How does one prepare for a divine visitation? 5 ways from Jer 29:

 “When 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you”(Jer 29:10)

 Literally in the Hebrew, “I will visit you”.

This was the promise of a divine visitation that came in Neh 8. There are two parts: vs 4-9 about how to prepare for a visitation and vs 10-14 about the nature of the promised visitation.

God always speaks to us to prepare us for His future plans. In Jer 29 this is for His people to return to Jerusalem and to prepare for the Messiah.

Those that don’t get ready will miss the divine visitation!! The same for the next wave of the Spirit that will usher in Jesus` return. I believe that this will come sooner than we think. See PREPARING FOR A DIVINE VISITATION about how to attract, understand and prepare for a visitation. It’s based on my experiences of revivals in 3 continents. Download the first 3 CHAPTERS for FREE below:

Also a daily devotional using revival stories and verses to stir one’s heart called: GRACE OUTPOURINGS: 21 Days Revival Devotional.

So in the light of God’s visitation, what can we learn from Jer 29 about how we are to prepare?

1.Obey the Lord (5-7)

This sounds obvious but many of the exiles listened to the false prophets and didn’t obey the Lord and so weren’t ready to return to Jerusalem. They missed out on God’s purposes for their generation, on God’s visitation.

So to make sure we don’t miss out in our generation, we need to be alert to what God is saying about our times (Mt 16:2-3) and then obey Him. To obey is more important than going to church every week and just reading our Bibles (1 Sam 15:22).

2.Ignore messages that speak the contrary

In this case, the false prophets amongst them (8-9). Today there are many messages in the media, fake news and from the Enemy that divert us away from God’s plans, for example:

• Just concentrate on making money and enjoying yourselves!! Especially in the current world economic situation. Focus on your own needs.
• In your free hours, just rest and focus on entertainment. You are too tired to pray or read your Bible.
• There’s no need to share our faith today. It’s too risky now, as people may be offended.

3.Position yourselves

To receive the future blessing, God instructs His people in Babylon to get ready for the return, by praying for their city, growing numerically and seeking the prosperity of the city (4-9). So they needed to position themselves.

So we also need to seek the Lord for our part in preparing for the next wave of the Spirit and the massive harvest to come. Then position ourselves in getting ready. It could mean moving location or church. It could mean getting training. There is so much free online training at the moment. It could mean training others. It could mean setting aside more time to pray. Whatever the Lord instructs us to do. Also the positioning of apostles:  APOSTOLIC MINISTRY: 7 CHARACTERISTICS OF APOSTLES.

In 1909 a revival began in Valparaiso, Chile in a local Methodist Church that spread all over Chile. Why did it spread so quickly? In 1906 an earthquake destroyed the church building. So the Church met in many local areas in many smaller groups. As a result local ‘exhorters’ and preachers were trained, as now others had to preach and teach. So when the revival came they began to preach everywhere, even on the streets! And they took it to other cities.

So let’s use the extra time of the lockdowns to get ourselves ready! See also:  HOW TO DISCIPLE THE NEXT GENERATION.

4.Pray for your local area and city (verse 7)

Daniel and his three friends always worked for the blessing of Babylon, but in doing so God used them to prepare the kingdom to release the Israelites in the future and to resource them to rebuild Jerusalem

We should pray for our own city and nation for its prosperity for if it prospers so will we and this will develop contacts and resources that God can use.

When a great revival started in China in the 20th Century, it began in the areas that were the main provinces of the China Inland Mission, founded by Hudson Taylor a century before, a man of great prayer. So God responded FIRST to the prayers of His people in these areas for His blessing! Then it spread elsewhere, as the Lord led.

See also  GOD HAS ALREADY ANSWERED: 4 REASONS FOR ASSURANCE IN PRAYER

5.Get ready to ride the big wave: Practice now!

The people were to practice blessing the city of Babylon, in preparation for living in Jerusalem and doing the same!!

A surfer who wants to ride the big wave, must practice first with smaller waves to get ready, otherwise will falter when the big wave arrives. The biggest wave of the Spirit is coming and so we need to get ready. So often we pray for the things the Spirit will bring e.g. harvest of souls, healing, greater intimacy with Jesus but we don’t practice any of these things. We just wait and pray. But how will we be ready then?

So we must practice outreach, prayer, praying for healing etc NOW in preparation for the next wave of the Spirit. See also HOW DIVINE AWAKENINGS START

What next?

God is calling us to get ready in the same way for the next visitation of the Spirit, a huge harvest of souls in the nations and for the return of Jesus.

and daily devotional “GRACE OUTPOURINGS: 21 Days Revival Devotional“

For more on divine visitations, see my other blog called, “FIVE WAYS TO ATTRACT A DIVINE VISITATION