Showing posts with label Rees Howells. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rees Howells. Show all posts

Friday, November 27, 2015

How 1 Man's Faith Prevailed During Global Crisis - MATT LOCKETT/BOUND4LIFE CHARISMA NEWS

The Howells Project is designed to develop a life of faith that can impact world   events at the highest levels. Will you answer this call?
The Howells Project is designed to develop a life of faith that can impact world events at the highest levels. Will you answer this call? (Courtesy)

How 1 Man's Faith Prevailed During Global Crisis


MATT LOCKETT/BOUND4LIFE  charisma news

"I want to know that the Holy Spirit is stronger than the devil in the Nazi system. This is the battle of the ages, and victory here means victory for millions of people."—Rees Howells
This quote, taken from the journals of Rees Howells during World War II, captures an uncommon faith, prayer life and vision that the church desperately needs to rediscover today. God used Mr. Howells and the young people with him at the Bible College of Wales in a mighty way to shape international events and the destiny of nations through their prayers.
The world was in crisis, and this company of faith-filled believers became intercessors fully committed to be part of the solution.
Lessons on Faith and Abiding
Every great leader in their life of faith has learned one universal lesson: There are no short cuts. These kinds of leaders are not made in a day but on a daily basis. Rees Howells was no exception to the rule, and he was led by the Holy Spirit to build a life of faith learned through experience. Big testimonies come in growing your faith through the small things of life, as you demonstrate your willingness to listen to the Holy Spirit and follow wherever He leads.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1)
God loves the process of revealing Himself in our daily lives, but the fires of adversity must test us. Rees Howells would say, "You may preach anything and everything without proving anything, which is nothing but spectacular theory! Faith must become substance before it becomes evidence."
It is in the testing of our faith when we learn that God really is who is says He is. We need experiential knowledge of God because theories are impossible to lean on in dark days.
The Holy Spirit led Rees Howells into a life of faith built line upon line, experience upon experience. We must learn to recognize the leading of the Holy Spirit each day and respond by abiding in Him and His promises. Only an abiding faith can overcome the challenges to our obedience.
"If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it shall be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples" (John 15:7-8).
Proving God in small things—then larger things—led to an ever-increasing faith to stand in the face of insurmountable odds. One area of faith that was put to the test throughout Howells' life was in the area of praying for the supernatural provision of finances.
"Unless you can prove God to answer in an emergency and in a test case, it is nothing but talk in a very big way. The 'old man' can sound very convincing but he does not see his folly. You can never exercise real faith for £100 [British pounds] unless you've had £50, nor for £50 unless you've proved God for £20, nor for £10 unless you've proved God for £5.
"You only give mental assent and imagine these things, unless you have had an experience with God in the impossible. Man's extremity is God's opportunity."
This simple growth process of faith led Howells to greater and greater pursuits as he followed the Lord's leading into a world that was about to erupt in two world wars.
Walking in Obedience
When I read about the life of this man, I see simple but radical obedience. As the Holy Spirit would make His direction known to Rees, there would be an honest wrestling with the weakness of his flesh in order to enter into a life truly led by the Spirit.
"Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matt. 26:41)
Whether we admit it or not, we are way too concerned about man's opinion, our personal prosperity and an easier way of life free from danger. These fears are jagged obstacles in the path of obedience. Fear-based decisions actually increase the danger level of our lives, though they easily masquerade as so-called wisdom.
The safest place to be is in the center of God's will. Again, this is all just spectacular theory until it's put to the test.
In 1915, Rees and his wife Elizabeth had answered the Lord's call to missions just as World War I had begun. Germany had declared the waters around Britain to be a zone of war, and every ocean vessel was considered an enemy target. Two months before the Howells were set to embark for Africa, a German U-boat torpedoed and sunk the passenger ship Lusitania.
Can you imagine the widespread panic having to travel by ship with the unseen threat of German submarines lurking beneath the surrounding waves? Read the account given of their ship's passage:
"As they departed from England, many other passengers were fearful that their ship would be sunk like Lusitania, but Rees assured all who needed it that God would protect them. To believe that God would guard their ship from German submarines, and to publicly declare it to those who were afraid, was a leap of faith that few have taken. ...
"Another test came on the journey when the captain lost his nerve and feared for their safety. But they continued to assure the captain of a safe passage through U-boat infested waters because God was taking them to Africa to serve him."

