There is a tension to divine expectation that we encounter as we realize the Lord is stirring a dream in our hearts. This tension arises because we feel the dream so close now, in the present. It’s as if it were already accomplished, yet as we look at our lives, nothing seems different. The circumstances have not changed, the healing hasn’t yet occurred, the miracle is still in process, yet in your heart, it feels like today could be the day, and if not today, surely tomorrow.

Forced waiting produces a tension between what we know God is doing and what we see being done.

But friend, never forget that the miracle is growing. Dreams from God are like a pregnancy. From the moment you find out a baby is on the way, there is much joy and celebration. Everyone is happy and expectant about the future life that will be birthed—then the waiting begins. Month after month of expectation, often toward the end of the pregnancy, there will be hospital trips because it feels like today is the day—only to be sent back home again.

This is the divine dream of God and the pathway of purpose He so often leads us down: waiting, hoping, expecting, tension.

Friend, be assured the birth of your dream is coming! Just as a baby refuses to stay in the womb, your dream will also refuse to remain there. There comes a time for birthing.

Although a mother may not have given birth yet, there are clear signs that the miracle is on the way. In the same way, the Bible says that God speaks of the future, yet unborn, and calls it into existence.

Romans 4:16-18 TPT—The promise depends on faith so that it can be experienced as a grace-gift, and now it extends to all the descendants of Abraham. This promise is not only meant for those who obey the law, but also to those who enter into the faith of Abraham, the father of us all. [17] That’s what the Scripture means when it says: “I have made you the father of many nations.” He is our example and father, for in God’s presence he believed that God can raise the dead and call into being things that don’t even exist yet. [18] Against all odds, when it looked hopeless, Abraham believed the promise and expected God to fulfill it. He took God at His word, and as a result, he became the father of many nations. God’s declaration over him came to pass: “Your descendants will be so many that they will be impossible to count!”

Tension arises because what God dreams for your life is already released in the heavenly realm, but in our life they are still in the spiritual womb.

In the spirit, the dreams of God are already active. They are moving at full force toward His desire for your life. The divine tension expresses itself in longings for what we do not yet see and an extreme desire for more. His active dream for your life, released from the recesses of His heart, runs up against the seen reality in your life.

If viewed through the lens of emotion, our most valuable God dreams could lead us to discouragement because we do not yet see them becoming reality, but the dreams of God’s heart for you were never designed to be seen through human emotion. Clarity and hope come when we see our lives through the lenses of faith.

Romans 4:19 TPT—In spite of being nearly one hundred years old when the promise of having a son was made, his faith was so strong that it could not be undermined by the fact that he and Sarah were incapable of conceiving a child.

Abraham is the best example. God called him to go out into a place he did not know or recognize. It would be years before any hint of the promise from God began to unfold in his life, yet every step on the journey was one ordained by the Lord Himself. Abraham had an incredible encounter with the living God that left him marked for a lifetime. But what God uses to mark us, seen through the lens of the present, will always lead to an Ishmael instead of an Isaac.

In moments of discouragement, when the promises of God or the prophetic words of God seem so distant from what is happening in your life, you may be tempted to do or say something to produce the promise on your own. Friend, be aware that your attempts will lead to nothing but heartache. Ishmaels are the product of our own effort to accomplish a work that only the Lord can produce.

Isaac is the son of promise. He is the one that comes through the inability of our lives and the weakness of our own circumstances, but born from the strength of God. The promise of Isaac, your purpose and dream from God, often produces laughter as it did in Sarah because the magnitude of His word seems completely unattainable. Still, Abraham is the greatest example because he never stopped believing what God promised, even though it took much longer than he thought it would.

Romans 4:20-21 TPT—He never stopped believing God’s promise, for he was made strong in his faith to father a child. And because he was mighty in faith and convinced that God had all the power needed to fulfill His promises, Abraham glorified God!

We have to be like Abraham. We must believe that God will do what He promised and that the waiting time is producing in us a valuable determination. God’s promise for you is running toward you and growing every minute. It will come to pass.

It’s as if the Lion of Judah Himself is pursuing you with a determination to overtake you—and He will at just the right moment.

I remember as a teenager who had just given his life to Jesus, receiving a word from Scripture that altered everything about my life. The Lord used a passage I had never read before to mark me and begin a process of shaping me.

Habakkuk 2:1-3 TLB—I will climb my watchtower now and wait to see what answer God will give to my complaint. [2] And the Lord said to me, “Write my answer on a billboard, large and clear, so that anyone can read it at a glance and rush to tell the others. [3] But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!

I will never forget the emotion and happiness I felt when the Lord spoke this passage into my heart and ignited a purpose I had never had before. It was like water to my soul and fire in my heart. Like many, I thought surely this would happen very quickly and the plan of God for my life would begin to plainly unfold. Somehow I bypassed what the passage actually said, “slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled.”

Over the years, this passage has molded and shaped my passions and desires. It has walked with me through dark moments and steadied me in storms. Other times, this same passage has brought the pain of unfinished promises that seemed like they would never actually happen. But something about the word of God, released in your heart, exposes a willingness to trust when everything looks bleak and lifeless.

I could never escape the last sentence, “they will not be overdue a single day!” If I have repeated that sentence once, I’ve said it 1,000 times.

Promises are not measured in months. They are measured in years. Sometimes decades.

Many in Scripture faced the promise process: a word given—a promise spoken. Excitement. Waiting—often coupled with difficult situations designed to build a foundation of character that will undergird and support the magnitude of what God is going to bring about through the promise. For Elisha, it meant serving Elijah. For Joseph, it meant being sold into slavery, wrongly accused, and serving time in prison. For Jesus, it would cost His entire life.

Each of these and more went through times of pain, loss, and discouragement on the way to the promise—but the promise did come. Elisha found the God of Elijah. Joseph was promoted to second in command over the same nation that imprisoned him, and Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of God.

The birth of your promise will happen. Let the process do its job.

Friend, one thing is for sure: if the Lord spoke it, the promise is running toward you. Right now, it is speeding toward you like a hungry lion, roaring with potential and destiny. Do not lose heart in the tension of the wait.

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I truly believe we are living in one of the most critical moments of spiritual history. And I’m thankful you’re walking this journey with me—choosing to follow the Lord, choosing to arise, choosing to say, “I will wake up and follow what God is doing in my life.”

This episode is a call to awakening, alignment, and boldness. It is a call to live as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God, echoing the very heart and voice of heaven into the world around us.

Awakening as Ambassadors of the Kingdom

I begin by sharing a simple but urgent truth:

The people of God cannot afford to sleep.

We are surrounded by voices—from culture, from our flesh, and from the enemy—trying to dull our spiritual senses. But Jesus is calling us higher. He’s calling us to stand in our assignment as ambassadors for His kingdom, living and speaking in a way that reflects heaven on earth.

Just as Jesus only spoke what He heard from the Father, I talk about how we are meant to become echoes of heaven—not repeating our own opinions or desires, but declaring the heart of God with clarity and courage.

Hearing and Speaking What Heaven Is Saying

One of the foundational Scriptures I highlight is:

Matthew 10:27—“Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.”

This is the pattern:

1. We hear Him in the secret place.

2. We carry His words into the public places.

3. We release the kingdom everywhere we go.

That means your “housetop” moments may not look like a stage or a microphone. They could happen:

• Around your family dinner table

• At your workplace

• In conversations with friends

• In a grocery store aisle

• Or through a simple Scripture shared on social media

Anywhere you carry His voice becomes a place where heaven touches earth.

Moral Clarity in a Confused Culture

In this episode, I also address the moral convictions we must be unafraid to echo.

Not because they’re political. Not because they’re controversial. But because they are biblical—and heaven’s truth has not changed.

I speak plainly:

➡️ Abortion is wrong. Innocent life matters to God.

➡️ Marriage is still between one man and one woman. This is God’s design.

➡️ Homosexuality is not God’s plan. Scripture is clear, and love calls us to truth.

And I also talk about the personal holiness that shapes our witness:

• Guarding our speech

• Avoiding curse words

• Refusing drunkenness or any substance that clouds our mind

• Pursuing purity in conduct, attitude, and lifestyle

We cannot echo heaven if our lives contradict heaven’s message.

Maintaining a Living Connection to God

To walk in this kind of clarity and boldness, our hearts must stay connected.

That means living a lifestyle of:

• Prayer

• The Word of God

• Repentance

• Listening for the Holy Spirit

• Yielding to Jesus daily

Our effectiveness as ambassadors flows directly from our secret place with God. Everything Jesus spoke publicly, He heard privately. The same must be true of us.

Releasing the Kingdom Everywhere We Go

One of the core themes of this episode is the phrase: “On earth as it is in heaven.” We weren’t saved just to escape earth—we were saved to transform it.

I talk about what it looks like to release the kingdom of God into:

• Our families

• Our marriages

• Our children

• Our workplaces

• Our communities

• Our platforms

• Our digital spaces

Whenever you bring the truth of God into a situation, heaven invades that place.

Boldness Like the Early Church

This message carries a call to courage.

Just as the early church prayed, “Lord, grant to your servants boldness,” I pray that over you in the episode. Boldness is not a personality trait—it is a work of the Holy Spirit inside of us.

God is raising up a remnant that will not back down from truth, that will not compromise, and that will not stay silent when heaven is speaking.

Practical Ways to Echo Heaven

I give several real-world ways we can live out this calling:

1. Speak what God shows you in prayer

2. Share Scripture boldly on social media

3. Declare truth in conversations at work or home

4. Refuse to align with cultural trends that contradict Scripture

5. Stand for righteousness with grace and conviction

6. Live holy in speech and conduct

7. Let your everyday interactions become your “housetop moments”

You don’t need a microphone. You need a mouth yielded to heaven.

