Let the Fire Fall

By Steve Harbin

It all began on a Sunday in 1992. It was not just any Sunday. This was a Sunday when an encounter with God would radically change the life of a couple from Tennessee. What they thought was a vacation in Puerto Rico turned out to be more than they expected. The encounter, so dramatic, affected their relationship with God, each other, and everyone else they came in contact with. It was the day the fire fell. In this dynamic book, you will find yourself in pursuit of the keys, which open the door to personal revival. You will discover God's process for keeping the revival fires burning. There is hope for every believer who has moved away from God. You will discover you can return. God can use you again. God wants to rain down fire from heaven. A sin purging, life purifying, spirit-induced fire. The kind of fire that burns away a shallow spirit of religion permeating many areas of today's churches. This book will ignite a spark in you for an unprecedented movement of God in your life. Fasten your seat belts, the fire is about to fall!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 11, 2019
• ISBN: 9781644713327

Book preview

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Let the Fire Fall

Prepare Your Heart for an Unprecedented Movement of God

Steve Harbin

ISBN 978-1-64471-331-0 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64471-332-7 (Digital)

Copyright © 2019 Steve Harbin

All rights reserved

First Edition

Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. Other Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, Authorized King James Version (KJV). Public domain. Zondervan

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books, Inc.

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Acknowledgments

This book actually began in my heart several years ago. The passion for revival fire to ignite God’s people has burned considerably longer. It consumes me. Every fiber, every ounce of energy, every waking moment is consumed by the fire within. Although the enemy has used a variety of elements, situations, and people to weaken or suppress the fire, it still rages. This is heaven-sent fire that is ignited by the breath of God.

As you make your way through the pages of this book, my prayer is that you will become red-hot in your pursuit of him—the One who ignites the fire. He has pursued you for a very long time. It is time for you to pursue him. He wants you to seek him.

A special thanks is due to those who helped with this project. Joann Dick, who tirelessly transcribed audio tapes so we could put the material into book form; Sandy McElfresh who read and re-read the manuscript; Tom (Sandy’s better half), who put up with all of the time she gave to this project and ministry; Mary Wright for the final editing, encouragement to keep at it before it went to the publishers; others, who I cannot mention by name, who provided the financial resources for this project. To all, thank you.

My heartfelt gratitude goes to the board of Directors for Walking With God Ministries. These godly church leaders have been super in their encouragement to get this book into the churches—a special thanks to each of them. These individuals have made serious sacrificial commitments to this ministry and to the cause of revival.

I want to thank a special friend who has been my life’s partner for over fifty-one years. God has certainly blessed me with a wife and friend who exemplifies Christ more than any person I know. Thank you, sweetheart, for your encouragement. I love you and cherish each moment God has given us.

Introduction

Since 1992, I have been fascinated by how the Welsh Revivals may have an influence on the modern revival movement today. There are many similarities between what God accomplished in Wales and what he is doing in many small towns, cities, and communities in America today.

During the years 1904 and 1905, the small country of Wales experienced a power and movement of God like never before in its history. This mighty outpouring of God has been dubbed the Welsh Revivals. God launched these revivals primarily through the heart of a young man barely out of his teens. At the age of twenty-six, Evan Roberts, a coal-miner, received a commission and message from God concerting the state of the church. He went to his pastor and sought an opportunity to share this burden that God placed on his heart. Reluctantly, his pastor agreed that he could share his message, but only after the prayer meeting concluded, and only if a sufficient number remained afterward to hear him preach. This message so burdened his heart that it brought him out of the coal mines and put him in the pulpit. During the next two years, Evan Roberts preached basically the same message he delivered that first time to his church. God used this layman-turned-preacher to spark a revival that would turn a country totally upside down.

Many believed the Welsh Revivals were influenced to some degree by the revivals that broke out in New Zealand in 1902. However, the significance of the Welsh Revivals far outweighed what had occurred in New Zealand. God used the Welsh Revivals to turn the hearts of an entire nation to him. The impact of these revivals was seen in the dramatic occurrences of God’s spirit in the daily life of the church and community.

The Welsh Outpouring

Ultimately, the outpouring of God in the Welsh Revivals was believed to have spread to England (1904), Korea (1905), Manchuria, (1906) and the United States (1906–1908), influencing revivals in each of those locations. Los Angeles would be the site of a great revival called the Azusa Street Revivals (1906), which gave rise to modern Pentecostalism. A mighty outpouring of God’s Spirit would occur in Hendersonville, Tennessee (1908), where the banks of the Cumberland River, literally thousands of people were slain or Spirit-filled at one time. They were seen lying in the grass along the Cumberland for hours. All of these events were influenced in some way by a 26–year old Welshman, who had a burning passion for revival in his native country. Evan Roberts had a very simple message that he preached in every place he went. His message centered on four tenets that a person had to embrace to be made right with God.

The Four Tenets of Revival

¹

1. Confess Every Known Sin

It does not matter whether or not you agree that something is a sin. If God lays it on the heart, it must be confessed. This is perhaps the greatest temptation confronting the church today. Churches and pastors are encourages, and in some cases intimidated, to allow the world to dictate the definition of sin, instead of embracing the Word of God.

2. No Cloud of Separation Between the Christian and God

If there is anything in your life—whether it is a relationship with your spouse, with a friend, with a neighbor, with a business associate, whatever—let there be no cloud between you and God. You must forgive others. Jesus said that if you are unable to forgive others, God is unable to forgive you. Doubtful habits must be laid aside. If an individual does not know whether or not his or her habits bring glory to God, then these habits must be confessed and laid aside. If something is not right between the individual and God, revival is hindered.