How important it is to be obedient to the Lord and remain in the center of His will. It not only impacts your own life—it likely impacts the destiny of countless lives around you.
Faith to Move Mountains
In 1924, Rees Howells founded the Bible College of Wales with the aim of training and sending laborers into the harvest field who had learned not only theology but also a practical life of faith. Students were required to "pray through" for victory in their daily needs and burdens whether that was for a needed toothbrush or for tuition.
Inspired by George Mueller, Rees set the standard for his community as he contended in prayer to acquire the massive properties needed for the school to be established. Leonard Ravenhill gave insight into Rees' hidden life of faith, obedience and prayer in this area:
"After I spoke at a session in the Bible School of Wales, Mrs. Rees Howells called me for a private talk. We stood on the veranda of her home overlooking beautiful Swansea Bay I can see her finger upheld as she said, 'Many talk of my husband's buying this place with a shilling [14 cents] in his pocket. What they forget is that he prayed 12 hours a day for 11 months to know the mind of God.' Brethren, that's discipline!"
The two-dimensional promises written on the pages of your Bible have to take on three-dimensional reality in your broken life in spite of your failures and weaknesses. We have to learn that God is love; God is a father; God is a healer; God is a provider.
Each of these revelations demands a personal testimony of their proven truth. Without firsthand knowledge of these realities faith will flounder and lack the power needed for an end-time mission. Heed the apostle Paul's warning and resist becoming a person in the last days who is content in "having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power" (2 Tim. 3:5).
Not long after the school was established, God called Rees Howells into the ultimate walk of faith and obedience—the preaching of the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). He became a man with a world vision. No sooner had he engaged his faith to see the task completed in his generation, than evil dictators and wicked governmental systems arose to stop the gospel's advancement. World War II had begun.
What was created to be a training and sending center transformed into a company of faith-filled intercessors on their faces day after day, year after year facing the crisis of war. Through it all their vision remained—the "Every Creature Vision"— as they contended for God's purposes in the earth and for global obstacles to be removed for the gospel to advance.
However, their stories and testimonies of how they affected the world through their prayers are difficult to grasp unless you first understand their effective lives of faith, obedience and abiding.
Consider again the opening quote and hear the determined cry of a man whose faith and prayers expanded to include nations, world leaders, governmental systems and unreached people groups. Let the words impact your heart and create the same hunger for that kind of faith. Let's follow the example of this humble man of God whose life has inspired thousands of intercessors around the globe.
The Howells Project
Coming soon in the spring of 2016, Justice House of Prayer D.C. invites believers to dig deep into the principles of faith and prayer that will shape the world to come. For four weeks we will look to the life of Rees Howells to create this immersive experience, which will take place in Washington, D.C., and also at Howells' historic well—the Bible College of Wales.
Dark clouds are forming on the horizon, yet the charge of the kingdom remains the same: "Go!" God wants to raise up people who are fully committed to His work in spite of the challenges to come.
The Howells Project is designed to develop a life of faith that can impact world events at the highest levels. Will you answer this call?
A full-time missionary, Matt Lockett serves as Executive Director of Justice House of Prayer D.C. and Bound4LIFE International. Matt's passion is to help father a young, consecrated generation of believers. He travels and teaches on the subjects of prayer, fasting and governmental intercession. He and his wife Kim live in the Washington, D.C., area with their four children. Formerly he had a career in advertising and marketing; these days, he really wishes he had paid more attention in government class.

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!
NEW - Life in the Spirit is your Spirit-filled teaching guide. Encounter the Holy Spirit, hear God speak to you, and enjoy timeless teachings on love, mercy and forgiveness.LEARN MORE!

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

"RE-DIGGING THE WELLS OF REVIVAL: My Visits to Cane Ridge and Wales" - Dutch Sheets


"RE-DIGGING THE WELLS OF REVIVAL: 
My Visits to Cane Ridge and Wales"
Dutch Sheets, Dallas, TX
The Elijah List

Scripture makes it clear that the Lord accomplishes His purposes on the earth not through one man or movement, but through the labors and legacy of many across multiple generations (Hebrews 11:39-12:2). Working through a divine timeline that extends beyond a single lifetime, the Lord desires that we honor and build upon the foundations laid by those who have gone before us. In Genesis 26, we are told that when Isaac dug water wells, he didn't get to start with his own. Isaac recognized his hereditary right and responsibility to re-dig and restore the ancient wells of his father Abraham, which the Philistines stopped up after he died.

It was after re-digging his father's wells that the Lord appeared to Isaac and pronounced over him the same blessing previously spoken over Abraham. Not long after that, the Lord allowed Isaac's servants to unearth his very own well. 

I have spent more than a decade of my life teaching about the synergy of the ages; exhorting Believers that in order for us to move forward in fulfilling God's purposes for our generation, we must reach back to remember, honor and add to what He has done through previous generations. 

Through a recent sequence of events, however, the Lord once again invited me to tap into some historic wells of revival in order to release a fresh river of His glory to flow into our generation. (Photo via Dutch Sheets)

A few months ago, I was invited to minister at a small log cabin-style church in Kentucky, which happens to be the site of the historic Cane Ridge Revival of the late 1800's. During that powerful move of the Holy Spirit, tens of thousands of people came by wagon to the hillsides of Kentucky, hungry to hear the preaching of the Word and bask in the glory of God for days at a time.