A Call to Alignment and Awakening

At the heart of this episode is a simple message:

Align with heaven. Not with culture. Not with feelings. Not with the flesh. Everything changes when we choose His voice above all others.

I close the episode with:

• A prayer for boldness

• A call to stand firm in truth

• A reminder that your voice matters in God’s plan

• An invitation to share this message to awaken others

• And gratitude for every listener who is co-laboring with me to reach this generation for Jesus

My prayer is that this message stirs deep within you. That it awakens you. That it clarifies your assignment. That it pushes you to rise as an ambassador for the kingdom.

This generation desperately needs to hear the voice of heaven—and God has chosen us to echo it.

Thank you for listening, sharing, supporting, and standing with me.

Let’s continue to echo heaven together.

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If this podcast has encouraged you and stirred your heart to seek the Lord, would you help me reach more people with this message? Subscribe to the podcast and share this episode on your social media or email the link to a friend. Together we can help people be raised up, built up, and encouraged to pursue God’s presence more than ever before.

2 Samuel 5:17-24 NKJV—Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. [18] The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. [19] So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” And the LORD said to David, “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.” [20] So David went to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there; and he said, “The LORD has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim. [21] And they left their images there, and David and his men carried them away. [22] Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. [23] Therefore David inquired of the LORD, and He said, “You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. [24] And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the LORD will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”

What I hear in my spirit is that it is time for the church, the remnant people of God, to begin positioning ourselves through prayer to seek the face of the Lord and to inquire of Him in times of battle. When the enemy comes against the people of God, we must not stand back in fear or pull back because we feel we will be defeated.

There is a great God in heaven who stands ready to fight for us!

God will fight for His people. Jesus will fight for His bride! As long as you position yourself in humility before the Lord, you can expect that the Lord will position Himself in front of you to face the enemy on your behalf.

It has never been true that we fight the enemies of our souls all by ourselves. NO. We place ourselves in the mighty hands of the Lord, and with humility, we seek Him. Then the Lord, mighty in battle, turns His face toward the enemy and fights for us.

Let me be bold enough to say that there is a new anointing coming upon the church in this hour.

God is raising up people who are unashamed and bold to take their stand for the cause of Jesus. A remnant is rising that will turn the tide and defend and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This anointing is an end-time anointing from the Holy Spirit, preparing and equipping us to be part of the harvest of the ages.

Yes, Jesus is coming! Yes, He is about to split open the skies! But there is a harvest of lost people the church is anointed to reach before that moment. Friend, let’s step into the anointing and position ourselves under the mighty hands of God through prayer. Let us return to a full-fledged seeking of His face and pour out our souls and hearts upon the altar of His grace. The Lord wants to deliver, heal, and set free those who are bound, hurting, and afflicted. He is still the great God of miracles who will be mighty on your behalf.

I find it interesting to note that the Philistines heard David had been anointed. The enemy always hears it when the Holy Spirit places an anointing on your life. The enemy hates what God does through His people, and the devil fights the anointing on you. But listen, friend, understand what the battle means—if you are in the fight of your life, it means God has placed something of value upon you that is a threat to the enemy forces. This is why you’re fighting right now—because God has a plan for you, and the devil seeks to stop it. Do not let the enemy take the ground God gave you!

You are anointed to win. You are anointed to overcome. You are anointed for breakthrough. So press in and receive what the Lord is doing in this moment.

What did David do when he learned the enemy was after him? He went to the stronghold! A stronghold in this context is a mountainous place that is very inaccessible and inhospitable to enter, but in it are provisions for battle. It is a decisive, strategic high point where you have the advantage over the enemy. Strongholds would contain weapons where you could renew your supply and provisions for your hunger and thirst.

Let me remind you of a Psalm David Himself wrote about the stronghold. We find it in Psalm 61.

Psalm 61:1-8 NKJV—Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. [2] From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. [3] For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. [4] I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah [5] For You, O God, have heard my vows; You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name. [6] You will prolong the king’s life, His years as many generations. [7] He shall abide before God forever. Oh, prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him! [8] So I will sing praise to Your name forever, That I may daily perform my vows.

The analogy could not be clearer. For the people of God, the Lord is our stronghold. He is our strategic place of decisive victory. As we position ourselves in Him through prayer, seeking His face, and through His word, we gain the necessary provisions that we need to renew and replenish our lives. We are restored in His presence.

Why do you think the enemy fights so hard to keep you from prayer and the Word? Because in this place of prayer, you are restored. In the place of prayer, your supply is renewed and replenished, and God fills your life with His goodness and joy. The Joy of the Lord IS our strength.

In Second Samuel 5:22, we find that the enemy always tries to return for the kill. He does not give up easily. In this moment, what does David do? He goes before the Lord a second time. He inquires of the Lord. Why? Because David didn’t want to go to war unless the Lord was with him. He understood that no enemy was a match for the power and presence of God.

In multiple scriptures we find the evidence of God’s prevailing power through His people.

In Deuteronomy, the Lord reminded Israel of His victory through them.

Deuteronomy 7:22-24 NKJV—And the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. [23] But the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed. [24] And He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you will destroy their name from under heaven; no one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them.

To Joshua, God declared He would be with Him and cause Him to overcome.

Joshua 1:5 NKJV—No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.

In the book of Psalms, we find the song of victory.

Psalm 44:5 NKJV—Through You we will push down our enemies; Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.

We live in a moment in history when the people of God need to learn to wait for the sound.

As in the book of Acts, there came a sound from heaven like a rushing mighty wind, so today there is about to be a sound from heaven. Just like with David, there was a sound he waited on to know that the Lord was moving, so too, there is a sound of rustling leaves. The Lord is about to move and shift the heavens. He is rising up as a mighty man of war on behalf of the saints, and we need to position ourselves strategically to hear His movement. We know that He is moving for us when we hear the sound of the Spirit’s wind blowing through the situations and circumstances surrounding our lives.

Those mulberry trees were also called balsam trees, and they carried aromatic sap that would be smelled when the wind blew. To me, it paints a picture, not only of the sound of the Lord rising up in battle to defeat the enemies of His bride but also of the smell of victory. It is an overwhelming and overpowering aroma of victory that we sense in the air when we position ourselves strategically in obedience to the Lord.

For David and his men, this strategic and tactical position should have been a place they could launch from at will and gain mastery over the Philistines, but God said wait. Even when it looks like the time to attack, obedience to the Lord still overrules what we see with our eyes and feel through our senses. Wait in obedience for the Lord to move. Wait in stillness until you hear His sound from heaven rustling the leaves around you.

What was this sound? Many scholars believe that it was the sound of horses’ hooves like the running of a great army. This was the army of the Lord—the very host of heaven! Friend, let me remind you that there are more with you than there are against you! Whether you are up against an insurmountable problem or a situation in which there is no possible solution, the host of heaven is rising in this moment to come to your defense IF you will obediently and humbly position yourself and wait on the sound of heaven fighting for you.

The Lord told David, when you hear the sound, advance quickly.

People of God, we wait until the waiting time is over, but once the Lord moves, we must move quickly. Being ready is more than waiting. It is making ourselves available to DO what the Lord planned. When God moves, He always moves through His church. We are the body of Jesus on the earth. Literally the hands and feet of the Master Himself, and we carry out His plans and His will as His ambassadors. So be ready to obey the slightest command and be prepared to move with God when He shifts the tide of battle, for in this moment, there will be great victory.

Hear a word of the Lord I heard in my spirit concerning this:

The Lord says, “Listen for the sound.”

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Hebrews 4:14-16 NKJV—Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. [15] For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. [16] Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

This is the great invitation to a life of prayer and a life in the Spirit. We are invited to seek the face of God and approach the very throne of His majesty with confidence. He will open up heaven for us and allow us to enter a place reserved for kings and priests.

As His children, we have this privilege.

He desires to walk with us in prayer, and as we pour out our hearts before His throne, the Spirit and presence of the Lord enter our lives powerfully, and things begin to shift.

If you need a change in your life, the key is prayer: seeking the face of God, boldly coming before His throne, and faithfully pursuing His presence as a lifestyle. It is more than just a prayer life; it is an all-consuming “life of prayer” that makes the difference in us.

As we surrender everything to the Lord and pursue Him in this way, bondages break, chains fall away, freedom comes, His presence fills us, life flourishes, glory shines, and strength and wisdom enrich our lives, enabling us to discern the things of God for our lives.

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Prayer is the communication lifeline of heaven.

As believers, we must understand that nothing truly works until we commit ourselves to wholeheartedly seeking the Lord.

I would also say that as we grow in our understanding of the Word of God and mature in our faith, our life of prayer also undergoes a maturing process.

Jesus mentions many times that we can ask the Father for anything in His name, and certainly, this is true. Our needs are met through our prayers. However, there is a relational aspect to prayer that moves beyond “things” and into presence with God.

What the Lord desires, I believe, more than anything else, is fellowship and communion with His children.

He simply wants to be with you and for you to desire to be with Him. The greatest feeling a dad can have is when his children just want to be with him, not necessarily needing or asking for anything. This is a type of prayer that we must grow into and mature in. It does not happen overnight, but as we press into the kingdom and toward the King, a hunger to simply know Him must be birthed.

Some people shy away from this type of prayer because it is not instant. It takes time. Sometimes it will take much more time than you realize. You will have to sacrifice to make it happen. But the Lord is reaching out in this hour for those who will sacrifice to make time with Him possible.

