Prophetic WOrds Over Scotland

Hey Everyone,

As you all know, for the past several years we have been sharing over and over in our newsletters about our sense that God is preparing Scotland for a great revival that will sweep across the nation. For us, the promise of it has become such a reality that we almost speak of it as if it is a done deal – that it is just a matter of time before it happens. And in fact, for the past 5 years, our ministry here has been focused almost entirely on ‘sowing into this coming revival’. However, since most of you who are receiving this letter, are not living in Scotland and experiencing these things first hand, I thought I would take a minute and share some of the things that have come together over the past several months that seem to be pointing very clearly toward what we are saying about this coming revival. We are continually hearing and experiencing things that seem to confirm these convictions, and over the past 15 months, some very cool events have begun to unfold that seem to be a pretty dramatic confirmation that God is indeed preparing Scotland for a great move of his Spirit.

Before starting, I want to note that I am sharing these things primarily from my perspective, and I am linking them together as they became apparent to me. I am sure there are many more parts to this puzzle that others can add, and maybe I will be able to update you more when they do. However, for now, I wanted to put together several things I have heard of up to this point, just to give you a sense of why I feel so strongly that God is indeed saying that a revival is on the way!

In April 2007, a ministry here in Scotland called Pray for Scotland had organized a huge 50 day national prayer initiative called Connecting Scotland where they traveled all across Scotland praying in hundreds of communities all over the nation. I had been asked to organize a prayer event for when they came through West Kilbride (our village). As I was praying for the team’s coming, the Lord led me to this passage in Ezekiel (Ezek. 12:21-28)

“21 The word of the LORD came to me: 22 "Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel: 'The days go by and every vision comes to nothing'? 23 Say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to put an end to this proverb, and they will no longer quote it in Israel.' Say to them, 'The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled. 24 For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations among the people of Israel. 25 But I the LORD will speak what I will, and it shall be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, you rebellious house, I will fulfill whatever I say, declares the Sovereign LORD.' "

26 The word of the LORD came to me: 27 "Son of man, the house of Israel is saying, 'The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future.'

28 "Therefore say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: None of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign LORD.' "
- Ezekiel 12:21-28

I felt like the Lord said that this was a word for Scotland today. Although there have been many prophetic words spoken over Scotland over the years concerning revival, one of the most cited ones was given by Jean Darnell over 30 years ago. In this prophetic vision, she saw an aerial view of Scotland with small fires starting up all over the nation. As she watched, the fires began to grow and then they turned into streams of fire that joined together and spread all over the nation and then down into England and across to Ireland and Europe. She then interpreted it as a great revival that would start in communities all over Scotland and then spread across the UK and eventually into Europe.

Over the years, many people have held onto this prophetic word as a promise from God that He would send a great revival to Scotland. However, as you can imagine, after 30+ years, many people have begun to give up believing in this promise (however, considering the timescale of many Biblical prophesies, 30 years is not unusual at all). Let me note though that this word was by no means the only significant prophetic word about revival that has come over the years. There have been many! However, this one, more than others, has been quoted over the years. If anything, there has even been a great increase in prophetic words concerning revival in Scotland from recognized prophetic voices from all over the world in the past few years. However, at the moment (in the natural), there is little evidence that Scotland is in the cusps of a great revival. Let me also note that God spoke to me personally about this coming revival before I ever heard any of these words, and this is why I have such a strong conviction that they are true.

Ok, back to my story! On the day of the prayer event in West Kilbride, I shared this word from Ezekiel with Jean Black who is now the leader of Pray for Scotland. I left it with her thinking that she probably has many people sharing words with her. However, a couple of months later I saw Jean again, and she said that not only did she believe that this was a word from God, but that it has now become the central message that He has given her to share as she travels and speaks to groups and individuals all over Scotland. In her message she shares this verse and then she challenges people to pray and ask God if there are any promises that He has spoken to them that they have either ‘shelved’ or given up on. (I will come back to this in a minute.)

A few months later, I was speaking with a friend of mine named Ola about the emergence of a few different ‘Houses of Prayer’ that were starting up in our area. We were talking about how difficult it is to actually get enough people committed to have one running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (which I assumed was the ideal). Then Ola said, ‘You know, I think that instead of having one House of Prayer that goes 24/7, maybe God is saying that there should be many Houses of Prayer that meet all over at different times, and that the combination of all of them would produce a nationwide 24/7 House of Prayer’. Then he shared with me how God had spoken to him years ago and had given him a prophetic picture that was summed up in the word HOPE – Houses Of Prayer Everywhere. He sensed that God was bringing this word back to him and saying that now was the time.

Ok, this is where it starts to get pretty cool. Less than a month later, I receive an email from a woman (Sylvia Norton) that I had recently met during one of my summer outreaches to the Isle of North Uist. In the email, she shared with me a story of how she had recently gone to a gathering organized by Pray for Scotland. During their message they challenged everyone to ask the Lord if there were any words that He had spoken to them in the past that they had not acted upon. Immediately she was reminded of a time years earlier when the Lord had spoken to her about starting ‘Lighthouses of Prayer’ on her island and, get this, he had even given her the exact same acronym – HOPE (Houses Of Prayer Everywhere)! God brought this word to her so strongly that she went to the leaders of Pray for Scotland and, not long after that, God spoke to them and said that starting Houses of Prayer Everywhere (also referred to as Lighthouses of Prayer) was now to be the primary focus of their ministry for this season.

So, before going on further, let me just sum up the timeline of events as it is pretty cool to see how everything has come together.

1. 30+ years ago God gives Jean Darnell a prophetic word about fires spreading all over Scotland …., and says that it is a picture of revival
2. 1½ years ago God gives me the word from Ezekiel which I then share with Jean Black
3. About few months later, Ola shares with me his vision of HOPE – Houses Of Prayer Everywhere (that God had actually given him 8 years earlier, but he had not really done much with it)
4. About 1 month later the PFS team hosts a gathering of intercessors and shares their message based on the word from Ezekiel. Sylvia Norton is at that meeting and is reminded of a word about HOPE – Houses Of Prayer Everywhere that God had spoken to her years earlier as well
5. Sylvia shares her vision of HOPE with the Prayer for Scotland team and shortly thereafter this vision becomes the central focus of their ministry for this season.

Now let me continue. In January of this year (2008), Ola felt led to go and visit a ministry in Uganda that is seeing an incredible revival that is going on right now. The ministry includes an orphanage that is experiencing some pretty amazing things. On his last day there, some of the leaders and the children gave him some wooden stakes that they had made and prayed over, for him to bring back to Scotland. The idea was that he would go to every village and town in our county and drive the stakes in the ground and claim them back for the Lord and pray for a revival in that place. As Ola began doing this, he had some amazing experiences. However, interestingly, there was one stake that he felt he was supposed to hang on to. Every time he thought he would use it, it just didn’t seem right to do so. So, he just carried it in his car with him everywhere he went, assuming that God would tell him where to use it.

In April of 2008 (about 7 months ago). YWAM Scotland had a staff day in Dundee and as it turned out, Jean Black had been asked to come and speak at it. In the morning she shared her message based on the Ezekiel passage, and then in the afternoon, she shared about the vision of Pray for Scotland for setting up Lighthouses of Prayer all around Scotland, and as a visual aid she displayed a huge banner with a lighthouse on it and the word HOPE forming the acronym – Houses Of Prayer Everywhere! Ola walked in and couldn’t believe it. Up until this point, he had never met Jean, and he didn’t know that HOPE had become the focus of their ministry. Anyway, after she spoke, a few of us were asked to come up and pray for her. As we prayed, Ola felt the Lord say that he was to give his last stake (the one he was carrying around with him) to her. So, after we prayed, he shared the story behind it and gave it to her. So now Jean has this stake.

Now, skip ahead to the end of July 2008. Every year at this time, Scotland has a major Christian conference called CLAN Gathering. It is pretty much the biggest Christian conference in Scotland. On the last two days of the conference, a special guest was asked to speak at the main meeting. He was an American named Brent Borthwick who had come to Scotland because God had given him a prophetic word about a revival coming to Scotland. He had no prior connection to Scotland, but was so struck by the vision of revival that God had given him, that he booked a flight to come to Scotland and share it with various leaders in the nation. As you will see, the picture that God gave him was so striking that he was then asked if he would come and share it at CLAN Gathering.

Incredibly, his picture went something like this. He saw a picture of Scotland. All over the picture, he saw fires being lit. These fires eventually grew and then spread all over Scotland and across into Europe. It was almost identical to the vision that God had given Jean Darnell over 30 years earlier. However, Brent had never heard or Jean Darnell or her vision of Revival in Scotland.

Ok, now this is where it gets really amazing. After Brent finished sharing his vision and message at CLAN Gathering, he said to the audience that he felt that he was supposed to take a stake and drive it in the ground right there (they were meeting in a huge tent) as a sign of reclaiming the nation back for God. Believe it or not, Jean Black was sitting in the audience with the stake that Ola had given her in her handbag (she had literally been carrying it around with her since the day Ola gave it to her a few months earlier at our YWAM Scotland staff day). She gave it to a friend who went up onto the stage and gave it to Brent for him to drive into the ground. Isn’t that incredible!

All right now, this next bit is just too unbelievable. Just before driving the stake into the ground, Brent says to the audience (there are several thousand people here), “You know, I was supposed to be going to Uganda this week to visit this particular orphanage where God has been moving miraculously, but God totally rerouted me at the last minute and told me that I was supposed come to Scotland instead.”. The woman who had taken the stake up to him said, “You’re not going to believe this……..”

So, none of us here know exactly when and how God is going to move here in Scotland or what it will look like when He does. But, things like this have lead us to believe that God has not forgotten His promise and that He will indeed move across this land in a great revival when the time is right!