I Must Become The Answer

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I forget what I was doing the other day, but I found myself thinking about what I would do if someone close to me died. I thought that the first thing I would do would be to call my friend Tyler, the founder of The Dead Raising Teams (DRT), who teaches and trains people to raise the dead. Then, I thought about the fact that EVERYONE who has ever heard of him probably has that very same thought. After all, when someone dies an we want to pray them back to life, we all want someone we think can get the job done, right? Then it hit me that I must become the answer.

Its not like this was an entirely new thought—I have had it before about other things, and I firmly believe that relying on Christ in me is a much more effective method of releasing Kingdom solutions in any problem situation. However, there are times where we discover areas where our minds haven’t yet been fully renewed to understand the Kingdom reality God has place within us, and that He has given us power to release that Kingdom and make it manifest in our world.

The truth is that while Tyler is an awesome friend and a really great guy, there is nothing about him that is any different than me in regards to raising the dead other than him being more well-known. We both have the same Jesus living inside us. We both have access to the power of the same Holy Spirit. We both have been given authority over all sickness, disease, infirmity, and death by the very same God of the Bible. So why is he my instant solution?? I must become the answer.

Someone once told me that God’s name “Jehovah Jireh” doesn’t just mean “God provides”. It means “I will become whatever I must become.” In other words, God calling Himself Jehovah Jireh means He is committed to becoming whatever solution we need in any situation. If the problem is lack, He will become our supply. If pain or sorrow, He will become our healing and joy. If death, He is and already has become our abundant life.

At the end of the day, I can’t depend on anyone else, no matter how good of a friend they may be, to manifest the Kingdom on my behalf. If someone in my family dies, I am the designated resurrectionist for the situation. Friends may let me down no matter how hard they try, but God has said that He will never leave or forsake me (Deut. 31:6, Heb. 13:5). He is the friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). At the end of the day, there is only ever God, and me.

I must become the answer, and so must you.

If you want to learn more about how you can be a resurrectionist, check out the resources below. If you want to grow quickly in this area, I highly recommend five things:

1. Sign up for our Raise the Dead Initiative mailing list here to receive updates, and connect further.

2. Get some books. I have written two books on the subject: Practical Keys to Raise the Dead and Faith to Raise the Dead. Tyler’s books are How to Raise the Dead and The Dead Are Raised, and be sure to check out Father Hebert’s encouraging book Saints Who Raised The Dead

3. Join the RDI on Facebook: Raise the Dead Initiative The Raise the Dead Initiative is a group I started to help grow the Body of Christ in this area, and I will eventually develop an RDI teaching curriculum to train believers to pray for and raise the dead. You may also be interested in The Dead Raising Team and Dead Raising Campaign Facebook groups.

4. Look at how you can host or attend a Resurrection School in your area. Contact Tyler Johnson via his website at http://www.oneglance.org/ to arrange the event. Tyler is an awesome man of God and good friend who regularly teaches Resurrection Schools to help transform our understanding on the subject of resurrection life. He has Dead Raising Teams around the world who are ready to mobilize in their area to release the abundant life of Jesus Christ.

5. Watch/listen to David Hogan’s YouTube Series on the subject of Raising the Dead: Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Session 4

6. Look for and actively engage opportunities to raise the dead in your area by reaching out to friends when you hear that someone has died.

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The Goodness in Resurrection

I have noticed that the Lord tends to talk to me a lot about resurrection and immortality when I am praying for the dead to resurrect. It shouldn’t be surprising, I suppose, as God is interested in teaching us in any and every situation, but this particular time I was praying for an older chicken of ours who had died, God decided to speak to me about His nature, and how our perspective and understanding about God’s nature has EVERYTHING to do with success in consistently raising the dead.

Any follower of Jesus Christ can raise the dead; its not a special thing that only special people do. However, while anyone CAN raise the dead, few people will do it on a consistent, ongoing basis with any notable level of success. It comes down to our mindsets and beliefs primarily about God–who He is and what He is like. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” It is of utmost importance to our faith that we believe God is a rewarder. Ultimately, this verse speaks about God’s nature, in that He gives good gifts. Matthew 7:11 juxtaposes that concept of God’s goodness with evil saying, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” In other words, if evil people know how to give rewards and nice presents, then God who is imminently good is far better even than that! If we want to receive good things from God, then we need to believe that He is good!

The next thing the Lord showed me was about his kindness. Think about how absolutely, stunningly kind God is to allow us to raise the dead. Death is a horrible, terrible thing–and while there are streams of thought that talk about it as a transition and “passing through” to another phase of life, let’s be honest–death is horrible. There is often physical pain, not to mention regret, grief, loss, and heartache. There are a lot of terrible things that surround death, and it was never God’s plan for us to die to begin with!! There’s a reason he told Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil–so they wouldn’t die. Death isn’t just a phase or a step or a bump or whatever. It is an abomination against God’s plan for us because God has plans for hope and a future and for long life and blessings (Jeremiah 29:11), not death–it’s not on HIS plan for our lives. On the other hand, this kind, good, gracious God gives us power over death to destroy it’s works and to bring those who have died back to life. When I thought about that–about God’s kindness, I was brought to tears. There simply aren’t words enough to describe how incredibly good God is. How kind God is. How loving He is toward us.

I asked God while he was showing me this how we go about raising the dead, and you know what He said to me? He said,

“Anyone who wants to learn how to raise the dead must first be convinced of my goodness.”

How can faith for resurrection be built on anything less? If we don’t believe God is good, and that He rewards us, then how can we expect to receive anything from Him? That is being double-minded, and as James 1:6-7 says, “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.” We all have doubts, but God is trying to bring us to a place where we never doubt His goodness–because when we doubt, it’s not that God doesn’t want to give us anything any longer, but doubt is putting our faith in what God WON’T do–and what we believe and ask for, we can have. This is why we so often don’t receive what we think we are requesting because our doubt actually asks God NOT to give us what we want. As we become convinced in the deepest parts of our soul that God is kind, good, loving, and that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” God isn’t good one moment and evil or hard or bad or angry or anything else the next. The Bible says that He gives good gifts, and is the Father of light, which is synonymous with all blessings and good things, and that He doesn’t change. If he doesn’t change, then evil and darkness and anything less than complete goodness simply doesn’t come from Him.

What’s more, in addition to being kind and good, our heavenly Father is all about life–and not just the kind where we just barely get by, but abundant life. If we can’t grasp even the vaguest of essence of understanding of God’s desire for us to live long, prosperous lives, do we really understand the good news that Jesus paid for our sins and defeated death so that we could live? John 3:16 [paraphrased] says, “God loved the world so much that he gave his only heir, his son Jesus, so that instead of dying we would live forever, immortal and unable for death to touch us.” God is passionate about life. He burns for it. He bled and died for it. For us. For you. God can’t be anything other than who HE is, and getting a revelation of His nature is the first step to raising the dead.

God has formed and purposed YOU to raise the dead. He has designed you to transform the world with your love and to step out in big and small ways without fear to remove the blight of darkness from this earth and instead to extend His light. You are the emissary that God has sent to be the solution to the darkness and pain in front of you. You are the solution to the deaths that happen around you. In fact, you may be the ONLY solution because many even in the church perish for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6), not realizing that God can and will raise the dead. I’ve witnessed it happen. You are salt and light–you are the qualified resurrectionist and God wants to take you to a deeper level, where you are so convinced of His goodness that not even death can stand up in front of you. Go forward and be the game-changer you already are inside.

If you want to learn more about how you can be a resurrectionist, check out the resources below. If you want to grow quickly in this area, I highly recommend five things:

1. Sign up for our Raise the Dead Initiative mailing list here to receive updates, and connect further.

4. Watch/listen to David Hogan’s YouTube Series on the subject of Raising the Dead: Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Session 4

5. Look at how you can host or attend a Resurrection School in your area. Contact Tyler Johnson via his website at http://www.oneglance.org/ to arrange the event. Tyler is an awesome man of God and good friend who regularly teaches Resurrection Schools to help transform our understanding on the subject of resurrection life. He has Dead Raising Teams around the world who are ready to mobilize in their area to release the abundant life of Jesus Christ.

6. Look for and actively engage opportunities to raise the dead in your area by reaching out to friends when you hear that someone has died.

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Word of the Week – 4-10-17 – Pray Things Through

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This past week I shared a blog post about the Conditional Nature of Prophecy http://www.thekingsofeden.com/2017/04/conditional-nature-prophecy/ , and even as I am asking the Lord what He wants to share this week, I came across a friend’s post on Facebook asking why prophecies sometimes don’t come to pass–and the main reason I believe is that we have to pray them into existence. I also got a call from another friend today who is very grounded in the scripture and versed in things of the Spirit. He and his family have been going through a ton of enemy attacks of late, but it isn’t because he doesn’t know God’s will–it’s because they just need more prayer. While I am sure my friend would appreciate if you said a prayer, I sense there is more behind these seemingly unconnected but related subjects–and what I hear the Lord saying in this is that we need to Pray Things Through!

We all have “stuff” going on in life. And sometimes that stuff can be a LOT. Too much even. But regardless of what is going on, prayer is THE solution to the problem. Prayer is the connection point between our faith and desires and needs and God’s power. When things need to get done in the earth, God’s children get on our knees and pray. I feel very strongly that God is encouraging all of us, in every situation this week, to pray it through. When things get overwhelming, we need to ask God for His peace that bypasses our conscious minds and releases hope and life into our circumstances. We can either let life’s troubles weigh us down or we can trade our burdens and hand them over to Jesus–and take upon ourselves His yoke which is easy and His burden which is light.

I want to encourage you this week to hone in on your prayer life. Take it to another level this week. Seek the Lord over the prophetic words you have received, or if you haven’t ever received one, ask the Lord to share things with you about your life and what He thinks about you. Lift up your family and friends, praying protection, peace, and prosperity over them. Hold up those who have lost loved ones recently, and those who are hurting or broken. Release the peace of God into conflicts, both local and worldwide. I believe that as we seek the Lord in greater measure this week–as we pray things through–that we will see an outpouring of His grace in our lives, families, and the world around us. May the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of the Father, and the Intimate Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:14).

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The Conditional Nature of Prophecy

I enjoy prophecy. Whenever I prophesy over someone it gives me the opportunity to get a glimpse of how God sees him or her, and it has the ability to shift my perspective toward him or her as well. While it has other uses, including foretelling of things to come, most prophecy is geared toward encouraging people to continue moving forward in life, strengthening them for tasks ahead, and comforting them, as seen in 1 Corinthians 14:3. Many times we might will receive a prophetic word that tells us of the great plans God has for our future, but five, ten, or even twenty years later we find ourselves wondering what happened–why did that prophecy never come to pass? Certainly it is possible someone was incorrect when they spoke, but that is not the only option. I suggest something that is less understood is the conditional nature of prophesy.

I remember a message I heard a speaker share once. I forget who the speaker was, but I do recall he had a reputation as a prophet. He told a story of when he met with a couple who were trying to have a baby and were having difficulty. I don’t even think that was the reason for his meeting, but the Lord spoke to him and instructed the prophet to tell them they were going to have a baby. He began an internal dialogue with the Lord, basically arguing that he didn’t want to say it knowing the trouble they were already having, and not wanting to give them any false hope or encouragement. What the Lord responded back was, “If you don’t say it, it will not happen.”

The term self-fulfilling prophesy is in some ways redundant because the whole reason it even works is because the prophetic utterance carries power with it to accomplish the thing prophesied. When God told that prophet the word was conditional based on whether he said it or not, that is because prophecies carry power and are conditional. If we never release the word to begin with, no power is sent out to make it happen. However, even if we do give the word, there is still no guarantee it will come to pass. Why is this?

We have to remember that we are in a spiritual battle with forces of darkness who oppose us. If prophecy was a guaranteed once-and-done thing, we would simply prophesy everything into existence, once, instead of having to pray over things time and again. The devil and his minions are in the business of destruction, and whenever they can stop God’s will from coming to pass in our lives, they will. This is one of the main reasons we have to pray–and not just pray, but persevere in prayer until the things God has said to us come to pass. So much goes on in the unseen realm that we have to push forward in prayer until we see the answer manifest.

When I hear God tell or show me something, it is not a guarantee that it will come to pass. It is actually an invitation to experience an optional reality, and I have a part to play in whether that reality occurs or not. I like to think of it from a perspective where I imagine my decisions on a timeline as being like a road or path. Imagine that as we walk, every time we come to a fork in the road there are a billion choices of which path to take. On the majority of these paths, things will be largely the same—gravity will still be in effect, the sun will still rise and fall, and we will still have to pay taxes. Some of the things that change, however, are ones that can be decided by prayer and prophesy. If all we do is hear a prophetic word once, the power from that prophetic word will cause some of those roads to blink out of existence—negative outcomes that were prevented through the utterance. However, there are still the greater part of a billion paths left to take, so how do we know which ones will get us to the desired result?

If we stopped at that single prophecy, there really is no guarantee. If we pray into that reality, however, more and more of those paths that won’t bring us the desired result blink out, until all the road that are left are guaranteed to give us that which we seek. Eventually, it doesn’t matter which road we take because all of them are the right one.

Did you ever think about why there are so many prophecies about the coming of the Messiah? I think it was due to the conditional nature of prophecy–if God simply said it once, there is no guarantee it would happen, but as the timeline continued forward He spoke again and again throughout the ages to constantly shift the events that needed to be changed until it brought forth the reality God desired on our behalf.

Seeing a prophecy fulfilled is actually not just about prayer either—it involves action. If I receive a word about becoming a business owner, (and we assume for the sake of this example that it was an accurate prophecy), what happens if all I do is sit there and wait for a business to drop in my lap? I suppose I could inherit it somehow, but if none of my family are business owners then that isn’t a likely outcome. Rather, God is inviting me to come walk with Him on the matter; to join Him in the pursuit. I need to take practical steps to set up the business–coming up with a plan and carrying it out, but all within the context of praying it into existence and continuing to seek God’s wisdom, favor, and blessing as I set out to do what He has given me to do.

The conditional nature of prophesy is only a hindrance to those who don’t understand it—but once we grasp that God is actually wanting to partner with us it becomes more meaningful, and more real. What prophetic words have you received in the past that you are still waiting to come to pass? How can you pray, joining your faith with God’s will for you? What physical actions can you take to work toward that which you seek? Continue to ask, seek, and knock, because as Matthew 7:8 says, “For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Grace and peace to you as you engage the will of the Lord!