At these camp meetings, it was common to see dozens of ministers preaching simultaneously across the countryside, while multitudes were strewn along the ground, being moved upon by the extremely weighty presence of God. This revival swept through the southern states and beyond, helping to birth the Second Great Awakening! I found it most interesting that the Lord set up my itinerary in such a way that from Cane Ridge, He sent me to Wales—another extremely significant site of revival history!

Moving From Well to Well

The nation of Wales is the place where revivalist Evan Roberts was baptized in the fire of God and commissioned by the Lord as a leader in the world-reaching Welsh Revival of the early 1900's. So many people were radically saved in that spiritual outpouring, that the nation of Wales experienced societal transformation. Judges had no cases to try, and law enforcement officials had no crime to deal with, so they formed traveling evangelistic singing groups!

The presence of God was so strong among the common people that pubs closed down, sporting events were cancelled, thousands of depressed and drunken miners came to Jesus, and hundreds left everything behind to give their lives on the foreign mission field. It is believed that since the 1900's, there has never been a revival in world history that cannot trace its roots back to the nation-shaking Welsh Revival.

Wales was also home to Rees Howells, another significant contributor to revival history. His life of intercession, chronicled in the biography, Rees Howells Intercessor, has greatly influenced many people and movements of prayer, myself included. After being powerfully swept into the Welsh Revival, this former miner-turned-missionary devoted the rest of his life to serving the purposes of God for his generation—in the place of prayer.
In 1924 Howells founded The Bible College of Wales to train others in what the Lord had taught him. That place soon became a house of prayer for all nations, with students and staff joining Howells in fighting world battles on their knees. 

What transpired on that small campus unquestionably affected the course of world history, and has left a legacy of prayer that the Lord is inviting us to lay hold of today. (Photo of Dutch and Ceci Sheets and friends in front of The Bible College Of Wales, via Dutch Sheets)

Fighting The Battles Of The Kingdom 

Howells' intercessors prayed all through World War II, engaging in the spiritual warfare necessary to take down the demonic powers encroaching upon the governments of nations through the dictatorial leadership of men like Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini. They also prayed fervently through the 1948 UN-mandated vote on Israel's status as a nation. Even after Howells' passing, their ardent intercession continued under the leadership of his son, Samuel. They prayed through the Cuban missile crises, the Cold War between the US and the USSR, and also helped pray in the signs and wonders movement of the 40's, 50's and 60's.

Their story could be likened to Moses' hilltop intercession affecting Joshua's frontline battle. Scripture states that as long as Moses held up the staff of God in his hand, Joshua and Israel prevailed, but when Moses let his hands down, the enemy prevailed.

Through this prophetic act of intercession—lifting up the rod, which represented the authority and power of God—the Lord faithfully responded by releasing victory on the battlefield (Exodus 17:8-16). Likewise, Howells and his intercessors continually "held up" spiritual authority in the heavenlies while soldiers experienced miraculous breakthroughs, enabling them to execute victory on the battlefield.

During WWII in particular, God would give Howells prophetic insight concerning what was going to happen next and where they needed to strategically focus their intercession. After class each day, these devoted intercessors would contend in travailing prayer for hours and hours on end, sometimes praying through the night. They were determined to match in the spirit realm, the level of intensity and self-sacrifice experienced by heads of nations and soldiers on the frontlines of battle. (The Blue Room where Howells and his intercessors prayed, via Dutch Sheets)

Impassioned about fulfilling their godly calling, Howells said, "If I am not called up to fight, and I know another way to help them and I don't do it, I ought to be killed instead of them. They are facing death...for you and me. If they suffer more than we suffer for them, it will be our lifelong shame." (From Rees Howells: Intercessor, Chapter 36 – Russia, North Africa, Italy, "D" Day)

Howells and his students gave their lives to fighting the battles spiritually as if they were called to the frontlines of the war. And with each new assignment, these hidden intercessors prevailed in their prayers, and the world marveled and breathed heavy sighs of relief at such dramatic turnarounds.

ElijahList Prophetic Resources

Redigging A Well

Despite the rich revival history at The Bible College of Wales, this spiritual well had fallen into disrepair. After the death of Howells' son, Samuel, the directors of the school found it too costly to maintain the campus and keep the school running. For decades, the property went further into decay and was about to be sold to a developer for housing. The Lord, however, had other plans and saw to it that this spiritual well was preserved and unstopped. He moved upon the heart of a pastor from Singapore, who not only caught God's vision for restoring that place but also was willing to pay the price to make it happen. This pastor raised 10 million dollars to purchase and restore the historic Bible College of Wales so that people from around the world could drink from this well of revival once again!

