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At exactly 8am on a Thursday morning, I woke from a vivid dream. My mouth continued to utter the words "O for a thousand tongues," and a chorus came forth as I heard the tune of the familiar hymn playing over and over in my heart and mind. With great urgency, I wept and cried as my present thoughts were filled with the vivid details of what had just occurred as my body had laid dormant in its sleep. I had seen and heard the cries of people crying out for revival, yet from within I was shown that these were merely hollow versions of a popularized idea generated within the minds of men. The Word of the Lord proclaimed, “Not without proper order.” I was taken into the heart of a church sanctuary and there, I saw the lips and tongues of the saints speaking a thousand prayers going up into the heavens. In heart-felt sincerity, I heard ringing cries as each mouth became burdened for the souls of mankind. While the mouths were moving it felt as if each voice was attached to a specific individual soul. The scene transformed and before the altar of God I saw a thousand mouths with each tongue declaring “Jesus is my Savior.” Each mouth uttered words directly from a transformed heart. It was as if the prayers of the saints had birthed the moment and now a thousand tongues had an earnest cry for salvation. As I ascended above the crowd, I saw sanctuaries of converted saints giving themselves over to fulfill God’s purpose in heart, body and soul.
Vision as experienced by Scott C. Lovett
The Eighth month, the Eighth day, the Eighth hour in the year 2024.
The Call of God
God has spoken to Apostle Scott Lovett that the Kingdom congregation of Real Church are to pray for the conversion of one thousand people and actively seek them out to bring them into the kingdom of God. We believe there are nine-hundred-ninety-nine other churches which will commit themselves to the same great project and stand with the Lord in directed, relentless prayer for the souls of mankind. To that end and for the benefit of those who would take up this cause, we have briefly outlined those things needful for us to participate with God’s design effectively and to know when we have received the promise He has given us.​​​
1. The purpose of prayer is to receive something from God.
Prayer, the most noble interaction any soul can have with the Living God, only has purpose when there is a purpose in view. The simplest prayers of thanksgiving and adoration contain an expectation that God will hear and bestow His love on us in return. Prayer is not just talking to God. It is communication with God. We speak. God speaks. We give. God gives.
Keeping this objective at the forefront of our mind is vital if we are to receive anything from our endeavors. “Science” has reduced prayer to meditation for stress relief. If we are to succeed, we cannot pray as the heathen pray to rocks or sticks. We must pray expecting God to answer and give us the things for which we ask.
But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Hebrews 11:6
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast [them] into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
John 15:6-7
2. The people of prayer have a relationship of dependance on God.
From the verses above, we can see that there are requirements placed upon the one
praying in order to receive the answer. Faith is first. Faith in God is more than the mental acknowledgment that there is a God. To say there is a God and yet deny Him in your lifestyle and words is to deny that God exists. True faith in God is manifested in a changed life that complies with His Word and His Spirit.
Such a life can only be realized by abiding in Christ – living every moment aware of your need and actively seeking His presence to reveal His Word as He supplies for all your inadequacy. It is only then that we have the confidence to “ask what ye will” and expect that it will be given to us. That confidence rests in the fact that such a life of miracles is our daily existence; we constantly need – He constantly supplies.
Unconverted Believers Cannot Fulfill God’s Will
Unfortunately, based on these two criteria alone, there are very few who call themselves Christian in our day who are qualified to offer such prayers as God is calling for with any expectation of Him hearing them. Carnality runs rampant, faith in God’s power to do supernatural and miraculous works is nearly imperceptible, and people pray to their own imaginations and to appease their own conscience which rightfully condemns them before God. God is far from the wicked; but He heareth the prayer of the righteous (Proverbs 15:29).
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired [to have] you, that he may sift [you] as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.
Luke 22:31
Before we can successfully pray for the conversion of others, we must be converted. In this verse, Peter was thoroughly convinced of his own allegiance to Jesus. It was he, after all, who had the revelation that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. He witnessed, with his own eyes, the transfiguration of Jesus. He participated in the miracles and in the preaching of the kingdom of heaven, right beside Jesus. Yet, he was not converted. He did not live as Jesus lived. His basic essence was other than the Spirit by which Jesus was sustained. Jesus told Peter, “after you are converted, strengthen the brothers.” Such work is not for natural, carnal persons. While these are consumed with the desires of their own soul, the souls of others will not concern them. While they pursue their own will, God’s will is repulsive. The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit. Such work as we have before us cannot be effective unless it is God who works through the person. There may be some lost souls which are gathered due to a person’s charisma, charm or logic, but such “converts” are not converted. Flesh gives birth to flesh. Spirit gives birth to spirit.
This does not exclude anyone from participation with the mission to which God has called us. Rather, it is a call to those who are convinced of their lack of personal conversion to pray intensely and incessantly for their own. Pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal Himself to you. Give up the distractions and pursuits of the world, devoting yourself to find God, and you will discover that He is faithful who has promised, “you will find me when you seek me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13 & Joel 2:12-13).” Let the first soul you truly bring to Christ be your own. Then you will know the cost, in tears and pains, of one soul and be able to labor intelligently with God in the birthing of others into His kingdom.
