It was a Thursday evening in a small church at the end of the runway when the Holy Spirit began to move in an extraordinary way. People started to laugh and collapse to the ground, and some of them seemed intoxicated.

In this small church, one of the most powerful revivals of the 20th century took place. It was known as the Toronto blessing, and I am grateful to have been involved for the past 30 years. It began on 20 January 1994, and the meetings continued for six days each week over the next 12 and a half years.

In 1992 and 1993, Marc Dupont prophesied that this outpouring would occur. From the beginning of the revival, approximately 4 million people attended the meetings. Many exhausted Christians stepped forward to receive prayer, and many of them collapsed under the Spirit's power, lying on the floor for hours. Afterwards, they experienced a significant strengthening in their faith. They were revived, filled with the Spirit, developed a passion for God's presence and power, and many gained deep revelation of their Heavenly Father’s love for them.

Elijah’s oil

I recall a prophetic word at the beginning of the Toronto Blessing outpouring, stating it would be like the oil of Elijah and would continue to flow as long as there were vessels to be filled.

2 Kings 4:1-7 recounts the story of a widow who called on Elijah for help after her husband died. Elijah asked her what she had. She said she only had a small jar of oil. He told her to collect as many vessels as she could and start filling them up. She did so, and the oil kept pouring from the little bottle until all the vessels were filled. He then told her to sell the oil and pay off her creditors.

The people attending the Toronto outpouring were like the vessels in Elijah's story. The key to the Toronto outpouring is that people came to receive. They arrived from all over the world, longing to be anointed, healed and touched by God. They did not struggle to receive; they simply arrived, stood on the line on the carpet, and quietly received. The ministry team would pass by and offer simple prayers like, "Fill them Lord” or "More Lord."

Other Revivals

There have been revivals all around the world (1), and Sue and I have visited many of the places where God has poured His Spirit in revival. We have realised that the prophetic word given over Toronto about Elijah's oil appears to be active in other locations where God has poured out His Spirit. 

In each of these birthplaces of revival, the Lord poured out His Spirit in a dramatic way, often restoring truths that had become dormant.

At each of these sites we visited, we simply went in and said, “Lord, we honour the move of God that happened here, and we ask for the anointing you imparted here.” Then we would wait. Sometimes there was a quiet release of His presence, and at some sites, we experienced a very dramatic impartation of the Spirit.

Desire Earnestly Spiritual Gifts

The key to receiving what God grants in all these instances is that we earnestly desire to receive everything God is imparting. We did not strive, we did not beg, we did not speak in tongues; we simply waited and rested in the presence of God.

The Apostle Paul three times states, “desire spiritual gifts or desire earnestly to prophesy”, 1 Corinthians 12:31, 1 Corinthians 14:1, 1 Corinthians 14:39. ‘Desire earnestly’ does not mean to strive after it; it simply means to eagerly seek or earnestly desire.

This experience is available to all who ask

I spoke to a friend the other day about revivals and some of the things I experienced when I visited those places where they happened. As I was about to leave, he said, "Could you pray for me?" and he held out his hands to receive. When I touched his hand and prayed for him, he started to faint and slid down the wall, lying on the floor for quite a while. It reminded me of the hundreds of people I saw lying on the floor at Catch the Fire during the revival.

This had nothing to do with me. I am not a man of power for the hour; it was about my friend's desire to receive and the Holy Spirit's desire to impart.

This is what happened in Toronto. Millions came to Toronto hungry to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and they were filled.

How to receive

Contrary to many so-called revivals that are often stirred up by a dramatic speaker, the Toronto blessing had no such speaker. Believers simply

    Stood on a line on the carpet in the church

    Focused their hearts on the Lord

    Quietly positioned themselves to receive, not speaking in tongues or striving to receive, and simply asked to be filled.

    A ministry team member often came by, touched them, and simply said, “Come, Holy Spirit” or “More, Lord,” and people were filled.

Ephesians 5:18 reads Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” This is not a one-time event. It is an exhortation to be continually filled with the Spirit

You can do this in your home.

    Quietly position yourself to receive, not speaking in tongues or striving to receive

    Focus your heart on the Lord. You can do this by simply imagining a Bible story in which the Lord is in.

    When you start to feel the presence of the Lord come over you, just say Lord, please fill me

    Don’t be in Hurry, the presence of the Lord will come in waves. Say “More Lord”. Don’t strive, just rest.

    Stay in his presence until you feel His presence lift off you. Think of it as drinking in the presence of God

It is that easy? You can do this every day, anywhere you want. Your Lord wants to fill you.

I encourage you to to tune into His presence today and be filled with the Spirit.

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