Prayer that births an awakening

Posted on April 28, 2024 by williamrporter

There are many kinds of prayer and many reasons to pray. The privilege of our relationship with God through Jesus gives us access to a great realm of prayer and worship – from the tears of confession to the ecstatic songs of praise, and from the quietness of listening to the fervency of intercession. 

Amidst this rich variety there is the kind of prayer that births something. Or in other words God stirs people to a degree of prayer that partners with heaven to cause new things to come to birth. We may think in the bible of Hannah crying to God literally for a child, or of Elijah kneeling on Mount Carmel praying in the rain, or of the disciples in the upper room before Pentecost, gripped by a promise of the coming of the Spirit.

People are led by God into this kind of prayer for a reason and for a season. The reason is that God is about to do something new; the season is the time just before the new emerges. In evangelical piety, this has been called travailing prayer, I prefer to call it birthing prayer. It is not just about the groans, it is more about what it is producing or preparing for.

We have heard of Christian brothers and sisters having a burden in prayer: something about which they feel strongly or intensely enough to pray in a dedicated way. Travailing or birthing prayer is not really about our burdens but about sharing the burden of the Holy Spirit. The preacher C H Spurgeon is quoted as saying: “Whenever God determines to do a great work, He first sets his people to pray.” This is particularly true of times of revival and spiritual awakening. These are seasons of heightened spiritual activity, where the church is reformed and renewed, where heaven comes close to earth, where people are confronted by their spiritual state, and where many come to a living faith in Jesus. 

We are not normally ready for such times, and so God draws his people into a place of hungering, thirsting, yearning and great openness to the Spirit, to prepare us for what he is about to do. If you search through Christian history books you commonly find a few people or even many people entering into the labour pains of prayer for revival, just before it is about to irrupt in a place or amongst a community.

I have been impressed recently about the story of the early Pentecostal revival in Azusa Street, Los Angeles in 1906. One of the leaders, Frank Bartleman kept a memoir of those heady days. He remarked how a spirit of prayer came upon groups of Christians in the fifteen months before the outbreak of the Spirit. He called it soul travail; there were times when he would groan and roll under the burden of prayer. To quote him: “prayer was not formal in those days. It was God breathed. It came upon us, and overwhelmed us. We didn’t not work it up. We were gripped with real soul travail by the Spirit that could no more be shaken off than could the birth-pangs of a woman in travail, without doing absolute violence to the Spirit of God.” (Frank Bartleman. The Azusa Street Revival: Eyewitness account. Revival School, 2008, p32). 

You could confirm this by other stories, from the deep intercession of the early Moravians on the land of Count Zinzendorf in Germany in 1727, or the great spontaneous prayer gatherings in New York in 1857, or the tide of deep confession and united prayer of the young Korean church in 1907.

What then is birthing prayer like and how can you know if you are caught up in such a spirit of prayer? Let me say what is is not. It is not forced, and you cannot manufacture it. It is not about noise even though you may be deeply moved. It is not a badge of superiority, although not many are called into this. 

In contrast here are some marks of birthing and travailing prayer: you know something is about to happen; you are stirred with expectancy in prayer. You have a greater level of faith, in that you are gripped by a promise God has made for a fresh work of the Spirit. It could be a bible passage brought to vivid life or a prophetic word that is alive. You are empowered in your natural weakness in prayer by the Spirit; you find yourself caught up in a wave of intercession or season of calling upon God in a way that is unusual. You find others in a place of powerful agreement, where intercessors and leaders realise you can combine your faith and desire for God. You persevere until completion; you pray until the breakthrough comes, or until the Spirit assures you that the answer is on its way. 

I would say that birthing and travailing prayer is happening all over Europe right now. Amongst student groups stirred by the recent Asbury awakening; amongst seasoned intercessors, catching a new wave of faith for revival as the church stirs itself to fresh mission; amongst houses of prayer, finding a new sensitivity to the presence of the Spirit in worship and new zeal to prepare the way of the Lord in prayer walking their cities. It is dispersed and unorganised, but it is building. The greater the spiritual awakening on the horizon, the greater the spirit of prayer that will rise amongst God’s people. I feel that spirit of prayer and that burden for revival as I visit cities in Europe and walk with the cross.

And in awakening times, there is a genuine birthing – of a heaven sent move of the Spirit, of souls saved, of fresh leaders being forged, of a renewed church rising up, of a new day of kingdom opportunity. 

May Jesus lead us into receiving the prayer burdens of the Spirit for our world, into a deeper spirit of prayer, and into the kind of prayer that births an awakening across our continent. 

God bless you.

William

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Why walk and pray with the cross?

Posted on March 18, 2024 by williamrporter

I have had the unusual privilege of prayer walking with a large cross at different times the last few years. It has never on my mind or on my radar to do this, but I have felt led by the Lord to walk at particular and important moments. I walked from the Midlands to London to pray for an end to the Brexit turmoil in the UK. I walked in every city of England near the end of the pandemic to pray for grace, blessing and glory. 

Now, as I am planning to prayer walk with the cross in all capital cities of Europe, I have felt the burden to pray for revival and spiritual awakening across the continent. 

I have felt many things in the public walking with a cross: I have felt very moved, sometimes close to God, often very unworthy, certainly quite exposed, and many times have been aware that I must appear rather an odd figure. And I have been asking God  yet again ‘why the cross this time Lord? What is the significance of prayer walking with the cross in our continent?’ 

I sense this prayer mission is about a cluster of things from a heavenly perspective:

– It is heralding salvation time. Walking with the cross signifies the shed blood of Jesus for the people of Europe. Revelation 5 reminds us that Jesus is the Lion and the Lamb, the one who purchased people from every tribe. God is coming to Europe with great grace, when we least deserve it.  

– It is putting the cross at the heart of the cities. These prayer walks are signifying something about the simple message of the cross as the answer to the needs of all people. 1 Corinthians 2v2 testifies that the church offers the gospel of Christ crucified to our world. The message of the gospel must become central again for Europe. 

– It is coming in the opposite spirit to the powers that be. The cross has historically in Europe lifted up to highlight empire, control and Christendom. Yet it is precisely the weakness of the cross which  triumphs over principalities and powers in Colossians 2v14. Jesus shows the power of love and sacrifice in dealing with the deeply entrenched areas of sin and evil.

– It is calling the church to live as crucified and raised with Christ. As many believers pay a high price for their faith around the world, this could be a season for the church in Europe to freshly identify with the cost of discipleship and to live in the power of the Spirit. In Luke 9v24 Jesus calls us back to the radical nature of losing our lives to find them, and to a quality of discipleship that challenges the world.

– It is marking the cities for revival in the heavenly places. Walking with the cross is a prophetic act, a powerful sign to the principalities and powers. Just as a priest or bishop might sign someone with the sign of the cross as a symbol of grace and blessing, we will sign the centre of each city with the sign of the cross as we walk. Joshua was promised every place where he placed his feet in Joshua 1v3. We are marking the capitals of Europe for revival and awakening, a sign that God is about to move in power and grace in all these countries.

I am not necessarily going to share all these things as I walk and pray with the cross, nor have them emblazoned on my jacket! However they will help form the praying and spiritual motivation of myself and friends who walk with me. 

The symbol of the cross is beautiful and deeply profound. Please pray with me that walking and praying in this way will achieve all that God wants it to achieve, and in his timing. All I can do is walk and let God use it as he wills. May the cross in Europe herald salvation time, may the gospel become central to our continent, may love win over evil, may the church live cross shaped lives, and may the capital cities be marked for revival.

Thanks for reading 🙂

William

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A spiritual awakening for Europe?

Posted on February 25, 2024 by williamrporter
Photo by Jordan Wozniak - Unsplash

I believe a great spiritual awakening is about to come to the continent of Europe. The precursor signs are all around:  thousands of young evangelists being trained for the streets of cities. Multiple large stadium worship and witness events bringing a dynamic presentation of the gospel to thousands. Groups of students in universities on their knees travailing for revival. Amongst the wasteland of dying churches, myriad fresh church plants and disciple-making initiatives springing up. Healing and miracle Holy Spirit services stirring faith and meeting the needs of hungry and needy people. A hardness of spiritual atmosphere shifting to a profound openness and questioning of life. Mercy ministries reaching out to refugees, who are greatly welcomed by those showing the hands and feet of Jesus. The soil of hearts in war torn countries receptive to the hope of the cross, and believers from nations in hatred to their neighbour finding keys of forgiveness to unlock the present from the past. 

