WE HEARD THE SOUND FROM HEAVEN

Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a mighty wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
Acts 2:2

When you've experienced the real stuff;
You can never be satisfied with mere fluff.

It was the revival in which I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and called to teach and preach the everlasting gospel. In one evening service, the presence of God was so real that no one would leave, even after the pastor prayed the benediction around 10 p.m. As everyone sat in silence, the front door of the wood frame church suddenly opened and teenagers began streaming to the front, kneeling at the altar and pouring out their hearts to God with many tears.

The Spirit of God was moving outside the walls of the church building and between 10 p.m. and midnight 17 young people were drawn from outside, many while in their cars. As they entered, they came immediately to the front, knelt at the altar and poured out their hearts to God. This caused great rejoicing among the saints and their shouts of praise were mingled with the cries for mercy. 

Around 11 p.m. I walked outside to get a breath of fresh air and I encountered two more individuals that God had apprehended in their car. They were well known to me as a couple of wild, party-type individuals in their thirties. But now, all arrogance and pretense were gone. Rayburn was bent over with his face on the hood of his car, sobbing. His friend was walking frantically back and forth saying, “Let’s go!” “Let’s go!”

I asked, “Where are you going?” He stood gazing at the church and replied, “I have to go in there. There is something in there.”  I said, “Let’s go,” and escorted them to the door. I opened the door and was amazed at what happened next. They literally ran to the front, fell on their knees at the altar with the others and cried out to God with all their might. 

Shortly thereafter I noted that one young man, who was the first to come forward, was missing. I opened a door to a small Sunday school room and there was Billy lying spread eagle on his back, alone in the dark, praying in other tongues. He was so lost in the Spirit he did not notice me. I quietly closed the door and rejoined the service where salvations, fervent prayer and rejoicing continued unabated. That service lasted until 1 a.m.

There was no official youth group in this church, so several of these young men decided to have an all-night outing one Saturday night at a recreational area on Pat Mayse Lake. There were probably 12-15 of them between the ages of 16-20. 

About 9 p.m. I decided to find their camp and see how they were doing. I didn’t know where they were, but as I drove slowly around the area with my windows down, passing many campers and RVs, I heard loud praying in the distance. I followed the sound of prayer and located them.

I spent about an hour with them, joining them in prayer and discussing the things of God. Their hearts were so on fire that they spent the entire night in fervent prayer. As I drove away past the flickering lights of numerous camp sites, and heared their prayers fading behind me, I thought, “The people here must think that these are the strangest bunch of teenagers they have ever seen.”

That was real revival. Not something worked up from below, but a genuine outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It was a sound from heaven. My life and others were forever changed.

This article was derived from Eddie Hyatt's book, Revival Fire: Discerning Between the True & False, available from Amazon and his website at www.eddiehyatt.com. 

On April 8-9 Dr. Eddie Hyatt will be teaching the course "2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity," based on his book of the same name. This course will examine Spiritual awakenings from the Day of Pentecost to the present time. Strengths and weakness of these revivals will be noted and lessons drawn for the church today. The goal of the course is to prepare leaders for the next Great Awakening. To let Dr. Hyatt know you are interested, go to this FB event page and click “Going” or “Interested.”
https://www.facebook.com/events/212026539354552/https://www.facebook.com/events/212026539354552/