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Why I Find The Courts of Heaven Teaching Annoying

The latest and greatest fad in Charismatic Christianity is something called The Courts of Heaven. The craze seems to have started off largely from some teachings by a man named Robert Henderson who has written a book on the subject. While he cannot solely be credited with the topic, he is a known proponent of the subject and a vocal supporter. There are a growing number of other ministers who teach and mentor on this subject, a few of the more notable ones being Mike Parsons and Ian Clayton. While I have given this subject some time and attention in the past, it is no longer something I am willing to pursue with any depth at this point–mainly because I find the Courts of Heaven teaching annoying.

For those who are unfamiliar with this concept, it basically involves going in the spirit to a heavenly courtroom, presenting one’s case before the heavenly judge (who may be God, an angel, an Elder, or other nondescript heavenly being depending on the situation), letting Satan accuse you, getting Jesus to overthrow the accusation, and then getting a ruling from heaven in one’s favor. The essence of this is as a new method of spiritual warfare that doesn’t take place on a battlefield, but is a bit more of a genteel way to do war through the spiritual legal system of the universe. Some people find this as having no scriptural basis, but if you actually sit down and go through the teachings, at least the ones I have heard are somewhat well-reasoned, scripturally backed, and seem pretty sensible. So what’s so bothersome about it?

Honestly, what I think bothers me is the intense faddishness with which the teaching has garnered in the past few years. Entire ministries are blooming overnight with the express purpose of teaching what essentially is just a new visualization of old methods of prayer. In reality there is nothing inherently wrong with ministries being centered around this, as if we are honest, all ministries are centered around some aspect or aspects of the Christian faith–no one could possibly cover them all. What I find frustrating about the fad is mostly the attitudes and the language.

There are entire new sets of verbiage that people in these groups (many of whom I am close friends with) use that are really just new terms to describe some of the same things we have been doing and saying for years. “If it is in your scroll” is just another way of saying “If it’s your destiny, or fate, or whatever” or “If God wills it.” It’s just as fatalistic but with a verbal twist. Sitting on a “bench” is something one does with their bottom. Giving a special name to some spiritual legislative body should at LEAST have some imagination to it–is “Bench” the best we can do? Why not call it the Galactic Council of the Seventeen Elders of the Great Key or the Great Gate of the Firewind Saints, or legislating on the Elemental Council of the Fifth Spire. Oh, wait–some of the names of the various heavenly courtrooms I have heard of are nearly as creative–and outlandish. And when I or someone else shares a prayer request, the increasingly common recommendation is “I think you need to do some court-work.” What does that even mean???

While I am poking a bit of fun at the terminology, I don’t actually disagree with the overall concept that there are spiritual legislative bodies over creation with varying levels of authority. I think the idea is valuable, but the faddishness needs to go out the window.

One of the things I have heard pointed out about this teaching is that it fosters elitism. I have personally witnessed a bit of this in some of the leaders teaching it, but I personally haven’t encountered the “only a few people are special enough to do this” that others have. I will say that there are some teachings that have to do with WHICH courts people are allowed to go in, having to do with their maturity level and level of authority in the spirit and such, and that doesn’t entirely rub me the wrong way, although it doesn’t quite sit right either. While I don’t see anything direct in scripture that states as much, there are a number of places in the Bible where it discusses the difference between mature and immature children of God and the resulting authority afforded them, so I can at least see some scriptural precedent that it could be possible. On the other hand, this elitism hides, as a friend pointed out, under the guise of “well, you need to do it THIS way”. The need for strict adherence to a particular methodology is some of what is so problematic about this teaching–because theoretically if one does it wrong, one could bring judgment upon him/herself from the very same courts that are supposedly designed to bring freedom to them and are (in theory) stacked in their favor.

The other thing I find problematic about the Courts of Heaven teaching is positional–when I am in the spirit I operate from my authority and decree things to get accomplished in the earth so they will be established, not beg God in a spiritual courtroom to do some legalese so I can have things he already accomplished. When I go into the heavens, I almost have to work at it to put myself in a subservient position instead of finding myself sitting AS the judge who is doing the legislating. After all, the Bible says that we are going to judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:3), not be judged by them. My main concern, outside the faddishness, is the issue that when I ask God for permission to do stuff instead of walking in the “all authority on heaven and earth has been given . . . therefore go” (Matthew 28:18-19) then I’m not, in my opinion, walking in maturity.

Now that I have told you why I find the Courts of Heaven teaching annoying, let me bring a little balance, as I don’t believe in throwing the baby out with the bathwater. As stated before, I think there is actually a decent enough amount of scriptural principles behind it to make it at least as valuable a “thing” as the various prayer-methods that have existed prior to now. I have used it and will continue to do so to some limited extent. It is a method that works great for some, and some of those for whom who it works well and who are beginning to teach and train others to do the same are actually good friends of mine. I respect them greatly and I am well acquainted with their hearts, which are fervently after God’s. They know how to hear and be led by Holy Spirit, and I believe quite strongly they are doing just that.

I personally see this as more of a method than it is the “new life-altering transformative revelation” that it is essentially being touted by some (not in those exact words), and it’s a method that works great for some people. I find it annoying that the new “thing” comes with obnoxious super-spiritual and elitist cliquish language, but again, if it is a method working for people, then language issues aside, that’s actually a very good thing. I actually think that a lot of this court-stuff is so subjective yet with sufficient scriptural backing that even the galactic councils and such could well be true, but it’s simply not the focus to which I have been called in this hour. I hopped “on the bandwagon” a number of years ago before it really WAS a bandwagon, and eventually hopped back off after I got what I needed from it. I don’t have any draw from the Lord to continue to participate any more than I already do, but that’s just me, and may not be where the Lord is leading you.

My underlying issue with the Courts of Heaven teaching isn’t actually about the teachings for the most part. While I personally take some of the things these teachers say with a pound or two of salt (as should anyone who is listening to someone teach largely out of personal revelation), that doesn’t necessarily make the teachings untrue, nor does it mean there aren’t valuable things to learn from them. At the end of the day the teaching itself is probably more or less fine–it’s a maturity issue.

Maturity is, unfortunately, the sort of thing that one gains over time. This fad, movement, whatever one wants to call it, is simply too young to have garnered enough maturity, in my mind, and so what stick out to me like a sore thumb is the immaturity in the mix. As I mentioned before, the lingo is irritating but it’s largely how the lingo is used in context of conversations and relationships, not just the actual words themselves. At the rate we are going, I perceive that a sufficient level of “maturity” won’t be brought to this particular movement for another two to four years, and until then we are left with whatever it is that we’re seeing now, which is a mixture of legalism and revelation in many cases. And in reality, as bothersome as I find it, that’s actually okay. Absolutely no new revelation came without pioneers paving the way, and while I can recognize that I am not interested in pioneering this particular method of prayer, I support the efforts of others who are doing so–I just don’t want to be deeply involved in their process. Maybe that’s immature of me and maybe it’s not, but I have other things to pioneer that I find more pressing. That said, maybe this IS what you are meant to discover and reveal–and if that’s the case, the go for it with all you’ve got regardless of people like me who don’t like the imperfection.

At the end of the day I ultimately think that people are free to use this method or not, and whichever works for them, great. I have no desire (nor spiritual leading) to join a “bench”, but as a friend recently pointed out, he and I have mutual friends (and good ones, at that) who both have desire AND spiritual leading to do just that–and one close friend in particular recently published a book on the subject. If you have heard about the courts of heaven and are either on board, curious, or completely turned off, my encouragement is this: if you find it enriching, go for it. If you don’t then be free to not worry about it, regardless of what your friends and family may say. Whether you do or don’t, be free. After all, wasn’t that what Jesus came for–to set captives free? If you currently engage this teaching and it is creating bondage in your life, then get out. If it is creating freedom, then stay the course. Yet again (unsurprisingly) this Courts of Heaven thing, as with everything else in our Christian journey, comes down to being led by the Spirit. Again, whether you do or don’t do, be free. Blessings!

For those of you who are curious and interested in learning more on the subject, you can get started with my friend Praying Medic’s book Defeating Your Adversary In The Courts of Heaven.

You can also read Robert Henderson’s book Operating in the Courts of Heaven, although as a fair warning from friends who have read it, they claim it is informative yet extremely repetitive.

Mike Parsons free blog is here and his two-year paid mentoring program is called Engaging God which from what I understand heavily involves the Courts and Heavenly travel, but is not exclusively about it.

Ian Clayton’s site is here

You can join a 2-3 year teaching-thing called The Nest by Grant and Sam Mahoney that is in some way related to this subject as well, but also is not exclusively about it and purportedly is about bringing the Body of Christ to greater spiritual maturity.

I have listened to many of Ian’s teachings and find them as much of a mixed bag as the rest of this subject, although he does not exclusively deal with court-related things either. As I have not actually read Praying Medic’s or Henderson’s books, nor have I participated in either Mike Parson’s nor the Mahoney’s training programs I am not specifically endorsing any of the above resources, but am making those connections available if they are helpful to you.

How I Received Mentoring in Prophetic Intercession

I have known Jesus most of my life, but around age 20 the Holy Spirit did a major work in my life and gripped my heart in a significant way. I was water baptized at that time and baptized in the Spirit as well, but did not start speaking in tongues until about a year after that. The Lord directed me at that time to move from where I lived near Philadelphia to State College Pennsylvania to get involved in a church there and their campus ministry. I had already started going to college at Penn State University Park (the college in that town) prior to that and had taken a leave of absence, and was excited at the direction God was taking me. During that period what I needed most, which I didn’t know at the time, was mentoring in prophetic intercession.

After I moved to State College and began to volunteer with the ministry, I went out on Friday nights with a group of guys from the church to do street witnessing. We saw some cool miracles, one of which you can read here, but the Lord began to speak to me about moving into a time of prayer. I began to spend time at home in prayer, but it was a bit of a struggle for me because I wasn’t used to it. I joined a few others at the church who were starting up a Watch of The Lord intercession group based off of Mahesh and Bonnie Chavda’s program.

