Revival Conference Victoria 2010 — Francois Carr

Revival Experiences That Create a Longing for God’s Visitation

It was Dr. Henry Blackaby that said that the anniversary conference of the revival that came when God came to visit Canada in 1970 -72, when God came down in revival, the DNA in his blood changed forever.

And I had a similar experience like that. I remember when God saved me and I became born again many, many years ago, God gave a stirring in my heart to start to read the biographies of great men of God and people like George Muller and Hudson Taylor and Charles Spurgeon, and eventually from John and Charles Wesley and Jonathan Edwards and all of these great movements of God.

And in that, it became a stirring in my heart to trust God and to pray for a mighty movement as well in South Africa of revival. And I had two experiences like that that sort of changed the DNA in my own life and create the stirring for revival, that we have this longing that God would come down and visit us again, just like in the days of old in South Africa.

Fasting, Prayer, and the Awareness of God’s Presence

And I remember a few friends of ours came together week after week to pray for revival. Then every month, we go away for a weekend of fasting and prayer, praying from Friday and Saturday and Sunday. And one of those times, we invite an old pastor from South Africa to join us and just to share the stories and the testimonies of God's movement in the times of the many old pastor skippers, the many skippers as we would call them in South Africa, in Bloemfontein and Uppington and Priska area.

And he told the story of this mighty movement of God in the 50s and the 70s, eventually also in South Africa. And I remember a Saturday afternoon session where we're just talking about a man called Mr. H .T. de Villiers and discussing his walk with God and the reason why God used him so much in revival in South Africa as a preacher and a conference speaker.

And in that moment, sharing about this life of Mr. H .T. de Villiers, there was such an awareness of the presence of God. And as I was sitting on a chair like this, I was just slipping down onto my knees and eventually falling onto my face before the Lord and just starting to pray for revival, just pouring out my heart before God in revival.

Then he made this remark and he said, you know, when God comes so close to you, there's nothing else we can do except just lie before Him, prostrate and just crying out to Him and to bless Him. And in that moment, I sensed something that created this stirring in my heart for revival.

Revival Meetings and Conviction of Sin

That was this awareness of the presence of God when God rose near to us in times of revival. I was preaching at a place not far away from Cape Town from a Sunday morning to the next Sunday as part of a special series of meetings on the life of the governor, Nehemiah, from the Old Testament.

And by Tuesday night, there was such an awareness of the presence of God that even the pastor asked me, Francois, would you please just make an invitation and it's time for the people to respond to the message because there was this brokenness and just this awareness and amazing presence of the nearness of the Lord.

And I remember by the Friday night as we came to the meeting, I wasn't even preaching for about 10, 15 more minutes and so I stopped the meeting and I made the invitation. About two, three hundred people came to the front and just to confess their sins and to make it right, but this tremendous awareness of the presence of God and even for the Saturday and for the Sunday.

So I tasted something that changes me and spoiled me for the rest of my life. So every time when we get to the pulpit to preach as a preacher in South Africa, irrespective if it's a Sunday morning service or a Sunday night or a special series of meetings, there's always this awareness of that moment when God can come and just visit this church and the community and the congregation that morning in a very special and unique way.

Because in that moment, God can do so much more than we can ever do by preaching and trying to reach people and changing their lives, because only God can do that. So that spoiled me for the rest of my life.

Personal and Corporate Revival Through God’s Visitation

My name is Francois Karr. I am residing in Pretoria in South Africa and I'm involved in a ministry called Heart Christ South Africa where we have this longing that God would come and visit us just like in the days of old and just simply draw near to us and touches the heart and changes the lives and brings real transformation into the homes of people and just for God to be lifted up and to be glorified in our community and the whole of South Africa.

Ever since that time, God has started to stir my heart to study revival and just to learn more about the movement of God before revival starts and the condition of the heart of mankind for personal revival, revival that spills over into the home and into the marriage as well or even corporate revival where God comes to visit the church or a local community or even touches a whole land like in 1860 in South Africa and so many other countries all over the world.

But to study revival before it came and what happens during revival, what happens in the afterglow period when God came down and visited with revival in His power. And I've learned that there is always a few things that is always coming to the front and the first one is always this amazing, tremendous awareness of the presence of God.

Conviction, Repentance, and Hunger for God’s Word

Whether it's personal revival or it's corporate revival, just a new awareness of the things of God, spiritual things. But when we become aware of this, it creates a new awareness of sin in our lives. We start to see ourselves just the way God sees us on a daily basis, a new conviction of sin.

The things we used to do becomes wrong for us because this awareness of God brings a new conviction of sin. And as we come to that point, we realize that a deep repentance is necessary just to change the way we think about things, the way we think about sin, the way we think about life, the way we think about everything that happens around us that touches our heart and eventually changes us that we become involved to change the way that we are living.

This awareness of God brings a new conviction of sin and a deep repentance away from those things. But in this it creates a hunger for God, to study God's Word and to read and just to get to know more what God has in His heart and His mind for us in that moment.

Just this tremendous hunger to be closer to God and to have more of His presence and just to have more of His reality in our lives on a daily basis. A deep concern for other people that is lost and the reaching out to the community that leads to a spiritual awakening.

Then the transforming of our lives and our homes and our families and the community as well. I think that is always visible in whether it's a corporate revival or just something personal happening in your life, things that need to be there.

Seeking a Fresh Movement of God

So why don't people pray for revival today in all over the world, in South Africa, and to seek this mighty movement of God as we have seen God done so many times in the past in the history of the church.

It might be simply because people haven't sensed that or tasted something like that from the past in the ministry or in the local churches. It is my desire in this moment as we come together in a time like this and just to see God together for a fresh touch and a fresh anointing of His Spirit or just maybe a fresh movement of His Spirit at this conference and even beyond that in our local churches that God would ignite our hearts and stir our hearts to seek Him afresh and to give us something like that to taste of the things that God can do for us, that we can trust Him and hunger after Him and seek Him and chase after Him, that He can visit us just like in the days of old.

Because I believe God has brought us together in a time like this because He has laid the burden and the vision for revival and to give us the hope and the reality of the things that He wants to do in us and through us in a time like this.

So may this conference and may this time that we are together be a blessing to you and God use it to stir your heart and to give you hope and a fresh faith in your heart to trust Him to visit you and give you a touch of heaven this side before we go to heaven.

Recounting the Revival Burden

Amen. It was Dr. Henry Blackaby that said that the anniversary conference of the revival that came when God came to visit Canada in 1970 -72, when God came down in revival, the DNA in His blood changed forever.

And I had a similar experience like that. I remember when God saved me and I became born again many, many years ago, God gave a stirring in my heart to start to read the biographies of great men of God and people like George Mueller and Hudson Taylor and Charles Spurgeon and eventually from John and Charles Wesley and Jonathan Edwards and all these great movements of God.

And in that it became a stirring in my heart to trust God and to pray for a mighty movement as well in South Africa of revival. And I had two experiences like that that sort of changed the DNA in my own life and create a stirring for revival, that we have this longing that God would come down and visit us again, just like in the days of old in South Africa.

Prayer, Testimony, and God’s Nearness

And I remember a few friends of ours came together week after week to pray for revival. Then every month we go away for a weekend of fasting and prayer, praying from Friday and Saturday and Sunday. And one of those times we invite an old pastor from South Africa to join us and just to share the stories and the testimonies of God's movement in the times of the many old pastor skippers, the many skippers as we would call them in South Africa, in Bloemfontein and Upington and Priska area.

He told the story of this mighty movement of God in the 50s and the 70s eventually also in South Africa. And I remember a Saturday afternoon session where we were just talking about a man called Mr. H .T. De Villiers and discussing his work with God and the reason why God used him so much in revival in South Africa as a preacher and a conference speaker.

And in that moment sharing about this life of Mr. H .T. De Villiers, there was such an awareness of the presence of God. And as I was sitting on a chair like this, I was just slipping down onto my knees and eventually falling onto my face before the Lord and just starting to pray for revival, just pouring out my heart before God in revival.

Then he made this remark and he said, you know, when God comes so close to you, there's nothing else we can do except just lie before Him, prostrate and just crying out to Him and to bless Him. And in that moment I sensed something that created this stirring in my heart for revival.

That was this awareness of the presence of God when God rose near to us in times of revival. I was preaching at a place not far away from Cape Town from a Sunday morning to the next Sunday as part of a special series of meetings on the life of the governor, Nehemiah, from the Old Testament.

Repentance in Revival Meetings

And by Tuesday night there was such an awareness of the presence of God that even the pastor asked me, Francois, would you please just make an invitation and it's time for the people to respond to the message because there was this brokenness and just this awareness and amazing presence of the nearness of the Lord.

And I remember by the Friday night as we came to the meeting, I wasn't even preaching for about 10, 15 more minutes, and so I stopped the meeting and I made the invitation. About two, three hundred people came to the front just to confess their sins and to make it right, but this tremendous awareness of the presence of God, even for the Saturday and for the Sunday.

So I tasted something that changes me and spoiled me for the rest of my life. So every time when we get to the pulpit to preach as a preacher in South Africa, irrespective if it's a Sunday morning service or a Sunday night or a special series of meetings, there's always this awareness of that moment when God can come and just visit this church and the community and the congregation that morning in a very special and unique way.

Because in that moment, God can do so much more than we can ever do by preaching and trying to reach people and changing their lives because only God can do that. So that spoiled me for the rest of my life.

The Scope of Revival in Homes, Churches, and Nations

My name is Francois Karr. I am residing in Pretoria in South Africa and I'm involved in a ministry called Heart Christ South Africa where we have this longing that God would come and visit us just like in the days of old and just simply draw near to us and touches the heart and changes the lives and brings real transformation into the homes of people and just for God to be lifted up and to be glorified in our community and the whole of South Africa.

Ever since that time, God has started to stir my heart to study revival and just to learn more about the movement of God before revival starts and the condition of the heart of mankind for personal revival, revival that spills over into the home and into the marriage as well or even corporate revival where God comes to visit the church or a local community or even touches a whole land like in 1860 in South Africa and so many other countries all over the world.

But to study revival before it comes and what happens during revival, what happens in the afterglow period when God came down and visited us.