It Begins Here | My Takeaway From a Hebrew Worship Service

For 2+ years, I’ve been online following a Messianic worship ministry called Solu Israel. 

This group of young, passionate believers are big into prayer and worship, and last week my family traveled 1000 miles just to worship together with them for one night. 

Even though we flew all the way to Greenville, South Carolina, we still had a 2 ½ hour drive from there to get to the church Solu was visiting.

Let me tell you, that night of worship, prayer, and testimonies completely rocked me. 

Shilo, one of the singers, made it clear in the beginning that this was not a concert or entertainment, but a time to worship the Lord with a pure heart.

As genuine worship in Spirit and truth broke out, I felt like nothing else mattered except for giving God the praise He so rightfully deserves. Something I’m finding over and over is that when we look to God and simply praise Him no matter what, things seem to have a way of turning around because that’s how our awesome God is. He is so capable of keeping us safe and giving us peace when we cooperate with Him, and one of the ways we can do that is through true worship.

Well, as we got further into this worship night, the Holy Spirit really started giving me revelation and showing Himself to be so personal and kind to me.

One of the most impactful songs to me was זה מתחיל, (Zeh Matkhil), which means “It Begins.” 

[English translation] 

We’ve heard of your fame, we’ve seen your work

Our hearts are in awe before such a wonderful God

We’ve sang all the songs, we’ve prayed all of the prayers

And still we are left with hunger for more

To see You conquering/taking over the stage

To see You work in the congregation

It’s been years that we’ve been waiting for You

You’ve promised that You will pour Your Spirit out

That it won’t be possible to ignore

And it won’t be possible to avoid

We will get out of indifference and wake up

You’ve promised that You will pour out Your Spirit

(Chorus) 

It begins here, it begins right now

It begins here, as we are on our knees together

We make place for You, we’re clearing out the time                 

It is what You desire

As we are on our knees together

Even if we sang all the songs

Or even if we prayed all the prayers

We won’t stop singing now

We won’t stop worshipping You

Until we’ll see You, until we’ll know You

Until we’ll be with You, We won’t stop singing

We won’t stop worshipping You

Going into this song, Zeh Matkhil, Shilo reminded us that our battle is not against flesh or blood. There is war in Israel, intense anti-semitism all over the US, and so much more going on that can make it easy to look like everyone’s struggle is against people and politics. But in reality, we are fighting a spiritual war. And this spiritual war can be won—in revival. 

Zeh Matkhil is all about this.

We were encouraged to not just listen as they sang, but to pray for revival in our own countries and in Israel. 

I was so encouraged as Shilo pointed out how prayer leads to revival (a message my family has been getting for years), but specifically that it needs to begin with us before we can share it with others. 

As the team began to sing Zeh Matkhil, I literally got down on my knees, in front of my front row seat, and began to pray. (We were right by the speaker so I don’t think anyone could’ve heard me even if I wanted them to.) 

I prayed that Americans and Jews and Arabs would come to Yeshua, that they would seek Him, know Him, and live for Him. 

I prayed that God would bring forth revival in my own heart, that I would continue to seek after Yeshua wholeheartedly, following Him no matter what. 

I prayed about the specific call I believe God has on my life and that I would be most effective in doing His will and reaching the people He puts in my life. 

While it’s hard to explain what the Holy Spirit was doing in me at that moment, I can say this: the passion I felt and the burning desire to continue following after Jesus were so intense unlike anything I can remember feeling. I poured my heart out before my Maker and I know that He heard me and has already answered me. 

My mom was beside me, my dad next to her, and my brother on my other side, all of us on our knees before the Lord in prayer. We were praying and singing Zeh Matkhil together, and then something very special happened. 

Shilo sang the chorus in Arabic. 

I have a really big heart for the people of the Middle East, especially Arabs & Muslims. I want to see them come to know Yeshua’s heart and follow after Him. 

So singing about revival—in Arabic—for the Middle East was so meaningful and felt like it was completely Lord-ordained. Interestingly enough, this was the one song where I had recently learned the Arabic part of it. I was able to sing with all my heart in Arabic for revival to break out all across the Middle East.

Then, they ended the worship service with במדבר Bamidbar (In The Desert), which totally finished things off. 

The whole message of Bamidbar is to rise up as servants of God and be a voice that cries out in the spiritual desert to prepare the way for Yeshua’s return.  

It put such a fire in my heart—somehow stronger than it already was—to see revival. 

And you know what the thing is? 

We do need revival to break out around us, but we have to live it for ourselves first. 

Once we are on fire for prayer, worship, and seeking first & only the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, God will be able to reach so many people through us. 

But it has to start with us before it can spread to others. 

I encourage you to spend time on your knees before God, praying for revival. Not to beg Him in desperation to just do something, because He wants revival more than we do. We need to pray that we would have soft and pure hearts that seek after His Kingdom alone and will follow Him no matter where He leads us. 

That’s where revival starts to break out. 

Revival begins in our hearts as individuals who are fully devoted to God. 

It begins here and now—with me and you. 

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If you have Facebook, you can watch the whole worship & testimony service here. (At 6 seconds in, I’m on the way left in a pink and blue dress, haha!) 

What are your thoughts on revival? Have you listened to Solu’s music before? Would you travel 1000 miles if you could, to worship with a Messianic group for just one night? I’d love to know if anyone can relate to me! 😂