3. Obey the Holy Spirit Promptly

Perhaps you need to go to some other person and make the relationship right, walk the aisle, and make a public confession of faith—whatever God says must be done, it must be done immediately when the Holy Spirit prompts you.

4. Confess Jesus Publicly

There can be no real conversion, there can be no real transformation, unless Jesus is confessed publicly. Too many people are trying to possess all the benefits of God’s blessing, while at the same time, trying to hide their candle under a basket. It cannot be done!

The Welsh Revivals, though short-lived, had a dramatic impact on an entire nation—and beyond. My desire is for God to do it again. In our time, and in our day, I pray for a mighty movement of God upon his church. It is up to us to prepare the way.

It is Coming. Yeah, God!

Since 1994, the passion for revival has been burning in my spirit. Daily, I cry out to God for his spirit to fall upon the church and change her, to change me. I have beckoned him to return his glory to his bride and to purify her. I believe God is going to pour out his spirit upon the church and revive her. I believe that he who required a virgin to birth his Son will require a virgin bride for his Son’s return.

Each year, the passion for the fires of revival burns more deeply. Every waking moment of each day is spent contemplating the cause of revival. I find myself praying with even more urgency, Lord, let the fire fall.

A few years ago, I received a message from God concerning the cause of revival. God ministered to my spirit and revealed that over the next few years, he would give me keys that will unlock the door to revival. Time was needed for each key to lodge in my heart and for God to grow me more into the revivalist he wanted me to become. Each year, God has been placing significant scripture verses in my life, which reflect his requirements for true revival. Each of these verses has significant connections to my heart and to the cause of revival.

Six Revival Keys

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Key 1: Hosea 10:12

The first of these keys came to me on January 1, 1994. God said out of the pages of his Word, Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you (Hosea 10:12).

The fallow ground must be plowed to allow the seed of God’s Word to find a resting place in which to grow. For the next two years, this verse became the clarion call of Walking With God Ministries in the cause of revival.

Key 2: Isaiah 35:8

On January 1, 1996, God gave me the second key. God’s Word said, …a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it (Isa. 35:8).

The message of holiness was added to the clarion call of revival and the ministry that God placed on my life. Oswald Chambers reinforces this concept, We must continually remind ourselves of the purpose of life. We are not destined for happiness, nor for health, but to holiness.³ Holiness is absolute purity in our walk before the Lord. It is the only way that God can be established in my life.

Key 3: Psalm 24:3–4

On January 1, 1997, God revealed the third key to my Spirit. He said, Steve, I want you to read and commit to memory Psalm 24:3–4. This is the Word God gives, Who may ascend to the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.

Through this Psalm, God spoke to me about devotion. He said I am not to be devoted to a cause, but to a person (1 Cor. 2:2). If I become more devoted to the cause of revival, rather than to the Author of revival, that cause will likely become an idol. He said, Clean hands…pure heart…no idols.

Key 4: Acts 3:19

On January 1, 1998, the Word of the Lord came to me and said, Herein lies the fourth key to revival in the church in your day. The key, in Acts 3:19, calls us to repent, then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

The preaching of repentance⁴ awakens an intense resentment in people, because it reveals impurities, characteristics, and lifestyles that must be confessed, and from which each person must turn. It requires a forgiveness and cleansing that only God can give. It means that when we turn away from sin, we walk in holiness before God. It calls for the exposure of the hidden things in a person’s life. Is there a thought in my heart about anyone or anything that has gone unconfessed? It must be confessed, repented of, and forgiven.

Key 5: Habakkuk 3:2

On January 1, 1999, God placed the following verse in my life as the fifth key to the cause of revival. It is a verse that has become my prayer daily, Lord, I have heard of your fame. I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy (Hab. 3:2).

Key 6: 2 Chronicles 7:14

On January 1, 2000, God placed a sixth key in my heart. You are as familiar with this verse as I am. Let’s take a brief look at it, If My people who are called by My Name will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chron. 7:14)

This is more than simply a revival scripture verse. This is the key that enables you and me to encounter God. We have been given a personal invitation to seek the face of God. Just think, because of the blood of Jesus, you and I can look into his face. We no longer have to simply seek his provision (his hand). We can have him! So the last key says, Seek the face of God, not just his provision.

The message of revival has taken shape.⁵ God has revealed in stages what the church must do and become if he is to bring about a holy visitation among his people. (1) Fallow ground must be broken and prepared. (2) The highway of holiness must be built to the believer who wants to walk in the presence of God. (3) Confession and cleansing must replace ceremony and ritual, if God is to visit his people. (4) True repentance must replace arrogance and pride in the church. God still hates sin, regardless of its size. (5) We must believe that what God has done in the past and in other places, he will do in our time. We must make his name famous in the land. (6) True heaven-sent revival fire comes when we seek him. Revival is more than seeking an experience. It is going for God! Take that journey with me.

These keys form the basis for the cause of revival. It is my prayer that the fire will fall upon you and your church. I pray that God will give to you a holy visitation; that his manifest presence will be so real, people will line up by the thousands to see what God is doing. Let the fire fall!

Additional Reading:

Mark Gebbart, Everywhere Your Foot Shall Tread (Attack Lambs)

Bruce Wilkinson, Prayer of Jabez

Fuchsia Pickett, the Next Move of God

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¹ Consult Revival by Richard Owen Roberts, and World Aflame by Rick Joyner for additional information on the Four Tenants of the Welsh Revival.

² I