Recently, a 20-year-old Generation Z pastor inspired me. He began hosting weekly worship services in his city. The message was loud and clear: God, we are not going anywhere until You bring revival to our city. This began as weekly prayer and worship services and grew into a citywide gathering that included pastors from all over Texas. Various churches came together, and everyone was welcome.

I believe that as I watched churches gather to exalt Jesus, the Lord was showing me a prophetic picture we can pray into: My eyes were surveying Gen Z and Gen Alpha members worshiping. I was captivated by the worshiping women waving banners and flags alongside their husbands and families. There was no divide in that moment. It wasn’t about any church in particular; it was all about Jesus, and it was a powerful time.

I was reminded of the Exodus under Moses: He was called and commissioned to lead the people out of Egypt, and we know he did that. But ultimately, it wasn’t Moses who took possession of the promised land — it was Joshua, his younger aide. Joshua was to lead the younger generation to go in and take the land. This is how I feel about Gen Z.

It’s apparent that the Enemy is after our children, and this can generate a mix of emotions, including anger and fear. However, it’s also encouraging and exciting to see young people who are hungry and filled with zeal for Jesus. They will be at the forefront of a move of God. This is exactly what we need.

It’s going to require young people unashamed of Jesus to boldly confront the lies coming against their generation. Many have prophesied that Gen Z will play a huge part in the next spiritual awakening, and I believe it.

Let me also clarify that just because God is moving among and using these young people to do great exploits doesn’t mean the older generations don’t have work to do as well.

God of Every Generation

When Moses led the people through the Red Sea, Miriam and all the women under her leadership danced, sang, and worshiped before the Lord: Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing (Exodus 15:20).

Just as I saw women worshiping with flags and tambourines at the City Hall, women of God, it’s your time. Rise up, worshipers! Don’t be who the world is telling you to be, just be who God created you to be. You are not defined by who they say you are. You are defined by who God says you are. You are a daughter of the Most High. Choose to be a woman of worship and not a woman of the world. Your praise is a weapon. Your dance is a weapon. Your voice is a weapon. Your shout is a weapon — so use these. Refuse to sit back and be silent. It’s going to take worshipful women of God, filled with the Holy Spirit and fire, to confront the lies of the devil coming against us.

In Moses’ day, the men were given a specific task from the Lord: “… ‘drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places’ ” (Numbers 33:52 NIV).

This charge remains today. We need men of God to rise up. We need you to lead and not count on the women to do everything. Lead your family as you are called to. We need men who are battle-ready, men who believe the Lord’s report rather than any bad report. Will you see yourself as a grasshopper, or as a warrior? Are you willing to confront the giants in the land? Are you ready to take back what the enemy has stolen from you? If so, armor up and take your place.

Both the men and the women had a responsibility to teach their children to remember the great things God had done (see Deuteronomy 4:9–10; and 11:19). We are to teach our children about the works and the words of the Lord — because if we won’t, the world is more than willing to teach them its own sinful values.

Some of the older generation that was with Moses went into the promised land with Joshua as well: Caleb was about 85 years old when he entered Canaan, and he was still more than able to do battle.

“Now, as you can see, the LORD has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise — even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. So give me the hill country that the LORD promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the LORD is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the LORD said” (Joshua 14:10–12 NLT).

Share Your Faith and Wisdom

Caleb represents the mature men and women of God who have paved the way before us. We honor those mature ones who have set an example and are now departed and in glory. And we also honor you mature ones who are still with us. The younger generations need you. They need your wisdom and faith.

When I realized everything that transpired at the gathering, I believe I saw a picture of the greatest need of the hour: that as an act of unity during times of prayer, believers of all ages would link arms together and pray as one.

What stood out to me most were the various ages: young children, youth, young adults, the middle-aged, and the elderly — all locking arms; all generations came together. It didn’t look like several different churches, or even like one church. No, in the moment, we were one big  family.

God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations” (Exodus 3:15).

The Lord is always recorded as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because He is a generational God.

Of all the names of God in the Bible, my favorite is Father. There are 64 scriptures that call Him Father directly, and some others that address His fatherly nature.

The Enemy is seeking to destroy generations, but you can be sure that Father God cares about what is happening to these children. He has not forgotten them. He is going to raise these kids up. So be ready.

