FAST RESULTS

"Don't eat that cookie."

I really wanted the cookie.

Sometimes right before bed, I crave something sweet. A bowl of cereal, maybe.

And I saw the cookies looking at me.

Chocolate chip.

But, I didn't need the cookie.

I needed more power. 

I needed breakthrough.

Not just for me. For us. 

For you.

I've been praying for Glory to fall on the Church. I've been crying out for our nation, for repentance and restoration. For the world. 

For the children.

I had an urge to skip the cookie as I remembered those things.

I brushed my teeth.

At 2am He came into my chamber and gently woke me. We enjoyed fellowship for some hours. 

I was not tired. I scrolled through my prayer journal and whispered in the night, and had a strong witness that these were most effective prayers.

And then I remembered the cookie. 

I did not know at the time how much it blessed the Father when I fasted one cookie. 

Five seconds of denying the flesh released a flood of clarity and blessing in my bed chamber tonight.

And I'm writing about it now because the glory is relentless. 

And, at the moment, sleeping seems mundane. 

STRONG PRAYERS

 S T R O N G   P R A Y E R S

"...Tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer!" James 5:16b

We heard the old timers pray, "In the name of Jesus, we plead the blood of Jesus..." and they got results. They healed the sick, they cast out demons! They routed tornados!

You say, only in Bible times did such things happen. I say, we are still in Bible times! What has changed?

Elijah was a man with human frailties, just like all of us, but he prayed and received supernatural answers. He actually shut the heavens over the land so there would be no rain for three and a half years! Jas 5:17  

When we pray in the name of Jesus, like Jesus told us to pray, it is like cashing a check at the bank. Just as a wife can legally sign her husband's name on a note and make a demand on that account, so Jesus gave us legal right to make a demand on His power. 

When we plead the blood of Jesus, our prayers are strong because the blood is a reminder that it is not our own goodness that makes us worthy to ask. We remember that He paid with His blood to purchase us, to purchase the air we breath and the ground on which we are standing. It conjures images of the dying Jesus, which is more than the devil can stand. That forever sealed his fate as a loser. He can't face the truth--he has to flee and leave us with the spoils!

CASTING OUT DEMONS

[Jesus] commanded the demon, saying, “Deaf and mute spirit, I command you to come out of him and never enter him again!” The demon shrieked and threw the boy into terrible seizures and finally came out of him! As the boy lay there, looking like a corpse, everyone thought he was dead. But Jesus stooped down, gently took his hand, and raised him up to his feet, and he stood there completely set free! (Mark 9:25-27)

Notice that when Jesus or his disciples cast out demons, at first it appears that the situation grows WORSE. If you have had an opportunity to cast out a demon, you have seen this first hand. The demon will try to convince you that it is in control, that it doesn't have to leave, and if you back down or allow fear to replace your standing in Christ, the demon will win. But the reality is, the demon MUST obey and leave, as long as that person wants to be free, and YOU KNOW that "He who is in you is [WAY] greater than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4)

Take heart, believer. Don't stop praying. It looks like the church is losing the battle for America, but what if the crazy lunacy that has disrupted all of our lives in 2020 is the Devil's last ditch effort to convince us that he is in control, that America belongs to the ungodly.

He is losing control of the media narrative, the government, arts, the economy, and more. Church attendance is down in many places, but what if God is restructuring the churches? What if after this shaking, the western church looks more like the early Church?-- vibrant, authentic and hospitable!

Don't stop praying. Don't stop believing that God will work through the evil to bring something better than you or I can imagine.

Stand your ground! Pray for America!

The Weightlessness of God

Prayer and praise originate in the spirit of a man, but intercession and worship are borne of Holy Spirit. They are expressions of a deeper dimension and require a yielding of your control, a progression of faith to faith, and glory to glory. To the unpracticed or uninitiated, it can be quite a scary experience stepping off of the secure plateau of religion and falling into the weightlessness of God, fully trusting the Spirit's leading.

