Blog – Page 10 – Bethany Church

The Investment

August 22, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

Last night at Bible study we were discussing all the nuances of our salvation found in Jesus and one of the things that came up was the parable of the talents. It wasn’t a lengthy conversation, more of a passing reference, but the Spirit of God whispered some revelation regarding its meaning. Let me share with you my discovery.

Matthew 25:14-30 contains the Parable of the Talents. When I was a new believer I assumed that this parable was referring to special abilities, such as athletic, creative, or artistic aptitudes. But, this interpretation was mistaken. Jesus is actually referring to a weight used to measure money. The “master” in the parable has invested a sum of money in his servants expecting a return. Now that’s interesting for we can see the obvious parallels. The Master of the tale – obviously a picture of the Father and His Son – has invested several things. What things you may ask?

a) First and foremost, God has given to us the gift of life.

b) He has given unto all mankind, His Son, a gift of eternal life, for all who will receive Him.

c) Lastly, Jesus has deposited His Spirit and Grace into our spirits.

Near the conclusion of the parable the “master” calls his servants together to report on their investments. Now after a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came and brought him five more, saying, Master, you entrusted to me five talents; see, here I have gained five talents more. His master said to him, Well done, you upright (honorable, admirable) and faithful servant! You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into and share the joy (the delight, the blessedness) which your master enjoys. And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, Master, you entrusted two talents to me; here I have gained two talents more. His master said to him, Well done, you upright (honorable, admirable) and faithful servant! You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into and share the joy (the delight, the blessedness) which your master enjoys.He who had received one talent also came forward, saying, Master, I knew you to be a harsh and hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you had not winnowed [the grain].So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is your own. But his master answered him, You wicked and lazy and idle servant! Did you indeed know that I reap where I have not sowed and gather [grain] where I have not winnowed?Then you should have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received what was my own with interest.So take the talent away from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will be furnished richly so that he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away. Matthew 25:19-29

Obviously the master had an expectation that his servants would make investments, receiving a return. True servants see it no other way. In fact the point could be made that grateful servants work hard to see that their master gets his return. The servant, with a dim view of his master, doesn’t work at all – he hides and buries it. He obviously has no relationship with the master, projecting onto his master his personal fears, and stinginess. Interestingly enough he is still viewed as a servant by the master – although ungrateful, disobedient, and stingy.

The take away from this parable is that there will be an accounting based on what is done with the Father’s investment of life, His Son and His Spirit. Presently we find that we exist in a Laodicean Church age of cheap grace, and no expectations. Everyone receives a trophy, all are treated the same, and God is made in our image. But in this parable, each servant is not treated the same. They are rewarded differently based on what they did with the masters investment. Any human that draws breath is a servant of something or someone – whether we like it or not – as Bob Dylan observed many years ago.

Peter, the apostle, adds a reminder in 2 Peter 3:18 But grow in grace (undeserved favor, spiritual strength) and recognition and knowledge and understanding of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (the Messiah). To Him [be] glory (honor, majesty, and splendor) both now and to the day of eternity. Amen (so be it)! Again the Heavenly expectation is that we will grow what has been invested in us. You may ask, “How is grace invested in us?” Over the years I have learned to despise the acrostic for grace as being God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. I despise it because it doesn’t define how we are to respond to this grace. I prefer the following definition: grace = the empowerment to do the will of God; to respond to God’s riches It’s interesting that the Greek word for grace is charis. Charis is used synonymously with the Spirit of God. Grace and the Spirit go hand in hand. I know from Scripture that the Spirit has been given to us for more than just assuring our salvation. He is our Source and Supply of Supernatural Empowerment to be molded into the image of Jesus. I grow His Supernatural Unction, or Fervor as I agree and cooperate with His whispers in my Spirit. Those whispers come in the form of thoughts to be conformed to Jesus, His Word, or examples. For example I may have a sudden desire to be more loving. I’ve learned that no good thing exists in me. When these thoughts cross my “mind” (the interpreter of our spirits) it’s an invitation to grow spiritually, and come to know Jesus. I may develop a certain interest in or desire to pray, fast, evangelize, memorize Scripture, worship, fellowship, heal the sick, or prophesy. Again those thoughts are whispers from God’s Spirit to grow, an invitation to get a return on our Masters investment. That is why Paul is so adamant about not quenching the Spirit’s Fire (1 Thess. 5:19). I have personally experienced His Grace in several areas of life while my spiritual dullness dismissed the invitation. In fact many times I have taken this grace for granted only to find later that my actions, performance and behavior were not based on any good merit of my own but only by God’s Precious Grace. On one hand, I’ve known people to receive God’s grace to free them from addictions and demonic strongholds, only to turn back later spurning the gift and failing miserably. I believe that there will be weeping in Heaven over these missed opportunities. People are quick to remind me, “But Robert there is no crying in Heaven.” To which I respond by reminding them, “Then what does the Bible mean that He will wipe every tear from their eyes?” Rev. 21:4

Our salvation is free, bought and purchased by the precious Blood of Jesus, but it will cost you your life to grow, and invest it. A master would expect nothing less from his servants, and a grateful servant would expect nothing less than to give it.

Don’t Ask the Fish

August 21, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

As I mentioned in a previous blog a worldview answers four necessary questions: origins, meaning, morality and destiny. That worldview must answer individual questions in correspondence to reality, and the sum of those answers must be coherent, or in agreement. Many persons have the mistaken notion that they have reasons for their beliefs. Unfortunately after some discussion the discovery is made that those opinions are not based in fact, but hearsay. Ravi Zacharias states: “One of the most shocking lessons one learns in countries where culture is interwoven with religion is that living within a certain framework all the time is, in a sense, the surest way to be detached from it.” Hence the Chinese proverb: “If you want to know what water is, don’t ask the fish.” Ravi continues: Most Hindus know little about Hinduism’s scriptures or it’s development in dogma. Most Buddhists know little about Buddhism. Religion is much more a culture to most people than it is a carefully thought-through system of truth. Even Islam finds the same ignorance. Dare I say most Christians know very little about the teaching and history of their own beliefs …Then the conclusion is inescapable: What I now believe may be good, but it’s not good enough.”

As I grow older I have come to the realization that much of what I put my faith in was only an entry way or door into a whole other realm I never knew existed. Unfortunately for me and others, we have mistaken the door for the entire house. This is why the Lord would have His Church, His Bride to awaken to the inheritance we have in Him. Notice I did not say eternal life. Many have mistaken eternal life as a final destination when Biblically it is an ongoing, experiential relationship. Luke 17:21, alluded to in a previous blog, states that we have God’s Kingdom inside of us through our connection to Jesus. John 10:10 states eternal life has brought us to life to live for Him. John 14:30 states: I will not talk with you much more, for the prince (evil genius, ruler) of the world is coming. And he has no claim on Me. [He has nothing in common with Me; there is nothing in Me that belongs to him, and he has no power over Me.] Eternal Life progressively transforms us so that eventually we have nothing in common with the evil one. After our being born-again, we may have a mild distaste regarding sin, but Jesus hates it. He hates any and all things that stand between us and His love for us. That’s why Eternal Life is more than just a shadowy, dream world in the not so present future but a concrete reality in the now. And it has to be. Shallow, shadows of existence and perception can do little to transform our affections or uphold us like the concrete reality of experiential love. Love, like Eternal Life, is the personification of Jesus.

Our inheritance guarantees freedom from harassment, and oppression from the evil one. Acts 10:38 How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the [Holy] Spirit and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good and, in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by [the power of] the devil, for God was with Him. Jesus was anointed – as God limited by humanity – to free others who were being harassed and oppressed by the power of the devil. What will a Resurrected, and Ascended Jesus do now for those He loves and adores?

As co-heirs with Christ Jesus He is saving us to break chains of slavery to sin, addictions, traumas, demonic strongholds, ungodly beliefs, cycles of sin, and all the multiple works of darkness. Romans 6:16-18 Do you not know that if you continually surrender yourselves to anyone to do his will, you are the slaves of him whom you obey, whether that be to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness (right doing and right standing with God)? But thank God, though you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient with all your heart to the standard of teaching in which you were instructed and to which you were committed. And having been set free from sin, you have become the servants of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in thought, purpose, and action).We have become inheritors of freedom and righteousness (rightly related to God and man). Hardly do we think of ourselves when mention is made of being rightly related to our fellow man. Yet, Sunday after Sunday, church attenders find themselves not rightly related to themselves (Truth be known how can they be rightly related to God and man?) The call of Jesus is a call to be rightly related to Who Jesus is within us. Rightly related to who He made us to be. Rightly related to what’s been crucified and defeated. Rightly related to the Spirit of God within our spirits. We find our “stride,” or “sweet spot,” in He Who has made, and is making His Home within us.

In conclusion don’t be asking the contented, pew sitting “fish” how the “Water” is. Instead look for those swimming in the Spirit of their inheritance through Jesus. Feel the radiant, glow from their faces as they light up talking about Him. Listen for their Jesus-centered, worship as their hearts swell, overflowing into a life-time of praises. Looking and listening carefully will lead you to a discovery that’s beyond the door; to an Ocean of endless, and eternal joy, Whose Name is Jesus. He’s our inheritance. He is eternal life. Come on, let’s jump in and learn how to swim.

Raised From Rote, Rut, and Rot

August 19, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

The gift of eternal life is as multi-faceted as Jesus containing qualities that are eternal and multidimensional. Consider Paul’s words in Eph. 3:14-21 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. This passage translated in the New King James version demonstrates the multi-dimensional levels of God’s Love and eternal life found in Jesus Christ. What’s really interesting is to read the same passage in a translation of the Bible that brings out the original language nuances not found in our thought by thought translations. Here’s Pauls words again: For this reason seeing the greatness of this plan by which you are built together in Christ], I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named [that Father from Whom all fatherhood takes its title and derives its name]May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality]. May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love, that you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it]; [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]! Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]— To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen (so be it). Can you hear the richness of these words? the Amplified Classic translation breathes life into the words calling to our dry bones to come together, standing up to become the army of Jesus’ Kingdom.