As a student of revival history, a teacher on intercession, and one called to awaken this nation to the purposes of God through prayer, it has always been a great desire of my heart to visit Wales and drink from its spiritual wells. Right after my time of ministry at Cane Ridge, I had the great honor of not only visiting the Bible College of Wales, but also serving as a key participant in the rededication ceremony for this historic well of revival.

During our stay at the Bible College, Ceci and I were assigned to the room of Rees' son, Samuel Howells. This room sits directly above the prayer room where decades of nation-changing prophetic intercession took place—what a privilege! Among the gathering of key leaders from around the world, I was also extended the honor of rededicating Howells' Ebenezer stone of remembrance (1 Samuel 7:12). Similar to what the prophet Samuel did to commemorate Israel's victory against their enemies, Howells set up a huge stone as a continual reminder of the Lord's providence and provision. Inscribed on one side of its marble top is the phrase, "Faith Is Substance." On the other side, the words, "Jehovah Jireh."

When, as part of the rededication ceremony, this remembrance stone was relocated to the center of the campus and anointing oil was poured upon it, we could sense the glory of the Lord. In that very holy moment, God met with me in a powerful way. I was overcome with the Lord's kindness at gathering us all to this place to drink from this historic well. 

In that moment, I pledged to help carry on Howells' legacy of prayer and recommitted my life to raising up a movement of prayer to take out the giants of our day and usher in a Third Great Awakening. (Dutch pouring anointing oil over Howells' remembrance stone during the rededication ceremony, via Dutch Sheets)

The rededication ceremony at the Bible College was not the only special appointment the Lord had planned for me. The same Singaporean leaders that restored Howells' campus also purchased the little church in Wales where revivalist Evan Roberts met with God. During the renovation process for converting that church into a house of prayer, the original Bible used by Evan Roberts during the Welsh Revival was found sitting under decades of dust on the pulpit of the church! I marveled at this find.

Paying The Price

I am so grateful for the Singaporeans who accepted the Lord's invitation to take on the extremely costly and painstaking restoration of this well of revival history. But the investment required for releasing God's river of revival into the nations of the earth doesn't end with restored facilities.

God desires to raise up Roberts-like revivalists and bands of Howells-like intercessors through which He can release a greater awakening and shift the course of nations today. This will require a high level of commitment. These men were so powerfully used of God because they complied with the great extremes God required of them. This is a principle repeatedly seen in Scripture. (Dutch holding Evan Roberts' Bible with Lou Engle and Singaporean Pastor Yang Tuck Yoong, via Dutch Sheets)

As I prayer-walked the grounds of the Bible College of Wales, while I communed with the Lord in the church where Evan Roberts met with God, and even now, I hear Holy Spirit asking, "Who will pay the price in this generation?" 

God used Howells and his intercessors to contend against and defeat the demonic powers and principalities trying to take over the world.

Today, the goliaths of Islam, communism, human trafficking, abortion, and the sexual rights agenda are standing at our door. Never has there been more at stake. We need the same warrior spirit of Howells' era to arise in us—both in the place of prayer and in being a prophetic voice. No doubt, God has a plan. He always does something great in the face of the impossible!

I believe the Lord allowed for the restoration of these spiritual wells in Wales because He is loosing a spirit of contending prayer and revival into the nations of the earth once again. 

I believe we will see a new momentum of intercession—appealing to Heaven and fighting Kingdom battles on our knees, until the greatest Great Awakening the world has ever seen occurs.

You are a part of this! There is a spiritual inheritance available to you. Young people, especially, it is your time to arise! The Lord is anointing you to overthrow the goliaths of our day and contend for the destinies of nations. The Lord is searching for those who will say, "I will pay the price." For those who invest their lives in these costly battles of intercession, He will show Himself strong! (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Dutch Sheets
Dutch Sheets Ministries

Email: click here
Website: dutchsheets.org

Dutch Sheets is an internationally recognized author, teacher, and conference speaker. He travels extensively, empowering Believers for passionate prayer and societal transformation. Dutch has pastored, taught in several colleges and seminaries, and served on the board of directors of numerous organizations. Dutch's greatest passion is to see America experience a sweeping revival and return to its godly heritage. Dutch is a messenger of hope for America, encouraging Believers to contend for awakening in our day and reformation in our lifetime. 

Dutch has written over 20 books, many of which have been translated into over 30 languages. Dutch and his wife Ceci have been married for 35 years and now reside in the Dallas area. They treasure time spent with their two grown daughters, son-in-law, and grandchildren.

To subscribe to The Elijah List go to:http://elijahlist.com/subscribe