Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Drybones, hear the word of the Lord!’” (EZEK. 37:4)

Now we come to the first of the two fundamental fundamentals of awakening: the Word of God and the Spirit of God. New awakenings do not come through discovering new things. No, they come from the rediscovery of first things’the primitive foundations of Word and Spirit.

By the Word of the Lord, creation was created. And by the Word of the Lord, the world is being saved. The Word of the Lord always accomplishes the purposes for which it is sent. Living and active, sharper than a double-edged sword, the Word of the Lord inspires, instructs, encourages, rebukes, and counsels, bringing down the proud and raising up the humble. It is the most fundamental form of nourishment for the human race, for we do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Awakening requires us to come into a different kind of relationship to the Word of the Lord. It will require setting aside some of what we think we already know—unlearning our preferred way of mastery in order that we might once again be mastered by this powerful Word. The operative words are “prophesy” and “hear.” There is no shortage of the presence of the words of the Lord. There is however, as Amos prophesied, “a famine of hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11).

Before we can become the agents of awakening, we must first hear the awakening word ourselves. We must prophesy to the bones that are ourselves and one another, “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!” And we must hear. Let us pray for ears to hear.

PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER
Heavenly Father, we want to speak to one another in this band in the authority of the Word of God and in the power of the Holy Spirit, saying, “Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!” “Hear the Word of the Lord” (one name at a time). Give us ears to hear and eyes to see that we might be awakened in a deeper way to your presence in our lives and your purposes for our times. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

CONFERENCE TOGETHER
If your consumption of the Word of God was the only food you put into your body would you be empty, emaciated, gaining weight, satisfied, heavy, obese? Reflect on that with your band.