There is something going on in Europe that is unlikely yet not wholly unexpected. The church is starting to arise and find her courage. Of course there are areas of division, decay, compromise and still much to repent from. Yet the body of Christ in many places is stirring to new life. And this in the middle of populations supposed to be post-or even anti-Christian, yet who are in reality weary and disillusioned of philosophies and worldviews wholly devoid of answers to the ultimate meaning of life. There are great cracks appearing in our secular age, wide open to the grace of God. 

Revivals have been part of our church’s great story over the years. Sometimes short lived and sporadic, they have been examples of the more dramatic episodes of the in-breaking of the kingdom of God through history. The spiritual trajectories of communities have been wholly altered through them, church streams born, revolutions avoided, the Christianising of nations sparked through them. Revivals – the mysterious and cathartic moving of the Spirit of God amongst groups of people. 

Yet there have been even deeper and more history shaping times called Great Awakenings. This is when the reviving work of the Spirit has been more widespread and longer term, bridging continents, spawning spiritual movements, stirring a new missionary  force, and sometimes creating spontaneous combustion in various hitherto unrelated places. The Great Awakening of the 18th century – with Wesley, Whitefield and Edwards, spanning the Americas and mainland Europe, for over sixty years – was one. The worldwide Pentecostal move of the early 20th century – with Seymour, Semple McPherson, Jeffries and Wigglesworth some early pioneering figures, sparked in the USA from Wales, and quickly touching South America, Africa, Europe and South Asia, with a growing spread over 80 years – was another. 

What made these awakenings great? Partly the scale, of sheer numbers of people converted and churches touched. Partly the depth, with the new birth and warmed heart of the early Evangelicals; and the baptism of the Spirit to empower evangelism in the early Pentecostals. Partly the reach, both becoming something trans local and supra-cultural. Partly the energy, more like a wildfire than a tended bonfire. In each the context was a bigger cultural moment, in the 18th century the Industrial Revolution, and in the 20th the emergence of globalization of trade and finance. 

I believe they are also termed great because of what came after. The 18th century awakening  fuelled the great Evangelical missionary force, taking the gospel to all corners of the world. The 20th century awakening unleashed waves of spiritual renewal amidst and around two world wars and the Cold War. 

A coming Great Awakening may well have an even larger scale, depth, reach, energy and effect than its precursors. Church decline has largely bottomed out and Christians have been discovering a fresh confidence in the gospel, lighting a torch again of hope in an hopeless world. Stratas of society all across Europe, regardless of age, are spiritually tinder dry and potentially very combustible for good or ill. Regional conflicts and a shifting of global alliances out of pandemic times, amidst crumbling social values and an always on digital news age, is creating widespread anxiety termed the age of panic. The energy waves from the vibrancy of the Majority World church, and the surprising upsurgence of gospel movements amongst hitherto  resistant Muslim and Asian countries, are starting to lap onto the shores of Europe, even as people migration increases.

God is up to something and we have to wake up to it, even as Jesus’ return draws closer. We are on the cusp of something fresh of God. We don’t know exactly which way it will go. It could be dramatic, it could rock the institutioal church to her foundations and cause a great metanoia turning around. Yet, knowing the power of previous awakenings, sometime soon – the breath of the Spirit will come like a might force, God’s people will find inner renewal, atmospheres will shift, multitudes will be presented with the love of Jesus, gospel movements will start to go viral, and the Christian faith will be re-engaged with as public truth. I wonder at what point will we stand to our feet and realise we are in the midst of another, maybe the last Great Awakening?

William Porter 

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Surviving tests of faith

Posted on October 13, 2023 by williamrporter
Image by Sacre-bleu (t0yPJljJWFc – Unsplash)

I haven’t written on this blog all this year; there has been much going on in life, but nothing clear enough to write. What I share here is an unusual prayer vision that happened a couple of days ago that I feel is relevant for the church.

We had been hosting a gathering of Christian prayer leaders from around the country, in our house of prayer, for a couple of days. It was during a time of extended sung worship one evening that I felt the Holy Spirit download a vivid and moving image into my mind. 