Our eternal life has the power to release in us the very power that raised Jesus from the dead. The very same power that was released when creation was set in motion by the Word of God. You are a new creation and have been born-again to experience God’s Promise of making all things new. The multi-layered, multi-faceted, multi dimensional aspect of our salvation contains more than a two dimensional quality to it. Modern Christianity has dumbed it down placing 2 -3 dimensional caps on how God’s Spirit can express Himself. (And when I say modern Christianity I am referring to the Christianity which slowly began to take the place of Biblical Christianity when the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion of Rome in 320 AD.) Unfortunately for us the legacy left behind has caused us to crawl out from the rubble in the cemetery many call church or Christianity. 1700 years of religion without relationship has left us with nothing more than rote, ruts, and rot. Routine has become “lord” in the life of the church. A.W. Tozer has said, “That would be perfectly alright and proper for a cemetery. Nobody expects a cemetery to do anything but conform. The greatest conformists in the world day are those who sleep out in the community cemetery. They do not bother anyone. They just lie there, and it is perfectly alright for them to do so. You can predict what everyone will do in a cemetery from the deceased right down to the people who attend a funeral there. Everyone and everything in a cemetery has accepted the routine. Nobody expects anything out of those buried in the cemetery. But the church is not a cemetery and we should expect much from it, because what has been should not be lord to tell us what is, and what is should not be ruler to tell us what will be. God’s people are supposed to grow.”

When Scripture is read afresh we see that Jesus’ version of eternal life called for the very Kingdom of God to be released in our hearts. Luke 17:21 says it’s so. Jesus said the Kingdom wasn’t out there but in here (I’m pointing at my heart and yours). For the church to glumly pray, “Thy Kingdom come,” Sunday after Sunday like a funeral dirge has wrung the vitality out of our Lord’s declaration of war on death. Paul said that the Kingdom wasn’t a matter of talk but of explosive, dynamite power. What’s happened to the power of our salvation?

This morning I was meditating in the Word using some discipleship material called “The Disciples Prayer Life.” He posed a question regarding the Disciples Prayer in Matthew 6 asking “what kind of things are disciples to ask for?” When I read this I thought of another principle T.W. Hunt, it’s author, teaches: “Why should God answer this prayer?” Why indeed? Why should God answer the prayer if we are not willing to cooperate in the process of His grace, and Spirit exploding like dynamite in our spirits? Why should the Father trust us with the atmosphere of Heaven – His Kingdom – on earth, bringing dead things back to life; causing blind eyes to see and deaf ears to hear? Why, when we keep closing our eyes and ears to the call of His Spirit and Word?

Ultimately we are back to A.W. Tozer’s thoughts: Have we allowed the lord of routine to bury us in the cemetery of rote, rut, and rot? Don’t you think it’s time to begin praying and believing for a resurrection?

Perspective Warp

August 18, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

Perspective control is a procedure for composing or editing photographs to better conform with the commonly accepted distortions in constructed perspective. The control would:

make all lines that are vertical in reality vertical in the image. This includes columns, vertical edges of walls and lampposts. This is a commonly accepted distortion in constructed perspective; perspective is based on the notion that more distant objects are represented as smaller on the page; however, even though the top of the cathedral tower is in reality further from the viewer than base of the tower (due to the vertical distance), constructed perspective considers only the horizontal distance and considers the top and bottom to be the same distance away;
make all parallel lines (such as four horizontal edges of a cubic room) cross in one point.

The Western Church’s perspective regarding our worldview is not the only thing that needs an adjustment. As the definition above states, “Perspective control is a procedure for composing or editing photographs to better conform with the commonly accepted distortions…” Here lies the Western Church’s problem. Rather than adjusting our vertical interaction with the Spirit and the Word we have allowed the “commonly accepted distortions” to determine our perspective. Last Thursday I posted that a worldview will define and determine – origin, meaning, morality, and destiny. Without a Biblical worldview your interaction with the Vertical and horizontal will be warped and distorted at best. Consider the popular misconceptions of eternal life. Ask your average church goer their definition of eternal life and they will define it in terms of the after life. Jesus readjusted that understanding making His focus, or perspective, be about living – not dying. For example John 3:13 states: And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. Interestingly enough when comparing this verse to other translations this passage has been distorted to match the commonly accepted distortions. But when you read it you can see that Jesus’ life lived on the horizontal plane of earth was actually lived from a much higher vertical perspective. One more example: John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. Here again Jesus reiterates that our focus isn’t to be on dying but living in knowing the Father and Jesus the Son. Jesus echoes this in Matthew 22:29-32 Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” In the Gospel of Luke the angel rebukes the women coming to Jesus tomb asking, “Why do you look for the Living among the dead?” I capitalized the “Living” to make the point that we serve the One who conquered death and is not dead but alive forevermore and gives this victory to all who would place their trust in Him.

What the western church needs more than ever is a perspective warp like the Star Trek Enterprise that will launch us in to seeing Jesus’ life – in us – from a much higher Vertical perspective. You and I were made for much more than looking at the back of someones’ head calling it worship. Can you imagine aliens visiting our planet, observing our worship, and noting how uniformly we worship the back of someone’s skull? This is why Jesus was crucified at Golgotha, the Place of the Skull, sending His cross and blood to penetrate and permeate that globular sphere of rancid fruit we call knowledge. The fruit of this tree only leaves us barren, and naked, hungering for something more that really satisfies. But those who have truly met the conditions of a Jesus-centered, Salvation, will know so much more for they have received the Mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 2:16) Now that is an alien concept to a western church that has fallen so far away from New Testament Christianity.

What’s Your Worldview?

August 15, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

Sunday morning I was meditating in Psalm 37 and found an interesting parallel to one of the Beatitudes. In fact Psalm 37 mentioned this Beatitude 6 different times. Think about that. Why would the Psalmist mention this Beatitude 6 different times? It must be important. Right? Here’s what they say: ³Trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed surely on His faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed.; ⁹For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait and hope and look for the Lord [in the end] shall inherit the earth. ¹¹But the meek [in the end] shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. ²²For such as are blessed of God shall [in the end] inherit the earth, but they that are cursed of Him shall be cut off.²⁹[Then] the [consistently] righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever. ³⁴Wait for and expect the Lord and keep and heed His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land; [in the end] when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.

The Beatitudes of Jesus say a similar thing: Mt. 5:5 Blessed (happy, blithesome, joyous, spiritually prosperous—with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the meek (the mild, patient, long-suffering), for they shall inherit the earth!

Now I have to be honest and admit that this promise has not been a bestseller for Christian bumper stickers, or refrigerator magnets. I don’t even think it made the list. Why the neglect, or apathy regarding this promise? It’s all about your worldview. Everyone has a worldview. It applies to you whether you are smart or average, rich or poor, religious or irreligious, Canadian or Australian – we all have a worldview. World views address 4 issues: origins, meaning, morality and destiny. In other words four crucial questions are answered: Origin – Where did I come from? Meaning – Why am I here? Morality – How should I live? and Destiny – Where am I headed? A worldview destitute of meaning and destiny will lead a person to draw the conclusion that they have no purpose for their existence. They aren’t going anywhere except to the grave and thus their lives have no meaning. Now over the years I’ve been in the ministry I have had some interesting interactions with varying world views among those who call themselves believers, or followers of Jesus. And I must say that until I received some revelation from the Lord regarding this matter that my world view was similar. What was the world view I encountered? That my destiny was wrapped up in dying and going to Heaven. Now I believed in the 1000 Year Reign of Jesus and all but the impact of the Scripture mentioned above hadn’t really settled in. That is until now. When I stumbled upon this promise it caused me to ask, “What’s the big deal?” I’ll just be happy to have a resurrected body, and worship Jesus. But when I prayed about it the Lord showed me an amazing truth. It’s found in several passages but I’ll only use a few. Rom. 8:17 And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory.; Heb. 1:2 [But] in the last of these days He has spoken to us in [the person of a] Son, Whom He appointed Heir and lawful Owner of all things, also by and through Whom He created the worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time [He made, produced, built, operated, and arranged them in order].; Heb. 6:17 Accordingly God also, in His desire to show more convincingly and beyond doubt to those who were to inherit the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose and plan, intervened (mediated) with an oath.

Heirs receive inheritances. Jesus is the Heir apparent of all things. Meaning He gets to inherit all things: the worlds, outer space with its galaxies, stars, planets and moons, and the Heavens. But the mind-blower and kick in the pants is what Romans 8:17 states: And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him];…

Let that sink in. All that belongs to Jesus will also belong to us?! The eye opener? Didn’t it all belong to us in the first place, or at least to our Great Grandad and Mom: Adam and Eve? Our broken, weak, diluted, and thin world views need a Biblical upgrade. We were born-again with a purpose. In fact Heb. 6:17 states as much. This means our world view of waiting to die and go to Heaven to see loved ones, dip my toes in the crystal sea, and play a few rounds of golf, is way, way, way off. What’s really crazy is that you and I were made for more than just looking at the back of somebody in church and calling that worship. Paul gives us a hint in 1 Cor.6:1-3 Does any of you dare, when he has a matter of complaint against another [brother], to go to law before unrighteous men [men neither upright nor right with God, laying it before them] instead of before the saints (the people of God)? ²Do you not know that the saints (the believers) will [one day] judge and govern the world? And if the world [itself] is to be judged and ruled by you, are you unworthy and incompetent to try [such petty matters] of the smallest courts of justice? ³Do you not know also that we [Christians] are to judge the [very] angels and pronounce opinion between right and wrong [for them]? How much more then [as to] matters pertaining to this world and of this life only!

Did you catch that? We will judge angels and judge and govern the world. Thus my recommendation for the Body of Christ is to get an upgrade from God’s Word and adjust our world views to match Jesus’ and His Word. Our center needs to be adjusted for it has been off for quite some time. Jesus have mercy on His Bride the Church.

Messages from God

August 14, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

Sunday was a great day to be in the House of the Lord with my favorite people. I wanted to go around and “bear hug” all of you. Our trips to Indonesia and Maryland had exhausted us physically but created a greater desire to be back with our church family. What a welcome home we had with our guest Brad McClendon. I was left with the impression that no one wanted to leave church. (I believe we were here till 1:30) Many received prophetic words as tears flowed freely, and the Presence of God flooded the room. Matt Wagenmaker reported seeing the reflection of a “man” about 7′ tall standing behind Brad with his hand resting upon his shoulder. Matt rewound the video to see if the camera recorded the event but our “visitor” left no evidence of his visit. (How cool is that?) Also Brad asked at the beginning of our service if anyone was having shoulder issues to raise their hand. Several raised their hands in response. As a result, Cass Thompson reported that she had been suffering badly from a torn rotator cuff, and was having to wake up and take medication to lessen the pain. She reported that Ssnce Sunday’s meeting she has had no more pain. Praise the Lord!

After this Sunday’s service many of you received prophetic words and may be wondering, “What do I do in response?” Scripture teaches in 1 Thess. 5:20-21: Do not spurn the gifts and utterances of the prophets [do not depreciate prophetic revelations nor despise inspired instruction or exhortation or warning]. But test and prove all things [until you can recognize] what is good; [to that] hold fast. AMP Classic Thus we are taught from Scripture to test the word from the Lord. But how do we test them?

1. A prophet must not contradict anything God has previously revealed.

2. A prophecy must exalt Jesus Christ.

3. A prophets life must be consistent with the prophecy he or she gives. Are they honoring Christ and bringing glory to Him, or are they bringing attention to themselves? Are they walking in humility, and does their ministry produce humility? Does their ministry produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit?

4. Because someone meets the above criteria does not necessarily mean that the message is from God. The leaders of each particular assembly should be the ones who make the determination.

5. Prophets and prophecies should be submitted to the Shepherd or shepherds of the church. The prophet or the word should never circumvent the spiritual authority God has put in place (whether we like, or agree with that authority or not).

6. A Prophet or prophecy should rarely give direction, or counsel. That is the job of the pastor.

7. Prophecy should meet the conditions of 1 Cor. 14:3: But [on the other hand], the one who prophesies [who ^[b]interprets the divine will and purpose in inspired preaching and teaching] speaks to men for their upbuilding and constructive spiritual progress and encouragement and consolation.

These are great guidelines but what if you have to wait to see if the word becomes a reality? Here are a few pointers:

Some words are “destiny words” regarding your future. For example, in the book of Genesis, Joseph received dreams that he would rule over his father, and brothers. The shepherd boy David was anointed to be king by the prophet Samuel – even though Saul was still king. All destiny words are usually conditioned upon cooperating with the Lord in the process of becoming who He said you would be.
Prophetic words will cause several reactions: “I can’t see it,” or “I can see it,” or “That’s confirmation regarding something I’ve had in my heart, (or were praying about.)” The prophetic word should support, confirm or clarify somethings we are already having clues about. Or they may cause you to pray about something you hadn’t even considered. (You see that in the case of Gideon).
If you received a word you didn’t agree with simply release it. Those who have a prophetic ministry are simply stepping out in faith regarding what they believe is the Spirit of God. A practical reason why we are to test the words given.
If you received a word that intrigued you even though you can’t see how it could ever happen. Then simply pray about it. Record the word, dating when and where it was given, and continue praying over it. The reason for doing this is because you will forget. If it’s from the Lord the enemy will try to get you to doubt it, or forget about it.
The Lord does not want you to be passive regarding the word. He wants you to thank Him for it. Believe and trust that He will bring it to pass. Step out in faith positioning yourself to become a manifestation of that word. Also seek reputable resources to help educate you regarding the word, and position yourself among others who can help you grow into your word.
Lastly if you have any questions regarding a word, or the gift of prophecy, please feel free to talk with me about it. I will do my best to answer any questions you may have, and provide wise counsel.

Paul exhorts us in 1 Cor. 14:1 Eagerly pursue and seek to acquire [this] love [make it your aim, your great quest]; and earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual endowments (gifts), especially that you may prophesy…..Remember you are the Lord’s sheep and according to John 10 Jesus’ sheep hear His Voice. So pursue this gift, stepping out in faith to listen, and minister the word of the Lord. With every step you please the One Who made you to be like His Son. (Hebrews. 11:6).

Day of the Christian Martyr

June 26, 2019/in Blog /by John David

According to church tradition, June 29 is the date on which the Apostle Paul was beheaded on the Appian Way in Rome. In 2019, Christians around the world will gather on this day to honor the legacy of those who, like Paul, have sacrificed their lives for the advancement of the gospel. We invite you to be a part of this first-ever Day of the Christian Martyr.

Learn More

Azusa Then and Now

April 15, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

“Heroes will arise from the dust of obscure and despised circumstances, whose names will be in blazoned on
heaven’s eternal page of fame. The spirit is brooding over our land again as at creations dawn, and the fiat of
God goes forth. “Let there be light.”Brother, sister, if we all believed God, can you realize what would happen?
Many of us here are living for nothing else. A volume of believing prayer is this ascending to the throne night
and day. Los Angeles, Southern California, and the whole continent shall surely find itself here long in the
throes of a mighty revival by the spirit and power of God” – November 16, 1905, Frank Bartleman
      Thirty-five years, almost exactly, have come and gone since I first read the book. On April 4, 1984, we moved to
Pasadena, California because My pastor Che Ahn had a dream of a black man waving to him saying “Come to Los Angeles,
there’s going to be a great revival!” At that time we were reading a book called Azusa Street by a man whose name was
Frank. Bartleman. He had moved to Los Angeles in December of 1904 and had come under a burden for revival there. He
surrendered his soul to the spirit of prayer and fasting the whole year of 1905, the year prior to the outbreak of the great
Azuza street Revival April 9, 1906.

   When I read this book in 1984 my soul was set on fire. Moses had a ‘burning bush,’ but I had a ‘burning book’ and I turned aside to see this wonderful burning vision of revival pulsing within it. What I heard was something akin to God calling my
name. Sometimes when you have a moment born of heaven you have to pause and take off your shoes, for that place is holy ground. Hungering to understand my soul’s magnetism to this man Bartleman, I entered into many days of fasting. My
prayer culminated one evening in a two-hour cry in my garage, “God, give me the mantle of Frank Bartleman! I want to
pray like that man. I don’t want to read about revival, I want to see revival!”

   I didn’t know it then, but the following morning I found out that I had touched God and he had heard my prayer. My
prophetic friend came to me that morning knowing nothing that I had prayed. He said, “last night I had a dream Lou, and in the dream, I saw a big black book and the title said “revival”. I then opened to the Inside of the cover and I saw a man’s face whose name was Frank Bartleman. His face then turned your face. I closed the book and knew I had to give it to you Lou.” I knew at that moment that the title of the scroll that God wrote about my life before ever I was conceived was REVIVAL!
And I knew what my job description was for my time on the earth. It was to give myself to fasting and prayer, writing’ and mobilizing for revival.

After this dream of divine destiny, I knew in the marrow of my mind it would be a kind of navigation chart for all my future course settings. I knew I had received heavens passport to walk His highway of destiny, thus assuring me, despite all
setbacks and failings, that He would be walking the revival road with me. Toward the end of this fast, I sensed the whisper of God saying, ”What 1905 was to Frank Bartleman and the birthing of the Azusa Street Revival, so 2019 is to you Lou and
the church for the 2020 Vision move of God.”

Can I pay the price of prayer that Bartleman did in 1905? The question haunts me but stirs me. I don’t want to be a binge
faster and return to normal or shall I say abnormal. Jesus said “ now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? “Father,
save me from this hour?” But for this purpose, I have come to this hour.” Then He traveled the Via Dolorosa to the cross.
The highway of destiny always leads to the highway of the cross before fulfillment.

With this in mind, I feel the Lord nudging me to continue setting my face in grace-filled fasting and prayer in the seasons of his beckoning unto 2020. I believe one of The greatest ways to sustain this highway of my heart is to continue this blog,
maybe not every day, but regularly as the Spirit directs. It will be to me a kind of built-in prophetic challenge to live out this navigational chart, not just write about it. I hope you have been changed by fasting and reading this blog. It’s been a great
joy for me. Please send testimonies of how the fast changed your life. S

I would like to invite all of you who feel stirred, to continue with me, follow the blog, and keep our fires for revival white
hot together.

Prayer
Father, as we come to the end of this fast, we pray for the grace of divinely sustained focus in prayer. I pray that you would
forge out of this fast a company of men and women who will cry out for the mantle of Frank Bartleman and give this year of 2019 to sustained prayer and fasting for the most outrageous outbreaks of God everywhere. We set ourselves for Now and
for 2020.

The Lost Sheep of the House of Israel

April 14, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.Matthew 10:5-6
I want to comfort the heart of God

Yesterday, we emphasized Daniel’s fasting in the 70-year window for the great jailbreak of the Jewish people out of Babylon back to their homeland. We sense that we are in another 70 year period since Israel became a nation and the great evangelistic outpouring of the Spirit began in 1948. I believe that I and the body of Christ is in a major
transitional prayer shift and divine assignment to understand, like Daniel, if we fast and pray we will see an
outbreak of God’s wondrous grace on the Jewish people worldwide.

Yesterday we concentrated on Every Home for Christ, primarily targeting the gentile world. During this fast, I
have been apprehended with God’s heart for his own people. As we have been praying Ekballo, I have been deeply moved by what it would mean to Jesus when the church worldwide begins to pray Ekballo for His own people, the ones he first directed his disciples to pray for and go to.

When Jesus said, “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers,” He then directed those very disciples not to go to the Gentiles, but rather to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He groaned over His own people. Now
2,000+ years later, what do you think his groan is now? I want to comfort the heart of Jesus. I have this
deep prophetic feeling that as this massive worldwide Jesus movement breaks out it’s going to break out
among the Jewish people as well and maybe first and foremost. 70 years are up. Could it be time for the
beginnings of the fulfillment of Romans 11:15 speaking concerning the Jews receiving Christ, “For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?”Just the other day a young Jewish woman who has launched a movement of 40 days of fasting in Israel called me with a dream in
which I was told, “You cannot see a revival in America unless you, Lou, begin praying for the Jewish people.” I am weighing the dream very heavily. Today we begin praying at the end of this fast, that all over the world the Lord of the harvest would thrust forth laborers into the Jewish harvest field both in the land of Israel and in the diaspora worldwide.

Prayer
Jesus, once again we know you are looking to your own people harassed and helpless like sheep without a
shepherd. And we know your heart is broken because there are few laborers. So we take up your groan and your
prayer. We seek to align with your broken heart. We beg you to do what you have been longing to do since you
first commanded your disciples to pray this prayer, “Hurl forth laborers to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Revelation Demands Participation

April 14, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

..in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. Daniel 9:2-3

“History belongs to the intercessor.”- Walter Wink

It is amazing how Daniel’s fasts in chapter 9 and 10, actually shifted the public policy of Persian Kings directing favor toward the people of Israel. How astounding that one man esteemed by God could literally move principalities and powers to preside over whole empire shifts. He understood the times and set his face to fasting and prayer thus shifting history. His revelation of the times demanded his participation in intercessory rulership. I believe that we are in a Daniel moment right now in this 70th-year window to establish God’s rulers in Israel.

Sometimes Providence kicks us into divine moments and recognizing those moments we have to seize them just like Daniel did. The command of the apostle Paul was for the church to pray for those in authority so that the land would dwell in peace.

Let me drop a time bomb on you…we couldn’t have planned this convergence. The 40th day of our fast, April 9th, is the election day in Israel. The future direction of Israel is greatly at stake. God doesn’t tell us to pray for authorities unless that prayer actually affects elections. I believe God has 15,000 of us and many more around the world, fasting at this very moment in the time of this 70-year period. I want to urge you in the next 3 days to pray that God will preside over these elections; even shift public opinion in the crucial valley of decision and exalt the man of His own choice for such a time as this.

A casual approach to the prophetic leads to casualties but history belongs to the intercessor! Here comes Daniel if we will pray.

Prayer
God, we know that good government establishes peace and so we pray for the peace of Israel according to your word. We pray that you would establish your government in Israel on April 9th. Lord, we pray that you would establish your chosen one for this critical moment in history, looking to the coming day when you, the Prince of Peace, the very Son of David will establish His throne forever. Oh, let the increase of your government and of your peace know no end. Amen.

Robert’s Note: I posted this a little late but I thought it might interest you to know that Netanyahu was elected once again as Prime Minister of Israel. How’s that for prophetic intercession?

Every Creature Commission

April 11, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

“The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were.” – JFK

“And he said unto them, ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.’” Mark 16:15

We know that Jesus was the Great Dreamer of all dreamers. When He said preach the gospel to Every Creature, was it merely a generic wish, or was it the Dreamer’s command — that every person would have the gospel preached to them? We cannot take casually the commands of Christ.
Seventy-three years ago, a young Canadian Pastor named Jack McAlister was apprehended by the divine vision of Mark 16 – to reach every home in the world with the gospel. He took Jesus’ words at face value and founded the ministry of Every Home for Christ. Today thousands of believers are carrying the gospel door to door with a vision to reach every home. Millions have been saved and thousands of Christ groups (home churches) have been formed to preserve the harvest. Arguably, this ministry has been the most successful missions movement in the world. And who fuels it, but everyday common indigenous workers, who risk their lives because they’ve been gripped with the simple gospel – Jesus saves.

Now, a new generation arises. A spiritual son of mine, Tanner Peake, Vice President of International Ministries at Every Home for Christ has been apprehended with finishing that task – the ‘Every Creature Commission.’ He is launching the Oikos (Greek word for home) vision – that every home in the world would receive the gospel presentation through a personal witness or the receiving of gospel literature at their home. The goal is to reach every home in the world in the next 20 years. Even as today’s quote declares – there are skeptics and cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities of such a goal. When I look through National Geographic magazines and see the stacked high rises of Hong Kong or the great populations of the slum communities built on top of one another in cities and on mountains, it’s impossible.

Hudson Taylor the great missionary to China said, “There are three stages to every great work of God; first it is impossible, then it is difficult; then it is done.”

Jesus said, “all things are possible to them that believe.”

Goeth said, “Dream no small dreams, for they have no power to move men.”

Surely Jesus did not dream a small dream, and we refuse to dial down and limit His horizons. Jesus gave us a prayer that turns impossibilities into possibilities. He said, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Lou’s translation: “Therefore, I command you to beg me, the Lord of the Harvest, to ekballo laborers into the harvest fields.” As an older man, I want to stand behind a new Joshua who says it can be done. What I bring to the table of possibility is this dynamic prayer. Those fasting with me today, all over the world, would you take up this prayer – for the finishing of the task? Pray “Ekballo” with faith and persistence for the ‘Every Creature Commission to be fulfilled. I want us to pray that God would thrust forth tens of thousands of indigenous workers into the harvest of every unreached people group and into Every Home.

Prayer
Lord, we believe Your word, that you want to reach every creature. And Lord, there’s no way to measure every creature unless we reach every home. We are overwhelmed with the obvious realities of the impossibility of this task, but you gave us this scripture as the antidote to this impossibility. Therefore, we have courage to pray the prayer you gave us – Lord of the Harvest, hurl forth laborers into every home, every refugee and nomad tent, every slum dwelling, every houseboat, and every high-rise apartment. I pray for this Oikos vision to find tens of thousands of fellow dreamers who will put the dream in action. May this great dream move men and women all across the globe. May you breathe on this vision, and may it multiply beyond all that we could think or imagine. For Jesus, You are worthy of every creature’s devotion. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Spiritual Violence

April 9, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” -Theodore Roosevelt

From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. Mt. 11:12

The days between the preaching of John the Baptist and the explosive, widespread excitement of the Messiah breaking forth in the land with signs and wonders, was a rare sliver of time. Old religious paradigms and boxes were being shattered. The masses fled the centuries of a staid and stifling religion in desperate pursuit of direct spiritual encounter. First, up to three-quarters of a million people, according to Josephus, ran to hear and experience the desert preacher John. Then, in a sudden breakout, the great crowds flocked to hear Jesus and see the miracles he was performing. Jesus’ fame spread throughout the whole land. That wonderful season of time was infused with a powerful spiritual attitude which Jesus called “violence”. This was not a violence of weapons and anger. No! This was a violence of spirit that had seized the masses. Daily life was suspended and hearts were upended. It was like the whole world forsook all to press into Jesus. The Messiah was passing by, and their day may have been the only day.

As I gaze over the spiritual landscape of America, while not ignoring the horrible agony that millions are living in, I am gripped with hopeful amazement. I see a new breed of leaders articulating with dynamic energy new ideas, a unity of love, and an indomitable faith that the kingdom is at hand. I believe the grandfather clock of historic time kicked in, at least in some measure, at The Send. Stunningly, The Send sent a message, and evangelists are all aflame with it. I see widespread expectancy of a new Jesus Movement. In 2020 I see potentially 8-10 stadiums being prepared now for massive breakouts of evangelism and sending in America, let alone the stadium visions of Europe and South America. I believe this stadium surge is a harbinger of a mass jailbreak out of old systems and structures into a new day of freedom, love, and Holy Spirit power. What has gotten into these men and women? Risking everything – their own finances, their futures, their reputations – to go for stadiums. It’s a spirit of holy violence. Even the Jesus Fast that you are on now is preparing the way for the 2020 vision. There is coming a Super Bowl for the church!

Jesus after his fast came out in the power of the Spirit. After this fast, if you are hearing the voice of God, don’t stay in the bleachers. Seize your divine moment. Buy your field of dreams. The new breed has heard the voice, “If you build it, He will come. If you build it, they will come.” Whether it’s a stadium or a studio, a prison or a political post, a business or a book, don’t let fear be the disconnect between the dream and the destiny. The Great God is in the risk. Seize your divine moment. Your fast has fueled your future.

Prayer
Father we pray for this generation – make it the greatest generation. Today, cause men and women to lay hold of dynamic kingdom impact with a spirit of holy violence. Raise up preachers with a fiery tongue that will challenge the universities of Babylon’s pagan professors. Raise up men and women of faith who will dare to believe that God will put them in the highest places of influence in the land to reshape its culture with God-brilliance and integrity. Pour out a great baptism of love and sonship that can alone produce true societal reform as in the Book of Acts where “they held all their possessions in common and there was not a needy one among them” Acts 4:32-35. Let the kingdom advance violently, with violent love. Create new tracks for new movements through new voices, who have paid the price and risked it all to be the hinge of history, determining the future of America and the nations of the earth. Amen.

Flashpoint

April 9, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

Tiananmen Square, Boston Tea Party, Woodstock, the fall of the Berlin wall, Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses, Mount Hermon 100, Azusa Street, every revolution has one defining moment that is remembered long after the names of politicians and kings have been forgotten. In every massive shift in human history, whether political, cultural, or religious, a flash point occurs. Cultural sea changes, whether for good or evil, are spawned in these flashpoints. Such rare slivers of time actually define destinies, as key men and women seek to courageously shape the future, by articulating ideas that “ignite the circuit between the individual and the masses and thereby alter history. Great leaders and great ideas succeed when events have prepared the way for them when the community is waiting to be aroused” – Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.

I believe The Send, February 23, 2019, was a significant flashpoint inaugurating hope for a new era of explosive evangelism and global missions. What preceded The Send was 7 years of 7 forty day seasons of fasting and continuous praying the Great Idea of Jesus Christ, “Pray the Lord of the Harvest to send forth laborers into His harvest.”
A flash point requires leaders to articulate those thoughts, passions, and aspirations quietly groaned for in the heart of the masses. You see, when the response to a ripe moment with a right message is magnified by a Collective Readiness – “when the community is waiting to be aroused” – widespread explosive action inevitably results. In scripture, this is described as, “the fullness of times”. We are entering a “fullness of times era”.

The 1960s was a decade of turbulence and societal upheaval. Everything was shaking but the chaotic milieu created a fullness of time moment for the 1970s. The Jesus Movement exploded on the scenes where thousands of hippies and disillusioned young people ran to Christ. Jesus was on the front page of magazines and newspapers. 100,000 believers gathered for a Jesus People flashpoint in the Cotton Bowl in 1972. Jesus was the idea whose time had fully come. Thousands of young people were saved and baptized and hurled forth into the harvest fields. Many of the great leaders of the church today were forged from the season of the 70s.

Now 50 years later, the world is in upheaval again. But I hear the sound of another Jesus Movement exploding on the scene. Stadiums will be filled. Mass harvest will be reaped. The revolutionary prayer idea in Matthew 9:38 articulated by our Great Leader Jesus Christ Himself is connecting the circuit between Him and the Christian masses thus now altering history. This is a revolution in one verse that connects the prayer movement and the missions movement. “PRAY the Lord of the Harvest to SEND laborers into His harvest.” The church is waiting to be aroused and the great PRAY and GO idea is building for the billion soul harvest. Oh brothers and sisters, let the Great Idea explode. PRAY EKBALLO!

Seeking the Face of God

April 7, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place!2 Chronicles 7:14-15

The greatest thing anyone can do for God and man is pray. It is not the only thing; but it is the chief thing. The great people of the earth today are the people who pray. I do not mean those who talk about prayer; not those who can explain about prayer; but I mean those people who take time and pray. -S.D. Gordon “Quiet Talks on Prayer”

I sat across the table from my wife on our weekly date at one of our favorite restaurants on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand. We had been missionaries with a church planting team for six years in the teeming, tropical city of 11 million Thai Buddhists. It was March 1997 and we were deep in discussion of the book that we just finished by the legendary leader Bill Bright of Campus Crusade. He had released a book called The Coming Revival: America’s Call to Fast, Pray and “Seek God’s Face.” In it, Bill Bright issued a clarion call across the face of the earth for 2 million believers to stand as watchmen on the wall for America and fast for 40 days to see a nation turn back to God.

We had both been gripped by the words of this Kingdom Statesman, who exhorted us as readers that nothing will shift in our nation except a furnace room of prayer fueled by the intercession of the saints. As we talked, my wife paused for a long moment and a gleam came into her eyes as she said with passion, “I’m called to do this 40 day fast!” When she said this, I knew immediately that we were to do this fast together.

The longest fast we had ever done previously was three days, so this was like climbing Mount Everest for us.

We learned many things during this fast; our own weaknesses and frailties and also the kindness and grace of God to go the distance. In looking back now, I can see the Hand of God all through it.

Ten years later, in 2007 we flew our two oldest sons from Bangkok to attend TheCall Nashville on 7-7-07. They were 14 and 12 at the time. A seed was planted in their hearts for the house of prayer and intercession. Fast forward another 10 years to 2017. After graduating from Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee they both moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado to work with SAFA, (the Spiritual Air Force Academy) led by David and Audrey Kim a spiritual son and daughter to Lou Engle. The rest of our family joined them a year later.

It is powerful and significant to see that many who took part in that 40 day historic fast in the late 90s we’re later strategically shifted and moved into geographical locations and ministries that were advancing the Kingdom through prayer and fasting. What is God doing in your heart right now in this 40 day fast? What is he calling you to?

Prayer
Father God, stir my heart in this 40 day fast to see this nation turned back to God and the nations of the earth come in a mighty procession before the throne of God. May my prayers flow into 10,000 streams that converge into the mighty River of God that will cover the face of the earth. Habakkuk 2:14

Steve Allen
Contend Global – Staff

Travel 40 Days and 40 Nights

April 7, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

For the next two days, my friend Steve Allen who served, along with his family, on the mission field in Thailand for 16 years, has written 2 very encouraging devotionals to strengthen and empower you for the final 10 days of our fast. I hope you are helped and encouraged by them. -Lou Engle

“Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.”1 Kings 19:3-8 NIV

Great things are in store for those who seek the face of God. Fear is your enemy. What you fear you empower. What you focus on you make room for. Fear God. Focus on Him and you will make room for Him in your life! -John Paul Jackson

After Elijah defeated the 450 prophets of Baal through a spectacular display of the power of God on Mount Carmel; he flees for his life into the desert after receiving a death threat from the wicked queen Jezebel. Depressed, deflated and filled with self-doubt Elijah exhausted from his battles falls to the ground and wants to die. An angel of the Lord comes to him giving him food and water and watched over him while he rested. After a deep sleep, he rises and then under the strength of the Lord, Elijah travels 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horeb/Mt. Sinai the mountain of God – to encounter the Living One.

On this 40 day Jesus Fast there will be challenges and you will be tempted to give up, to the throw in the towel. The enemy will attack your body, soul, and spirit. Maybe the biggest challenge is to never give up when you have actually faltered in the fast. Don’t berate yourself. God is not necessarily looking at how well you do, but how you lay hold of Him by faith. Remember Jesus in the wilderness for 40 days. The enemy waited until the end where Jesus was at his weakest physically to attack him. Press into the Lord. Remember in your weakness His strength is made perfect.

As you fast, eat the living bread of God every day, His word. Feast upon His truth for you and for these times. He will be the one who puts His super on your natural and give you the supernatural strength to go the distance. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Do not give up! Do not give in!

In the days of World War II, Winston Churchill rallied the people of England with his epic speeches. In the face of overwhelming odds, with great darkness coming against Great Britain and with Nazi Germany demonically engulfing the free world, Winston Churchill at times stood as a lone voice calling his people to take courage. One of his most famous quotes was this, “Never, never, never, never, give up!”

Prayer
Father God, give me the physical, emotional and mental strength to go the distance on this Jesus Fast. Help me to remember that it is Christ in me, the hope of glory that will enable me to finish this race! Give me vision to see your Kingdom coming and receive your joy in the journey. All glory to you Father!

Steve Allen
Contend Global – Staff

4:18N

April 6, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

…morning by morning he awakens me; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. Isaiah 50:4

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed…” Luke 4:18

Books don’t change people; paragraphs do. Sometimes even sentences. -John Piper

Startled, I awoke from my sleep this very morning hearing a very clear inner audible voice, “God you said that you would deliver us,” and then I saw this image like ticker tape going across my mind: 4:18N. Immediately I jumped out of bed calling to my wife, “Don’t let me forget this!” Instantly I knew the Lord was giving me the prayer to pray for the next 10 days. This is that prayer! “God, You said that You would deliver us! Release the delivering power of Luke 4:18, the scroll of Jesus into this Nation now!”

Remember Paul Cain, that great healing evangelist, and prophet, whose mother at age 104 said to Paul, “I have given you many words, but I am going to give you the most significant word I have ever given.” Paul said, “What is it?” and she said, “I don’t know, God hasn’t given it to me yet.” Then she went into a coma for 2 months. Finally coming out of the coma she said to Paul, “I am now giving you the word God promised. He is giving Luke 4:18 to you Paul, and to the world.” Amazingly in the presence of Paul and Mike Bickle, Anna Cain died on 4/18 at 4:18.

I have already shown you this photograph, but I want to show it again with this devotional. A random photo at The Send in Orlando on February 22, 2019. Look at the time on the TV monitor.

Isn’t it amazing that Paul Cain passed away right before The Send. He so wanted to be at that gathering to see the fulfillment of his prophecy of Stadium Christianity. I believe he saw that gathering from the great cloud of witnesses.

Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. John 12:24

And so this morning, having this profound dream, I refuse to diminish its profound clarity and power. I believe we have come to an upper room moment to pray in Luke 4:18 for the next 10 days.

Prayer: God, You said that You would deliver us! So, we have the courage to pray this very prayer. Let the Spirit of the Lord be upon us to set the captive free. We call forth Luke 4:18 for this nation now! In Jesus Name, Amen.

30 Days Ablaze

April 4, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

…and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever,” the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud…2 Chronicles 5:13

We have come to the 30th day of the fast and I am expecting that the next 10 days will at least, in a measure, be days of awe. I am asking God for an AWEwakening in my own life and for the many others that I am praying for.

In the 1980s our church, pastored by Che Ahn had a 30 day awakening. Many times in my life I have experienced somewhat of a “come away My beloved” tug. An inward desire maybe spawned by a dream, scripture or still small voice, draws me into a seeking time which leads to a finding time. Believe it or not, I was the worship leader in those days. Our worship team began to yearn to experience a prophetic anointing in worship that would lead to people getting saved without an altar call. For 30 days we fasted holding prayer meetings almost nightly. We were crying, “Open the heavens!”

On the 29th night, I was reading about King Saul. When he came into the presence of the sons of the prophets who were playing their instruments, he was basically slain in the spirit and prophesied all day long. I was pondering this in my heart, “What kind of worship brings kings under such an influence?” Suddenly I began to experience a deep groan in my spirit that continued for maybe an hour. I knew the Holy Spirit was praying through me and that the next morning’s worship service would be a day of an encounter. It would be the 30th day.

Our church was not a wild congregation, though we loved the prophetic and the freedom of expression. The worship was somewhat ordinary that morning until the lead guitar player began to release a prophetic chord progression. At the same moment, a woman felt led to come down from the balcony and take one of the singers microphones (that should never have happened.) I began to sing spontaneously and she echoed the same lines:
We gaze upon Your purity
We gaze upon Your beauty
We gaze upon Your loveliness
Holy incense do we bring
We gaze into an open heaven…

As we sang that line it was like heaven exploded in the congregation. Pandemonium broke out, people were running and dancing in the aisles. Some began crying out, “We see angels! We see angels!” People were saved when no one could preach, for God had done the preaching. God had visited our 30 day fast with a glory bomb and for weeks people were healed and saved in our times of worship.

So now once again, let’s open our hearts with the expectation of God showing up; or feeding us with bread from heaven; delivering us from addiction; healing a family member. Let’s enter into this day and the following 10 days with faith for an AWEwakening.

30 Days For A Breakthrough

April 3, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

Today we continue on the theme of 30 days for a breakthrough. I shared yesterday on the subject of Esther waiting 30 days before she was summoned to the court and about our breakthrough with the Supreme Court. Today I will share my testimony of what praying for 30 days did for my son. The significance of 30 days may not be a biblical foundation assuring us of a breakthrough in prayer, but it has been a significant number in my own life. I share it only as a possible point of faith as we enter into the 30th day of our 40 day fast.

Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.”22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 1st Kings 17:21-22

“As we look at all the unholy chaos in the world at the close of the twentieth century, we sense that new levels of faith and prayer will be needed to reach this next generation – something close to raising the dead. Elijah’s revolution is a prayer revolution. Before he prayed for a fire to fall from heaven, he prayed to raise a fatherless child from the dead.” -Lou Engle ‘Fast Forward

In the Bible, the first person raised from the dead was not a king or a priest or a general. It was the only child of a poverty-stricken widow who had been on the verge of starvation not long before. Elijah took the boy to the upper room, laid him on the bed and stretched himself over the boy three times, crying out to God for his life. The “upper room” of prayer is still God’s answer for dead individuals. May “upper rooms” arise all over this nation, where saints would stretch themselves out in prayer for a dead generation in order to turn them back to God! It took perseverance to raise that dead boy back to life.

One family’s “upper room” prayer changed the life of my dear friend Che Ahn. While still a teenager, Che threw himself into the rebellion of the 60s. As a Korean hippie and drug pusher, a turn was needed. A young girl in his neighborhood saw Che and told her father about him. This family felt a burden for his salvation and at every mealtime, they prayed for him. Soon afterward, Che encountered Jesus in a remarkable way. Since then, he has led thousands to Christ.

Many years ago I had lost my teenage son’s heart. I longed for him and I know he longed for me, but we couldn’t find each other. He was headed in the wrong direction and I feared darkness would overtake him. I was desperate to see change and breakthrough in his life, so I set my face to fasting 31 days on only water, stretching myself out over him (so to speak) in prayer. On the 31st day, my son came to me and told me that he was having dreams of revival and of the coming of the Holy Spirit; it was the breath of life entering to his spirit; it was the beginning of me getting my boy back from the dead; it was a 30 day breakthrough. It took Elijah three times to spread himself over the boy, and it took me 30 days of prayer and fasting.

Dear brothers and sisters, let’s go to the upper room and stretch ourselves out over our children, over immovable obstacles, and over spiritual veils that hide His face from our hearts. Let’s believe God for a miracle in this 30 day window. If we don’t see a miracle, we still believe and we will never stop praying until heaven has lit up our darkness.

Prayer
Father, we pray for the spirit of Elijah to come on a generation of mothers and fathers who want their kids more than the world wants them. Release a mighty grace of fasting on fathers and mothers who will stretch themselves out over their kids struggling with sexual confusion, drug addiction, lack of purpose, or sickness. Release an Elijah revolution in our day stronger than the death culture of suicide. God, I pray in this 30 day window that all across the world, many of us that are fasting will celebrate breakthroughs and shout praises to the God of miracles. Amen.

30 Days and Into the Throne Room

April 2, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

…But as for me, I have not been called to come into the king these thirty days. Esther 4:11

On the third day, Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, in front of the king’s quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room… Esther 5:1
For the next few days, I want to make a shift in focus. Fasting in many ways is a doorway to throne room favor and encounter. Matthew 7:7-8 says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” Fasting fuels our prayers with urgency and desperation. In fasting we don’t just seek, in fasting, we knock. But what is that door to be opened to us? Daniel fasted for 21 days and a door opened to the spirit realm and an archangel appeared to him. John was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and a door opened and the throne room of heaven was made manifest to his spiritual eyes.

Esther had not been summoned for 30 days into the presence of the king and his throne room. We are nearing the end of 30 days in this fast and I want to believe for you and for thousands of us, that after 30 days, you will have a throne room encounter with God; or a spiritual breakthrough that can only be explained as God; or a divine whisper that will open up a passageway for your future. Over the next 3 days, I want to share 3 experiences where I fasted or prayed for 30 days and then a sovereign breakthrough occurred.

In 2004, 30 days before the elections, our prayer company had journeyed to Washington D.C. to pray for a pro-life president and the shifting of the Supreme Court. We stood in front of the Supreme Court for 30 days with life tape on our mouths. You may recall in an earlier devotional that on the 30th day of our stand, I was summoned to the Highest Court in the land. It’s a basketball court in the Supreme Court building, and it is exactly on top of where the Supreme Court holds its hearings. When I had inquired about it, the young woman giving me the tour informed me about that basketball court and I said, “Take me to that Court!” On that basketball court, I decreed a shift to the Supreme Court, and that righteous judges would arise to reverse Roe V. Wade. It’s interesting that we had called a 3-day Esther fast at that time, no food and no water. Isn’t it interesting that I went to the highest court at the end of that Esther fast? Chance? I say divine providence.

When I came out of the Supreme Court building all my young people were abuzz with excitement. They had seen a cloud in the sky shaped like a perfect arrow and as they watched, the arrow completely turned around and pointed in the opposite direction. The name of our journey had been, “The arrow of the Lord’s victory against abortion.” What are the chances that we stood in front of the Court for 30 days, and then on an Esther fast, I stood in the Court above the Supreme Court. The result: a pro-life President was elected, and 2 conservative Justices were appointed by President Bush. If you could have pulled back the curtain of the supernatural realm, I’m sure that we would have been in the throne room where the heavenly court was seated, the books were opened, and a verdict was made on behalf of the saints of the most high. (Daniel 7)

When Esther stood in the court, the king stretched out his scepter of favor. As we enter into these next 3 days leading to the 30th day of our fast, I want us to believe that the Supreme Court can shift; I want us to believe that the person we are praying for will get a breakthrough; I want us to believe that we will have dreams, spiritual encounters, and even be caught up into the throne room dimensions like John was privileged to audit.

Muslims on the 27th night of Ramadan, have a day of focus in which they appeal to Allah for dreams that would reveal their destinies. They call it, “The Night of Power” or, “The Night of Destiny.” Many have dreams that night and many of them dream of the man dressed in white – Jesus. Maybe we should learn from them. In these next 3 days, start knocking; spend hours, if you can, calling on God to open the heavens; show you your calling, and answer your prayers. Knock, and the door shall be opened! Tomorrow another testimony of the power of the 30 days.

Prayer
Lord, it’s close to 30 days. Summon us to the throne room and stretch out your scepter of favor toward us. Father, I pray that in this fast we would move from asking and seeking into the realm of knocking; stir an inward passion and desire to be heard from heaven; call us into extraordinary prayer; take us into the courtroom of heaven and let us see visions from which none of us could ever be the same. Give us the Holy Spirit as we’ve never known Him; unleash spiritual gifts, and open the eyes of our hearts, that we might see you. In Jesus name, Amen.

Changed

March 31, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.1 Corinthians 6:9-11

When Mordecai learned all that had been done, (Haman’s decree) Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.Esther 4:1

Today we continue on the same theme as yesterday where we called for a wailing wall of intercession for 100,000 in the LGBTQ community to be saved. Reading the scripture at the beginning, we also realize that the verse applies to all those in sexual immorality and idolatry. Obviously, God’s Word is not singling out homosexuality.

Right now in Massachusetts, there is a bill being proposed concerning a minor’s gender identity, or sexual orientation. In short, if a Christian family has a child with gender identity confusion etc. and seeks to find them counsel or healing for resolution of unwanted sexual desires — that will be legally seen as child abuse. We have already seen cases where anything other than affirming and advocating fluid gender identity expression is seen as abuse. This law would install bans on counseling options and would be harmful to families and limit counselors. In Massachusetts, it’s already difficult to find a counselor that is pro-family in a biblical sense. With the term “Child abuse” in the bill, a therapist would be unable to help clients who hold traditional Biblical values and could lose his or her license. Parents could lose their child to the Department of Children and Families under the allegation of child abuse.

Friends, this is a terrifying shot over the bow for the church. What will parents do when they seek therapy for their children knowing that they could actually lose their children? Will they flee Massachusetts? Will this affect pastors counseling minors and sharing the hope of the Gospel with them? These bills are emerging all across the US.

I believe this bill and similar bills is the last gasp of governmental overreach to seek and restrain the massive movement of salvation coming to this community in this present spiritual awakening.

I believe God is already answering the prayers of the wailing wall. He is reaching out to the gay community with love. Across the world, God is releasing testimonies of encounters with His love through stories of men and women who have left LGBTQ behind. Organizations such as ‘Changed,’ ‘AmorePuro,’ ‘Dare to Change’, ‘Voice of the Voiceless,’and ‘Freedom March‘ are gathering thousands of men’s and women’s testimonies who, through the power of God, have experienced restoration in their sexual identities. These people are coming out of the closet of intimidation and declaring their transformations. This is one closet that the powers of darkness don’t want people to come out of, and it’s expressed in insidious bills like the one in Massachusetts now. If you have a box that has a thousand equations saying that 2+2=5, and everyone believes it to be true, then the ideology is safe. If one anomaly breaks out declaring 2+2=4, it doesn’t affect anything. However, if 500 equations begin to break out of the box, it’s no longer an anomaly, but it’s a movement that shatters the lie. Could we be in the moment of a movement called ‘Changed’? It’s time for thousands to come out of the closet and break the ideology locked up in the box that declares, “No one can change.” … But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:11

When Haman’s decree was passed it started a cry of prayer that ultimately reversed the decree and shook Haman from his power center. The king could stamp the decree, but he couldn’t stamp out the prayer. We are calling the church nationwide like Mordecai and Esther, to fast and cry out to God, not only for the restraining of these bills but for thousands to be saved and transformed; for who will argue against a testimony? Some may have to go to Jail; some may have to risk their lives and vocations like Esther to reverse the decree. But I hear the sound of a major jailbreak. Please pray for these changed people who are being threatened because of their public testimony. Pray for the emerging ‘Changed’ movement to explode beyond anything we could dream of.

Prayer
Father, we pray and identify with our Christian brothers and sisters in Massachusetts . Give them the courage to go before the King like Esther and make a massive appeal against that bill. Lord, please protect families and give wisdom to parents. Let wailing walls be formed in churches and in homes crying out for the freedom of their own sons and daughters struggling in various sexual addictions. God, may Massachusetts become a testimony that initiates a third great awakening. We pray for the protection of those in the ‘Changed’ movement from those who would seek to destroy the evidence of the Biblical truth and the power of their testimony. Amen

From Stone Wall to Wailing Wall

March 31, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:11

“What the hippies were to the first Jesus movement, maybe the LGBT will be to this Jesus movement.”

The Stonewall Inn there in New York City is widely considered the flashpoint for the 1969 gay rights movement. The results of that revolution are extraordinary in what it has gained in culture and influence over the nations of the earth. The Church took a stand against this Stonewall movement. Rightfully holding fast to Biblical truth we often failed to express the love of Christ to the LGBT community. I myself took a public stand for marriage only between a man and a woman. Regretfully at times I didn’t express with wisdom and love the truth I was trying to communicate, though often in tears, I would call on Jesus to help me represent him rightly.

I’m afraid that the stone wall approach to the Stonewall movement built walls, instead of representing Jesus in whom is the fullness of Grace and Truth. Now, I think, the Lord has given us by revelation his heart’s pathway to this community. It is the pathway of the wailing wall, not the Stonewall.

In 1989 a great prophet named Bob Jones was caught up in a vision where he saw 100,000 LGBT men and women being set free. Many were raised up to preach the love of Christ with power. AIDS was being healed and lives were being transformed. He saw this as only the first wave of a massive Jesus Movement. Bob said to us, “It’s a true vision, but it’s waiting for an intercessory movement to carry it in prayer.”