Others distance themselves from this sort of prayer because they don’t know what to pray or how to pray effectively.

Scripture gives us clear insight about this: Be filled with the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit’s baptism is the key to unlocking a life of prayer that shakes heaven and earth. His guidance in our prayers and His voice make all the difference. It isn’t that a person cannot pray in an earthly language and move forward with the Lord, because we can.

I remember as a young believer who was only fourteen years old, spending many days in my room for hours at a time seeking the face of the Lord. I would pace the floor, kneel at the foot of my bed, worship, and read the Word for three, four, or even five hours at a time. During this time I was not yet baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of praying in a heavenly language. Nevertheless, as I look back, I can see where the Holy Spirit directed every word and every cry from my heart. My relationship with Jesus moved forward in that season by leaps and bounds. School kids would come to me with prayer needs, and I vividly remember the feeling of knowing deep down how to pray and seek the Lord. Prayer was my life. It still is.

However, as we pray in the Spirit through our heavenly prayer language, something unlocks inside of us, and there is a connection to heaven that does not occur in any other manner.

Romans 8:26 TPT—And in a similar way, the Holy Spirit takes hold of us in our human frailty to empower us in our weakness. For example, at times we don’t even know how to pray, or know the best things to ask for. But the Holy Spirit rises up within us to super-intercede on our behalf, pleading to God with emotional sighs too deep for words.

Friend, no matter how you look at it, prayer is the work of the Spirit.

It is the way things operate and function in the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit, whether you are baptized with the evidence of speaking in a heavenly language or not, is the originator of all desire to pray and is the One who helps us pray. He can and will fill your mind with words and thoughts to help you connect to the Father. But this takes time and cannot be rushed because it is a relationship.

The greater your desire and hunger for the Lord, the more quickly your life of prayer will grow and the deeper you will dive into the things of the Spirit.

Leonard Ravenhill, noted preacher and revivalist, once said, “No man is greater than his prayer life.”

Please hear me: the defining marker of God’s hand upon your life is not the miracles you perform, the acts of service you do, or the number of scriptures you can quote—God’s mark on you is found in the strength of your prayer life.

As people of the Kingdom, we must pursue a life of prayer above every other pursuit. Being with Jesus is the prize. When you pray, the Spirit of the Lord works in your life, shaping you and developing in you the character and quality of Jesus.

Without realizing it, as you seek the face of God, things begin to change in your life. You are recreated, renewed, reformed, replenished, and reborn. Something happens in our lives when we sacrifice time and make the effort to go before the Lord in humility and seek His face for long periods.

There is something about a sacrifice of praise and faithfulness that pleases the Lord.

The following scriptures give witness to the importance of our faithfulness to praise and pray.

Psalm 50:23 AMP—He who offers a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way rightly [who follows the way that I show him], I shall show the salvation of God.”

Psalm 116:17 TPT—Now I’ll worship you passionately and bring to you my sacrifice of praise, drenched with thanksgiving!

Jeremiah 33:11 NKJV—the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say: “Praise the LORD of hosts, For the LORD is good, For His mercy endures forever”- and of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,’ says the LORD.

Hosea 14:2 TLB—Bring your petition. Come to the Lord and say, “O Lord, take away our sins; be gracious to us and receive us, and we will offer you the sacrifice of praise.

Hebrews 13:15 NKJV—Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Certainly, what I’m not saying is that the more you pray and the harder you work, that your work produces all the results. Jesus did the work of salvation for us. However, His work for us ought to produce a hunger and thirst in us to know Him.

The way you come to know the Lord is through His Word and through time spent in prayer.

It is this spending of ourselves—this giving away of our most valuable possession, our time—that moves us closer to the heart of God. I do not claim to know exactly how it all works, but what I do understand is that prayer is the relationship between God and man.

• Prayer is not the relationship builder.

• It is not the great activity of heaven.

• It is not the work we do that pleases the Lord.

• No, prayer itself is the connection between God and man.

To have a relationship with the Lord means I must sacrifice my time and invest effort to seek Him out.

It’s not that the Lord hides from us, but He desires us to seek Him. Seeking Him takes time. In any relationship, you must invest time to know and care about the other person. Relationships are a two-way street. God does countless things for us and answers many requests, but I must also care about the Lord enough to seek Him, know Him, and love Him.

Prayer is work.

It is never easy to sacrifice large amounts of time. But for our lives to come under the Lordship of Christ in greater measure, there is but one thing we can do—pray.

• Prayer works into us what is well-pleasing to Jesus.

• Prayer brings us closer to the heart of the Lord.

• Prayer is the place where the Holy Spirit speaks to us.

• Prayer is where we receive courage, boldness, and strength.

• Prayer is the place where we experience the presence of God and the infilling of His Spirit.

• Without significant sacrifice to spend time in prayer, we will never really move forward, and our enemy will take advantage of this by telling us how good we are apart from prayer.

Satan’s device is to lull the church to sleep and make us feel okay with ourselves. As long as we are just as “good” as someone else, or possibly even consider ourselves a little “better” than the rest, we think we must be okay. Friend, do not fall for the devil’s lie!

There is no one who is good enough on their own. You and I cannot produce enough good things from our lives to make the Lord happy with us. We cannot grow fruit on our own. And Scripture declares that our righteousness apart from the Lord is like a filthy rag. Pride seeks to tell you that you are good enough. Humility, on the other hand, reminds us that apart from Jesus, we can do nothing.

The world is filled with self-help books preaching the message that says, “I’m OK. You’re OK.” Friend, we are not okay without the life of Christ filling us and renewing us. This happens at salvation, but it continues on a daily basis as we sacrifice time to spend with Him in prayer.

How can we think we can be believers and love the Lord, but never invest time to talk with Him beyond our list of requests and demands?

Jesus is looking for a bride. He is forming and shaping a bride fit for marriage. He wants someone who will love Him, care for Him, and obey Him—looking to Him for everything. This doesn’t happen by pushing our needs upon Him, though He cares for us and our needs and promises to meet them. Our needs are met in the deepest ways as we simply pour ourselves out to seek His face. Often, without us even realizing it, the Lord will answer our greatest needs as we sacrifice greater time to just seek Him, commune with Him, and fellowship with Him.

The pursuit of my life is to discover how much prayer it will take to know the Lord in breakthrough—constant breakthrough, constant revival. For me, revival means an ongoing, ever-building fire that burns deep in my soul and spirit, producing a hunger and thirst for the One who created me. Revival is an unquenchable reservoir that pulls us to pray.

He is calling prayer warriors to arise.

In this hour, I feel the Lord is calling prayer warriors to arise. We are to shake off our slumber and sleepiness and begin to intercede once again. He is looking for men and women who will give all they have to sacrifice their time and strength before the throne of God. Prayer warriors make a difference in time and eternity.

Often, we do not see their worth in this life because they never seem to produce anything tangible. However, in the Spirit, these men and women are giants. Their names are known in heaven. Prayer warriors move mountains, restrain devils, and cast out demons.

Prayer warriors pray the plans and purposes of the Lord into existence. They are extensions of His hands and feet. The prayers of the saints open doors, close doors, and release the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. They carry the burden of the Spirit before the throne of heaven, and heaven responds.

God is calling His church, His praying ones, to arise and defend our families, cities, nations, and homes. He is calling us to pave and prepare the way of the Lord in this last hour. Your prayers and intercessions before the Lord do not go unnoticed. He sees it all.

When you enter the secret place and shut the door, heaven rises to its feet. The Lord waits to see what a man will do in this time of prayer. He pours out on the longing soul greater measures of His presence than we can imagine.

Listen to a word the Lord spoke to my heart about the “praying ones”:

“For I am about to release My presence upon My seeking ones.

Those who long to know Me will find joy and strength in My presence. My anointing and power will be their experience. For I will renew and restore. The years thought wasted and gone, I, the Lord, will restore. As My word declares, I will restore.

For your time in seeking Me is not in vain. This seeking is the effort of your heart, and I respond to every effort made in faith to reach My heart.

As the desire for My heart grows, so will My release in and upon your life. I look for seeking ones who will become burning ones. They will burn with new fire, new vigor, fresh anointing, and the overflow of My presence.

So let your hearts become hungry and thirsty, says the Lord. This is the hour of refreshing. Press into Me, seek Me, find Me. My joy will transform your life.

Yes, I am raising up My anointed ones—prayer warriors who will seek Me and turn the desires of My heart into their prayers. The petitions they ask of Me will be granted. Heaven will move upon earth. This is the outpouring hour as My remnant seeks Me. I am moving and will continue.

My heart cries out to those unwilling or outside the fire, “Seek Me, seek Me! You will find Me, and I will restore you and use you. Be faithful, and My power upon you will be great.”

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If this podcast has encouraged you and stirred your heart to seek the Lord, would you help me reach more people with this message? Subscribe to the podcast and share this episode on your social media or email the link to a friend. Together we can help people be raised up, built up, and encouraged to pursue God’s presence more than ever before.

The Call to Breakthrough Prayer

There is a breakthrough aspect to prayer that the Lord is calling us to. We are meant to be overcomers—those who, through persistence and tenacity, see the stronghold walls start to fall. If you have been a person who is constantly beset by the fear of failure, the power of lack, or the continual drip of worry and doubt, you need to learn the secret of breakthrough prayer.

There is a fervency of heart that must lead us to pray longer, with more intensity and passion than we have ever prayed before. I understand that often it is not about the length of our prayer or surface-level praying, but for breakthrough to happen in your life, you must challenge yourself to pray differently than you have before.

Allow me to suggest that breakthrough prayer is something more fervent and urgent than standard relational praying. When you need God to break through the barriers holding you back in certain areas of life, you need to let your heart sacrifice to spend time with God, knocking on the doors of heaven until they open. Breakthrough prayer is a mode that refuses to be satisfied with anything less than a sense of victory and success. Breakthrough prayer occurs when you know deep in your spirit that the Lord has heard you.

It is about pressing into the Lord Himself and asking Him for an answer that you can never produce through self-effort or trying harder. Can I say something to you? Your Heavenly Father desires breakthrough in your life more than you do! He knows what you need in advance and has established this system of prayer so that you can reach the destiny He has for you in this season.

Elijah shows us an example of breakthrough prayer. The New Testament declares that Elijah was a man like us. There was nothing special about him that gave him a greater propensity for the Lord to hear his prayers more than He will hear yours.

James 5:16 NKJV—[16] Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

There are moments in our lives when the prayers we pray must take on a higher level of fervency and tenacity. It is simply the truth. If you need something from the Lord, bombard heaven for it. Let your prayer time become effective and fervent. Scripture is clear on this subject. These kinds of prayers prevail.

This is what I call breakthrough prayer. Yes, there are multiple types of prayer, and yes, there are various ways that breakthrough comes. My goal is not to lead you to believe that the breakthrough is dependent on what you say or how you say it. All I am suggesting is that there are moments in our lives when, according to Scripture, we must pray with an effectiveness and fervency that God promises will prevail.

The word “avail” means in Greek: to have and exercise force. It also means to exert, wield power, and have the strength to overcome.

I am suggesting that there is a place in prayer where our approach shifts into another mode: breakthrough mode. It is the place where we begin to partner and cooperate with God in the Spirit by coming into alignment with His will and desire. This co-laboring produces massive results in a short amount of time as it breaks down the resistance of the enemy to the things of God in our lives.

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The Fervency That Prevails

Breakthrough prayer sounds easy—spend a few extra minutes, say a few extra words—but for breakthrough to come means much more than just these things alone. There is a point in our prayer where our heart begins to bend toward what God desires, not only in the situation but in us as individuals. This bending produces pain in a good way as it leads us toward something that is not selfish in its pursuit of the Lord.

Breakthrough prayer is anything but selfish; it is self-sacrificing. This sort of prayer cries out from the Garden of Gethsemane, “not my will, but yours,” and truly means it.

James 5:17-18 NKJV—[17] Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. [18] And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

Here is the point: Breakthrough prayer produces fruit. Fruit manifests in our situations, in our lives, and in the areas where the Lord directs us to intercede as our prayer shifts into breakthrough mode.

Elijah, a man like us, modeled this effectively.

1 Kings 18:41 NKJV—[41] Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.”

This verse is astounding because it reveals a secret about breakthrough prayer. Here’s the secret: there is often a prophetic unction that comes into our hearts and minds, leading us to know that if we pray, the Lord has already created breakthrough and victory. There is always a cooperation between God and man in prayer to bring about breakthrough that can happen in no other way.

If you are believing God for something in your life but are not praying, it is time to start seeking Him with determination. To exert force in prayer simply means that we choose to believe and exercise the authority we have been given through the name of Jesus and His blood. There is a place of intercession we can enter before the Lord that presents our case and moves heaven in our favor. God is your Abba. He is your Father, and it is His good pleasure to give you the kingdom. But often, the kingdom answer only comes in response to sacrificial kingdom-type prayer.

1 Kings 18:42 NKJV—[42] So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground and put his face between his knees.

In this verse, we see Elijah humble himself. The servant of Elijah is not the one bowing; Elijah is. In fact, Elijah has placed himself in a very vulnerable position. Warfare is not often fought with our faces to the ground, but in the Spirit, this is how warfare is fought and spiritual battles are won.

Breakthrough does not come from the number of scriptures you read and memorize. It will not come from simply skipping a few meals and claiming you have fasted. Breakthrough happens when a man or woman humbles themselves to the ground and prays with a fervency that makes them sweat, and with a humility that makes them vulnerable to God.

Until you can set your pride aside, don’t expect a river of blessings.

Until you can live in a place of thankfulness, don’t expect a great breakthrough.

Until you can sacrifice time and effort in prayer, don’t expect principalities to fall.

Again, do not misunderstand. There is a mystery that occurs in breakthrough prayer as we co-labor with the Lord to bring His will to pass. On one hand, the answer is completely up to God and is not dependent on anything we can do. Yet on the other hand, the answer is entirely dependent upon whether or not we pray. God created it this way. This is the tension of breakthrough prayer. It is His orchestration that leads us to breakthrough.

The Power of Persistent Faith

1 Kings 18:43 NKJV—[43] and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.”

We see one of the most effective qualities of breakthrough prayer in this verse: breakthrough prayer is profoundly persistent.

There is a tenacity of spirit that is required to keep praying when you are seeing nothing. In fact, it is the “nothing” that makes breakthrough prayer even more travailing and vigilant. When you pray and pray, yet nothing is moving, you are left with a choice. You can either give up, or you can press in harder. Breakthrough prayer occurs in a man or woman of God when their spirit becomes intensely, even violently drawn to pray harder because they are seeing nothing change. Please understand, this sort of prayer is not about us trying to move God. If we are not careful, we will adopt the mentality that we are trying to move God’s hand. Instead, breakthrough prayer is when we do everything possible to come into alignment and agreement with God by seeking to co-labor with Him in producing the impossible. Breakthrough happens most quickly when we enter this place of heavenly agreement and lay aside all of our pride and entitlement.

My goal is to encourage you to pray harder when you see nothing changing. I want to see you seeking the face of God and worshipping Him for an answer that is yet to be revealed. If you can receive your answer by faith, you will hold your answer in the natural.

The Cloud of Breakthrough Is Rising

1 Kings 18:44 NKJV—[44] Then it came to pass the seventh time that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’”

When breakthrough prayer occurs and you see movement, faith declares that even the smallest activity is about to bring about the biggest outcomes. Elijah knew by faith that the little cloud was about to become a storm so great it would shake the enemy. You must stop discounting the little things you see God doing, and instead be thankful for them, declaring and speaking life into them. You and I must affirm that the slightest move of God’s hand will grow into world-shattering action. Elijah’s response was, “Prepare before the rain stops you.” The servant may have given Elijah a strange look, but Elijah understood the implication by faith of what the Lord was about to do.

Drought was about to end! A new season was about to dawn!

1 Kings 18:45-46 NKJV—[45] Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. [46] Then the hand of the LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of

In his book “Prayer That Brings Revival,” David Yonggi Cho, who was the pastor of the largest Pentecostal Assemblies of God church in the world for many years, states that he prayed a minimum of three to five hours a day (Cho, 1998). In fact, he mentions that there were seasons when he prayed much longer than this in order to see results.

Reinhard Bonnke, the renowned German evangelist to Africa, said that he prayed many hours before every crusade. His crusades were marked by hundreds of thousands of attendees, hundreds of healings, and thousands of salvations.

Kenneth Hagin noted that he often prayed for hours on end. Leonard Ravenhill would sometimes pray all night. Bill Johnson shared that when he pastored a small mountain church in Weaverville, California, for seventeen years, he had an ongoing prayer night on Fridays where he often prayed all night, and many times he was the only one who showed up.

Evan Roberts spent ten to eleven years praying for revival before the Welsh revival broke out. He often prayed all night long.

Every great man and woman of God has had this quality: they were giants in prayer.

My life has been marked by these men and women whom I have read about. Lately, there has been a gnawing in my spirit that begins with a question: how much prayer will it take to see massive revival in my life, my family, my city, and my nation? How much prayer will it take to see the enemy’s powers over our towns fall? Please don’t misunderstand. I do not mean that my prayers alone will cause this to happen. There is simply a growing urgency in my spirit to sacrifice more and more in prayer until I see a cloud the size of a man’s hand. The amazing thing about the cloud was that once it showed up, prayer was over, and nothing could stop what the cloud was about to produce: breakthrough.

So let me ask you, how much breakthrough prayer will it take to change your situation? How much are you willing to sacrifice in prayer to see the impossible become the new reality? What would happen if you made just a little more time for the Lord to move in you and upon you with intercession?

I’m challenging you to press in and ask Him, “What do you want from me, Lord?” Then pay the price He asks.

If this podcast has encouraged you and stirred your heart to seek the Lord, would you help me reach more people with this message? Subscribe to the podcast and share this episode on your social media or email the link to a friend. Together we can help people be raised up, built up, and encouraged to pursue God’s presence more than ever before.

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As I spent time in the presence of the Lord today, He began to release a word into my heart that stirred me to my core. It concerns an outpouring of His Spirit upon the earth that is soon to come.

The Lord is pouring out His Spirit not only upon the earth but also on those who have been seeking His face and longing for the revival that is to come. The encouraging part is that you can begin to seek Him NOW!

It is not too late to pour out your life in prayer and seek the face of God. He stands ready and waiting to welcome you into a deeper relationship with Him than you’ve ever experienced before.

Friend, as you hear this word, let it sink into your spirit and receive it as encouragement, but also as a charge to get ready and prepare your life. Having a heart on fire for Christ is essential in this hour, as is having a vital and ongoing fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

If deeply seeking the Lord is new to you, don’t be discouraged! Begin today to take some valuable extra time in His presence. Embrace the challenge of starting a new quest to find God in a deeper, more tangible way. I can promise you from experience that the Lord will meet you where you are, and He will not disappoint.

As you press into His presence, you will begin to find new life, fresh life, and empowered life, equipping you for your assignment. The word we are about to hear speaks about what happens at the beginning of the harvest of the ages.

Souls are going to be won. People are going to be healed. Revival will sweep through places that you thought could never be brought back to life. It is the release of the Lord, and it is imminent.

Heaven is stirring with the sound of outpouring.

I feel the Lord saying—

Let me take a moment to encourage you again to spend some extra time with the Lord. To be honest, I feel the Lord calling the church back to much more than just extra time with Him. He is calling us to pour out our very lives in His presence and set ourselves on the pursuit of a lifetime.

Maybe you’ve never spent long periods of time in prayer. The best way to begin is to simply start. Find a private space, or create one. Turn on worship music that uplifts the Holy Spirit and resonates in your heart. Then close your eyes and begin to worship the Lord.

For those who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit—pray in the Spirit. Pray more in the Spirit than you ever have before and open your mind to the voice of God. If you’ve never prayed in tongues or come from a background that pushes back against this gift, I encourage you to ask the Lord to fill you. Open your heart to receive. The Holy Spirit’s prayer language is a gift to the body of Christ from the Lord.

Friend, something big is coming! Let’s get ready for it.

If this podcast has encouraged you and stirred your heart to seek the Lord, would you help me reach more people with this message? Subscribe to the podcast and share this episode on your social media or email the link to a friend. Together we can help people be raised up, built up, and encouraged to pursue God’s presence more than ever before.

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A Strategic Hour in History

Friend, it’s time for an awakening.

It’s time for the Church to rise and become the men and women of God we were created to be.

Romans 13:11 (TPT) says:

“To live like this is all the more urgent, for time is running out and you know it is a strategic hour in human history. It is time for us to wake up, for our full salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”

This truly is a strategic hour. If we are going to be the Church that Jesus intended—full of His Spirit and power—we must wake up from spiritual slumber. We can’t let culture define or confine us. The Spirit of God is calling us to rise, to be filled again, and to live boldly for His Kingdom.

How Do We Wake Up?

We wake up by seeking first the Kingdom of God—above every other pursuit, above every other love. We wake up by making prayer and worship our highest priorities. We wake up by inviting the Holy Spirit not just to live in us but to move through us—bringing Heaven to Earth as Jesus taught.

Time is short. Whether we consider the soon return of Christ or simply the urgency of this moment, we must recognize that we don’t have forever to waste. A clear line is being drawn between light and darkness, and the Lord is calling His people to rise on the side of truth while there’s still time.

A New Day of Destiny

Romans 13:12 (TPT) declares:

“Night’s darkness is dissolving away as a new day of destiny dawns. So we must once and for all strip away what is done in the shadows of darkness… and once and for all clothe ourselves with the radiance of light as our weapon.”

Now is the time to repent—to cast off sin and compromise like filthy clothes and to put on the light of Christ as our covering. The light of God always drives away darkness. When we walk in His radiance, His presence becomes our greatest weapon.

Living in the Light

Paul continues in verses 13–14:

“We must live honorably, surrounded by the light of this new day… Instead, fully immerse yourselves into the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, and don’t waste even a moment’s thought on your former identity to awaken its selfish desires.”

We will either wake up to the light or to the darkness—there is no middle ground.

The choice is ours. Will we let the Holy Spirit fill our lives and lead us into purpose? Or will we let the past and sin hold us down?

Friend, it’s time to wake up. It’s time for the men and women of God to seek His face again—fervently, passionately, and persistently.

The Call to Awaken

It’s not always easy to wake up spiritually. Sometimes we feel weary, distracted, or numb. But the Holy Spirit stands ready to strengthen and guide us as we rise into our destiny.

Purpose is waiting for every believer who will seek the Lord wholeheartedly.

Your prayers matter.

Your pursuit matters.

Spend time in the presence of God until His presence begins to change you—because that’s where awakening begins.

A Personal Challenge

I’m on a personal quest to experience more of God’s presence and power than ever before. I want to be fully immersed—completely surrendered—to the Lord Jesus Christ.

What would happen if you did the same?

If you gave yourself wholly to prayer, the Word, obedience, and the presence of God—everything would change.

You would wake up.

Your influence would grow.

And the Spirit of God would shine through your life for His glory.

I declare that God is for me. No one can be against me and win.

Romans 8:31 NKJV—What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Friend, you may be facing hurdles that seem too high for you to overcome. There may be obstacles that make the pathway you’re on look completely blocked. So what do we do when everything is battling us and the warfare gets so heavy that we do not know what to do? You remember your foundation. You recall to mind who the Lord is within you.

There is One who remains on your side and will never leave you—no, not for a moment. We will never be forsaken or left alone. God is there in the middle of your battle. In fact, He is the One who called you to be the warrior you are. If the Lord is on your side, what enemy can ever face off against you and win?

I declare to you today that no enemy has the power to overcome you. It isn’t that the enemy will never try to overcome us; he will always try. But we must boldly plant our feet on the ground and be willing to speak the truth even when it is hard to say. The truth is that no one can stand against you and win.

People are never the enemy. Nevertheless, there are moments when they hurl their word stones at us or seek to undermine what the Lord is doing in us. Whether they do this on purpose or inadvertently, we have the opportunity to respond in a manner that is pleasing to Christ. People are not the enemy. The devil and his demons are the enemy. So, put on your armor and be ready to declare the truth.

God is for you. This means He stands over you and on your behalf for your protection. His protective covering always surrounds your life. When the floods of trouble come your way, the Lord lifts you above them. If accusing words are pounding your mind, the Lord speaks truth. As the enemy seeks to wage war against your family, your job, your emotions, and your walk with Jesus, the Lord Himself stands guard over you, refusing to allow the enemy entry. What it means for God to be for you can be understood this way: whenever the enemy sees you, he also sees the God who is with you.

Remember what Satan said to the Lord about Job? He told God, in essence, “I can’t get ahold of him because You are always there surrounding him.” Friend, the Lord has not changed! He still surrounds us like a shield. He watches over us with joy in His heart, waiting to defend us.

How to fight the enemy using this declaration:

I must understand who I truly am in Christ. When a person knows that the God of heaven really does live in them, a holy confidence rises. The early disciples and Apostles prayed for boldness to be the witnesses in their culture that made a difference. You and I are no less in need of this boldness. Yes, pray for boldness, but also remember that the Lord is for you.

This declaration reminds us that God stands watch. There is a passage in scripture that displays God’s heart about watching over us. We find it in the book of Psalms, chapter 121.

Psalm 121:1-8 NKJV—I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? [2] My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. [3] He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. [4] Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. [5] The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand. [6] The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. [7] The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. [8] The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.

Friend, be bold and declare to the enemy that you are covered by God’s watchful eye. The Lord stands with you at all times, ready to come to your defense.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, help me to trust in Your ability to defend me from all forms of attack. I refuse to be swayed into doubt by what I see or feel. By faith, I stand in Your love and truth, and You will completely overwhelm the forces of the enemy that try to harm me. I declare God is for me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Thank you for reading. Would you mind to share this devotion on your social media. Every share is an opportunity to reach someone with God’s love and His purpose. Please help me reach someone for Christ today!

I declare that God is for me. No one can be against me and win.

Romans 8:31 NKJV—What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Friend, you may be facing hurdles that seem too high for you to overcome. There may be obstacles that make the pathway you’re on look completely blocked. So what do we do when everything is battling us and the warfare gets so heavy that we do not know what to do? You remember your foundation. You recall to mind who the Lord is within you.

There is One who remains on your side and will never leave you—no, not for a moment. We will never be forsaken or left alone. God is there in the middle of your battle. In fact, He is the One who called you to be the warrior you are. If the Lord is on your side, what enemy can ever face off against you and win?

I declare to you today that no enemy has the power to overcome you. It isn’t that the enemy will never try to overcome us; he will always try. But we must boldly plant our feet on the ground and be willing to speak the truth even when it is hard to say. The truth is that no one can stand against you and win.

People are never the enemy. Nevertheless, there are moments when they hurl their word stones at us or seek to undermine what the Lord is doing in us. Whether they do this on purpose or inadvertently, we have the opportunity to respond in a manner that is pleasing to Christ. People are not the enemy. The devil and his demons are the enemy. So, put on your armor and be ready to declare the truth.

God is for you. This means He stands over you and on your behalf for your protection. His protective covering always surrounds your life. When the floods of trouble come your way, the Lord lifts you above them. If accusing words are pounding your mind, the Lord speaks truth. As the enemy seeks to wage war against your family, your job, your emotions, and your walk with Jesus, the Lord Himself stands guard over you, refusing to allow the enemy entry. What it means for God to be for you can be understood this way: whenever the enemy sees you, he also sees the God who is with you.

Remember what Satan said to the Lord about Job? He told God, in essence, “I can’t get ahold of him because You are always there surrounding him.” Friend, the Lord has not changed! He still surrounds us like a shield. He watches over us with joy in His heart, waiting to defend us.

How to fight the enemy using this declaration:

I must understand who I truly am in Christ. When a person knows that the God of heaven really does live in them, a holy confidence rises. The early disciples and Apostles prayed for boldness to be the witnesses in their culture that made a difference. You and I are no less in need of this boldness. Yes, pray for boldness, but also remember that the Lord is for you.

This declaration reminds us that God stands watch. There is a passage in scripture that displays God’s heart about watching over us. We find it in the book of Psalms, chapter 121.

Psalm 121:1-8 NKJV—I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? [2] My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. [3] He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. [4] Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. [5] The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand. [6] The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. [7] The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. [8] The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.

Friend, be bold and declare to the enemy that you are covered by God’s watchful eye. The Lord stands with you at all times, ready to come to your defense.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, help me to trust in Your ability to defend me from all forms of attack. I refuse to be swayed into doubt by what I see or feel. By faith, I stand in Your love and truth, and You will completely overwhelm the forces of the enemy that try to harm me. I declare God is for me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Thank you for reading. Would you mind to share this devotion on your social media. Every share is an opportunity to reach someone with God’s love and His purpose. Please help me reach someone for Christ today!

Balance in life is an illusion.

The secret to a life well-lived is found in spending time alone with the Lord. This time with Christ allows Him to shape every other area of our lives.

Culture spreads the message that we should fill our lives to the brim with every ingredient we can find. We work ourselves to the bone and exhaust our time, giving up precious moments with our families and children. We often put our spouse to the side and stop pursuing quality time with them. We fill our lives with pursuits that offer no real gain or eternal value in return.

We try to balance all the areas of our life, hoping nothing will fall. Friend, balance cannot be sustained over the long term. If you walk outside and try to balance yourself on the top of your fence, if you are able to do that at all, there will only be a short amount of time that you can maintain that position. Eventually, balance succumbs to the necessities that arise.

The same happens in our spiritual walk, family life, church life, work life, and more. Friend, I am not arguing for greater time management. Neither am I trying to say that I have it all figured out. But there is one thing I have discovered that changes everything.

Your alone time with the Lord is the strongest anchor of your life!

Your alone time with Jesus affects your walk with God, it enhances your family life, changes how you engage with your church family, and improves your work life by infusing you with wisdom to handle the load placed upon you.

Jesus practiced this. He spent large amounts of time with His Heavenly Father, pursuing relationship. The time He spent with the Father directly impacted the way He lived on a daily, even moment-by-moment basis. You can see through the Gospels that Jesus made time with the Father His number one priority. Often, He withdrew from the crowds to spend time with the One who matters most.

Matthew 14:22-23 TPT—As soon as the people were fed, Jesus told his disciples to get into their boat and to go to the other side of the lake while he stayed behind to dismiss the people. [23] After the crowds dispersed, Jesus went up into the hills to pray. And as night fell, he was there praying alone.

Jesus valued this alone time with the Father. I submit to you that His prayer time was the basis of all the miracles, teachings, and healings He performed. They came from hearing the voice of the Father in private. The book of Mark gives us even more insight into a possible reason why Jesus valued alone time with His Father.

Mark 1:35-37 TPT—The next morning, Jesus got up long before daylight, left the house while it was dark, and made his way to a secluded place to give himself to prayer. [36] Later, Simon and his friends searched for him, [37] and when they finally tracked him down, they told him, “Everyone is looking for you—they want you!”

Jesus got out of bed long before daylight to have uninterrupted time alone with His Father. Verse 37 tells us why: “Everyone is looking for you—they want you.”

Have you ever felt that way—everyone wants a piece of your life, a piece of your time, a piece of your energy? They are looking for you, and they have an uncanny ability to find you! The key to having an anchor in your life is tying yourself to something stable. Jesus is the cornerstone, the rock that is higher than us, the eternal One. He is never moved or shaken. He has vast power to meet endless needs. When we consistently come before the Lord in secret prayer, private, alone prayer, it changes us.

Alone time with the Lord touches every part of your existence—body, soul, and spirit. I know testimonies of healing that came through prayer. I have been healed personally simply by spending time with the Lord in prayer. Our souls, which comprise our mind, will, and emotions, are brought back into alignment with the Lord as we seek Him in prayer. Not the least of which is our spirit-man, that eternal part of us, which aligns with God when we spend time alone with Him.

The truth is the Holy Spirit touches every part of us and rearranges us during the time spent with God in prayer. Many people struggle to spend over thirty seconds in prayer, but I want to encourage you to develop your prayer life beyond this.

Ways to develop your alone time with God:

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you pray

This is one of His ministries to us. He will bring things to your heart to speak to the Lord if you simply open your mind and heart to His leadership.

Pray the scriptures back to God.

Pick a psalm and put it into language that prays the words of scripture back to the Lord. God is always open to His word. When His word is prayed from your lips, heaven pays attention.

Find a place that limits distractions.

Most often nowadays, I will get up early in the morning or stay up late into the night because both of these times allow me to spend uninterrupted time with Jesus. You might start by getting up just a little earlier than usual before the workday begins. Is it a sacrifice? Yes. Will it pay you back many times over? Yes, and yes again.

Make part of your prayer time worship time.

Spend time actually praising the Lord. Again, the book of Psalms provides an awesome example of this.

Spend some time simply being silent.

Part of prayer that we often miss is listening for the Lord. He desires to speak to you and tell you things. What He has to say is important and affects all the other parts of your life. I have found that my alone time with the Lord produces the ideas and solutions to problems. Alone time with Him, listening to His voice, provides the encouragement we often need to keep walking through our difficulties.

Let’s agree in prayer:

Lord, help me to develop an alone time with You that is the most valuable part of my life. I pray for help in this area. Jesus, I want to really know You and learn to talk to You at a deeper level than ever before. Holy Spirit, I ask for Your help! Scripture says You will help me pray and that You know the mind of the Father. Fill me with the words and the desire to seek God above all. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

For today’s devotion, I want to express what it can mean to write a manifesto to the darkness, declaring your stand for Christ.

As you read this example, I encourage you to personalize it, make it your own, and use it as a template to craft your own declaration and bold stance for Jesus. Pray and ask the Lord about the areas of your life where you need to become more bold and courageous, and then make the effort to write down these thoughts and form them into a statement.

It doesn’t have to be long or drawn out. You can write it down in your phone notes or by hand. But there is something powerful about taking the time to craft a statement that captures the essence of your faith and then using it as a declaration over your life.

With this being said, here is an example.

My manifesto to the darkness declares:

Let’s agree in prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank You for being my master, king, and savior! I rest the weight of my faith upon You and Your word. I know that You will come through for me in every circumstance, and I make a bold declaration to the enemy forces that “I will never bow to the darkness!” Lord, in humility, I give You everything that I have and all that I am. Use my life for Your glory and for Your purpose. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

Blessings on you today,

Larry Shankle

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Philippians 2:10-11 TPT—[10] The authority of the name of Jesus causes every knee to bow in reverence! Everything and everyone will one day submit to this name—in the heavenly realm, in the earthly realm, and in the demonic realm. [11] And every tongue will proclaim in every language: “Jesus Christ is Lord Yahweh,” bringing glory and honor to God, His Father!

This is the moment to declare your freedom! Today is the day to make a bold stand against the devil, the darkness, and the demonic. The time for believers cowering in fear—not only to the culture but also to the lies of the devil—must come to an end now.

No longer can we afford to waver between what the Lord declares and what we see or feel. Since when have we ever been people who lived according to what we see? Scripture tells us to walk, to live, by faith alone in God alone. For you and me, this means that every single time the devil or the darkness tries to whisper a lie in our ear, we shout “no!” We reject the voice of the enemy as a defeated foe.

He has no power over the believer in Jesus Christ. We must rise again with backbones of steel and be unafraid to boldly challenge the darkness that surrounds us. Our families will not be overcome and taken hostage by the enemy. Our churches will not be turned into graveyards. Our cities will not become a refuge for the demonic. Our friends will not be lost to time and eternity but will hear and receive the Gospel—the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Friend, we must take our stand.

Before we can ever have the capacity to change the world around us, we must change the world inside us. We must take what Scripture says as the truth. The Bible is not a book of “maybes.” It is the word of the living God that cries out what “will be!” God exists in the future, in the past, and in the present, which means He has everything about our life in complete order from start to finish.

Why should we fear when sickness comes, if we serve a God who heals? Why should we cower in fear of the unknown when our God holds tomorrow in the palm of His hands?

Freedom is real and here for the taking TODAY. You do not have to wait; simply step into it. Jesus has committed His own authority to you, and you can live in it and walk in it. Furthermore, the Bible declares to us that this same authority causes every knee to bow.

So, we will no longer bow to the darkness. We will not bow to drugs and alcohol, or to the sin and perversion that culture says is inevitable. As people of God, we bow to one Master. His name is Jesus. Everything in the heavenly realm, the earthly realm, and the demonic realm is required to bow to the might of His glory and authority.

As believers, we have already declared with all of heaven, “Jesus is Lord!” He is the master of our lives and futures. He is the creator of our destiny and purpose. He is the One who alone has the power of life and has manifested this life in our hearts.

Our manifesto is a raw declaration to the darkness that “devil, you have already lost.” The remnant people of God must return to the place of power through faith and bold declaration, believing that Jesus has done all that He said He would do and more.

Scripture tells us this great truth in the book of Colossians.

Colossians 2:14-15 TPT—[14] He canceled out every legal violation we had on our record and the old arrest warrant that stood to indict us. He erased it all—our sins, our stained souls—He deleted it all, and they cannot be retrieved! Everything we once were in Adam has been placed onto His cross and nailed permanently there as a public display of cancellation. [15] Then Jesus made a public spectacle of all the powers and principalities of darkness, stripping away from them every weapon and all their spiritual authority and power to accuse us. And by the power of the cross, Jesus led them around as prisoners in a procession of triumph. He was not their prisoner; they were His!

If you are waiting on a promise from the Lord, do not allow the enemy to speak in your ear. Tell him to be silent in Jesus’ name!