I saw Jesus, but this was no Jesus meek and mild; he looked like Hercules, with a bare top, rippling muscles and a big beard. He was pulling something, straining to pull something behind him. It looked like a rope, then I suddenly realised it was his robe, his royal robe. It was off his shoulders and Jesus was pulling the collar of his robe. Along the train of his robe were people – tiny people, people following Jesus – standing and sitting on this robe as he pulled. It seemed to be an image that represented the church as they were following the Lord. I think these represent people who loved God and were sincere in discipleship.

As I watched this vision, Jesus seemed to be pulling his robe through a gap in a wall or hedge. This gap became very small and narrow, and as Jesus continued pulling, people on this robe started falling off, tumbling off and scattering onto the grass and path. Many people fell off due to the sudden squeeze of this tight gap. Those who stayed on were either those who had wrapped themselves around in this robe or who had held on with their fingers for dear life. No one avoided this restricted gap; all either fell off or felt an intense squeeze as they were pulled through. The other side of this wall or hedge was a place of peace, calm, and the beauty of enjoying Jesus’ presence as he stopped pulling and stood amongst his people. 

This was such a bizarre prayer vision that I sat in the middle of the worship time and pondered what it could mean. The single impression I had was that the wall hedge signified offence – being offended at God. The temptation to be offended at the Lord for various reasons seemed the reason people fell off his robe. 

I think this vision speaks into tests of our faith, in particular how we stay in a place of trusting God. As I continued musing on this theme, I have thought about why we might become offended at God. From scripture there are many reasons. We can be offended by delay, when God doesn’t answer our prayers in the timing we like. Jesus said ‘when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?’ (Luke 18v8). We can be offended by his word, when following his commands goes against the grain of our preferences. The prophet Isaiah’s contemporaries wanted pleasing prophetic words; they told him to: ‘stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!’ (Isaiah 30v11). We can be offended by disappointment, where our lives or spiritual journeys haven’t turned out the way we would have liked. God spoke to his people saying ‘Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel,“My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”? (Isaiah 40v27).

We can be offended by God’s judgments, if we become scandalised by who he raises up and casts down, in local contexts and global issues. The prophet Habakkuk was appalled at how God was using wicked nations to come against Israel: ‘Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?’ (Habakkuk 1v13). We can be offended by the challenge of the gospel, for the cross is an uncompromising message, which chafes against our soul-ish tendencies. In John’s gospel, Jesus was teaching about deep spiritual truths, and it caused a stir: ‘Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!’ (John 6v61-62).

We can be offended by suffering, and feel hard done by in God’s ways of working his purposes in our lives. Job was worn out by his suffering and loudly voiced his complaints to God: “I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul. I say to God: Do not declare me guilty, but tell me what charges you have against me.’ (Job 10v1-2). We can be offended by the way God moves by the Holy Spirit; if the revival we long for looks very different from what we had hoped. John the Baptist, the forthright forerunner of Jesus had later doubts about the Messiah: ‘he sent his disciples  to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” (John 11v2-3). You may think of other reasons for becoming offended at the Lord.

The takeaway from this vision for me were three things.

Firstly, in the coming years of life and discipleship, all of God’s people will be tested in some way by the wall of offence. Becoming offended by God doesn’t necessarily mean we lose faith, just that we tumble in a way that brings damage or disruption to our closeness and journey of following him. Even those who navigate this test will be squeezed and feel the pressure of this temptation. 

Secondly, the only was of surviving and passing this test from this vision was to be enfolded by or be holding onto Jesus’ robe. This speaks to me of either a stance of our worship and trust, or of our persistent pursuit of Jesus and being close to him. Becoming wrapped in his cloak through intimate, trusting, worshipful lifestyle will help us through the coming years of being tested. Also becoming tenacious in holding on to our faith in God’s goodness despite all contrary evidence, through focused discipleship and obeying his word, will help us survive the squeeze of misunderstanding the Lord, his heart and intentions.

Thirdly, Jesus was trying to pull us through this wall of offence. His deep desire seemed to be to bring as many through a testing time as possible, although he wouldn’t stop pulling despite the squeeze. It is as though the Lord was willing us to pass this testing time, but would use it to prune and refine his church.

It reminded me of two profound bible verses from Isaiah the prophet. In Isaiah 59v17 it says of God that ”he wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak’. In Isaiah 63v1 it describes the Lord as ‘robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength’. These are both references to God exercising his work of salvation, judgment and cosmic redemptive purposes in the earth. I think this vision speaks of a future more intense time, possibly the increasing of global shaking and testing for the body of Christ, alongside seeing signs of his glory through revival and spiritual harvest. These will be days when our trust in God and depth of our faith will be tested.