Before they occupied the land, as described in Numbers 33:52, the Israelite men were instructed to tear down the heathen high places. Those were false altars of worship to idols that had been erected in the land. And in Joshua 4:21–24, after the Israelites had crossed the Jordan River, the Lord instructed them to build a memorial altar.

Today there are many false altars in this nation that need to come down. One thing is certain: We need to raise up altars of true worship to the Lord. We also need to rebuild and return to the family altars.

Marriages are under attack, and youth and children are being targeted. Family values that were once esteemed are now mocked. We need all generations to come together, side by side, for one purpose: to see Jesus Christ exalted in our families, our cities, and our nation. When generations thus work together, it’s called synergy. We remember the sacrifices and prayers of our loved ones who have paved the way for us to do what we do. We train and empower the next generation, and when they’re ready, we send them out. This is an ongoing legacy.

There is a move of God now being birthed. Thank You, Lord, for signs, wonders, miracles, and deliverance. We certainly need those things. Those manifestations display Your power and glory for all to see, resulting in freedom and salvation. We will never stop contending for lost souls, because that is what revival is about.

A Family With Foundations

My prayer is that this next move of God would bring a revival of restored families as well. It is going to require families with a firm foundation built on Jesus Christ to withstand the coming storms and confront the lies of the Enemy. The younger generations need family. We, the Church, need to step up and be that supportive family as well. After all, as some have said, it sometimes takes a whole village to raise a child.

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure (Ephesians 1:5 NLT).

Jesus did more than die for our sins, though we can never thank Him enough for doing just that. He also died to make us the family of God. This family is no man-made institution; it was God’s idea.

I believe in the power of the blood of Jesus; I believe in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe that He is who He says He is. He is a restorer. He came to reconcile all things through the cross (see Colossians 1:20). He calls us to the ministry of reconciliation as we plead for people to come to Jesus.

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:18–20 NIV).

Maybe some of you reading this do not have strong ties with your biological family, and this is where the spiritual family comes in: God sets the lonely in families … (Psalm 68:6 NIV). The Church serves as a hospital for the broken and the sick, but it also serves as a family unit for the lonely. Some people come into church alone. If we are the hands and feet of Jesus, we should extend His love to all who enter His house.

COVID did a great job of isolating and dividing not only the Church, but families too. Some people never recovered; they chose to stay isolated. That’s what the Enemy wants: isolated believers, divided churches, and broken families. But today we say: Enough!

It’s time to come back, prodigal — come home. Come back to family. Christian, come out of loneliness and isolation; come back to the house of God and to family. I pray that if you are not connected, you will get connected. You can’t do it alone; none of us can. We need each other now more than ever. If you want to be a part of what God is doing, let’s spiritually link arms right now:

Father, we praise You because even in the midst of darkness, Your Spirit is moving. You are calling Your body to link arms as one and to be not just the Church, but also the actual family of God. We see the Enemy coming for our families, and we say: Enough! We take our stand as watchmen on the wall, and we contend not only for revival, but also for the recovery of our families. We are standing in the gap for restoration of marriages and homes. There is no home or marriage so broken that You can’t restore it. There is no wound so deep that You can’t heal it. We call forth every prodigal. You said there’s nowhere they can flee from Your presence. We know they were raised in Your house, and You said that if we train our children up in Your ways, they will not depart from those ways when they are old. We cling to that promise with confidence because You are faithful. Spirit of God, remind these prodigals of Your truth, and be the light in their darkness. Bring healing and restoration. There is nothing impossible with You. 

Even now we pray for Christians who became disconnected during COVID. Bring them back into fellowship with Yourself and with the family of God. Give us Your heart for the Church and for every single person who comes into the church building. We also pray for those we come into contact with daily, that we might extend the healing ministry of reconciliation. We have seen Your power and glory moving in the Church, and we praise You. We want to see Your power in our families, too. Prepare our hearts for what You are about to do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Are you ready to pray for a revival of families? Share your prayers and comments below.

IFA contributing writer Gloria Robles is a passionate intercessor with a prophetic voice for today. For more from Gloria, go to Spotify or Anchor and listen to her podcast, Something To Share.