The Watch of the Lord became one of the most significant means of spiritual growth for me in that season of my life, and it was there that I learned and received mentoring in prophetic intercession. Prophetic intercession is a big term but it’s a pretty simple concept–you listen for what the Lord is saying, then pray that back to Him. While that might sound silly, it’s actually quite powerful. When we hear God and declare it, we cause His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Prophetic intercession is praying in partnership with God, and it gets results.

I remember back when the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill happened, we spent time praying for the wildlife, the crews cleaning it up, and the whole situation. God gave us some clear instructions through nudges and intuitive leading, as well as through specific visions, of a particular species of bird that needed help, and we prayed accordingly. While I don’t remember what bird it was, one of my friends looked it up later and we were spot on. I remember God leading us in prayer over the 2004 Presidential Elections, and the morning of the election, at around 4:30 AM we got breakthrough. We knew in the spirit that our prayers worked and the President had been decided through prayer before the voting booths had even opened!

Sometimes we would hear visions, at other times we simply had strong emotions about a subject that we felt pulled to pray about. Still others we would hear verbal direction from God, and oftentimes that instruction was in agreement with what the Lord was speaking to other members present. One thing I learned is that one doesn’t have to be an intercessor to be able to intercede, and I discovered through experience just how important prayer is as a foundation to any endeavor.

I strongly believe in the work of intercession, and wish that mentoring in prophetic intercession was more common. Usually we would have four or five of us faithfully at each prayer meeting, and on occasion others would join us, but the core group grew in our faith in leaps and bounds during that two year period. There is no substitute for spending time with God, learning to hear Him, and engaging the spirit realm in prayer. While I cannot do that regularly in this season, I eagerly look forward to a time in the future when I can put my intercessor hat on again and get back on my knees.

If you are interested in learning more, or want mentoring in prophetic intercession yourself, I encourage you to check out the following resources, all of which were instrumental in helping me learn and grow in this area:

Watch Of The Lord: The Secret Weapon of the Last-Day Church by Mahesh and Bonnie Chavda

The Prophetic Intercessor and The Seer by James Goll

Intercessory Prayer by Dutch Sheets

Rees Howells: Intercessor by Norman Grubb

Cultivating His Presence

When I first began to learn about intercession from my friend and mentor Diane, she introduced me to a practice called “soaking.” I had no prior familiarity with this concept, but when she did it, she could feel God’s presence around her, even to the point of being like a weight pressing her body downward, and that sounded so totally awesome that I wanted to learn how to do it too! While that might sound strange for those who don’t know, the word for God’s presence, “chavod/kavod/chabod” in Hebrew, means weighty glory or weighty presence, so God’s presence showing up has the potential to feel like weight, and this is seen a few different places in scripture. During our Watch meetings every other weekend we would spend hours praying, but usually around an hour of that was spent doing this soaking-thing. She would put on a CD of softer, more lyrically intimate worship music and we would lay there, cultivating His Presence.

At first I just took it on faith that this was good for me, but as time went on, I too began to sense this inexplicable something around me. An energy, sort of, but also a wind. A weight and yet not a tangible weight at all, and a bit like fire, but not hot or burning in any way. Even now it is still so difficult to describe the energetic sensations of the Presence of the Holy Spirit as He overshadows me when I soak, but I spent a season learning what this felt like.

During the Watch I would lay down and God’s presence was always right there. Holy Spirit had been with us the entire meeting so far, and nothing changed. When I was home, however, it was different. I couldn’t sense His presence around me at all, at least not just by turning music on and laying down. Benny Hinn, Todd Bentley, and others have had experiences where they simply ask Holy Spirit to come and He would, but this was after a period of cultivating a relationship with Him, so that when they asked Him to come, He would. I didn’t have that. So here’s what I did:

I began to cultivate.

An old family friend gifted me with a guitar, so I began to play the four chords I knew and looked up worship songs that exclusively used those chords. I made up my own. I spent usually an hour or more almost every day worshiping and soaking in the late evening, oftentimes falling asleep on the floor. What was the goal? I would worship until I sensed that the atmosphere in the room had changed to feel like it did when I was soaking on Friday nights. After I reached that point, I would then lay down and enjoy Holy Spirit’s presence in the room with me. Sometimes I would talk to him but usually I would just lay down and enjoy the sensation of Him on my body.

Gradually, over the course of weeks, it started to take less and less time to get to that point, until somewhere along the line I would just lay down and turn music on, and in under a minute, sometimes immediately, I would begin to sense Him drawing near. The Catholic monk Brother Lawrence described this in his letters The Practice of the Presence of God, but ultimately I had reached a point of just enjoying Him for Him, without asking for anything or interceding over the fate of the world. And while those things are good too, sometimes God just wants us to sit with him without deeper agenda, simply enjoying Him in simple pleasure.

I didn’t understand until recently that a large part of soaking is simply enjoying Him, but as we spend time in God’s presence He changes us as well. His essence infuses us with His nature–his joy, peace, and other fruit of the spirit. His voice sometimes becomes easier to hear, and oftentimes soaking is a good opportunity to expect and practice visions, spirit travel, and other visionary experiences. While there are other benefits, in the end its about drawing near to God, and as we do He draws near to us (James 4:8).

