Revival In America Is The Sickle God Will Use
Clo Dipilato
October 05, 2009
http://www.proclaiminghisname.org
Dearest Friends in Jesus,
Some weeks ago I had a very short, but very powerful dream. The dream completely surprised me because my thinking has been that God presently has a demeanor of great sternness toward the country of America, and that He is disappointed with the American church to the point He would bypass us as nation to choose to use another people in His end-time purposes.
I hold fast to the belief that He will protect His own obedient servants through any calamity or tribulation. But, the sins of our society coupled with a luke-warm, backslidden church cry out for God's judgments to come to bear to bring things back into Divine Order. And while those who are wholly devout unto the Lord might come under an umbrella of protection, just about every day without fail, I find deeper concern regarding the spiritual condition of America. I fear that except the Lord's people pray and seek His face as never before, though we might not encounter a direct hit personally, we may be adversely affected by the residue of any fallout to a nearby city or neighbor.
Christian are now in such an intense spiritual battle, that I have even pondered where I could go in this earth to find a place of safety and to have a new life with my family, if we were ever to feel threatened that our liberties which have been so appreciated for so many years have been lost.
Somewhere in Africa? Somewhere in the countryside of France? Maybe Australia. I don't have the answers.
And then, I had this dream:
I was in a large hall, with an average size crowd. There were a lot of empty seats, but a good enough showing of people to know something was going to be happening of a public meeting. Some people were milling about. Some were sitting in seats and waiting quietly. Some were in animated chatter with others attending this meeting.
Very suddenly, a woman with a powerful prophetic anointing came in, and with a look of seriousness that was both pleading and profound, she began to prophesy to the crowd of people that had assembled there. And in the midst of her prophecy, I realized she was not just preaching to the crowd, but this word of the Lord was being heralded throughout the world into all the isles of the sea, and to every country and it was not only meant for a response from the people assembled in this hall, but it was even challenging Christians all around the world.
And this was the word:
PRAY FOR REVIVAL IN AMERICA! PRAY FOR REVIVAL IN AMERICA!
REVIVAL IN AMERICA WILL BE THE SICKLE THAT WILL BE THRUST INTO THE FIELDS OF THE WORLD TO REAP THE WORLD-WIDE HARVEST! PRAY FOR REVIVAL IN AMERICA!
And that is the whole dream.
Since I had that dream a few weeks ago, I have been praying about it, and meditating on it.
And I believe the use of the word "sickle" in this dream has profound significance. It's a very old-fashioned implement of harvest. I'll give you both the Strong's definition of it, as well as Webster's Dictionary:
In Strongs, it comes from the Greek word " depranon" which means a sickle, a pruning-hook, a hooked vine knife, such as reapers and vinedressers use.
Webster's Dictionary defines it this way:
An implement having a semicircular blade attached to a short handle, used for cutting grain or tall grass. The cutting mechanism of a reaper or mower.
Understanding what a "sickle" is, that means the Lord is saying that there is a revival coming to America that can be likened to a pruning hook, a hooked vine knife, a semi-circular blade attached to a short handle. (Sad to say, what many Americans currently claim as " revival" looks more like a pretty, puffy, pink silk pillow than a good old-fashioned scythe!)
Through this imagery, I believe God is telling us that just as one man gets out there in the yard, and mows his lawn and affects the whole yard, so INDIVIDUALS sharpened by the Spirit of God (not large churches, movements, big name ministries, theatrical productions) are going to be those who do the work of the harvest.
The "American Revival" that will cause a harvest to be reaped worldwide, is not the revival of emphasis on sensationalism or sensational testimonies, and things that "feel good", and will "tickle people's ears" into responding to the gospel. Rather, the American Revival that is going to have impact will be one that brings the clear, sharp, powerful, uncompromised word of the Lord, and it will be as the sickle, and the threshing instrument forged in true revival fires.
I know this is a bold statement, but I believe the Lord is withholding the magnitude of what He desires to do around the world in acts of redemption and restoration because He is waiting for the church of Jesus Christ in America to return with her whole heart to her first love of a true devotion and relationship with the Lord boldly demonstrating and showing forth sanctification and holiness as a way of life .
You say, but there is a "revival of intimacy with the Lord" sweeping this country! How can you even begin to think we aren't hearing the message that we need to return to our "first love"?
Because for many, the intimacy movement is an "image" movement. It is a movement that is drunken on soulish, religious images that look beautiful outwardly, but inwardly there is lack of true understanding of the deep ways of God to bring people to a place where they are truly worshipping HIM and not just "worshipping their worship".
The test of the "first love" experience is the willingness to obey the Lord when no one knows what God is saying to you, but you and the Lord. And true intimacy with the Lord will never be truly enjoyed apart from sanctification, required of an innocent, pure and spotless Bride.
Am I talking about joining a "holiness" church? No, sanctification, or "being washed by the water of the word", means you are willing to stay in a position to hear a word from God that will cleanse you. But too many Christians would rather stay dirty, and be blessed in a revival that allows compromise than to come clean so they can be marked by the Holy Ghost as a vessel that will be fit for the Master's use.