I felt Jesus say at the end of this vision to me and to the church: do you really know and love me? Will you follow me wherever I go? Please ponder and pray over this vision and what it might say to your own life of faith and collectively to the church’s journey of discipleship in coming days.

God bless, William

Posted in Biblical insights, End Times | Tagged | 2 Comments

Looking forward to Jesus’ return

Posted on December 3, 2022 by williamrporter

I was journalling in the house of prayer on Friday.

I had just been reading a prayer pamphlet for the day. They mention that this is the time when Christians looking forward to the great hope of the second coming of Jesus – the Parousia. Yet their subsequent prayer points had nothing to do with that, but focused on the immediate, the living, blessing and serving towards Christmas.

The prayer points were great. Yet it is as though the writer didn’t know how to connect the two. We mention Jesus’ return at the start of Advent because it is part of the church’s calendar, but we don’t know how to relate it to our Christian lives. It struck me again about the great disconnect between this eschatological statement of faith and how on earth we find it relevant to our life and mission as Christians. 

What does the proclamation and longing for Jesus’ return have to do with our witness here in 2022? 

It can’t be just that, if life is difficult and dark, that in some distant, ephemeral way, God will sort things out and there will be a bright dawn at some vague future point. 

The second coming of Jesus is surely meant to have teeth for my life as a Christian, must surely be a sure anchor point of our faith. It should mean something in a joined up internal conversation for the average believer. I am certain that is God’s intent. I believe and therefore I act, I am changed, fortified, strengthened, more convinced in my faith and witness, precisely because I know that Jesus will return.

Whether near or far (and I think it is near), our belief in the Parousia speaks of a certain and hopeful future. It declares the certainty of God’s coming kingdom, of his purposeful plans, of us being in the arc of the salvation story, that has an end point. It adds fuel to our prayers, gives a spring in our step, even joy in our work and service. I do not live in isolation, or in a meaningless universe, but in a great story of divine saving love, that is going somewhere, and that I am caught up in. 

We say in churches this great statement: ‘Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.’

The start of Advent causes us to stop and think about this coming. Belief in Jesus’ return is not some theological iceberg or floe that has somehow broken off and become separated from the continent of faith, but is part of the great land mass of the Christian story, a story of promise and fulfilment. Jesus’ first and second coming are intrinsically and vitally linked, and this faith causes a healthy tension in our daily life, and a pull in our spirit towards a glorious kingdom that is fast approaching. The church lives from this certain hope and works towards this great and glorious day, when Jesus comes as our victorious king to save and liberate the world from its bondage to sin and evil.

As the apostle Peter encourages us, let us ‘look forward to the day of God and speed it’s coming.’ (2 Peter 3v12 NIV). Amen, come Lord Jesus!

Posted in End Times, Life observations | 1 Comment

YouVersion bible devotionals on living in the End Times

Posted on March 20, 2022 by williamrporter

I am very grateful to my publishers Authentic Media for offering me the opportunity to write a short devotional series for the YouVersion bible app.

The YouVersion bible app is being used by many Christians as a help and inspiration, a place for great spiritual resources, especially suitable for Christians on the go in our mobile culture. It is a place to read, pray, share and connect with others reading the bible.

I have written a five day devotional entitled ‘living our lives in the light of Jesus’ Second Coming’. The themes are on being expectant, keeping watchful, living wisely, staying standing and being one who overcomes. The turbulent times of today are causing many people to wonder about spiritual things, and also to make thoughtful Christians dig deeper into their bibles. The question of how to live our lives ready for Jesus’ return must be one of the most critical personal issues to think through. Hopefully people will find these devotionals helpful and the bible verses really relevant for them in these days.

Maybe you would like to follow this short series through one week leading up to Easter or recommend to a friend to read. For each day there is a reading, a comment, a reflective thought and a prayer.

Check it out and let me know how it has helped you. The link to the devotional series is here:

https://www.bible.com/en-GB/reading-plans/27587-living-our-lives

Thanks for reading. God bless.

Posted in Biblical insights, End Times, Forerunner foundations | 1 Comment

What is God doing in the midst of international conflict and turmoil?

