Are you hungry for revival? Are you desperate to see a move of God in your city? If so, you are in good company. Great revivals of the past can be traced to the ones who preceded revival, the ones who heard God’s call, the ones whose hearts burned to see God’s kingdom come in their cities. What a privilege it is to respond to God’s call and enter into His dream to see people set free and to see cities transformed by His power and love!

God is drawing you into His dream for your city. You have an integral role to play. Your voice is needed. Your desire for revival and awakening is God’s desire. His love for your city is so great that He is drawing you into His plan for your city’s transformation. He longs to move through You to pray, to encourage, and to love your city. He is searching the earth to find those He may strongly support. As you receive His heart for your city, He will give you ideas and strategies to move into. He will open your eyes to receive His dreams for your city. God invites you to dream with Him. 

The effort, the perseverance, and the struggle are worth the prize. Jesus, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross. What joy we have set before us as we press in to see lives redeemed and communities transformed by the power of God!

Cultivating Unity through Acts of Service: An Interview with Bryan Watt, founder and director of One Heartbeat and Project Backyard, and director of Contemporary Worship at First Presbyterian Church of Thomasville, Georgia.

Keys to Revival and Awakening:

·       Holy-Spirit led

·       Unity in the body of Christ

Avenues toward Unity:

·       Community worship and prayer gatherings

·       Local community service projects

·       Intentionally building relationships: Be a bridge

·       Unite over the essentials of the faith

Tips for seeking unity and revival:

·       Be willing to change directions and follow God’s lead.

·       Ask: what is my role in His story of uniting His people?

·       Embrace the love of God for your city.

·       Persevere: this is a marathon, not a sprint.

To learn more about Bryan Watt and the organizations that he leads, check out:

Oneheartbeatinc.org - One Heartbeat, Inc. exists to ignite PASSION for the name of Jesus, promote UNDERSTANDING of who we are in Christ and what defines us as Christians, and cultivate UNITY among believers.

Projectbackyard.com - Project Backyard is committed to creating awareness for local needs and providing consistent opportunities for Christian believers to unite through serving those in need in their own backyard.

Redhillsworship.com - Red Hills Worship exists to create a place for people to unify around the presence of Jesus, on earth as it is in heaven. We believe that the table of brotherhood is the place of communion, or common union, whether that union be the breaking of bread or in the singing of songs. 

Seeking Community Transformation through United Prayer: an interview with Doug Silvis. Doug is the founder and chairman of the board of Community Transformation Inc, an association of pastors and ministry leaders who have been facilitating prayer in Thomasville, GA since 2000. Doug is a respected Christian attorney with a calling from God. He has a heart to pursue revival and awakening.

Doug recognized that he was called by God at a young age, but God shifted the focus of that calling through the years.

As a non-clergy leader, Doug has been effective in bringing pastors and marketplace leaders together for prayer. Along with his board of directors, Doug has led the National Day of Prayer event in his city for 29 years. Cultivating unity across races and denominations, Community Transformation Inc. has been a significant force to help the city through several potential crises. Quarterly prayer summits, monthly pastor lunches, and weekly prayer have forged unity in their diverse group of community leaders.

Key points:

·       We should expect revival and awakening to affect every sector of a community.

·       Do not to despise the day of small beginnings (from Zechariah 4:10) A guiding word from the Lord for Doug has been “Be faithful in small things and I will make you ruler over much” (from Matthew 25:23).

·       True unity begins with one-on-one relationships.

·       “It’s great to say that I’m in unity with you; but if I don’t eat with you and don’t do things with you, are we really in unity?” – Doug Silvis

·       Jesus speaks of the importance of unity in John 17:21, when he prays that we all may be one “so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

·       Every believer needs a prayer partner.