Mark I. Bubeck - Fire From Heaven: Gods Provision for Personal Spiritual Victory

Contents

Prayer Patterns for Revival*

1.Teach Me to Know You

2.Repentance and Intercession

3.Revival Prayer Groups

4.Protection from the Enemy

5.Coming against the Enemy

6.Unity in the Body

7.The Word of God

* These seven prayers are available in booklet form, and may be ordered for quantity distribution by calling

877-467-4222 or by writing:

ICBC International
18741 N. Union St.
Westfield, IN 46074

FOREWORD

Two thousand years ago religious legalism was the order of the day. As the Pharisees stifled worship of God through their laws, the Roman rulers suffocated the Jewish people with their politics. The oppression could not have been much worse for the chosen people of God. It was the perfect time for God to intervene. As the apostle Paul observed, For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly (Rom. 5:6 NASB ).

I believe it is the right time for Gods people today. Western culture is rapidly sinking into a cesspool of sexual madness. Truth telling has been abandoned for face saving. Trust in our leaders, both political and moral, is at an all-time low. The pornography industry is ever increasing. Through abortions, innocent unborns still are being slaughtered for the sake of personal convenience.

As Mark Bubeck points out in this book, more and more people are becoming involved or interested in paganism and occult activity; interest in the spirit world, including fallen angels, is high. Many of our churches seem ineffective in this spiritual war, as they struggle with apathy, materialism, scandal, and division. If Christians seem helpless to do anything about it, its because we have leaned on our own understanding and relied on our own strength and resources. Only when we come to the end of our resources are we able to discover Gods.

The signs of a coming revival are vivid. It will not (because it cannot) be centered in any one individual or program. Our part is to stop leaning on our own understanding and start acknowledging God in every way, declaring our dependence upon Him. We accomplish this only through prayer, and there is no better pastoral model to follow than Dr. Mark Bubeck.

My dear friend Mark has kept his daily appointment with God for many years. In the early seventies he discerned that revival was coming and that we had to come to terms with the spiritual battle we are in. He was a leader before his time. His book The Adversary was groundbreaking for most evangelicals.

Now in his latest book, Mark looks at the potential for spiritual renewal in a pagan-era church, showing why it is urgent and how Christians can bring renewal to themselves and contribute to revival in their land.

Significantly, Mark has a key focus on the power of prayer in cultural revival. He includes his seven Prayer Patterns for Revival. Those prayers, available in booklet form and used in our conferences, have benefited my ministry tremendously, as has this book.

Dont just read Fire from Heaven to expand your knowledge or understanding. Pray through this book and become an instrument in Gods hand for the coming revival.

It is the right time.

Neil T. Anderson

Author, Founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries

PREFACE

G od called me to have a vision for revival very early in my adult life. My Lords assignment for me to see the need for His merciful, loving hands to revive His people has endured throughout my lifetime. From my early years of ministry to the present, God has kept that fire burning in my heart.

I first submitted a manuscript containing the major thrust of this book to a publisher in 1988. That publisher chose to give it a vogue title for the time: The Satanic Revival . Another publisher comparably changed the title in 1995 to The Rise of Fallen Angels with the subtitle, Victory Over the Adversary through Spiritual Renewal . Although both books kept the need for spiritual awakening before the readers, the choice of titles may have suggested an undue focus upon opposition from the realm of darkness, and some of the contents of those versions were perhaps force-fitted in their spiritual warfare emphasis in order to justify the titles. However, all of the focus for revival awakening needs to remain upon our Lord!

Fire from Heaven helps capture what this author longs to communicate. Its a title that conveys what Gods people really need, and the contents have been revised to match the heart of this message. Fire that brings spiritual renewal is always heavens fire; it is all of God and all of grace!

Gods wind and His fire from heaven visited those early disciples gathered in the upper room in prayer as they waited upon God: Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them (Acts 2:23). Heavens fire transformed human lives and energized them. They in turn impacted their world for God. Their critics complained, These that have turned the world upside down are come (Acts 17:6 KJV ). Opposition was very much present, but Gods wind and fire blew it away. The power of the gospel and the Holy Spirits fullness overflowed to the whole world in which they lived. Our trembling, wounded world of human beings needs to see that again.

I once heard a respected pastor make this statement: When properly understood, prayer is not getting mans will done in heaven; it is getting Gods will done on earth. Gods Word supports such insight on prayer. It is the purpose of this book to help Gods people pray in faith and harmony with what God desires to do. As we await our Lords return in these days of climactic history, may it please God to refresh, renew, and transform His people. The challenges before us are daunting. Only fire from heaven can light the way and break through the darkness. Encouraging believers to participate in such a move of Gods grace sums up the message of this book.