Yesterday in worship, I heard the Lord speak to me about awakening and revival among the Indian tribes, the First Nations. They have been on my heart for the past five or six weeks (around the time of Thanksgiving, which seems very appropriate). I have found myself crying out the word “heya” in praise and prayer. It arises in Indian chants and appears to be a phonetic filler word, a sort of Indian madrigal. White people say “fa la la;” Indians say “heya” (perhaps I have understood that usage wrongly — if so, I welcome correction).
As I have called out that word, the Lord has shown me new significance. I think of “Hey, Yah” — calling out to the God whose name is Yahweh. Yah is a “nickname” of Yahweh. We find it in Psalm 68:4, “Extol Him who rides on the clouds by His name Yah.” It is also the Yah in Hallelu Yah, a.k.a. hallelujah —“Praise Yah!” Also, in Hebrew, the verb for being (i.e., “is” and “am”) is hayah. This appears to be the basis for the name Yahweh, the God who Is.
And so my worship has, of late, been punctuated with heya / hayah / Hey, Yah!
Well, yesterday in worship, a heavy travail was upon me for the First Nations, particularly the Seminoles, the tribe that is local to me in Tampa, FL. This was aided by the drums in worship, which had somewhat of an Indian sound. At one point in the service, we were saying Yes to the Lord, giving ourselves to Him in obedience and openness of heart to whatever He wants to do in and with us. Pastor Rick then identified for us that we were not saying it just for ourselves, but also for the sake of others. That is when travail broke heavy upon me and I began to weep. I ended up face down on the floor, gushing snotty tears.
I heard the Lord say that 2005 would be the year for great awakening and revival in the First Nations. Now, I recognize that the Lord has already been starting a mighty work among them, but what I was hearing is that it is going to break loose in a powerful way in this coming year.
In particular, I saw the Seminole nation coming into this great move of God. I saw the name of Jesus being lifted up in the tribal councils. I saw Him in the midst of the Seminole people, as every knee bowed before Him in worship. I saw the Hard Rock Café, in Tampa, become The Rock Café, no longer a house of gambling, but a house of the Sure Thing. No longer were people coming away from it impoverished, but they came rejoicing in the prosperity of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment