Sid: My guest is red hot for the Messiah, I’m red hot for the Messiah but I want more, I want less of me and more of Yeshua of more of Jesus. My guest’s name if Peter Whitehouse and he’s involved in prayer in the Albany, New York region of New York state. They are beginning to sense in the Spirit that there is such a major outpouring of revival that is ready to hit planet earth. Now Peter in your book, and he has a new book out called “Returning to Normal,” and unfortunately I don’t think most people know what normal is. But you discuss this area and I want to discuss it with you right now, we have the greatest plans in the church, we have the greatest programs. We have the greatest, I’ll use this word I probably shouldn’t but I will, entertainment and all of these different plans and programs. And yet society seems to be getting worse not better, what’s the problem?
Peter: Much of what we do is in the power of the flesh you know we pray a few prayers and then we go ahead and do what we think if best many times according to the ways of the world. But that’s not the way that God desires it to be done, we’re to take time to be with God. We need to hear from God and then follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. The church has become lukewarm, it is diluted, it is compromised but, it still the love of God’s life. He desires that we would love Him with all of our heart. So normal Christianity is just that, it’s being in love with God, it’s being completely abandoned to His purposes, now there’s no room for lukewarmness, there’s no room really for our own agendas. We belong to Him, He has purchased us with His own blood, we belong to Jesus Christ; we surrender our rights completely. We have no rights, we’ve been purchased by Him and He in turn loves us, cares for us and accomplishes His purposes through us.
Sid: Now that is not real seeker sensitive preaching but you’re as a matter of face that doesn’t even remotely look like 21st century American Christianity what you’re describing. How could we get so far… if you read the Bible what you’re saying is not outrageous it’s normal, how did we get so far removed from normal?
Peter: Well unfortunately we carry this treasure in earthen vessels and these clay pots you know tend to leak. Throughout history our fervency for God has really only lasted about a generation and then someone how it dissipates and we compromise as flesh speaks loudly we compromise, and that is in every area of life. Then of course there is the usual divisions that take place and competitions and jealousies and we end up with diverse doctrines and church splits and so we end up a mess. You know I think what many people don’t realize is when we look at the condition of our nation at this current, time is that it was the church that declined first and then society followed suite. In other words this mess is our fault, (Laughing) and until we take responsibility, repent and get right with God we won’t see a change in our society. It’s not by electing another politician or having another Supreme Court justice it is the church getting right with God and then the blessing of God spills out and changes society. You can see the same scenario in Israel, and the book of Judges is a cycle of six revivals, decline revival, decline and then revival again and how we need that…
Sid: Now this generation has even seen revival, we can read about it, we can read history about it but we’ve never even seen it.
Peter: Yeah, yeah do you know that in 1905…well let’s go back in 1902 R.A. Torrey was exhorting his readers to pray for revival. He went to Melbourne, Australia and found that there were 1700 neighborhood prayer groups convening each week, God had poured out a Spirit of Supplication and then revival broke out there. We all know about the Welch Revival, Evan Roberts 1904 transformed Wales and part of Europe and those in the United States saw this wave coming and pastor and leaders began to begin to meet together wondering how they could best facilitate what they believed God was going to do. And of course there was extraordinary prayer taking place here in the United States. In 1905 revival hit the shores and one example of what the magnitude of what we’re talking about Atlantic City in 1905 had 60,000 in its population. After the Spirit of God overshadowed that city and much of our nation there were only 50 unconverted people out of 60,000.
Sid: Oh, I would just love to see that we haven’t seen things like that Peter. But it’s happening right now in the Spirit. And your warning is not “Oh God make it happen, oh God how will we handle when 99.9% are brand new baby believers and they have to grow up and they have to able to be equipped for the works of ministry.”
Peter: (Laughing) that is absolutely right and I’m praying that many will grab a hold of this truth and begin to seek God.
Sid: Can you picture Las Vegas this thing happening to, what will happen? Well, all the casinos will become meeting places for things of God.
Peter: And you know that right now sounds so impossible but who would believe that after Perestroika hit in Russia in 1989 that the communist halls would be turned into places where the gospel is preached and 3,000 people would cram into these places and give their life to the Lord. There was a 7 year period I’m sure that you know of this and have seen it where thousands of people, millions came to the Lord. Who would have believed it? Well, let’s believe that for here and for our nation we’re going to see this happen, it’s coming soon to a local church near you. (Laughing)
Sid: People don’t want to pray they just want to do, encourage people to pray right now will you do that. Tell us why we should pray.
Peter: Nothing happens apart from prayer. This is what I believe God’s showed me. He’s given man a free will, He does not take that back, He does not manipulate and play us like a bunch of marionette puppets. But what He does do is stir the heart of man by His Holy Spirit to pray. Our prayer invites God into the situation and then God answers the prayer. And so in other words the Lord initiates the prayer by His Spirit, He gives us the privilege of praying it back to Him and then He answers it. God is all and all, make no mistake about that. But man must freely submit and they must pray in order for God to intervene. So nothing happens in the earth apart from prayer. It’s not going to just occur God prior to revival always stirs first a few and then the flame increases. For instance, I can tell you that I caught the vision to pray for revival about 25 years ago and to speak about. There were very few people that even wanted to hear about it.
Sid: How did you even catch the vision back then?
Peter: Actually I ministered at… I’ll just tell you a quick testimony. After I was filled with the Holy Spirit, repented of my sins and was filled with the Holy Spirit I was ministering at a city mission and I saw a few men; there was 30 men in the room and I shared my testimony and 2 men came to the Lord. And it touched my heart and I was grateful for the 2 but I didn’t know any better, you know I thought that all 30 of them should have come forward. (huh) As I left you know the leaders there they patted me on the back and they said “Peter that was great you did a great job.” And I went in my car and I cried and I said “That you for the 2, but what about the other 28?” I said “I don’t want to be just a nice guy that does nice things and have somebody pat me on the back and say “That was nice.” I want to see peoples’ lives changed and the Lord spoke one word to me and that word is reverberated for all these years. He said “Pray.” And I knew that He wasn’t talking about the 15 minutes of prayer that I was praying. He was talking to me about a life of prayer and as often as I’m sure you know it God when God speaks something then someone else confirms it and someone else confirms it and then that’s exactly what happened. And He was able to lead me deeper and deeper into prayer. In these times of prayer I began to see and know that the church was desperately in need and when I would go to the mission field and come back and try to tell people about the needs over there you know people said “Oh, that’s nice.” but no one seemed to really care, a few people did. And I would think you should be standing on…
Sid: But it’s changing today, how is it changing today?
Peter: Right now there is more prayer occurring than ever before in the history of the world. The Lord poured out His Holy Spirit for these past three decades in various moves of God. There are more Spirit filled believers now on the face of the earth than ever before.
Sid: But there are many listening to us right now that if they were to read the nuggets that you have in your new book “Returning to Normal” they would become normal.
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth