present in every case.
When I think of revival, I think of revivalists, and in my opinion, the prototype of all revivalists is Jesus. Not only did He bring great revival to the nation of Israel, but as a result of His ministry revival spread to the whole Roman empire. As we examine the life of Jesus, we see that His ministry flowed out of His relationship with His Father in heaven. Jesus could only do what He saw His Father doing Jn 5:20. Jesus worked in close harmony with His Father,and the basis for that harmony was love. The Greek word for love in this passage is phileo, which describes the demonstrative aspect of the Father's love for Jesus.
Jesus received a wonderful assurance of His Father's love for Him through the presence of the Holy Spirit and the spoken words of His Father. In Mk 1:10-11 we read: "As Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: 'You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.'" This demonstration of His Father's love and affection secured His heart so He could remain at rest and wait for His Father's voice to direct Him in ministry with the sensitivity to hear and obey His Father's commands. Then as the spirit came upon Jesus, He was prepared for his ministry.
Jesus experienced a prototype for all of us. It is significant that He tells His disciples: "The Father Himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God Jn 16:27." The Greek word used for love here is, again, phileo. It tells us that the demonstrated, natural affection the Father felt toward Jesus is promised to the disciples who believe in Him. This promise is for disciples of all ages, and has been very meaningful to me over the years. Because I love Jesus, I too am a candidate to receive the Father's demonstrated love for me.
So it is that we, who are deeply insecure at times in our lives, can experience an outpouring of the Spirit from above that fills our hearts with the warmth of our Father's love, securing us and making us sensitive to hear His voice, and enabling us to do the kind of works in ministry that Jesus did!
Ed Piorek is the pastor of Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Mission Viejo, CA. He has travelled extensively with John Wimber as a conference workshop speaker. In recent years God has developed in and through Ed's life a powerful message on the Fatherhood of God. Ed has spoken at the "Father Loves You" conference at Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship.