Over the past few months, I have been sensing the Holy Spirit calling believers to pray. As part of this, I have specifically prayed for a greater release of the Gifts of Healing in our church.

I wasn’t sure if the Holy Spirit was putting this on my heart or if it was being driven by close friends experiencing serious health issues?

So I was encouraged by a recent CBN video reporting that the Holy Spirit is moving in Northern Ireland, Scotland and England.

This revival is being sparked by both an increase in prayer and Divine healing.

“Something has shifted in the last six months,” said Craig Cooney who pastors Hope Church in Northern Ireland. “It feels almost like it’s a rising river.”

Cooney added that his church had bottomed out spiritually coming out of the pandemic,

“It just felt like we were going through the motions post-Covid,” Cooney said. “There was just a lack of zeal, lack of passion, a lack of enthusiasm.”

“Something shifted at the start of this year,” Cooney added. “There is a sense that God is in the room.”

This has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of people attending their midweek prayer meeting.

“About 20% of our church now comes to our weekly prayer meeting,” Cooney said. “It’s at six pm on a Wednesday. It is not a convenient time. But it is just an hour of solid intercession. There is people crying out for the lost. People crying out for their families.”

But along with this, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of people experiencing Divine healing.

“Every single week we are getting testimonies of healing, from people who six months ago may have not believed in Divine healing,” Cooney continued. “When they said they are healed, they are healed, because they wouldn’t be making this stuff up.”

Summing up what was happening at his church, Cooney said “I felt Him (the Lord) saying go after healing. So we have gone after it.”

He likened it to the time that Elijah prayed for rain as Israel was going through a drought. As Elijah prayed, he sent his servant to check the sky over the sea. At first the servant reported seeing nothing, but Elijah continued to pray (1 Kings 18:42). But on the seventh time he checked, the servant saw a small cloud that was the size of a man’s hand (1 Kings 18:44). That cloud grew and the rains came.

“I believe what the Lord is saying is there’s a cloud,” Cooney added. “I am showing you what’s available. I am showing you what’s possible. I am showing you what I would like to give you and I am calling my people to prayer.”

Since the beginning of this year, attendance at Hope Church has increased by 30%. Other than this renewed interest in prayer and emphasis on healing, the church is doing nothing different.

I think this is a time to seek the Lord. There are times when the Holy Spirit is prepared to move. We could be in one of those moments and the Holy Spirit is now waiting for God’s people to call down the rain.

Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.

(Isaiah 55:6 NASV)