Wisdom From David Wilkerson Christians Need to Hear Right Now by SHANE IDLEMAN via Charisma News
“When God determined to recover a ruined situation, he would find a man and baptize him in anguish” —David Wilkerson.
And this is exactly what we need today!
Anguish is defined as severe physical or emotional pain or distress. Spiritual anguish is when we feel deeply the things that reflect the heart of God. Prophetic voices have always sounded the alarm and called people to weep over the things that break the heart of God. Jeremiah lamented, “My soul, my soul! I am pained in my very heart” (Jer. 4:19a). And God told Isaiah to “Cry aloud, do not hold back. Lift up your voice like a trumpet” to warn the people of their sin (Isa. 58:1a).
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In the New Testament, John the Baptist was the “voice of one crying out in the wilderness” (John 1:23a). Even Jesus experienced deep anguish when he cried out, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34).
Anguish Over the Ruins
The book of Nehemiah begins with Jerusalem in ruins: “When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days. Then I fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven” (Neh. 1:4). Later in the book, Nehemiah said to the king, “Why should not my face be troubled when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” (Neh. 2:3).
We only need to look at the devastating drift from God’s moral standard in America to understand Nehemiah’s lament. From the school districts to the courtrooms, and from the media to manipulating news outlets, the outright perversion is extremely alarming. We are drowning in a cesspool of moral filth: “The wicked strut about on every side
When vileness is exalted among the sons of mankind” (Ps. 12:8, NASB). Where is the anguish?
The gates of the city represented security, commerce and justice, all of which had decayed. As it was then, so it is today. The ruins are all around us as well. Security and justice are being exchanged for corruption and manipulation, and commerce is being replaced with socialism. Again, where is the anguish? Where is the desperation? Where is the righteous indignation? The woke church isn’t waking anyone up, and the dead church isn’t reviving anyone. We need true prophetic voices again to sound the alarm: “Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Hosts” (Zech. 1:3, MEV).
Anguish Sparks Spiritual Awakenings
Anguish is where a deep prayer life and revival are born: “Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out before You day and night. May my prayer reach Your presence; listen to my cry” (Ps. 88:1-2 HCSB). Anguish fears judgment but also knows that there is hope: “When Zion travails, sons and daughters are born” (see Isa. 66:8).
In 1930, there was a powerful awakening at a school for the sons of missionaries in South India. It was traced to three young boys who were in anguish over the lack of spiritual fervor at the school. God answered their prayers and brought intense spiritual hunger.
In 1949, The Hebrides Revival in Scotland began when two elderly sisters were in anguish over the desperate need for revival. They told the pastor that both of them would pull down heaven by praying from ten o’clock at night until two o’clock in the morning. Their anguish prevailed and spiritual fire was ignited. We must once again reach this level of desperation.
