Ezekiel 37

New International Version

The Valley of Dry Bones

1 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. ² He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. ³ He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

⁴ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! ⁵ This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath^[a] enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶ I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

¹¹ Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. ¹³ Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. ¹⁴ I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”

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The hunger and thirst for God always result in God turning up and transforming individuals and communities. The Welsh Revival is a prime example of how God’s manifest presence touched people’s lives in such a manner that it could only be attributed to His presence. Meetings would go on evening after evening and last until early morning every day.
Like Evan Roberts, a spirit of prayer must grip us and transform us into points of fire that ignite the flames of revival.

Psalm 8^[a]

For the director of music. According to gittith.^[b] A psalm of David.

¹ Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
    in the heavens.
² Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.
³ When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
⁴ what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?^[c]

⁵ You have made them^[d] a little lower than the angels^[e]
    and crowned them^[f] with glory and honor.
⁶ You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their^[g] feet:
⁷ all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
⁸ the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.

⁹ Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

If ever there was an insight into how much God values us, this Psalm by David gives us a clue as to how much the Father loves us and has endowed us with much responsibility and crowned us with glory and honor for His own sake. Indeed, Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have made us rulers yet we still do not grasp the authority you gave us and the dominion. May your Holy Spirit rekindle the fire that spurs us to take our place that you restored through the sacrifice of your son, Jesus. Thy Kingdom come and Thy will be done! Amen!

Luke 15:17 NIV17
“When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

If ever there was a more astounding yet incredible description of God’s character as a father it is this one. One can read it a thousand times over and still not understand how deep the fathers love is for us. How many times have we sung songs that describe God as being far away, or up there somewhere, or hidden, yet this one account by The Son demolishes all our preconceived ideas of God’s behavior. Indeed we are told of how heaven drops everything to rejoice when a sinner returns home and accepts the redemption available in the work of the cross.

I cannot help to think that God seeing us from afar does not wait for us to draw near but literally runs towards us even before we are close to Him. In the Old Testament we see admonitions to seek His face. After the veil is torn by the work of the cross we see an admonition to open the door to allow Him in.How then can we in all earnest sing Pass, me not O gentle Saviour,Hear my humble cry.While on others Thou art calling,Do not pass me by?when He said “I will never leave you, nor forsake you”? Much as the writer meant well and the following verses elaborate further, it brings about a state in our minds that has us declaring that the Saviour is away from us and regularly calls, so as He calls on others He should not pass us by. He promised that He would not leave us as orphans but would send us a helper to always be with us and remind us of His presence and empower us to do His will and triumph over the world, sin and even death.

On the day of Penetcost the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that was promised was accompanied by a manifestation of God’s presence. The physical sound of a rushing wind. What appeared to be tongues of fire descending upon each one’s head. The speaking of languages that other people hearing could understand, and for the most part praising God. In modern days God has manifested Himself in locations with accompanying phenomena including buildings actually shaking. It is indeed a wonder that the power that is every atom and molecule and electron and matter or energy in the universe will make the decision to manifest itself in one location. (28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[a] As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring. – Acts 17:28 NIV)Moses was told that no flesh could see Him and live. The paradox is that He asks the people to seek His face. And then we come to the account of a Father seeking us and running out to meet us from afar.

I refuse to believe that God is somehow so far off and so distant and that He somehow needs some manipulation or preparation or convincing to be among us. We are compelled to do but one thing and that is to believe His word and act on it. Instead of trying to prepare the table for the Father and Son to come and dine before we open the door why not open it first and let Him in? He has sanctified us by the blood and baptized us with His fire. Where there was once judgement and ruin there is reconciliation and restoration.

Every revival account is one of repentance accompanying the presence of God and every encounter we see in the Bible from Elijah, Isaiah and Daniel to John in the Revelation shows how our persons realize how weak and helpless and unclean we are in the presence of His goodness and power.It is thus clear that we cannot claim God’s manifest presence unless it is accompanied by transformation and not just goosebumps. Miracles, signs and wonders follow but they are not the drivers of the encounter…it is that incredible deep sense of love and belonging and desire to be closer to Him that bring it about and I am convinced it is HE that starts it when HE runs towards us.

We may be seeking Him earnestly and shall be rewarded for it (“Ask and you shall receive, Seek and you shall find”) but the encounter is more fruitful and satisfying when driven by His Holy Spirit showing us a mighty God so in love with us that He forsakes His throne for a cross. When we see our Father running towards us we realize how far we have kept Him away from our lives, even as we feel we are doing our best to do His will and be good children. I do not believe God is displeased with us or trying to play hide and seek. He is standing right there in front of us and we are just not able to see.

As the Holy Spirit prompts you into even more fervent prayer in this season willingly go with Him in that journey, for it is God in you speaking forth the things that are not and connecting you even closer with the love of God in Christ Jesus. Pray in the Spirit and pray in earnest. Do not take lightly the gentle waking in the late hours…I have consistently found myself being woken up at 3:00am in the middle of the night and at 5:00am. In the next few weeks the thirst for prayer will increase and many will start having dreams and visions. Some already have started. Your Father is running towards you. Hold your arms open wide. Be blessed and be a blessing!