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Revivals, Chalk Circles and Me

By Anita Mathias

From left in front, MiRae Park, 56, of Brooklyn, Jean Brohan, 60, of Ireland and Tanya Greenall, 46, of England take part in the musical prelude to Bentley’s Wednesday service. He is demonized as a false prophet in the Christian blogosphere.

I have heard of the English Evangelical Revival when at the preaching of Whitfield, miners wept, their tears making white lines on their coal-black faces.

I have heard of the 1904 revival in Wales, when the Spirit of God fell powerfully on meetings, and people forgave their enemies.

I have heard of the revival Lonnie Frisbee brought to the Vineyard, with thousands of youth spirit-filled in a day, baptizing their mates in hot-tubs and swimming pools.

I have heard of the laughing revival in Toronto.

I have heard it reached Oxford, and students walking down High Street or having tea with friends in student rooms suddenly fell silent, stooped under the heavy weight of God.

I have heard that there have been more revivals in England than in any nation on earth!

§ § §

Me? I have never seen a revival. Never seen the spirit fall en masse as at Pentecost.

But I would like to.

All the prophetic people are talking of a revival coming to the UK. I heard Heidi Baker say, “Revival is coming to the UK. Of course, it is. You know that, don’t you?  Everyone knows that.

§ § §

Ah, my eyes want to see the glory of the coming of the Lord.

                                                                                                                         § § §

Gypsy Smith, the British 20th century evangelist, preached to audiences of hundreds of thousands.

A delegation came to ask him how they could experience mass revival as he had.

And this was his reply, “Go home. Lock yourself in your room. Kneel down in the middle of the floor, and with a piece of chalk draw a circle around yourself. There, on your knees, pray fervently and brokenly that God would start a revival within that chalk circle.”

§ § §

And that is how revival will come to the UK.

When there are thousands of chalk circles drawn through this land. When thousands of people pray within them to be filled to overflowing with the spirit of God, the prayer which is always answered (Luke 11:13).

When the Spirit descends on thousands of people with power, and blows through this land like a mighty wind, sweeping through it like an overflowing stream.

I hear the winds, Lord, gaining power. I hear the first sounds of a heavy rain.

May my eyes see this glory of a great revival, oh Lord. And let it begin in me.

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Filed Under: In which I chase the wild goose of the Holy Spirit

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Comments

  1. Anita Mathias says

    September 14, 2012 at 7:43 pm

    Oh thank you, Mary, and welcome to my blog!!

  2. Mary Haskett says

    September 14, 2012 at 3:23 pm

    Oh may revival fires sweep through the whole world. I recently started a faith filled women's prayer group in my home in Canada. I will share with them the focus of your blog. We've been praying for family needs within our group, but I feel strongly we should enlarge our tent, as it were, and pray for world situations.

  3. Miss Mollie says

    September 1, 2012 at 1:09 pm

    L.A. I believe God moves in all ways. Quiet weeping may be the Spirit's move where you are. I feel this revival is going to be different than any we have seen and it is going to start in the driest church- those dry bones are going to get flesh and fresh breath blown into them, only from the Holy Spirit. So don't think we know how God is going to move, just be open to His moving. God bless and look to the Heavens.

  4. Anita Mathias says

    August 31, 2012 at 11:34 pm

    Hazel, here's some virtual chalk, and Lord, please remind me to use it!!

  5. Anita Mathias says

    August 31, 2012 at 11:32 pm

    Wow, thanks Mollie. That sounds lovely.

    Lucky you, Ursh, how exciting–I guess if I ever do, I will need to stop spectating, and abandon myself to the Spirit.

    Hi LA, yes, I too experience God best in quiet, solitary prayer. Yet sometimes, when i read or hear people like Heidi Baker or John Arnott, I feel my spiritual life is paler, flatter and more anemic than it need be. I want more. I am sure the Spirit can be experienced in solitude, yet, historically, right from Pentecost, the phenomenon of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit has always happened in community.

