It’s Happening-Chapter 3

He Hears Your Cry

Excerpts from Chapter 3 It’s Happening by William McDowell.

McDowell shares Psalm 116:1-2, I love the Lord because he hears my prayers and answers them. ²Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I breathe! and states “…at the current state of the world it is obvious we need revival. So we cry out for it day and night. At our church we’ve embraced the posture and disposition of crying out.” This book was published in 2018. I would say we now in the year 2025 we certainly need revival.

Being a Parent, God our Heavenly Father

McDowell spends some time on how being a parent with children and how a parent recognizes and deciphers the cries of their children. He then states “Not only can God interpret our cries but ‘He remembers and answers them. And He can distinguish our cries from everyone else’s in the world. Even as we cry out to Him during corporate worship with other believers or alone in the privacy of our prayer closets, the Lord hears us, distinguishes our cries from all others, and answers them. I want to encourage you to continue to cry out and not be silent. The Lord responds to our cries. Just as our children’s cries vary in degrees of urgency, so do ours.”

God and Israel

God heard the cries of the Israelites when they were captivity. Even when it seemed like He was not hearing. He ultimately raised up Moses as their deliverer, at God’s divine timing.

God has a set time for our life, our family, our breakthroughs, or deliverances. We never know when our cry intersects with God’s set time. McDowell states that we are moving closer to God’s set time for revival to the whole earth, for now we tarry.

Tarry

To tarry means to wait or delay. McDowell believes one of the reasons there is a delay for revival is because there is no cry, no intense desire for it. It may seem like revival will never come. Do we quit crying for it? The Israelites did not quit crying out for over 400 years.

McDowell states: “Don’t lose your cry just because the answer is taking a long time. Maybe we need to start spreading the word again that revival is available, that the outpouring is available, that deliverance is available. Maybe we need to start declaring that the year of God’s favor is upon us.”

Cry Out to God

There are cries beginning to rise up from the earth and God is beginning to respond. Let’s keep crying out for a move of God, for revival. God calls us to be persistent. Let’s be persistent like the widow in Luke 18. Listen to what McDowell says:
“Will God find people who will have patience and trust, knowing He’s waiting for the right time to intervene and act on their behalf? Or will He find people who in their frustration stop believing? He is saying in this moment that we must cry out to Him day and night. If you stop crying out, you are signifying that you are frustrated with Him. You’re frustrated that He’s not answering on your timeline. Don’t stop asking. Don’t stop believing that God will answer. He’s waiting on the exact right time to intervene on your behalf. He answers the persistent cry.”

Testimonial-Stories of the River

A schoolteacher could not close her fist completely, thus could not hold unto things. During worship she felt someone grab her hand. She thought it was her husband, but he had his hands lifted up. She then grabbed her husband’s hand and for the first time in two years she had strength back in her hand. McDowell says “It’s Happening!”

The Story of Hannah and Samuel

Hannah was crying out to God for a son and Eli the prophet thought she was drunk. Samuel misunderstood.

McDowell says “Are you one of those whose walk with God has been misunderstood? Have people misunderstood why you live the way you live? People don’t understand why you do the things you do. They don’t understand why you keep crying out to God the way you do. People can’t figure you out. They don’t understand why you’re not happy with the way things are. Why are you always asking for more?”

“If this story resonates with you, then trust that you are not alone. You were created to birth something in the earth. What God is stirring in you is something that cannot be fulfilled by man. The misunderstood cry is really the unselfish cry.”

I will say that I have felt alone at times. I have been made to think I am weird/strange. That my longing for more, for a move of God, for revival, is just a reflection of me being negative. ‘Your just a half empty cup guy.’ While I say, but it needs to be filled up, God can fill it up.

The cry that was birthed in Hannah was not of her own making. God put the cry in her because it was more than for her to have a son. It was for her son, Samuel to become a prophet for the nation of Israel.

Don’t Stop Crying

Some key points from this chapter:
a. People do not understand there is something in you that longs for more.
b. God hears and understands the cry and He will answer.
c. You long to give birth to something that will glorify God.
d. Don’t stop crying out.

Desperation

Matthew 10:46
⁴⁶ Then they *came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  ⁴⁸ Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
McDowell states: “Desperation has a sound attached to it, and it is not quiet. In fact, you could say that desperation is a misunderstood cry as well. This is a cry that recognizes that when Jesus is coming near, that is not the time to be quiet because no one else can do for you what He can. And so when those who are desperate since His presence is near, you will have to excuse them because they will likely get loud. Their faith is coming alive.”

“The closer Jesus done, the louder the crowd got. Somehow he had to get the Lord’s attention because He was the only one who could give him sight. His desperation grew by the minute, and just when the moment reached its set time, he cried out, Son of David, have mercy upon me.”

“Many told him to be quiet, but the closer Jesus came, the louder Bartimaeus cried out. Oftentimes, desperate people expose non desperate people. The ones telling him to be quiet couldn’t do anything for him.”

“When you’re desperate for an encounter with God, there will be times when you will have to ignore those around you. When you recognize that Jesus is the only one who can change you, the opinions of others ceases to matter. Sometimes the very reason you’re being told to tone down your worship, prayer, and desperation is because it causes others to become uncomfortable with their lack of desperation.”

Jesus healed Bartimaeus because He was desperate.

“The secret power of the cry of faith is that it allows you to reach into the future and pull into your present the grace and provision God has promised to release at a later time. God does not live within the constraints of time as we do. He’s omnipresent.”

Canaanite Woman

Matthew 15:22-28
²² And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed.” ²³ But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us.” ²⁴ But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵ But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” ²⁶ And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷ But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once.

McDowell says: “She was declaring to him that despite her present unworthiness, she needed to make a demand on a future provision and make it apply to her present need. She couldn’t wait because her daughter was severely possessed right then and her faith told her that Jesus had the capacity to answer her cry right then. Even though her initial question was met with silence, she did not let that keep her from crying out, believing he was the son of God. She believed that what was promised in the future could be made manifest right then.”

“Sometimes we get into the presence of God not knowing we don’t deserve what we’re asking for, but as we get in a posture of worship acknowledging God for who he is, our worship begins to build our faith and by faith we are able to cry out and what may not be fully manifested to us right now, we reach into the future and pull into our present because it is consistently available in God. You may feel as if God has been silent when you’ve cried out to him, but keep crying in faith.”

Isaiah

Isaiah had a divine encounter with God in Isaiah 6. Isaiah was changed afterwards. Isaiah seen the Lord but he was burning in the inside for others to experience God. McDowell states: “When you have a genuine encounter with God, not only does it change you, but you can never forget it. It will shape how you think, act and live. This is a cry that says I’ve seen something that makes my insides feel like they’re going to burst. I’ve seen something that causes me to yearn for more, to cry out for more, to search for more. It seems the feeling is if others could have the same encounter, they wouldn’t think our passion was weird or strange. They likely wouldn’t think this pursuit of God was too much. They would understand this passion.”

The Cry of Creation and the Spirit

In Romans 8 it says creation is waiting eagerly for the future day when God will reveal who His children really are. Creation groans. McDowell says “Creation is crying. We are crying. And the spirit is crying for the same thing. The reason we cry out is because we know the way things are right now is not the way they are supposed to be. That we all are crying out signifies that we are in harmony with what God is doing. Now I believe the people of God will cry out more than ever and we will see an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our generation.”

Respond

“If you’ve been crying out to God wondering when you will see miracles, deliverance, and the promises of God, you join with creation and the spirit.” “As your Father, God hears every one of your cries and is coming to answer you. Don’t be afraid to lift up your voice and cry out. Whether your cry is misunderstood, consistent, persistent, or desperate, find your place and cry out to God.” In the body of Christ, we’ve only scratched the surface. We’ve only had one glance of the Savior’s eyes. We may have tasted God’s glory, but let’s cry out for more.”

It’s Happening Chapter Three Podcast

It’s Happening Book Review Series Podcasts
Introduction
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three

It’s Happening Book Review Blog Series
Introduction
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three

To get a sense of the heart of William McDowell watch the attached video.

It’s Happening-Audible
It’s Happening Paperback

There is Hope Radio

You can listen to There is Hope on all the major podcast channels, even on Alexa. To learn all about There is Hope Radio, to obtain links to Podcast Channels, to donate to keep There is Hope on the air, to listen to the latest podcast, go to There is Hope Radio.

#itshappening #williammcdowell #revival #moveofgod #creatingfutures #preacherrichd