When I began I was impatient, and was afraid it would take years for me to cultivate that instant-presence appearing to me. But God is good and kind and isn’t interested in forced labor to be able to engage Him. It didn’t take years, or even months, and if you have never done this before and want to get started, it won’t take you that long either. You might even just try asking Him to come surround you and fill you, and He may come right then. If not, spend some time cultivating his Presence in worship or prayer, and as you do, God will reward you with the best gift ever–Him.

A Vision of an Enemy Attack

Eleven years ago I took a trip with my campus ministry to shadow another group at Arizona State University. While I learned a little more about campus ministry while there, one of the things I most clearly remember wasn’t anything about the campus–it was a vision of an enemy attack. On the plane ride there I got to imagining things about the ministry housing we were provided–mostly that a bunch of demons converged on the place. At first I followed along with my imagination, then realized that I wasn’t just imagining the enemy doing something bad–I was being shown a vision of demonic plans. I shared this vision with my roommate, who was also a close friend. Both my roommate and I were regular intercessors for the church so we prayed against the enemy attack in-flight.

The trip was minimally informative, but I recall that one night, four or five days in, I woke up in the middle of the night. This time my vision was of a demon sliding its way into my room. I began to address it in prayer when I began to perceive that this was happening all over the house–my vision had come true and the house was being infiltrated. I walked quietly through the house praying over everyone both in tongues and in English, and still nervous, I attempted to wake a pastor to let him know. Unable to rouse him, I woke my roommate instead. He is very prophetic and became aware of the problem as or before I even told him. We spent some time in prayer over the ministry and everyone there, then went back to sleep.

All was not well on that trip and my roommate and I were on the receiving end of some unpleasant rebukes from a pastor, but what I remember to this day was the difference in response from the pastor and my roommate. My roommate woke up and supported me in prayer when I brought a concern to him. The pastor found out about our prayer session later and informed me that he would have been extremely angry if I had successfully woken him up.

Around this time the church was also going through a period of growth and the Board of Elders were in discussion about buying a new property and constructing a larger church building with gym facilities for outreach. The entire group of intercessors were against it–God had shown each of us separately that the new building was a bad idea. Although we brought this to the pastor’s attention, he had set his mind and ignored the multiple prophetic warnings. The only thing left to do was take it to prayer.

The end result was that they built the building, and ten years later the building is still there, but the church I isn’t. Well, the organization with the same name is there, but half the board and the majority of the pastoral staff left. While one could say that this is normal change, it’s not that everyone moved away from town. Many of them still live there–they just aren’t part of the church or campus ministry any longer.

As I was reminded of these events, it struck me how pivotal not just intercession is, but guided intercession. God is in the business of giving us visions, dreams, and words of direction to know how to pray and how to act in our lives. Whether about a demonic attack or church building project, or for something far more mundane and seemingly unspiritual, God has things He wants to share with you. No part of life is more or less spiritual than another, and God wants to intimately connect with you about life events–ALL life events. He wants to reveal areas of weakness and plans the enemy has to tear you down, but also God’s plans to build you up, encourage you, and set you on a straight path.

While I have enjoyed periods where I was able to spend hours on end in prayer, my life does not support that approach at this time. Nevertheless, God still communicates things He wants me to know and how I can pray His will on earth as it is in heaven. I am not some super-special person that God speaks to differently than everyone else. God has new things to show you, pitfalls to help you avoid, and advice to make your day more enjoyable. I encourage you to take a few minutes today and ask the Lord for wisdom and direction–for your family, your job, and your church, whether traditional or organic. Spend a few more minutes praying over the wisdom God has given you and make your life today just a little bit more like heaven on earth.

Blessings to you.

The Risk in Resurrection

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Some of you may have seen my Facebook status update from yesterday talking about a baby mouse we were trying to save, and that it died. We had found a small litter of mice in a friend’s car and the mother seemingly ran away in fear, abandoning them. My stepdaughter bought animal formula and she tried to nurse them. I didn’t want to get involved at first because the likelihood of three abandoned baby mice surviving wasn’t was good, I’d feel compelled to try to raise them if I did, and I didn’t really want mice as pets. But as things happen, she needed help taking care of them, and after the first two died I ended up helping feed the third one, named Bub, every few hours for a day or so before it died.

When it died, my heart broke. I was in tears holding it as it died, watching it use accessory muscles in compensation as it mouth-breathed, gasping for air. As a nurse I know what I was watching, but with a tiny baby mouse there was really nothing I could do to fix it. I tried to tap its back lightly while upside down to see if I could help it clear its lungs, but after it struggled to breathe for a few minutes, its tiny body ran out of energy, and it died. My granddaughters were also present when it died, and the oldest, 8, began to cry as well. I held her and Bub’s body, and we both just cried for a while. I am currently attempting to resurrect this mouse, and will continue to do so for the next day or so.