Posted on March 6, 2022 by williamrporter

We are all watching the scenes of the conflict in Ukraine with a mix of disbelief and dread. It is hard to tear our eyes away from the images of fleeing refugees and shelled cities. Lots of christians are posting prayers and comments about what might happen on social media. I have nothing to add of wisdom about what might happen in this conflict and whether it will escalate. In our house of prayer we are wrestling daily with how to pray into this unfolding tragedy. As many christians admit, we trust God but we don’t understand his ways very well. We pray for his kingdom to come; sometimes we praise him for clear signs of kingdom presence, and at other times we are more aware of the mystery of his purposes.

Instead I want to offer four brief reminders about what we know of our Trinitarian God when world affairs are very troubling.

Firstly, God is never the author of evil. He doesn’t want us to be mistaken about evil. Our world was created good by a very good Creator. Sin comes from the evil in people’s hearts. Satan is the tempter and the destroyer. Often subtle in his ways, he is always looking to stir up strife, and to empower dark desires. When systems and regimes are involved, that empowerment can be very great. God is always perfectly good in his very being. He never causes dark powers in the world, nor incites people to sin. That is the result of our fallen state and the fallen devil at work. We are children of a good, good Father, whose very goodness infuses the air of the world and underscores creation itself.

Secondly, God is very present in the midst of the mess. He doesn’t want us to feel alone. God is never absent from our world, even if we cannot see or sense where he is or what he is doing. The gospels underline that Jesus’ coming declares categorically that God is ‘Immanuel’ the One who is always with us. This means that he is in the caring for the fleeing refugees, in the strengthening of the resolve of those fighting for the good and the right, in the comforting of the grieving ones, in the outrage against injustice. He is right down in the middle of the mess and confusion, undergirding and profoundly holding a nation in pain and a world bewildered in the turmoil.

Thirdly, God will use even this in his wider purposes. He doesn’t want us to despair in dark times. God is never boxed in, and with God nothing is impossible. What God allows and what he causes are two very different things. He is remarkably able to bring good out of evil, and does so again and again. We of course do pray for miraculous intervention and that does happen; the kingdom does break in with power into our world. We can also pray for the power of love to overcome. That is sometimes a longer process. Yet, if the centre of our faith is our Lord dying on the cross, then we know that suffering love does overcome the worst of evil, and then rises from the ashes on the other side of death. Who knows what is being stirred by the Spirit right now – in faith in God, in the united front of leaders against oppression, in a generation realising what really matters of their freedom and their life meaning, in the countless acts of random kindness in wartime trouble?

God will also use human history and weave it into his salvation story, even his End Times story. We know from scripture that the closer we get to Jesus’ return, the more shaking increases and the more global trouble occurs. This turmoil on the edge of Europe could be leading us further towards tribulation. Yet there is nothing that can occur that is outside God’s ultimate control. He works in ways beyond our understanding; he is involved in both historic judgment of nations and systems that overstep their mark, and in saving and redeeming work amongst every tribe, language, people and nation.

Fourthly, God will not let our world destroy itself. He does not want us to fear the end of the world. The Hollywood fascination with Apocalypse and Armageddon is a skewed picture, it is not a biblical picture. Although the world teeters on the edge of oblivion and overwhelming evil in End Time tribulation, good is not obliterated nor the church downtrodden. In a coming darkest hour, God will step in to save the world from ourselves. Jesus will come on the clouds in great glory, to defeat evil and usher in his perfect kingdom; a King who is always interceding and working to bring light in darkness and to reconcile the world to God. The light of Christ and the love of God win, decisively, in the end.

So in the middle of an unfolding tragedy and conflict happening in front of us, let our confidence in God grow strong, and our ability to pray, serve, love and hope, in our spheres of influence, grow stronger too.

Thanks for reading. God bless you.

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Is it time to read the book of Revelation?

Posted on January 9, 2022 by williamrporter
Photo by Yosi Prihantoro on Unsplash

If you are thinking about reading the bible in some focused way this year, I would like to encourage you to read the book of Revelation in 2022. Why? Because God has given us this last book in the bible as a gift to help understand what will happen in the future. Many people shy away from reading this prophetic book because of some confusing and dramatic visions of a future apocalypse. I was like that until I decided to read through Revelation once a week for about three months (about three chapters a day) a few years ago. I found myself both absorbed in the End Time story and excited about what God was saying to us about the closing years of human history.

