Communiqué - April 1998

There is a shifting of the Wind...

There is the smell of Rain approaching...

"God will pour out His Spirit in an even Greater Measure in response to the cries of His children!! How must we "cry" unto the Lord? With our Praises, our Worship and our Intercession." (Jan van Rooyen)

"And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel" (1 Kings 18:44-46).

How to Challenge the prophets of Baal

This story tells of how Elijah summoned God's people and the prophets of Baal to Carmel. There he built an altar to the Lord and his sacrifice was consumed by God's fire that flashed from heaven.

In reaction to this the people of God fell on their faces and worshipped Him. Then Elijah captured the prophets of Baal and had them killed! He also told Ahab to go home and enjoy a good meal because he heard the sound of a mighty storm approaching.

While Ahab was feasting, Elijah climbed to the top of mount Carmel, knelt down with his face between his knees and started praying. (This position is the classical position in which Oriental women give birth and it is no coincidence that Elijah was assuming this very same posture - the posture for giving birth). We must co-operate with and yield to the Holy Spirit in giving birth to the move of God.

Look out towards the sea...

Every now and then Elijah instructed his servant to look out towards the sea. Six times he returned without seeing anything, but the seventh time he reported, "I saw a little cloud about the size of a man's hand rising from the sea" (verse 44).

Reviewing this wonderful story, we see that God responded with two major supernatural miracles, the fire and the rain, and both were in response to something Elijah did.

What is the significance of these signs?

Firstly, the fire consumed Elijah's sacrifice. This represents God's response to sin and carnality. When we come to God through Jesus Christ in genuine repentance, He not only washes our sins away, but He removes every vestige and stronghold of that sin. Elijah's sacrifice represents not only our sins but also our old carnal nature or flesh. When God's judgment falls on flesh, that flesh will be consumed.

Like the fire, the purpose of the cross of Jesus Christ is for our flesh (old nature) to be annihilated. 1 Peter 4:17 tells us that judgment begins at the house of God. We are the house of God, individually as well as corporately.

1 Peter 5:5,6 informs us that we must humble ourselves before God, not exalt ourselves. We have to do the humbling and He will do the exalting! If God has to humble us, we find ourselves in a serious situation because it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31).

True Humility destroys Idols

Humility also softens our hearts so that those things we have set up as idols (Baal) in our lives may be destroyed. Once the fire of the Holy Spirit has dealt with us in this way, we are ready to advance to the next step, which is to pray for the outpouring (Acts 3:19).

Elijah went to the top of the mountain to pray. It is necessary for us to separate ourselves from our normal mundane existence and climb the heights of the Spirit.

There where we can breathe the freshness of heaven. There where we can see so far into the spirit realm that we can see the coming rain. But, a word of caution here! If we don't persevere, we might be tempted to give up before we see the end result of our prayers.

Elijah's servant went to look seven times before he actually saw anything.

When Elijah spoke to Ahab, he said that he heard the sound of an advancing storm. He saw this in his heart and he held fast to that vision from God until he saw the manifestation of it in the natural. He saw this even before he started to pray on the mountain.

Persevere!

Be encouraged! Hold fast to the promises of God for revival! Persevere in prayer and intercession. Continue to look for the rain, even if it may appear as small as a man's hand on the horizon. As we continue to pray and give birth in the Spirit, the cloud will turn into a storm and a mighty outpouring of the Spirit.

Yours in His Love and Anointing

Jan van Rooyen

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