Often, Jesus dealt with demons by refusing to allow them to speak.

Mark 1:34 TPT—[34] Jesus cured many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons. But he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew who he really was.

Your God is a keeper of His word, and you need to write a manifesto to the darkness declaring the might of your Savior. It’s time to write a manifesto to the darkness and declare, “we will not bow!”

Take some time today and decide the areas in which you will not bow to the darkness. Write it down and declare it as you pray.

Let’s agree in prayer:

Jesus, thank You, my Master, for what You’ve purchased for me on the cross. Thank You that You have already won the war and that I only fight FROM a place of victory! I purpose to stand without fear, in the knowledge that You are faithful and always keep Your word. The devil does not win; You’ve won! Holy Spirit, cause me to truly understand the truth of God’s word and declare along with You that, “Jesus made a public spectacle of all the powers and principalities of darkness, stripping away from them every weapon and all their spiritual authority and power to accuse us.” In Jesus’ name. Amen!

P.S. - Friend, my sincere hope is to write something that will strengthen and encourage your bold faith and stand for Jesus. If these devotions are helping you, would you help me reach more people with the message of Jesus? Subscribe and share the Voice of Awakening with someone today. It is a simple way to make a huge difference!

Colossians 1:13-14 TPT—[13] He has rescued us completely from the tyrannical rule of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom realm of his beloved Son. [14] For in the Son all our sins are canceled and we have the release of redemption through his very blood.

Most believers live and walk in much less power than the Lord designed for them. Many spend their time running from problems and hoping for the best, but it never seems to materialize. This Christian life was never intended to be a “barely there…hope I make it” kind of existence. You were recreated in Christ with the promise of an overcoming life.

He gives us His own authority, which includes power over darkness. The devil’s domain is no longer our home. We have been purchased, redeemed, and bought back at a very high price. The blood of Jesus paid for us and gives us the right to live from a new realm of existence. The truth is, you are actually seated with Christ, above the fray of the world and its darkness.

The Bible calls Satan the “god of this world.”

2 Corinthians 4:4 TPT—[4] for their minds have been blinded by the god of this age, leaving them in unbelief. Their blindness keeps them from seeing the dayspring light of the wonderful news of the glory of Jesus Christ, who is the divine image of God.

The world is dark because its eyes are blinded to the light of Jesus Christ. The world does not see the hope, the life, and the goodness of God. But as a believer, you have a brand new mind. Scripture says we have the mind of Christ. We are new creations, with His own mind, and His own nature being formed in us. Along with this, Jesus gives us His own authority.

Why do we sit idly by and allow the devil to attack us, warring against our thoughts, and whispering lies into our ears? I submit to you that you have the authority to kick him out! Jesus has rescued you from the life you used to live. That previous life was lived under the authority of a tyrannical ruler, one who used darkness and deception to control, manipulate, and inspire fear. But you no longer live in that place. You have been awakened by the voice of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself has reached down and rescued you from that old kingdom and has translated you into a new kingdom realm.

Every time the devil reminds you of who you used to be under his rule, you can declare that all your sins were canceled and you have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. God’s authority has been released into your life, and you have the power of attorney to use the name of Jesus. In Jesus’ name, you can command the enemy to be silent! You can bind him and cast him out. There is no darkness so great or problem so hard that it can overcome you. Jesus lives in you, friend, and today is the time to let the lion roar!

Let the lion roar in your declarations. Let Him roar in your prayers. Let His ferocious growl cause demons to flee and the light of heaven to be released in your life! Many people try to live this Christian life through their own power, as if they are denying the supernatural power of Jesus. My desire is to remind you today that Jesus is the King. He is the God of the universe. This truth is beyond our understanding—it is supernatural. While people acknowledge the existence of the demonic, those same individuals seem to diminish the supernatural power of Jesus Christ by saying the day of miracles and biblical power has passed. But it has NOT passed!

The Lord has the same power today to heal, deliver from demons, set people free from sin, and offer forgiveness of sin. His blood hasn’t lost an ounce of its power, and it never will. You can rest in the truth that the devil must run from you! Use the name of Jesus today and tell the devil to leave. He must obey. As you submit yourself to Christ and resist the devil in the name of Jesus, Scripture declares the devil must flee!

Let’s agree in prayer:

Lord, I thank You for the power of the Holy Spirit! Through Your name, You have given me the power to overcome. So in the name of Jesus, I say to all fear, oppression, and torment—you must leave in Jesus’ name! I say to every dark demonic thought—leave in Jesus’ name! I bind these spirits and cast them out by the power of the name of Jesus. Heavenly Father, I ask You to release Your power, light, and freedom into my life in greater degrees as I submit myself to You. Lord, I ask for Your help and strength to overcome every lie of the enemy that seeks to hold me in bondage. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

P.S. - Friend, my sincere hope is to write something that will strengthen and encourage your bold faith and stand for Jesus. If these devotions are helping you, would you help me reach more people with the message of Jesus? Subscribe and share the Voice of Awakening with someone today. It is a simple way to make a huge difference!

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Revelation 12:10-11 NKJV—[10] Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. [11] And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

The accuser is cast down! His voice holds no sway. The enemy’s words have no power or authority over a believer. What may have held authority before the cross is now demolished by the death of Jesus on the cross. This means that Satan has no right to accuse you before your Heavenly Father. Even if he tries, he is immediately ejected from the courtroom.

The judge cries out, “false evidence!” God recognizes those who are covered by the blood of the Lamb. He knows that you have accepted the sacrifice of Christ that brings ultimate freedom. No longer will you be brought under the condemnation of the devil, because there is no condemnation for those who live in Jesus.

How do you and I overcome? Through the blood of the Lamb. His blood covers us and renews us. We become established as new creations through His name and our faith in Him. We must, however, remember that this is a covenant. God does His part, and we do ours.

Our part of the covenant agreement is coming into alignment with the truth. Scripture calls it the “word of their testimony.” What are you saying about yourself on a regular basis? Does what comes out of your mouth agree with what the Word of God says about you? If not, you are out of alignment with the truth.

New Age teaching would lead us to believe that we can say whatever we want and simply claim it, and it will happen. They try to mimic the principles of the Bible regarding our words. However, we cannot just say whatever we think and have it happen to us. The scriptural principles of our words and our testimony only hold authority when our words align with His words.

We are not just declaring something; we are (re)declaring what the Lord has said. His words are spirit and life. When you speak your testimony—words of spirit and life—you cannot help but see change in your life. Our testimony of the truth doesn’t mean the enemy will stop trying to get into our head. He will still whisper his lies to you, but you can choose to silence him through the truth.

Let’s agree in prayer:

Jesus, I come into agreement with what Your word declares over me. I am healed. I am free. I am saved. I am more than a conqueror. You are the judge over my life. As I come into agreement with You, authority is released and strongholds are broken. Thank You, Lord, for giving me the power to overcome darkness by walking in the light of Your words. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Isaiah 54:17 NKJV—[17] No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD.

Have you ever experienced a time when it felt like everywhere you turned, something, someone, or some problem was against you? I bet you have. It is in these moments that we discover the power of Jesus that lives in us. When hell seems to unleash all its fury against you, it is time to stand on the truth.

The truth is, weapons will be formed against us. There is no question about it; the devil will hurl stones and throw spears intended for your harm. Although people are never our enemies, the devil will use them to help him undermine our faith. You will encounter unkind words, slanderous remarks, and statements meant to unravel your emotions. When this happens, you must cling to the only words that truly matter: God’s word.

We know in advance that attacks will come. He has warned us. So do not be swayed or surprised when you face intimidating battles. These fiery trials come to all believers in Jesus Christ. The key is to know the truth: these weapons won’t prosper against us.

Say it with me, “These weapons won’t prosper against me.”

Now say it with force and authority.

You can even fill in the blanks by saying, “this sickness won’t prosper against me,” or “this fear will not prosper against me.” I encourage you to make this real in your life. If you are facing a job crisis, start declaring the truth over it. Do not allow the enemy the satisfaction of triumphing over you in the battle. You have to take up your authority, speak it, and pray it. God has already given you the truth that the weapons will not prosper, so use His truth by declaring it over your life.

Your heritage and legacy in the Lord is not one of defeat but of overcoming. You are covered inside and out with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. You have power and effectiveness built into you because your faith doesn’t rest in your own strength but in God’s mighty power.

Jesus is a stronghold breaker! He tears down the walls the enemy is building in our lives.

Let’s agree in prayer:

Lord, I know that battles will come, but I refuse to give them the satisfaction of causing me to operate in fear. I choose to walk in faith! I believe that You have given me the authority to overcome every weapon the enemy uses. No longer will I be bound by the dread of what may come. I will walk in freedom in the promises of the greater One who lives in me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Genesis 3:15 NKJV—[15] “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

The devil is fighting a losing battle! He thinks he will win against you and the Lord, but his defeat has been predetermined from the very beginning. There is no power available to him. The only way your enemy gains any ground in your life is if you relinquish it and allow him to take it.

What this means for us is that we must keep every door closed to the enemy. Don’t let sin have a place in your life any longer. Keep the door shut to it. I should also mention that we cannot create our own definitions of what sin is and isn’t. The Bible is our guide. It alone defines what is pleasing to the Lord and what is not. Too often, we try to establish our own measuring stick to judge our lives by. The reality is that what God says is the final authority.

Beyond sin, we must guard our hearts against things like bitterness, unforgiveness, and emotions that could lead us in the wrong direction. Our hearts can be easily flooded with emotions that flow like a river, taking us to places we don’t want to go. So we must protect ourselves and our hearts.