Abundantlife Resurrection Raisethedead Immortality Deadraising — Bub the Mouse

This is an extremely unglamorous post–the notion of snot and tears rolling down my red, puffy face isn’t exactly a reader’s dream. I share it because I feel that far too often we share the nice and happy things in life–especially on social media, except life is filled with not just happy things, but sad ones. I share this because anything worth doing involves risk–and in this case it was risk of heartache and loss. The idea of raising the dead is as much a risk-undertaking as was allowing the mouse into my heart–possibly even more, because I risk grieving its loss the first time, then grieving a second time if I fail to raise it. In spite of this, it cannot be done any other way.
When we attempt to resurrect the dead, whether animal or human, we entertain risk, and there is always a price when we step out and take risks, especially in this area. Sometimes the risk is small–we risk making ourselves look silly to some stranger we may never meet again. Sometimes the risk is much greater–our reputation in an entire town, church, or social circle, the risk of failure, the risk of heartache and heartbreak, and for some the risk of losing trust in God. Most things in life involve risk, but resurrection is one of those things that is optional. We don’t have to try to raise the dead–God won’t love us any less if we don’t. However, I do believe that when we are unwilling to step out and take these sorts of risks, our lives are poorer for it.

I don’t know if Bub will return or not. I didn’t know if he would survive when I was feeding him, and I knew in advance it wasn’t likely. I do know that I value life, and I value it enough to release the Spirit of Life, the only hope that we have in all of life, into the situation. This is a choice that I have made in my heart, to value life enough that where possible, I will actively combat the death at work in our world. I encourage you to consider what risk you are willing to entertain when it comes to healing, resurrection, and overall seeing God’s life released into this broken world.

If you want to learn more about how to raise the dead, or are interested in joining communities of believers online who are passionate about resurrection and the abundant life of Christ, please consider the following links and resources:

Oneglance Ministries
The Dead Raising Team

Raise the Dead Initiative – Facebook Group
Dead Raising Team – Facebook Group

David Hogan – DRT Conference Messages
David Hogan – Faith to Raise The Dead Messages
Revival Magazine Article

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Shortcuts and Long Delays

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I have never been known for my extreme patience. When it comes to most things, especially spiritual things, I am all about the shortcut. I don’t see any reason why we should make it a goal to take things as slowly and painfully as possible if we can speed up our spiritual growth. From a perspective of spiritual power and effectiveness in healing and other ministry, I feel that there are so many hurting people that we need to learn how to effectively accelerate our growth. To this end, I have written multiple chapters on the subject in my latest book, The Gamer’s Guide to the Kingdom of God.

In spite of my preference for the fast-track, there are some things that simply don’t have any shortcuts–one in particular is relationship with God. There is something about spending time with God, whether Father, Jesus, or Holy Spirit, that cannot be accelerated. It’s an ongoing, daily living-life that has no turbo-charge button and no special shortcut to take to speed things up. Even if there were, the speeding up would be the equivalent of slowing down, because when it comes to relationship with God, the journey IS the destination.

There is an awakening in the Body of Christ in this time to the mystical realms–of oneness with Christ Jesus, being fully consumed by his passion and his love. This is not a process that can be accelerated, in the same way that one cannot quickly throw a pot. The process of firing that pot is equally painstaking and slow, as the temperature must be just right or the pot will fire incorrectly and be ruined. Turning our heart of affection towards Jesus is a daily, even hourly event. As we turn our hearts toward Jesus in love, there is a communion that takes place with Him where we encounter His love, and a sensation of that love wells up within us, often causing outward visible signs of that inner, invisible working.

The deepest spiritual growth is not in who is the most spiritually powerful, who can work the most miracles, or who can heal the greatest number of people. It is not in delivering accurate words of knowledge and prophecy, nor in the ability to cast out demons or combat principalities and powers of darkness. Love is the preeminent law of the universe, and this love can only be cultivated fully through the Being of Perfect Love, Jesus Christ. As we engage in oneness with Him in our hearts, we attune ourselves to the frequencies of the universe–the stars, plants, animals, the elements, and even the heart of humanity. The love of Jesus is what truly transforms us into His image and likeness, so that we, too, can release light, life, and love into the world and in so doing to transform it. Spiritual power is of some value, and to be effective in the Kingdom we must operate in spiritual power, but nothing can compare or compete with the all-encompassing love that is Jesus, in whom we live and move and have our being. No, there are no shortcuts to attain to this goal, and short cuts do make for long delays. The good news is that relationship with Jesus, the mystical union of our hearts with His, is but a moment away, a moment to turn inward and turn our hearts heavenward. Let us be a people who remember the journey is the destination, and as we remember, let our hearts once more entwine with His.

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I Must Become The Answer

The Goodness in Resurrection

“Anyone who wants to learn how to raise the dead must first be convinced of my goodness.”

Word of the Week – 4-10-17 – Pray Things Through

The Conditional Nature of Prophecy

Why I Find The Courts of Heaven Teaching Annoying

How I Received Mentoring in Prophetic Intercession

Cultivating His Presence

A Vision of an Enemy Attack

The Risk in Resurrection

Shortcuts and Long Delays

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