    Blessings on your sermon RACH, and may you and your people meet him. And P.S., I hope you find a way to blogging again at some point

  6. Hazel Flood says

    August 31, 2012 at 11:24 pm

    Thank you for this post..and pass the chalk please 🙂

  7. Rach Marszalek says

    August 31, 2012 at 7:31 pm

    Thank you, as l pray into finishing a sermon tomorrow that begins a focussed look at the Holy Spirit, this encouages me to preach some of the more challenging stuff. We are hoping for more freedom amongst the people to meet with God.

  8. LA says

    August 31, 2012 at 1:19 pm

    One of our friends' church believes that God literally moves his way around the earth and He's in China right now. Apparently it'll be a while before He makes His way 'round to y'all. :). Sorry about that…revival in the UK will have to wait until He goes through America again. LOL

    Seriously, though, I'm way too Frozen Chosen for the wildness of a revival but I get jazzed when I se others being touched by its awesom power! God comes to me in the very still times and in the quiet sharing I have with Him. I have been to those very overwhelming spirit events and I find the intense emotion puts me on complete sensory overload and it just isn't my cup'o'tea.

    But I had a lady once tell me it was because there was evil in my soul that made me want to run and hide. I needed to scream to exorcise it out. I just firmly told her no, the music was too loud and the emotion just too intense. Give me the quiet contemplation of a Taize service any day.

    Yet, isn't it absolutely wonderful that God comes to us wherever we are, whoever we are and whenever we are? He comes in the wild shouting and speaking in tongues…in the gospel preached and the people glorifying with “Amen brother/sister”…in the stillness of the contemplative chant…through the steps taken in the labyrinth…in the dark of the night as we pray before our eyes close one day and as we praise Him when our eyes open for the new day. Wherever we are…there He is.

  9. Ursh says

    August 31, 2012 at 7:14 am

    Can I just say…I so CANNOT wait for revival. I've seen it…overseas. It's messy and it doesn't fit into peoples boxes and it's colourful and beautiful and…it's God moving as He wishes. Oh my. I can't wait!

  10. Miss Mollie says

    August 31, 2012 at 1:30 am

    I had been asking for years for ladies to just pray for revival. Last month, women started trickling in to the sanctuary on Monday evening. What a sweet hour of prayer. Simple little prayers of repentance lifted up.

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anita.mathias

Writer, Blogger, Reader, Mum. Christian. Instaing Oxford, travel, gardens and healthy meals. Oxford English alum. Writing memoir. Lives in Oxford, UK

Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford # Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford #walking #tranquility #naturephotography #nature
So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And h So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And here we are at one of the world’s most famous and easily recognisable sites.
#stonehenge #travel #england #prehistoric England #family #druids
And I’ve blogged https://anitamathias.com/2020/09/13/on-not-wasting-a-desert-experience/
So, after Paul the Apostle's lightning bolt encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he went into the desert, he tells us...
And there, he received revelation, visions, and had divine encounters. The same Judean desert, where Jesus fasted for forty days before starting his active ministry. Where Moses encountered God. Where David turned from a shepherd to a leader and a King, and more, a man after God’s own heart.  Where Elijah in the throes of a nervous breakdown hears God in a gentle whisper. 
England, where I live, like most of the world is going through a desert experience of continuing partial lockdowns. Covid-19 spreads through human contact and social life, and so we must refrain from those great pleasures. We are invited to the desert, a harsh place where pruning can occur, and spiritual fruitfulness.
A plague like this has not been known for a hundred years... John Piper, after his cancer diagnosis, exhorted people, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer”—since this was the experience God permitted you to have, and He can bring gold from it. Pandemics and plagues are permitted (though not willed or desired) by a Sovereign God, and he can bring life-change out of them. 
Let us not waste this unwanted, unchosen pandemic, this opportunity for silence, solitude and reflection. Let’s not squander on endless Zoom calls—or on the internet, which, if not used wisely, will only raise anxiety levels. Let’s instead accept the invitation to increased silence and reflection
Let's use the extra free time that many of us have long coveted and which has now been given us by Covid-19 restrictions to seek the face of God. To seek revelation. To pray. 
And to work on those projects of our hearts which have been smothered by noise, busyness, and the tumult of people and parties. To nurture the fragile dreams still alive in our hearts. The long-deferred duty or vocation
So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I have totally sunk into the rhythm of it, and have got quiet, very quiet, the quietest spell of time I have had as an adult.
I like it. I will find going back to the sometimes frenetic merry-go-round of my old life rather hard. Well, I doubt I will go back to it. I will prune some activities, and generally live more intentionally and mindfully.
I have started blocking internet of my phone and laptop for longer periods of time, and that has brought a lot of internal quiet and peace.
Some of the things I have enjoyed during lockdown have been my daily long walks, and gardening. Well, and reading and working on a longer piece of work.
Here are some images from my walks.
And if you missed it, a blog about maintaining peace in the middle of the storm of a global pandemic
https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/  #walking #contemplating #beauty #oxford #pandemic
A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine. A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine.  We can maintain a mind of life and peace during this period of lockdown by being mindful of our minds, and regulating them through meditation; being mindful of our bodies and keeping them happy by exercise and yoga; and being mindful of our emotions in this uncertain time, and trusting God who remains in charge. A new blog on maintaining a mind of life and peace during lockdown https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/
In the days when one could still travel, i.e. Janu In the days when one could still travel, i.e. January 2020, which seems like another life, all four of us spent 10 days in Malta. I unplugged, and logged off social media, so here are some belated iphone photos of a day in Valetta.
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#valleta #valletamalta #travel #travelgram #uncagedbird
Images from some recent walks in Oxford. I am copi Images from some recent walks in Oxford.
I am coping with lockdown by really, really enjoying my daily 4 mile walk. By savouring the peace of wild things. By trusting that God will bring good out of this. With a bit of yoga, and weights. And by working a fair amount in my garden. And reading.
How are you doing?
#oxford #oxfordinlockdown #lockdown #walk #lockdownwalks #peace #beauty #happiness #joy #thepeaceofwildthings
Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social d Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social distancing. The first two are my own garden.  And I’ve https://anitamathias.com/2020/03/28/silver-and-gold-linings-in-the-storm-clouds-of-coronavirus/ #corona #socialdistancing #silverlinings #silence #solitude #peace
Trust: A Message of Christmas He came to earth in Trust: A Message of Christmas  He came to earth in a  splash of energy
And gentleness and humility.
That homeless baby in the barn
Would be the lynchpin on which history would ever after turn
Who would have thought it?
But perhaps those attuned to God’s way of surprises would not be surprised.
He was already at the centre of all things, connecting all things. * * *
Augustus Caesar issued a decree which brought him to Bethlehem,
The oppressions of colonialism and conquest brought the Messiah exactly where he was meant to be, the place prophesied eight hundred years before his birth by the Prophet Micah.
And he was already redeeming all things. The shame of unwed motherhood; the powerlessness of poverty.
He was born among animals in a barn, animals enjoying the sweetness of life, animals he created, animals precious to him.
For he created all things, and in him all things hold together
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Drawing astronomers to him.
And drawing him to the attention of an angry King
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By a homeless baby
The still point on which the world still turns. The powerful centre. The only true power.
The One who makes connections. * * *
And there is no end to the wisdom, the crystal glints of the Message that birth brings.
To me, today, it says, “Fear not, trust me, I will make a way.” The baby lay gentle in the barn
And God arranges for new stars, angelic song, wise visitors with needed finances for his sustenance in the swiftly-coming exile, shepherds to underline the anointing and reassure his parents. “Trust me in your dilemmas,” the baby still says, “I will make a way. I will show it to you.” Happy Christmas everyone.  https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/24/trust-a-message-of-christmas/ #christmas #gemalderieberlin #trust #godwillmakeaway
Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Gratitude journal, habit tracker, food and exercise journal, bullet journal, with time sheets, goal sheets and a Planner. Everything you’d like to track.  Here’s a post about it with ISBNs https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/23/life-changing-journalling/. Check it out. I hope you and your kids like it!
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