In particular we see three themes clearly spelled out to encourage our faith. We see the theme of majesty. The overarching picture of Revelation is that God is on his heavenly throne, fully in control of the world and cosmic events. Time and time again, angels are worshipping our Trinitarian God as the glorious king of the universe. Our hearts are caught up in this praise around the throne. Secondly we see the theme of eternity. There are dramatic events depicted on earth as evil and global shaking increase, but there is also an eternal plan revealed, a vision of a new heaven and earth, and a God who is beyond both the beginning and end of history and holding it all together. Our minds are expanded by seeing this greater perspective on history. Thirdly we see the theme of victory. Jesus returns as the rider on a heavenly horse to defeat evil, overturn the horrors of the Antichrist regime, and bring his peaceful and glorious kingdom fully on earth. The author, apostle John, was part of a persecuted church under tyrannical oppression of faith. He saw hope in his vision, hope of a better world and a God whose love overcomes all enemies. For those of us despairing of the suffering and evil in the world, this book strengthens our faith that good not evil has the last word in the story of our world. Jesus wins!

If you would like to understand the book of Revelation better, have a look at the latest X Rhythms discussion vlog I have been part of in ‘The Forerunner Cry’ series. In this 20 minute group chat we uncover some of the core issues and themes about how to read Revelation:

For more in depth understanding, you can buy my book ‘The Forerunner Cry’ and read through the detailed section on the book of Revelation. Buy through the link on this website.

As we continue to live through uncertain and shaking times, should 2022 be the year you get to grips with understanding the book of Revelation?

God bless you at the start of this year.

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New opportunities from my book project this year.

Posted on September 8, 2021 by williamrporter
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

I wrote my book on the End Times, entitled ‘The Forerunner Cry’ back in 2019. For the following ten months I had some great opportunities to share at conferences and events and in media interviews. The last ‘in person’ event I spoke at was the World Prayer Centre conference in March 2020; I share again about the themes of coming global shaking and glory, just ten days before the first national Covid lockdown. Little did I know the prescience of what I was sharing.

During the spring and summer of last year I felt inspired to write a draft of a new book about the marks of the church in the End Times. If it gets published, the themes will look at how the Lord is preparing us as his beautiful bride in the years before his return. I believe the bible foretells that all the turbulent events of crisis and the wonderful happenings of coming revival will aid this transformation in the body of Christ worldwide.

Part of the stirring of this End Time bride of Christ comes from a realisation of the times we are living in. If we think we are living in ordinary times – if we consider this global pandemic to be just a blip on an otherwise steady timeline of calm history unfolding – then we just revert to life as usual or some novel innovations of church and discipleship that continue our assumption of life as usual. If, however, we glimpse that we are living in extraordinary times – that the end of the age is not too far away, that this destabilising of the world is an early indicator of End Time shaking, and that the revealing of God’s glory is on the increase – then we start living in a more focused and prepared way, in a way that is helping to prepare the church and the world for his coming, whether it is a few years or decades away. Maybe this pandemic is a ‘wake up and smell the coffee’ moment, from an eschatological point of view.

I am grateful to have had some fresh opportunities to share about the signs of the times and the End Time message in 2021. I spoke to a group of Methodist Evangelicals, in the middle of their internal church conflict over gay marriage, as they are wrestling with what kind of church God is calling us to be in these days. I have also had the privilege of writing a series of devotional bible studies. The focus of the studies is on being ready for Jesus’ return; it for the You Version bible app which my publishers have helped with. These will hopefully reach a wide audience of christians in the context of their bible devotional reading.

Perhaps most interestingly I have had the opportunity to work with the youth radio platform X Rhythms and its producer Rejoice, in creating a young adult video discussion series about the themes of ‘The Forerunner Cry’. We recorded it in April with a group of five participants, sharing in six sessions of questions and conversation about what we think about the End Times in the light of God’s word and the world around us. The discussion was both lively and deep. The series is being released throughout this autumn on the X Rhythms. I am very excited about this because it brings these issues to a young adult audience, the very audience I felt led to aim my writing at. I will post the links to these new resources on social media, as they come live.

