Reclaiming Orphaned Wells of Revival
My friend Greg Hood, a prophet, was recently given a significant dream regarding the coming revival. Its length, along with the insights I believe Holy Spirit wants me to share from it, will require that I take 2-3 days to do so. The dream is regarding four revival wells from the past, and God’s intention of reopening these wells. Today we will look at the first one.
The dream started with Dutch and me standing in the middle of what we thought were oil fields, much like you see in Texas. Oil wells were everywhere - many different sizes and shapes. I commented to Dutch, “These are not traditional wells. These are special wells. Look how they are shaped and spaced apart.”
We began walking through the field looking at each well, examining their components and how they were made. I then said to Dutch, “These wells are all still, not moving. They’re orphaned!”
An orphaned well is one that is abandoned and inoperable. Once a well is abandoned it can produce toxic emissions and pollution, becoming a problem rather than a source of energy and prosperity. Sadly, this occurs with revivals. Oftentimes those who were part of a past move of God become stale and/or religious over time. Sadly, many of them reject, even oppose, the next new outpouring.
Dutch said to me, “I know these wells. I have studied them all. Their blueprints were given to me in my engineering class. I know how these wells worked and how they were designed to never stop gushing, but someone has tampered with them and their Dunamis Seal has dried and cracked. They cannot hold the correct level of pressure any longer.”
As I said, these wells represent past revivals, outpourings of Holy Spirit. The dunamis seal pictures His work of regeneration in us. Dunamis is the Greek word for power, the power we receive when Holy Spirit fills us (Acts 1:8). Holy Spirit “seals” us, as a King would seal something with his ring, marking it as His. Ephesians 1:13 says: “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise.”
The dunamis seals on these wells were dry and cracking. This is showing us that what God did in the past - the wells that once were filled with power and gushing with Holy Spirit’s oil had now dried up, making them inoperable, orphaned. No honest believer can deny that this is an accurate picture of the American church. We have our “forms” of godliness but no power (see 2 Timothy 3:5). It is possible to be so good at what we do that we have a “name (reputation) that we’re alive” but be spiritually dead (Revelation 3:2).
FULTON STREET WELL
Dutch pulled a handkerchief from his right rear pants pocket. As we walked up to one of the wells deep into the field, an old well, he began to wipe off an engraved plate on it. As he was doing so, he began to read from the engraved plate. I could see Dutch’s facial expression begin to change. It was one of excitement, yet also mixed with sadness. This engraved plate read, “Fulton Street Well.” Right under it was written “Dutch, don’t throw in the towel! Prime me with mayim.”
The Fulton Street revival was a prayer revival in 1857, led by Jeremiah Lanphier, which began in New York and spread across the nation. The prayer times were held from noon till 1:00 PM daily so that people could come from work during their lunch hour. These prayer meetings grew to 10,000 people daily in New York alone. The prayer led to a full-blown revival across the country, with estimates of at least 1 million people being saved.
Mayim is the Hebrew word for water. The plate said, “prime me with mayim.” This no doubt symbolizes the river of life. John 7:37-39 says, “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone is thirsty let him come to Me and drink. The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He said in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
The verb tenses in these verses are very important. They are commands, not invitations, and continuous in action. Literally, Jesus told us we must continuously come to him and keep drinking. If we do so, the river of life will continually flow from us. Obviously, if we do not continually drink from Him, the water will dry up. Sadly, this is what happens with most revivals. After a while, people become satisfied and stop drinking. The movement begins to dry up, as is pictured by this well. The dream is telling us we must prime the well with Holy Spirit water, mayim.
I could see that Dutch was taken back by this. His countenance changed into one that revealed intense thinking and consideration. Dutch turned to me and said, “Give it to me! IT’S TIME!” (As he said this we could see an angel approaching us from the distance.) I reached into a bag I was carrying over my shoulder, pulled out a small bottle, shaped like a lion’s head, labeled “MAYIM FOR PRIMING.”
I gave it to Dutch. He poured it over the primer seal of the well that was now dry-rotted. I remember thinking to myself in the dream, “This is not the way you prime a pump. You have to pour it in the primer.”
Dutch then turned to me and said, “By the way, you don’t prime a well of revival the same way you try to maintain religion. Revival is in the seal. It creates the natural pressure that causes a gusher!”
Religion tries to “prime the pump” of revival by hype, sensationalism, man-made programs and methods. In the dream, Holy Spirit tells us “revival is in the seal.” The same Holy Spirit who filled and sealed us when we were born again, must be the one who fills us daily with His dunamis power/the river.
Our plans and methods will never produce revival. We must have a genuine outpouring of Holy Spirit. He knows how to open the clogged and abandoned wells, releasing the river of life to flow from our innermost beings which, incidentally, in the Greek text is a word that literally means “womb” (koilia). The life He has given us is meant to be reproduced, flowing from us to others. We are Christ’s womb on earth.
Instantly, the pump mechanism on the well began to move. It groaned deeply as it did so, like an old engine that has not been turned over in years does when one tries to start it. We could hear the water beginning to make its way up the pipe that was in the ground. Dutch said to me, “THIS IS IT! IT’S HAPPENING!”
God is opening past wells of revival and sending a synergistic expression of them to the earth. In the dream, the first well He reopened was a prayer revival. This has occurred and is continuing, making possible the reopening of the other wells. We will look at those wells and more of the dream tomorrow.
Pray with me:
Father, we thank You once again for Your grace and mercy. You are very aware of our frailties and tendencies – where would be we be without Your sufficient grace?! We thank You for the cross, where Christ so wonderfully redeemed us from the curse and from our separation from You. We also thank You for Holy Spirit and the work He does. Thank You for the times in history He has been poured out in exceptional ways.
We have heard you say You are coming to do this again. Your passion for those who don’t know You is unmeasurable and unrivaled. You love them with a love that could never be matched by a human.
Thank You for the well of prayer that You reopened 25 or more years ago. The prayer revival was tremendous and continues. Thank You for resurrecting the Appeal to Heaven flag and movement. It still works.
And now we ask You to pour out the rain of revival - mayim. Release the river of life. Seal us with your dunamis power once again and cause our wombs to gush forth with the life of Your Spirit. May a billion souls drink from this river in the coming days, months, and years. We ask this in the name of our Savior, Creator, and Lord of all the earth, Jesus. Amen.
Our decree:
America shall be saved, and will fulfill her role in the great harvest of the ages!
Click on the the link below to watch the full prayer.