Then some years ago my friend had a dream in Nashville. In the dream he saw a wailing wall over which was written, “100,000 LGBT saved and transformed.” Individual names of those struggling with same-sex attraction and desiring to be free were written on the wall. He then saw people coming to the wall, putting their hands on one of the names and with love and tears would begin praying for those dear ones. Suddenly the name would fly off the wailing wall and fly over to a testimony wall because they had been touched and changed by God.

1st Corinthians speaks of those wrongly living in various sexual lifestyles, but God says, “Such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of Jesus Christ.”

15 years ago the Lord Jesus gave our community a prayer assignment to pray for those 100,000. Would many of you reading this and joining on this fast take up this prayer with me daring to believe for a great outpouring of God’s love and power on the LGBTQ community? Pray that wailing walls would go up everywhere and that Jesus would give us his heart of love. Would you join me in praying continuously, “Lord of the Harvest, ekballo laborers into this community you love!”

Prayer

Lord today we believe that there is another mass Jesus Movement coming where thousands will be saved healed and touched by your love. We believe you are going to sing a new love song over this nation. Sing it over the LGBT community. Ring the bell of freedom once again over our land. Cause the Church to be prepared to open their hearts, not with a stone wall, but with a wailing wall of love, kindness, and patience to receive them into our family. We pray for 100,000 souls as the first wave of those who will proclaim, “Such was I, but I was washed.” Amen.

Striking Your Goliath

March 28, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

..4 And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span…
…10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid…
…16 And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening. 1 Samuel 17:4,10,11,16

“The intercessor struck the giant a hundred times. On the hundredth blow, the giant fell. And then a voice asked, ‘Which blow was the most important?’”

Extended fasting can produce a breakthrough where other methods fail. Elijah’s experience with the forty day fast is a clear example of this. Elijah had just witnessed one of the most dramatic demonstrations of God’s power, yet despite this incredible victory on Mt. Carmel, Jezebel was still alive and dominating the land. Furious about the death of her prophets and under the possession of the spirit of Ashtoreth, Jezebel vowed to kill Elijah, who ran for his life. The Angel found Elijah on the verge of collapse and, after feeding him, the Lord initiated a forty day fast as Elijah journeyed to Mt. Horeb. I believe that this forty day fast was an act of spiritual warfare against Jezebel’s sorceries and that still today, the forty-day fast will help cleanse us from her influences.

In the book, ‘The Prophetic Whisper’ Richard Gazowsky shares the significance of a forty-day strategy that the Lord gave him:

“I am going to show you a secret vulnerability in Satan’s kingdom. His weakness is in the flies.” Later that day, we went to the Carmel Public Library and looked up the word “fly”...I discovered that the meaning of Beelzebub, one of the names of Satan is, “Lord of the Flies”...Scientists have discovered that flies have a reproductive period that lasts from four hours to over forty days, depending on the species. When pest controllers go to eradicate flies in a certain area, they spray pesticides every day for a forty-day period. If they destroy the reproductive cycles of presently existing flies, they can kill off a whole generation of future flies. I then saw what God was trying to show me...if a Christian will pray consistently for a forty day period he will be able to conquer most satanic strongholds in his life.

Not only did the forty-day fast break the power of Jezebel’s intimidation and influence, more importantly, it prepared Elijah to receive the most important commission of his life: to anoint Elisha.

Is there a Goliath in your life? Maybe that situation, addiction, or a stronghold is defying you. Your fast is a tremendous act of spiritual warfare. Take the stone of God’s word and sling it for forty days. Declare the victory of Christ over that thing that has taunted you. Goliath taunted the armies of Israel for 40 days and then came David with his stone and sling. Satan can’t hold on long, he is a sprinter. He may taunt for 40 days but your marathon stand could break Satan’s hold over you, your children and your circumstances. Let’s all move in faith for personal breakthroughs all over the world during this forty day fast.

Prayer: Father, we declare that this is the day of a breakthrough. God, we strike this giant over and over and over again with the stone of Your Word shot from the sling of our confession. We overcome our giants through your name. We declare before the powers of darkness taunting our lives that, “We overcome you by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of our testimony, and we love not our lives unto death.” Even now we shout in faith with the hosts of heaven, “Now salvation!” Revelation 12:10-11.

Every Tribe and Tongue

March 27, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Mat. 24:14
Only a few verses form the axis around which all eschatology orbits, and this is one. In the often contentious debates between various eschatological camps, surely we can all agree that this verse is a sort of bedrock statement, a
compass given to guide our labors toward the fulfillment of redemptive history. In other words, the final chapters of redemptive history can’t be written until every tribe, tongue, and people are represented in a historic crescendo of worship before the Lamb of God. Then and only then can we expect Jesus to return. Then the end will come. By this North Star of Divine Purpose, we set and center the main priority of the church, mobilizing her resources and
laborers unto the fulfillment of that program. Equally, in light of this central, glorious enterprise, many other
competing labors must necessarily shrink away.

Watch Video “The Harvest Truly is Plentiful” On Day 24 of Lou Engle’s Jesus Fast

So tell me, what would happen if a million worldwide took up the prayer of Matthew 9:38 every single day? I tell
you, in a short while we would hear the final trump and the Lord returning with a shout, for the task would be done. John R. Mott said it well, “If added power attends the united prayer of two or three, what mighty triumphs there
will be when hundreds of thousands of consistent members of the church are with one accord day by day making
intercession for the extension of Christ’s kingdom?” JoshuaProject.netWe are seeking to recruit one million people
to become a part of JoshuaProject.net, a worldwide prayer community praying for the unreached people groups.
Visit the site and download the app, then unite in daily prayer with tens of thousands. A different unreached people group is featured every day as the focus of prayer.

Adopt A Child – Overturn A Decree

March 27, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. Esther 2:7

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.James 1:27

“The Church has no authority to end abortion because generally speaking It has not wanted children any more than the world has. They abort theirs, we just keep ours from coming.” -Lou Engle

It is stunning how God uses the weak things to confound the wise and the things that are nothing to nullify the things that are. When Pharoah releases his death decree on the male children of Israel God uses a slave and his wife to give birth to a little child, Moses. Moses would deliver the whole nation of Israel and shatter the power of Egypt. When God wanted to restrain the death decree of Haman, he chose a beautiful orphan and made her a Queen. When Mordecai adopts the orphan Hadassah, he prepares her to be an Esther and she breaks Haman’s decree. It is interesting that Pharoah’s decree was in Exodus 1:22 and Roe V. Wade took place on January 22nd, 1/22. In both cases of Pharoah’s and Haman’s death decrees, the deliverer of the people was an adopted child. I’m wondering if abortion will be ultimately turned around by an adoption movement and the adopted child. Let this become the cry of the church, “Give us your unwanted children!”

15 Years ago we launched a prayer movement called Bound4Life to challenge Roe V. Wade. One couple, our dear friends, were convicted by God that if abortion would end we would have to put feet to our prayers. Kelsey Bohlender preached a message calling for 1 million adoptions. Since 2006 we have not stopped praying for this movement. That family has an outrageous story of having adopted 6 children with 10 kids overall. They are God’s heroes.

Some years ago a couple named Derek and Renee Loux were moved on by God to adopt severely disabled children. Their story filled with glory and pain has touched so many of us. I had a dream in which I knocked on Derek Loux’s door. He opened the door and welcomed me in. I sat down and he brought before me a box out of which he lifted a beautiful pair of shoes; they were Derek’s shoes. It was not a new pair, but it had leather that seemed to radiate with golden light. He put those shoes on my feet, and I stood up realizing they fit me perfectly. What a dream! A week or so later Derek was killed in an automobile accident leaving the family in shock and pain. I believe the dream was a calling to put on his shoes and carry his calling for adoption. How beautiful are the feet of those that bring good news! My son Jesse became like a surrogate father to those little children, several of whom were severely disabled. Renee has been an extraordinary strength to her family and has mothered a movement of adoption. I’m not sure how well I’ve walked in Derek’s shoes, as if any of us could, but I have lifted up my voice and called for 1 million adoptions and a month ago at The Send, I feel God has answered my prayer. Andy Byrd called for 1 million adoptions that day and it’s happening. Could it be in this exploding adoption movement, a new Moses and Esther generation will arise as deliverers of a generation marked for death. Will you be one of those who will be marked for life by adopting a child?

Prayer

Lord, I pray for such a mighty wave of love to sweep the church; that every child in foster care; those sex trafficked; those who would otherwise have been aborted; those abused and rejected would be cared for; rescued and adopted. We pray, Lord of the harvest, hurl forth laborers and parents into this harvest field. We pray that the foster care system would be emptied by an explosion of God Love. We now lift our voice and pray unto him who is able to do abundantly beyond all that we could think or imagine and ask boldly, God end abortion and send revival to America; we ask for 1 million adoptions in America and all over the earth; we ask that even those who are at this moment reading, let their hearts be ignited with a vision for children and a decision for adoption. Amen

God Overrules the Edicts of Man

March 25, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

So the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai; and Esther appointed Mordecai over the house of Haman. Esther 8:2
“The church is not at the mercy of political decrees of destruction. Jesus is the Lord of history! Though this law stands today, it will not stand forever. God is the one who overrules the edicts of man and His church is the agent of righteous revolution, overthrowing kings and their decrees through the nonviolent weapons of prayer and fasting.” -Lou Engle ‘Fast Forward’

In the casting of lots, Haman was seeking occultic guidance for the day in which the genocide of the Jews would take place. Such a decree could not be reversed through a political appeal. Haman had escalated the whole matter into the demonic spiritual realm. Understanding this, Esther had to deploy spiritual weapons to contend in this spiritual battle. She called three days of fasting and the result of that fast was a complete reversal of public policy in the Persian kingdom. This is stunning. Haman was removed and the righteous Mordecai was placed over Haman’s house.

In 2017 I dreamed of a women’s movement that was coming and they would be taught the book of Esther. In the dream, a woman stood up and said these two words in the book of Esther actually mean Nazgul. I woke immediately from the dream understanding the message. In the third episode of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King, the Nazgul witch king was destroying the armies of men. He boasts, “No man can kill me.” But the daughter of the King Theoden dressed in warriors armor took off her helmet, let her hair down and exclaims, “I am no man!” She pierces the Nazgul with her sword and he shrivels up and dies. I knew at that moment there was coming an Esther movement in which godly women would be raised up in high places of authority and through fasting and prayer and courageous legislation, they would be used mightily to reverse demonic decrees.

