Dutch Sheets Sees Revival Coming to America

Renowned pastor, author, and intercessor Dutch Sheets spoke with Pat Robertson about the need for a revival in America, and especially in the region of New England. Sheets said the Holy Spirit has shown him that a coming revival will first sweep through America’s youth.

Pat Robertson: The Bible says, "In the latter days, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy." And it looks like God is sending a great revival among the young. Enthusiasm and the zeal for God is just overwhelming, and we're thrilled to see it. Dutch Sheets is here with us. You recall, he was here before the election. He had a message, the Holy Spirit came upon him at his church. He issued two stirring calls to us to fast and pray before the election. Remember that?

Dutch Sheets: I sure do. I've been on a rocket ever since.

Robertson: I think we heard from the Lord, you heard from the Lord. People responded and I think the American people are very grateful. But were it not for that intercessory prayer, a few hundred votes one way or the other would have been a totally different situation here facing this terror.

Sheets: That's exactly right. We have people now in our leadership calling on God. People that unashamedly are saying let's humble ourselves and pray, and I don't think we would have had that.

Robertson: Dutch, you are focused on New England. The Great Awakening of the 18th Century took place in New England and yet, it's been so cold and dead spiritually. It's almost like those fires of revival have gone out. But you were kindling something. Why did you pick Boston [to host this youth prayer event, The Call]?

Sheets: New England has been on my heart for several years. Probably three or four years ago the Lord began to speak to me, if we don't get the "northeast gate" open, if we don't get things changed there, we will not see the move of the Holy Spirit. We will not see it in the rest of the nation. And on the recent prayer tour we did, which just ended three weeks before this event — talk about the timing of the Lord — God had focused us on that region of the country. And I began to call it the womb of the nation. And I believe that. I believe it's where we were born as a nation. But there's more to it than just a natural birth [of the nation], in the purposes of God we were born there. And the Lord began to say to me, if we don't get those roots alive again, we're not going see revival in the nation. So I didn't know all of this, obviously, but I've known for several years now that this is really the war zone of the nation spiritually. Satan wants this turf and God wants it. So I’ve been calling on people for three or four years now, pray for New England. Pray for New England. Pray for New England.

Robertson: You know, this is, again I repeat: Jonathan Edwards, the Great Awakening took place there; Timothy Dwight at Yale, a great man of God; the early missionary work at Dartmouth College; all of those colleges were dedicated to the Lord, trained people to serve him. I mean, it was a place of great holiness and godliness, the Puritans were there. But you think God is telling you that New England is going to come back to its very strong spiritual roots?

Sheets: Absolutely. We visited every one of those places you just mentioned on this "kettle tour" that we did a few weeks ago for prayer. I was at Yale, I was at Dartmouth, I was at Williams where the Haystack Revival took place, and Harvard. And I know in my heart we're about to see a major visitation from the Lord, a great awakening. I was in Boise just a week before last, right after this horrible event took place. And Pat if I've ever heard the Lord and ever seen something in the Spirit that I know is accurate, I saw what I believe is coming to the young people of America, to America. And I believe with Cindy Jacobs who on the clip just said there is coming a movement on the colleges, the universities, that will dwarf the Jesus Movement. I saw it. In fact, I stopped my message. I rarely have ever been so overcome by the Spirit of God that I couldn't speak. I stopped my message in this conference and I began to weep and I looked at the people and I said, he's coming. He is coming to this nation. And I began to pray and I was sort of emphasizing the youth and probably 150 to 200 young people ran to the front of this auditorium, fell on their faces and this sound erupted of crying out to God for their nation. We were all just overcome by the presence of the Lord. You know, I'm telling you, it's coming.

Robertson: I'm absolutely convinced of it. I think this is going to eclipse those great revivals, the 1857 Revival, the Revival of the Frontier we had around the turn of the 19th Century, the Great Awakening. It's going to be bigger than any of them.

Sheets: It is. It's going to be tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands…

Robertson: Maybe millions. Let's make it millions.

Sheets: That's right. It's coming. I saw by the Spirit, classes canceled, not in Christian universities because they were praying. Instead, I saw secular universities where the kids just didn't want to go to class. They wanted to go have a prayer meeting or a service. I predict it's coming.

Robertson: Praise God. You have stressed humility. Is that sort of God's priorities, it’s what he's been showing you and showing us?

Sheets: He is, absolutely. That shouldn't surprise us. He said, "If my people will humble themselves and pray." I think what God wants to hear from us in this nation is a knowledge and understanding that there is no other hope, that there is no other hope for this nation but revival and that will be sparked by prayer. And so we've got to get on our faces and say, Lord, you're the only hope. We can't do it. We've tried. The governments have tried to turn things around. The people have. The church has. We have lots of new carts trying to figure out a way to get the glory back. There's no other way. We just have to say, Lord, we need you with all of our hearts, we're desperate for you.

Robertson: It's not something that some political movement is going to give us. It's got to be bottom up. It's coming up from the people.

Sheets: God needs someone that is at least righteous because righteousness exalts a nation. Not power, not all the wealth, all those things. He needs someone at the top who will not hold him back.

Robertson: Yeah. It's coming. To think that our attorney general who is in the forefront is a man who is a spirit-filled Christian, he's known as such and the fight over his confirmation was bitter, but now the American people are so thrilled that a man of his stature and integrity is leading this fight. It really is encouraging and, of course, the president and his advisors. It's a wonderful thing.

Sheets: It's a new day, isn’t it?

Robertson: It is, brother. But it's a new day in time of crisis. I appreciate what you're doing and I am absolutely thrilled at your discussion of revival, especially among the young people because, the Lord said he's going to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children before he comes back. And this is it.

Sheets: That will help break the curse, he said.

Robertson: Yes it will. Dutch, bless you.

Sheets: Thank you.

Robertson: Come back and tell us some more. You always inspire us. Thank you, my brother.