The Eastern North Carolina Phenomenon
A Call to United 24/7 Prayer and Worship in Eastern North Carolina Unto Regional Revival
God has planted our family here in eastern North Carolina, and I believe the pursuit of united, day and night worship and prayer is crucial to seeing the historic revival that God wants to release in this region. I am convinced that God wants to establish 24/7 prayer in the spirit of David’s tabernacle here to usher in an unprecedented outpouring of Holy Spirit in our day and time. I pray that this brief article will be an invitation to you to step into that same dream and desire that I believe is burning in the heart of God for historic revival, spiritual awakening and cultural transformation.
I know that many of you are in other states or nations. I hope this will inspire you to search out the revival history and prophetic destiny of your own region.
The Awake ENC Dream
In March of 2013 I had a dream. The first scene was a picture of a tour poster. The name of the tour was “Awake ENC”. Then the scene shifted into scenes of revival: altars full of young people on their knees, weeping, repenting and turning to Jesus. Public places filled with crowds worshiping Jesus with abandon. Healing, miracles, signs and wonders breaking out all around us.
I believe God wants to “awaken” eastern North Carolina from its spiritual slumber and call us together in united prayer and worship!
The Phenomenon Prophecy
As we have built relationships and prayer for revival throughout eastern North Carolina, we have discovered a prophetic word that has been preserved by faithful saints and intercessors over the decades. In 1975, while visiting eastern NC, the author and Bible teacher Derek Prince prophesied:
“I have found favor with you here in Eastern North Carolina. I will personally come to visit you. There will be a revival greater than the great Wales phenomenon. There will be kings and leaders from north, south, east, and west that will come and study the Eastern North Carolina phenomenon.”
If you know anything about the historic revival that took place in Wales in the early 1900s, then you understand how profound of a prophetic promise this is for our region. It was reported that 100,000 people came to the Lord in the first year of that revival. Many believe it was the Wesch revival that helped sparked the Azusa St revival in the United States around the same time.
I believe God wants to send a “phenomenon” of spiritual revival to eastern North Carolina!
Azusa East Revival and G.B. Cashwell
Many are aware that shortly after the Wales revival, the Azusa Street revival broke out in Los Angeles, California. What many people do not know is that the Azusa revival spread to the east coast by way of eastern North Carolina. A preacher named G.B. Cashwell travelled to Los Angeles to experience the Azusa revival, was baptized in the Holy Spirit and returned home to spread the fire (you can read more about GB Cashwell here). He set up meetings in the town of Dunn, NC, and God began to pour out His Spirit in North Carolina just as He had in California.
Within a short amount of time, the fires of pentecostalism had spread throughout the eastern half of the United States, bringing thousands of new believers into the kingdom, awakening the lukewarm with the power of the Holy Spirit and even birthing entirely new Christian denominations. This movement became known as “Azusa East”, and it all started in eastern North Carolina.
I believe God wants to redig the well of Azusa East here in our land to release a new wave of revival fire!
The Spirit of David’s Tabernacle
As I began to research the prophetic word from Derek Prince about the “eastern North Carolina Phenomenon”, I discovered some of the context in which it was given (references can be found in chapter 8 of my book David’s Tabernacle).
There was a church in Jacksonville, North Carolina that was being influenced by the book The Power of His Presence by Graham Truscott. This was the first modern book written on the topic of David’s tabernacle. After reading that book, the local church began to incorporate Davidic worship into their meetings, and God was moving powerfully. Additionally, they were beginning to experience fellowship and unity with other churches in the area.
In 1975, this group of churches decided to invite Derek Prince in for a series of special meetings. Believers from multiple churches crammed into the sanctuary for the first meeting, which was marked by the presence of God during the music and worship. It was said that “most people cared very little about the apparent lack of space. Only one thing mattered: God was in the house!”
Remember that this is the congregation that was beginning to incorporate Davidic worship — musical instruments and prophetic songs were beginning to be released. Creativity and intercession was beginning to flow. Another facet of this meeting was the coming together of worshipers from various races and church backgrounds. One attendee said “we each began to understand that, although our skin pigments and denominations were different, we were indeed one body.”
It was in this context that Derek Prince released his prophetic word:
“I have found favor with you here in Eastern North Carolina…..”
I believe the context in which this prophetic word was given will be the context in which it is fulfilled: united worship and prayer in the spirit of David’s tabernacle. The pursuit of greater unity and expressions of David’s tabernacle in this region are paramount to God’s purposes here.
The Presence Pioneers
The same season that God gave me the Awake ENC dream (spring of 2013), I had another unusually profound encounter with God. On a prayer retreat, God spoke to me about Psalm 132, 133 and 134 together. As I looked at these chapters, I saw that Psalm 132 was David’s vow to build a resting place for God’s presence. Psalm 133 was about the anointing and blessing that comes from unity. And Psalm 134 was about the blessing of those who ministered through the night hours at David’s tabernacle and the Temple.
God said to me:
“Find those with Psalm 132 in their hearts, help them to be in Psalm 133 unity in order to see Psalm 134”.
I was curious about the phrase “those with Psalm 132 in their hearts”. I asked God who He meant. Was this house of prayer leaders, worship leaders, intercessors, etc? God said:
“Those with Psalm 132 in their hearts are the presence pioneers. Find those who are pioneering places of my presence in their cities.”
I believe God wants to establish and connect presence-centered leaders, churches and ministries throughout eastern North Carolina to establish dwelling places of God’s presence in their communities and to mobilize together across the region for united 24-hour prayer and worship.
Practical Steps
With this context, we have been taking small steps towards promoting united day and night worship and prayer in eastern North Carolina. At this point, we are simply working to build relationships with like-minded leaders, encourage Davidic worship and promote prayer for revival in our region.
We are gathering quarterly for a regional time of worship and prayer (usually for extended hours), including a time for leaders of presence-centered churches and ministries to build relationships and pray. We will post these events at the top of of the page at awakeENC.com.
We are hosting a weekly prayer call for leaders in the eastern half of North Carolina to join in unity and cry out for revival in eastern North Carolina.
We are encouraging prayer ministries, worshipers and intercessors to utilize the ENC 247 calendar hosted by Fiery Remnant Ministries to help track progress towards 24-7 prayer in the region.