Prayer
For 21 weeks, the Lord wouldn’t let Pastor William McDowell and the people of Deeper Fellowship Church leave the subject of prayer. He explains, “We had been experiencing a move of God, and we sensed that He wanted to prepare our fellowship to see it spread…But there has never been a move of God without prayer, and we knew that healings and miracles had occurred not only because God had chosen for us to see revival but also because of our prayers. God began to tell us that there is more—more miracles, more of His presence—and at the same time, He began to awaken us to another dimension of prayer.”
Understanding who we are as his sons and daughters gives us authority as His children. Intimacy is the key to that authority. The closer we are to God, the more we understand what pleases Him. In turn, when we pray, we know what we should ask for.
Pastor McDowell shares a story of his mother going to China when he was 20 years old. Since she was so far away, she gave William a blank check with her signature on it, in the event he would need anything. He shares, “What she gave me with that check was her authority and because of our relationship she knew she could trust me not to do something crazy with that authority while she was gone.” Just like his relationship with his mother, we can have that same intimate relationship with God. “The fact is that it is possible to become closer and closer to God. Once you learn the desires of His heart, then you can ask for anything and expect it to be done,” McDowell continues.
Abiding in Christ
All the distractions of social media and the busyness of life can hinder our ability to stay in the position of abiding in Christ. McDowell gives us the following tips to help:
- Be satisfied with Him —Many Christians spend so much time on social media because they are seeking gratification from others. They get a dopamine high every time somebody likes their posts. You know you are slipping away from abiding in Him when you find yourself seeking approval and applause from others.
- Recognize your need for Him — Being dependent on God is not weakness; it’s maturity.
- Cherish His words — You can reach a level of intimacy where the words you pray are His words.
He shares, “This puts us in a place of authority. It is as if we have been given a blank check (signed by Jesus) for things that can be drawn from His account to bring glory to the Father.”
Deeper Worship Intensive
McDowell is also launching a new digital version of the Deeper Worship Intensive (DWI) to equip Christian worship and ministry leaders with hands-on training for Revival in light of the Covid-19 pandemic beginning April 12, 2021.
Comprised of senior leaders, ministry heads, recording artists, songwriters, and more for the annual event, the Deeper Worship Intensive will be delivered completely online and features a special “Team Edition” for organizations with multiple staff members attending.
Not just another worship gathering, DWI is partnered with North Central University to provide training that is both motivative and rigorous. Attendees will be inspired, informed as well as equipped with strategies to spread Revival from the likes of Kirk Franklin, Matt Chandler, Darlene Zschech, Eric Mason, R.T Kendall, A.R. Bernard, Tasha Cobb-Leonard, Scott Hagan, Don Moen, and more.
Deeper Fellowship
In 1998, William began to experience a hunger for revival after his pastor at the time suggested that he read Tommy Tenney’s book, The God Chasers. After reading the first chapter or two, he put the book down, went to his room, and began to cry out to God to have an encounter with Him. He earnestly cried out to God from that moment on for revival to break out. William also had an open vision about a place where people were discipled and trained in life, worship, and the arts. However, at the time he did not know what it meant.
He asked the Lord, “Where is this place to be?” and God clearly said, “Orlando, Florida – and I’m going to use you to build it!” William moved to Florida in 1999 and attended Full Sail University. During the next several years, he led worship and had the privilege of serving as keyboardist and music director for internationally renowned worship leader, Ron Kenoly. He then accepted a position as worship pastor at a local church. “During that season, this vision that had always seemed foggy to me began to clear up a bit,” shares William.
One day, William attended a church planters conference. While Pastor Rick Warren was speaking, the Holy Spirit quietly spoke to him and said “You are here to learn how to plant the church I placed in your heart in 1998!” “I promptly ignored that, since a church isn’t what I saw in 1998, was it?” says Williams. “I was so uncomfortable with what I heard that I stopped attending the conference and skipped all the remaining sessions!”
Later William and a friend attended another church planting conference. Together they were sitting in a session when the Lord spoke to William again and said, “You are here to plant.” He once again ignored that voice. William was a worship pastor that just recorded a new CD with songs being sung around the world. Then, the Lord spoke to him a second time, but this time He said, “Why are you ignoring me?” William said, “I’m not!” Then, the Lord spoke to him a third time, and asked again, “Why are you ignoring me?” Once again, William responded, “I’m not!” Then in a moment of divine providence, his friend leaned over to him and said, “God just told me to ask you why you’re ignoring Him?”
God was calling William to plant a church, which happened to be one month before his wedding. When he shared what God called him to do, his bride-to-be willingly and immediately embraced the call, and it became their call together. On their honeymoon, through prayer and dialogue, God birthed the vision and the name, Deeper Fellowship Church, in their hearts. The one major issue upon returning was that William loved his church and his pastor, and he didn’t want to leave. After receiving ten prophetic words of confirmations in five months William finally said, “Yes Lord, I’ll go.” With the direction of the Lord, William and his wife opened their home to a small core group of people once a month to worship, pray, fellowship, and study the Word. A little over a year later, the core team began meeting weekly outside of their home. Their first act as a group was to take a map of the City of Orlando and put their tears on it. Together they wept over their city and asked God for revival. God heard their prayers.