Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’” (EZEK. 37:11)

Indeed, these bones are your bones and these bones are my bones. Yes, let awakening begin with the house of God. But how? Many millions of Jesus’ faithful followers feel cut off from the great movement of the church Jesus founded. We faithfully go to church yet feel distant from the global movement of the Holy Spirit. We want to jump into the current of the great river of God but we are bound in a valley of dry bones. What matters most now?

Obedience matters—a lot. The waves of awakening will ride on the churn of humble, bold obedience. Dr. Dennis Kinlaw, a great man of faith, witnessed a profound awakening at Asbury College in 1970 (one whose waves have not ceased). Reflecting decades later on what preceded the great outpouring of God’s Spirit, he remarked, “God never does anything in a big way that he doesn’t first do in a small way.”

Aspiring for an awakening can quickly turn into vain grandeur. Our minds readily turn to big things. In reality, awakenings mostly begin when a few ordinary people, often in obscurity, band together and move boldly in the ways of small, steadfast obedience. Prophesying to the bones and the breath begins not in public demonstration but in hidden prayer. A growing crowd will not be the first sign of this awakening. The world will know awakening is afoot when hundreds and then thousands and then hundreds of thousands of small circles of threes and fours and fives band together for the long haul to sow for a great awakening. You and I will know it has begun when we put our own hands to this plow and vow to never look back.

PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER
Father, I pray for the audacity to prophesy; to breathe deep of the Holy Spirit and declare the promising, powerful Word of God over the lives of others. I want to be one who humbly prophesies awakening. Teach our band to prophesy to the bones and prophesy to the breath for the sake of one another. I pray in your name, Jesus. Amen.

CONFERENCE TOGETHER
How can our band pray and prophesy awakening faith over one another? What holds us back from doing so?