Out of a TRUE AMERICAN REVIVAL are coming those who have been purged and cleansed, even if it comes by the spirit of judgment and burning so that they can be His sickle, His sharp threshing instruments, sent by Him into all the world to do the work of the harvest.
Does this mean the Lord is by-passing His servants around the world who have understanding of how God is currently dealing with the nations? NO, because apart from intercession of His servants around the world who have discernment on the emaciated spiritual condition of the American church, God's people in America won't get truly serious with Him. Even with so many very serious things happening in our country economically and on the political scene, we are still a careless people. The world sees it, but we're in a stupor of disbelief. It can never happen to America.
Men and women of God in other nations are seeing us, and the spiritual condition we are in more clearly than we are seeing ourselves, and it is because God has given them eyes to see us as we are, and ears to hear His heart that they would pray for us with true prophetic insight, and break the chains that are binding us that we can be free to be what God has called us to be the world. In Jesus Name, may it NOT be too late!
So, you ask, why doesn't God just bypass America, and use a more obedient nation? I am not seeing that far in advance. Maybe He will if it should come to that. But the immediate answer I receive from the Spirit of the Lord is this:
America is the catalyst for some nations, and the lightning rod for others that reveals the pride of the nations, and provokes men to jealousy. The greater the root of pride in a country, the greater the cries will come forth from that country citing the arrogance of America. For God to do what He desires to do through Americans means that men and woman of God the world over will have to come to a place of sincere humility to even begin to have the true burden of the Lord that revival coming from the shores of America take place. It means they have to rise above their cultural perceptions of America in order to pray through with true brokenness and sincerity of heart when they may see other obedient servants so much more deserving of the blessings of the Lord, and the honor that comes from being used by God.
When one overcomes obstacles of pride and jealousy to favor the will of God and the word of the Lord, God does GREAT things, and no one is left without the blessing of the Lord. Through all the earth, God's people are ONE people, and His body is ONE body. He has only ONE church. His choosing of a people from a certain geographical location for a certain purpose is a blessing to the whole Church of Jesus Christ worldwide.
God spoke to me through this dream that the revival in America will be the "sickle" that will reap the world-wide harvest. But after the sickle comes the "sharp threshing instruments" of prophetic and apostolic teaching and preaching of the Word. The men and women of God who have paid the price to be true servants of the Lord throughout the world will not be left behind or forgotten by God when He goes forth to give out gifts and anointings for the work of the harvest!
God's people around the world are not even going to scratch the surface of seeing how the Lord will use them, and what He will do through them until a revival of true repentance, holiness, and sobriety of spirit shakes the American people, and especially His people to their senses so that they become what God has called them to be in the world.
In closing, I ask my friends around the world who know the Lord to please pray for the country of America. We are in DESPERATE need of prayer! You cannot hardly look at any part of our culture without seeing we are a mess in need of God to do a thorough shaking and overhauling of every system in our society.
Why God would choose to ever use America again after how we have squandered the birthright He has given to us is beyond understanding. But if you will pray for us, even just pray for us in this country to PRAY with prayer and supplication and earnest crying out to God that He heal our land, I believe the Lord will intervene, and do as He spoke in the dream He gave to me.
If you will pray for us, I believe we will "get this house in order", and begin to again be useful throughout the world for His true purposes. Not superficial, questionable manifestations, but the real moving of God's spirit to bring salvation, healing, deliverance, and the greater works He has promised to do in His Name with true attentiveness to the fields that are white unto harvest, and not just for our own spiritual drunkenness and "bless me" times where we forget the condition of the world in need of a Savior.
Pray that God will raise up those who are willing to make up the hedge, and stand in the gap.
Ezekiel 22:30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
Don't pray for those who just want to be on an "intercessor's list" to have their name seen on a list so they can say they have a "ministry". Pray for those who will put aside every pleasure to get on their faces before God, and seek Him until He rains righteousness down on our land! They don't need to have their name on any list. They want to be known by God, not man.
If you will pray for us, I believe you will reap a GREAT blessing for your own country, your own households, your own ministries. I believe the Lord won't fail to reward you with blessings and the true prosperity of His eternal riches in Christ Jesus beyond what you can begin to even imagine. You can be in the worst impoverished situation, and God will even bless you with houses and lands, if you'll be obedient to hear the cry of the Spirit to pray for true revival to sweep America.
Lord, should I really say that? Should I tell people who are suffering in poverty that God will bless them with houses and lands if they truly pick up the burden of praying for America, that God shakes us up, and cleans us up, and gives us true revival?
YES, the Lord is telling me YES, that He will back up this prophetic word of the Lord, and you will see His hand of provision and blessing beyond what you could envision in your circumstances! All glory to Jesus!
I feel the unction of God's Spirit, and believe I am speaking to you by the word of the Lord!
The American Revival will be as the sickle that God thrusts into the fields of the world to reap the world-wide harvest! Please pray for us that we obey the Lord so we can begin to see this word of the Lord come to pass!
Always in the Love of Jesus,
Clo DiPilato