Praying Community

Here's what happens when you are a part of a Praying Community. The devil comes up with a hair-brained scheme to take you down. He attacks you or a member of your family. For a brief moment you are totally overwhelmed, but then your brothers and sisters come alongside. You share with them about your struggle. Prayer Warriors begin to engage the enemy. HEAVEN administrates extra resources in your direction. Sufficient ANGELS are dispatched. God's Presence brings PEACE and FAITH begins to rise even before the circumstances change. Fear strikes the heart of the devil and his cohorts. A brief battle ensues with the powers of darkness retreating into the slimy crevices of hell, licking their wounds, cursing one another and regretting that they messed with you. I'm happy to be a part of a Praying Community. 

New Creature Strategies

Remember that your enemy the devil has the ability to project an image on the screen of your mind. He can amplify his voice into the Theatre of your thinking disguising it as your own thought, with uncanny timing in the moment of your greatest weakness, when the Temptation is greatest to succumb that thought.

A new believer will fall prey to this strategy. Then, the enemy will pounce on him with a barrage of condemning thoughts. "How could you think such things? Now you are a Christian and you should be above that!"

Believers, as someone who has been a Christian for many years I can tell you that you will never be exempt from those kind of thoughts as long as there is a devil on the loose. The great news is that you can become an expert at identifying his voice.

My response to these kinds of thoughts for a long time has been to tell him to shut his mouth. Also, students of God's word can use it as a sword to deflect Satan's attacks.

Not too long ago he was assailing me with physical infirmity. In a dream I saw and felt the demons entering my body  and my initial reaction, as I was waking up was to chuckle, "Oh it's just you!"

A physical infirmity is often an attack of Satan. When beset with  any manner of sickness your first response should be to ask the Holy Spirit what is His path to healing for you. In this present case, I have his permission to seek the best medical and holistic answers while still getting prayer and continually meditating the word of God concerning healing.

In recent years my response to many of his attacks is to laugh out loud. It is humorous to me that he would come against me with the same tactics that were successful 30 years ago because it shows that he has a very limited arsenal. Now that I have learned who I am in Christ and what are my spiritual weapons, including the ability to command the host of Heaven (Hebrews 1:14), I will tell you that the devil is way more scared of me then I ever was of him.

If that sounds prideful to you then I will tell you the enemy is scared of you too. If you are scared of him it's because you haven't yet learned about the new creature that you have become, who you are in Christ. "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2Timothy 2:15 NKJV

"ADD ONE" Fasting

God is raising up many prayer warriors to fast and pray for the upcoming elections. As I was seeking concerning my role, whether or not God would have me fast, He gave me an interesting Commission. I am calling it the "Add One" Fast.

Here's how it works. First, determine the length of the fast. If you do not have a determined number of days, Ask the Lord how long the fast should be. For me I knew this would be a 10 day fast synchronizing with the period that falls between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. These are the holiest days on the Jewish calendar as the most devout seek the blessing of Yahweh for the new year.

Once you know how long the fast will be, then ask God to reveal to you what to fast. I did not know what to fast and I did not want to strike out on my own strength and effort. I have had too many attempts at fasting fail because they were not commissioned by the Holy Spirit.

I sensed that God was giving me a unique commission. "Begin by fasting coffee for the first day and I will show you what to add every day after that." So the first day I went without coffee and it was easier than I thought it would be. He did not reveal to me what to fast on the next day until that day when He told me to fast sugary sweets.

On the third day He put it on my heart to give up an evening snack. That is, not to eat anything after dinner time. On the fourth day He told me to praise. I realize that this is not a fast in particular but it is a discipline that he wanted me to add to my ten-day Journey. I took out my guitar which has been gathering dust and began singing praises to Him. 🎶

Let me clarify and say that I am continuing the disciplines of the previous days in addition to the new disciplines that He reveals to me.

I may or may not be sharing the details of my fasting experience in the days ahead. Fasting is usually an intimate thing shared with God Alone. But I believe that He prompted me to share this because there are many of you who want to add fasting to your prayer life but have not had much success. If this is the case feel free to share how this has helped you if the Lord prompts you to do so.