The lie of the enemy is always present, telling you that you will never make it through your battles. He will tell you that you don’t amount to anything and seek to diminish your value; but this is not true! You are of great value to God. So much so that He gave Jesus to die in your place.

The fact is this: Jesus totally and completely defeated Satan on the cross. When Jesus cried, “It is finished,” that was it. The victory was final. All the devil has at his disposal is his mouth. He speaks lies in the hopes that we will believe him and fall for the deception. If we do, we expose an open door and grant the enemy access. Friend, do not believe the lie!

The greater One lives in you! Jesus has the name above all names, and at the mention of His name, demons tremble. Jesus crushed the serpent’s head and sealed his fate. Purpose today to walk in the victory Jesus purchased for you.

Let’s agree in prayer:

Father, I thank You for the blood of Jesus that provides complete victory for me. By His name, I am an overcomer. The enemy will not win in my life because I belong to Jesus. My declaration is that You are for me! Thank You, Jesus, for winning the battle and granting me victory. Today, I give You glory for all You’ve done for me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Matthew 28:18-19 NKJV—[18] And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

God is waking the church up right now. We are witnessing it happen before our very eyes, and I could not be more excited and hopeful about what is coming. Revival and awakening are returning to the earth. The last days harvest is taking place, and the Lord beckons us to take our places in it.

What occurs in an awakening? Along with culture coming under the influence of the Lord, the most noticeable marks of an awakening are an increased hunger and thirst for the Lord Himself and a harvest of souls. During an awakening, people are born again at a rate much higher than what we normally experience.

The catalyst for this harvest of souls is our witness to the world. When awakening happens, the church comes alive to her faith and her mission. In the opening scriptures, Jesus spoke about authority. This authority is something He passed down to you and me for the purpose of proclaiming truth boldly and courageously. The Lord empowers us with His Holy Spirit so that we have the tools to become missionary evangelists—truth proclaimers to a lost, dying world.

Friend, you may not consider yourself a powerful witness for the Lord, but I am suggesting your perspective needs to change! You have a circle of influence that no one else has. Your friends, family, and neighbors are unique to you, and because Jesus placed you among them, you have a responsibility to speak life and truth. The message of Jesus IS life and truth.

Jesus did not say, “when you feel like it,” or “if you feel like it, go and make disciples.” He simply commanded each of us, “GO.” This is a command to the church, not a suggestion. We are containers of life. Jesus walks with us everywhere we go. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, and therefore, we have a charge, a responsibility to help others know the love and transformation that Jesus has given to us.

A disciple is defined as a “learner.” Someone who is learning about truth is a disciple of truth. You do not have to be a Bible expert to make disciples. You simply have to help other people learn about the God you have come to know. This means you can share your testimony of how the Lord has changed you. You can express how Jesus gives you peace, strength, or encouragement through His Word. There is no one method for making disciples; it just involves us being faithful to open our mouths and speak about God’s goodness in every context we find ourselves in.

Maybe you will write a devotional and post it (like this one)! Or perhaps you will see a friend in the store and encourage them through prayer. God may send someone along who is ready to receive Jesus, and if you allow yourself to be used by the Holy Spirit, you may have the great privilege of praying with someone to receive Christ!

Let’s agree in prayer:

Father, help me to be ready to speak the truth of Your love, goodness, and saving grace everywhere I go. May I not be silent. Strengthen me with fresh power from the Holy Spirit to give a good word to anyone You place in my path today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Hebrews 1:8 NKJV—[8] But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

How can we be good enough to be part of the kingdom of God? This is the unspoken question that resonates within humanity. From this question, religions have arisen, and many good deeds have been performed. However, the core of this internal question misunderstands the nature of God and our responsibility.

At our greatest and most profound efforts, we will never be good enough to merit a place in the eternal kingdom of God. We are created in the image of God our creator, but because of our sinful nature, passed down to us through Adam and Eve, there is no way to become like our creator through any work of our own hands.

The Lord is too holy and pure. We cannot meet His expectations. His ways and thoughts are above our own. So what are we to do?

We can do nothing; but in our inability, God stooped low to us. He formed a plan that would return to us the rights and place that we willfully forfeited through sin. God came as man and stood in our place. Through Jesus, the Lord took the punishment that we deserved, and in its place, He gave us the righteousness we didn’t deserve and could never earn.

Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross paid every debt that we owed to the Father. If only we place our faith, trust, and future in the Lord, He will give us salvation and transform our lives through His grace. What was impossible for man became possible through God. We absolutely do not deserve this. But the love of God is unquenchable.

The kingdom of God is defined by righteousness. It is the hallmark of all that the Lord is. He is faithful, true, and holy.

When the blood of Jesus covers our souls and sins, He literally erases them from existence. Although you and others may remember your former life, God does not. When the blood of Jesus cleanses you, you become a brand new creation with the ability to connect to God. His righteousness becomes your own.

In light of this, why not make a greater effort to pursue a relationship with the Lord instead of only seeking to please Him by being better? Being better is a result of His work in us, not our work for Him. A relationship with the Lord gives us life—abundant life that springs up into every area of who we are.

So today, pursue Jesus. Seek to draw close to Him and allow the Holy Spirit to transform you from the inside out.

Let’s agree in prayer:

Jesus, I know that I can produce nothing good on my own. So I lay down my best efforts at Your feet. I ask You to let me come close to You today and allow me to connect with Your heart. Holy Spirit, fill me and overflow in my life. As the Word says, “work into me” those things that will please You. I give my life to You afresh and I ask You to fill every void with Your presence and power. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Psalm 27:4-6 NKJV—[4] One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple. [5] For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock. [6] And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

Waiting is hard. We often feel that the time spent waiting on the Lord to move in our lives is wasted, but it isn’t. Through the process of time, the Lord shapes and molds us into the very image He intends for our lives. Nevertheless, there is still a tension that comes with the wait.

The Lord spoke this word into my heart, and I hope it encourages you as it did me:

I feel like the Lord is saying this to some of you now because you have also said with the psalmist, “one thing have I desired.”

If you have been the one who desired the Lord and sought Him, I believe the God of heaven is reaching out to you now, to pull you up from the miry clay in which you feel you’ve been buried. There is no more delay, for the Lord is a mighty man of valor, and He wastes no time in saving His children when they begin to seek Him.

Do not worry about trouble or panic in fear over the things that may surround your life because the Lord is there! He will hide you. He will place you in a secret place where no evil can befall you. Take joy in His presence.

Not everyone will receive this. Some will turn away and refuse to listen to the Lord, but for those who listen and truly begin to seek Jesus, this will be the hour of your deliverance!

This will be the time of your jubilee as you are set free from bondage to fear, shame, doubt, guilt, sin, and any other entrapment of the enemy.

Jesus provides the way, and He is the way!

Keep on waiting, friend!

Do not stop waiting on the Lord!

Let’s agree in prayer:

Lord, help me to trust in the unseen movement of Your hand in my life. I place my faith in Your word, which is always true and holy. I believe that my breakthrough is coming, and I will wait as long as it takes because I know You are faithful. This is my opportunity, Lord, to offer up a sacrifice of praise in Your presence. I give You all the praise. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

John 17:17 NKJV—[17] Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

There is only one truth. Jesus declared plainly that He alone is the way, the truth, and the life. No other means of salvation is provided. We must be careful that we do not inadvertently accept a different gospel or preach another Jesus than the one we have come to place our faith in.

The Apostle Paul warned about this in Second Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 11:3-4 NKJV—[3] But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. [4] For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!

Christian, these are days of deception. Don’t tolerate it! The enemy of our souls would like nothing more than to sway us away from the true truth of Christ and to accept an inferior version. Scripture is the bedrock of all truth as it reveals the actual, living Christ. Truth is not based on our interpretations of scripture, nor is it related to how we feel about what scripture says. The Bible is a bold and courageous, black-and-white revelation of the truth of God. What it says is completely accurate. It has no contradictions. Scripture stands alone as the foundation we can build our lives upon.

With all the alternate lifestyles and other versions of truth we are bombarded with, there are times we need to set aside all the other voices that surround our lives and just get alone with our Bibles, a notebook, and a time of prayer. As you read the Bible, its seeds plant themselves deeply in your heart. It becomes a living reality in your life from the inside out. The Holy Spirit is able to take the scripture you have seeded into your soul and use it to speak life into you.

Jesus declared in the Book of John, “Your word is truth.” Jesus is the word made flesh. Every word He spoke contained and still contains spirit and life. As you put scripture in your heart, it transforms the way you think. This transformation fills us with the mind of Christ. We come to know how God feels about a subject by reading His word and discovering His nature, character, and thoughts.

Let me take this opportunity to encourage you to spend some time in the Bible for yourself. It is a living book. The more you read it, the more it works truth into your life. As our opening scripture says, scripture sanctifies us. It sets us apart for the Lord and gives us a desire to seek Him.

Make His Word your foundation. Here’s how:

• Read it prayerfully.

• Read it asking the Holy Spirit to open your mind and heart.

• As the Lord speaks to you, be quick to obey.

• Be a good steward of His voice and write down what the Lord speaks to your heart.

Let’s agree in prayer:

Heavenly Father, You are faithful. Guard our hearts and establish them through Your word. Open our minds to understand Your word, and give us a deeper love for scripture than ever before. Help us, Lord, to make a bold stand for what is true, right, and holy. Jesus, we ask for the Holy Spirit to make Your word come alive in us so that we may respond and give You glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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