3. The subject of prayer is the souls of men and women.
Then said I, Woe [is] me! for I am undone; because I [am] a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, [which] he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here [am] I; send me.
Isaiah 6:5-8
Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly [is] plenteous, but the labourers [are] few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
Matthew 9:37-38
The subjects of prayer are as vast as our daily necessities. In addition to these, we pray for the needs of those around us. Such prayers are surely right before God. However, our mission in these specific prayers is focused on something in particular – the conversion of one thousand souls in answer to our prayers in agreement with God. This is important. Too often, satan comes to prayer meetings and introduces distractions and diversions that sound enticing and spiritual, yet divert us from the goal of our prayer. There is time enough, in the life of a converted person, to pray for everything on God’s mind. Therefore, when it is time to pray for a specific thing, a soul in bondage, set everything else aside and focus all your attention, love, emotion, thought, will and strength on that soul.
God’s heart is not on programs, buildings, marketing plans, tools, or any of the schemes with which we too often replace Him. He is not impressed by our sound system, our lights, or our huge seating capacity. More often than not, these things get in the way, distracting the heart by dazzling the eyes or enflaming the senses. None of that is on His mind and it should not be on ours when we pray.
Souls! Multitudes in the valley of decision! Your best life now is death to self to serve Christ in winning and preserving souls from hell. Isaiah’s lips were cleansed, not just so that he could have a clean mouth. It was cleansed so that God could use it to reach souls. You were cleansed, purified, empowered and commissioned so that He could use you to directly change the lives of others. God’s heart is souls. When we pray and while we live, ours should be nothing less and nothing more.
4. The method of prayer is concentrated intercession.
Therefore will I divide him [a portion] with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:12
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Hebrews 7:25
Here we see the description of the ministry which Jesus Christ accomplished on the earth and which He continues to fulfill in heaven. He is an intercessor. The Intercessor. What does His intercession involve? He poured out His soul to the point of death. He was berated and mocked as an insane or perverse person. He took upon Himself the sins, infirmities, sickness and weakness of the whole human race. Through these, He interceded.
It is not the intention of this statement to make our labor equal to Christ’s sacrifice. Yet, there is very little fear of such pride among the converted. Rather, it is the inequality of our sacrifice with Christ’s love which torments the mind and drives the converted soul to imitate the Savior in every way. True, no man can atone for another man’s sins but, as His Bride, we are called to the same ministry which Jesus Christ fulfilled on the earth; to bring forth new life – to intercede.
The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
Luke 6:40
And all things [are] of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
2 Corinthians 5:18
Intercession is more than saying a simple prayer for someone. It is taking on the suffering and need of the one for whom we intercede. We take up the cry which they utter and lift it to God for them. We cry out as that person to God. God reveals the need of another to our spirit, and our soul feels the weight of it. Intercession is not a five-minute job. It continues until the burden lifts. It may be an hour. It may be a day. It may be a week. It must not stop until there is assurance by the Spirit that the need is met and that God has released you from prayer. The intercessor carries the need of another soul as a mother carries an unborn child. There is labor. There is intensity. There is the care of the Father for the lost soul, poured into the soul of the intercessor. An intercessor joins Jesus in His ministry to those in need, bringing them in remembrance before the Father with love and care which surpass the need or even the comfort of self. Intercession is to lay your life down and take up the need of another. This is the prayer that will accomplish what God requires in this hour.
5. The end of prayer is the conversion of men and women to Christ.
The end of prayer is where we started – we will souls gloriously brought into fellowship
with God through Jesus Christ. Sinners will fall to their knees and cry out to be saved. Unbelievers will be convicted, confess Jesus as Lord and follow Him. With every prayer, there must be corresponding action on our part. While those who intercede may not always have the privilege of being the direct means of the conversion of everyone for which they pray, it would be foolish for them not to actively seek to encounter the one for whom we pray. Every individual should look for the souls that are the answer to their prayers, expecting to be the vessel that God uses for someone’s salvation.
Teams of evangelists should join with those who intercede and use the prayers of the saints to aid them in their endeavors. When an intercessor feels the release of a soul, anticipation and expectation should fill the evangelists with confidence that their ministry will be fruitful, resulting in a soul being brought into their church. Teachers should prepare to train the new converts, not in religion, but in how to commune with God and please Him; how to follow Him and walk as He walked. Prophets should be ready to speak into the lives of those who need a word in due season and correct the hidden motives of the heart, guiding them on the straight path to Zion. Apostles should anticipate the new, living, radiant churches that will be planted as the abundant life outgrows the confines of a location and God calls up others to a new work. Truthfully, a church that has no newly converted souls coming in from the labor and prayers of the saints combined with the efforts of the evangelists is a dead church; it is a dead womb with no life being produced.
When those who desire to accomplish this act on God’s word, churches will be converted from a collection of people following a ritualistic set of methods designed to keep those who are barely saved committed to a God which they rarely actually contact, to a vibrant, unified, cohesive body, growing in the Spirit of God and teaching others to do the same. We must relearn the ways that “progressive” and “seeker-friendly” programs have thrown down. We must return to a life of unashamed holiness and unshakeable faith in the power of God to do the impossible. Nothing is more impossible with man than the salvation of the soul. But what is impossible with man is possible with God and to all those who believe His Word alone.