Young or old, I hope there are many opportunities for christians in this season, to think about the state of the world, discern the signs of the times and rise on the wind of the Spirit. In this wrestling about what the Christian faith means in this new normal, I pray that we will be those that Jesus asks us to be in Matthew 24v32 – those who see the fig tree budding and know that the summer is near, and that his coming is not far off. I trust him that he will speak to us and equip us to become his beautiful people who live well in extraordinary times.

Thanks for reading.

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Being pulled into a dry dock place

Posted on November 6, 2020 by williamrporter
‘Fishing boat on seashore’ by Viktor Forgacs on Unsplash

A second lockdown; we are all feeling it, the pain, restriction, worry, strain, uncertainty. I have not posted here these last six months. Not that I haven’t had anything to say into this situation, but there has been so much social media presence – posts, vlogs, links, words, voices, that I have been unsure of the wisdom of adding to the noise.

As a friend wisely said recently, ‘Christians are busy trying to discern what is God saying, what is God doing, is it more helpful to ask what is Jesus, the great intercessor in heaven, praying?’ And so I have spent time praying, watching, thinking and working rather than blogging.

Yet I will share something, a prayer vision that I had two weeks ago. Only because it may be relevant in considering how God is at work in his church and amongst his people in the middle of this strange and restricted time. I was meditating in prayer, and was aware of the Lord sitting quietly with me on a seashore, a place you might imagine from the gospels like the shore of Galilee. Then I sensed Jesus get up and walk down to the water’s edge. He picked up a whole line of ropes lying on the pebbles leading into the water. And He pulled on them hard and persistently. As he did so, I realised that Jesus was pulling a multitude of small boats into shore. He heaved them up and out onto the beach. With helpers, Jesus then turned each boat upside down and started examining the hulls. They were in different states of health, some were good, many were battered and in need of urgent repair. He went along inspecting the underside of every vessel, to see what attention it needed, and whether it could be made seaworthy again. Jesus seemed to talking with these angelic helpers, and proceeded to mark some boats for retirement and to be pulled further onto the beach; others to be reassigned for other duties, and others to be refitted and pushed back for new sailing adventures.

That is what I saw as I watched Jesus in this prayer vision. I sat with this picture for a long while, and felt the interpretation was about the Lord pulling us as churches, ministries and christian organisations into a ‘dry dock’ place. As you may know, a dry dock is a place for holding boats that need inspection and attention. Boats are supported and held in place as water is removed from the dock. The hulls are therefore exposed so that, what is under the water line can be seen and assessed clearly. A dry dock gives time for careful inspection of the vessel, for washing and blasting to see the damage caused by service on the high seas, and then for repairing, refitting and painting for purpose. A clear purpose in a dry dock time is to see if the boat can be made seaworthy again, more fuel efficient and long lasting, and then ready to be commissioned once more for life on the sea.

Life for God’s church is as difficult as it is for the rest of the nation, and I think it is supposed to be that way. We are all living with restriction and challenge, despite many good things taking place in virtual worship engagement, a multitude of good works, and a fresh stirring to pray. Yet I have to wonder if God is doing something deeper amongst us as his people. Is God using this time to force us to look with him at the things that are exposed by being in a dry dock? In the prayer vision, I didn’t get the impression that Jesus was asking for our permission as he hauled us out of the water, turned us ceremonially on our backs and examined the state of our hidden, more submerged life. He didn’t seem to be talking to us as he considered whether we were to be retired, reassigned or recommissioned. It felt as if we were in his hands and under his gaze, not the most comfortable of places to be. Yet the intention of his heart seemed to be to repair, refit and repurpose as many boast as he could, and that was encouraging. To anchor this biblically for a moment, this whole picture is not that dissimilar from the images of the divine potter with his clay, from the great vine and its branches, from the one with eyes of blazing fire who says, ‘I know your deeds’.

So I share this prayerfully, as many churches have a month of prayer this November. We are of course praying for the nation, for mercy and help, for favour and healing, for a future and a hope out of this pandemic. But maybe in our praying, we can also ask for Jesus to have his way with his church, and to prepare us for heaven’s use, to be more ready for the kingdom adventures; that our hearts, congregations and ministries would be more fit for purpose and fresh recommissioning, in a coming season of uncertainty yet possibly also a season of spiritual awakening across the earth.

God bless you.

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