We are in this three day fasting moment. Thousands of women are joining us in this prayer. May the Mordecai men join with the prayers of the Esthers to shift this Supreme Court. Our battle is not with people, it is with spiritual powers. I was confronted today by a quote from Shawn Bolz, “You will never have spiritual authority over anything you are not willing to love.” We must be careful that in our seeking to bring forth justice, our hearts are oiled with love, or we will become like the very beast we are trying to destroy.

Prayer
God, you love these Justices. Lord we pray for these 9 Supreme Court Judges; Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Kagan. Move on their hearts, bless their families. Father, we know we are in a great spiritual battle and therefore we take our stand according to Ephesians 6 and declare the victory of the cross over the spiritual powers that seek to exercise their dark rule over this Court. Father, we pray that you would raise up a Mordecai or an Esther to sit in the seat of Haman. In Jesus name Amen.

Purim

March 25, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

And the king said, “Who is in the court?…and the king’s young men told him, “Haman is there standing in the court”…so they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordechai. Esther 6:4,5,10

I asked her, ”Is there a basketball court in the Supreme Court building?” She answered, “As a matter of fact, there is. It is exactly on top of where the Supreme Court holds its hearings and they call it the highest court in the land.” I replied, “Take me to that court!”

Today is Purim. Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman, who was planning to kill all the Jews. He released a genocidal decree that would annihilate the Jewish population around the world. Today there is an infamous legal death decree on the books of the U.S. Supreme Court, Roe V. Wade, that has led to the aborting of over 60 million unborn children in America. The spirit of Haman has been in the courts of America since 1973. That spirit must be broken for the ending of this genocide.

Esther was raised up on that day to be the queen of Persia. After a three-day fast, she risked her life to go before the king, and her stand of prayer resulted in the hanging of Haman. It’s time for the Esther intercessory movement in America to step into the Highest Court in the land to overrule the lower court, our Supreme Court. There is a Supreme Court of Heaven that rules over the supreme courts of the earth.

The U.S. Supreme Court is poised in this pregnant moment to shift pro-life. The extremely pro-abortion Justice Ginsburg could be in her last days as a Judge. Even without her resignation there should be a majority pro-life Court but Chief Justice John Roberts in the last several months has become embittered or affected in some strange way and he has shifted to pro-abortion rulings. This is a spiritual battle. We believe he has come under the sway of the Haman spirit. Like Pharoah, he has hardened his heart when God is saying, “Let my people go!” In spite of his shortcomings, we believe that President Trump was raised up for such a time as this.

For the next 3 days we are entering into prayer and fasting like Esther to shift this court. We are praying for these 9 judges that if they are not going to rule pro-life they would resign or reform. We are praying that God would hedge in President Donald Trump so that he could only appoint judges that are God’s ordained choice. In this fast, we are praying with thousands, and maybe the next 3 days could shift history. We believe down the road we will celebrate a Purim type of deliverance.

Prayer
Oh Judge of the earth, we come through the blood of Christ and stand before Your court in Heaven. We ask forgiveness where the Church hasn’t wanted babies any more than the world, they aborted theirs and we just kept ours from coming. We ask forgiveness for not being the family of God who is adopted by Your Son but has not adopted the unwanted children in the earth. We ask forgiveness for the bloodshed of 60 million babies whose blood cries out for judgment against America. We stand pleading the better blood of Jesus Christ that speaks better than the blood of this holocaust. We decree with you the nullification of the Roe V. Wade covenant with death. Now Lord, look and see who is standing in the Court who agrees with this spirit of Haman. We call forth their reformation or their resignation. Have mercy on these judges, open their eyes! May the Spirit of justice rest upon them; warn them with dreams; reverse the decree of ‘73. Oh God, judge the Judges, so that you may inherit the nation of America, Amen.

Here Am I Send Me!

March 24, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

“Consciously or unconsciously, one lives not only one’s life but the life of one’s time…are our dreams, for example, to some degree facets, of a larger mass dream that is beginning to happen in the world? To put it another way, when God wants to initiate a new movement in history, God does not intervene directly, but sends us dreams and visions that can if attended to, initiate a process.” -Walter Wink

I think it’s very significant that in a previous video I shared how my daughter dreamed of Loren Cunningham and through it was sent to the Himalayas. In this video, (Check out Lou Engles Day 20 – The Jesus Fast) I share how my son dreamed of Loren Cunningham from which he was sent to the Himalayas. I wonder how many people are dreaming of this man, the founder of Youth With a Mission (YWAM) across the earth. I wonder if their dreams are tens of thousands of echoes of Loren’s original dream.

In 1956, 20-year-old Loren Cunningham while on a singing tour in the Bahamas, asked God to speak to him. “Suddenly I was looking up at a map of the world,” said Loren. “Only the map was alive, moving!” It was like a movie playing before him and he saw waves crashing over nations and continents. He said in his book ‘Is That Really You God?’, “The waves became young people, kids my age and even younger covering the continents.” He was seeing waves of young people preaching the gospel in the nations. According to Mark Batterson more than a half a century later, there are more than 18,000 YWAM staff members in 1,100 ministry locations in more than 180 countries.

Was my daughter and son’s dream ‘Here Am I Send Me’ the continuation of the original dream of Loren Cunningham? Isn’t that amazing that one dream could be a seed that if watered and nourished, could become a tree whose branches and fruit fill the whole earth? Behind my daughter and son’s dreams of Loren Cunningham, there was their father’s throbbing prayer at work. I wonder who was praying, “Lord of the harvest, thrust forth laborers,” in Loren’s spiritual downline. It’s time for the fulfillment of Loren’s mass dream.”

NOTE FROM ROBERT: Years ago I had left our denomination believing that it was not right to remain expecting the people I was pastoring to repent of rejecting the Holy Spirit and His Ministry. I felt I had no other choice but to leave and pursue God’s call on my life through other means. During my time away I was deeply burdened by the condition of the American church – in that we had nothing to offer a person which would motivate them to get out of bed to seek Jesus. I greatly desired that God would send me to the marketplace to minister to people there. One day as I was driving a semi across Aurora, Colorado the Presence of God came in the truck. I thought of a waitress who was a single mom, working two jobs, having three mouths to feed. She had no reason to get out of bed and seek God. She was doing the best she could. I thought of all the others who had abandoned Jesus and His church and I began to cry as God’s Presence intensified. I cried out to the Lord, “Here am I send me.” I naturally assumed He would send me to the marketplace. But His response surprised me. Months later I had a dream three times in a row. After the third dream I said to the Lord, “If you are trying to say something to me you will have to make it clearer than this.” And He did. He revealed to me that He wanted me to go back to the denomination that birthed me. I challenged Him on this by replying, “Lord, You don’t put new wine into old wineskins.” To which He replied, “Robert lets get something straight. I observed the feasts, the festivals and the Law. I went to the Temple and synagogue. I was available to change people’s hearts – not the religious system of man. That’s all I’m asking you to do. Be available to change people’s hearts and don’t worry with the system.” From responding in obedience to this call God has since challenged me to be willing to go to the ends of the earth with His Gospel. Is there any other option available to those who say they love God? To love Him is to obey and submit to Him. He makes it clear that if we really love Him we will obey Him – any other response is simply hatred. Are you available to be surrendered, submitted and sent? God is looking for laborers for His Harvest. Will you pray, “Here am I Lord, send me?”

Sons of Thunder, Part 2

March 20, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today, once again I want to blast forth this Matthew 9:38 prayer that the Lord of the Harvest would Ekballo The Sons of Thunder into the earth’s seething legions of the lost. In 2009 I was going into a 40 day fast in Kansas City. Before I entered into the fast I dreamed that my belly was being operated on. I woke with a prayer, “God are you trying to operate on my appetite so that I can be a Daniel that shifts history through prayer and fasting?” In the middle of that fast, a prophetic intercessor, emailed me with a dream. In the dream I was lying down sleeping, and I was fasting. Five angels came into my bedroom and were operating on my belly. Then they took the book of Daniel, lit it on fire, and sealed it into my belly. The scene changed and all these young people were coming to me with t-shirts on and written on those shirts were the words, “Sons of Thunder.” For 10 years now I have been believing that like Daniel, who when he understood that it was the time for the Jewish jailbreak out of Babylon, fasted and prayed to initiate that mass exodus. I have believed that in a kairos time God would lead me to enter into a 40 day fast that would release the new breed of musicians, The Sons of Thunder. Could we be in that fast now?

A couple days ago I received this email from a man following The Jesus Fast and reading my devotionals: Early this week I had a dream and your name (Lou Engle) appeared in white. Underneath your name, the word “sons” appeared in yellow. Prior to the dream I had no idea that you existed. After researching your name, I found and watched your YouTube video, “Sons of Thunder” and visited your website. I am convinced I am a part of the prophetic sons and daughters you are raising up in prayer, fasting, and intercession.

Amazingly on that very morning prior to receiving this email, for some strange reason, I put on a Sons of Thunder t-shirt. My wife even said, “Why are you wearing that shirt?” I just felt lead. I believe it was a whisper, a supernatural synchronicity. The prophetic whisper exploded faith in my heart. It’s time to pray for the new breed to clothe themselves with the Sons of Thunder t-shirt mantle, bring the music of heaven down to earth, and reap the harvest of the ages.

Prayer

Lord of the harvest we beg you, ekballo these musician laborers into the mass harvest fields of young people waiting for Your music to transform their lives. God, like David’s music delivered Saul from his demons, loose the sound that will deliver a demonized generation. Bring forth the songs of freedom. God, release heaven’s Woodstock in our day and our age. Release the sound on CNN, and MSNBC and beyond. God, thunder from heaven! AMEN!

Sons of Thunder

March 19, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

And the herald claimed aloud, “You are commanded, oh peoples, nations, and languages that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar has set up.” Daniel 3:4

“I don’t care who writes your laws. If I can write your music I can shape your destiny.”
-Unknown

I believe that music is the most powerful force to shape the destiny of generations. When you consider the mass hysteria and sudden worldwide hypnosis created by The Beatles, you realize how at the right time and the right place a sound could frame the future of the globe. In the early 60’s the world was under the spell of a great expectation for a new world order and a new song of freedom. It was the dawning of the age of Aquarius. The Beatles seized that moment and their sound helped frame the counterculture of the 60s. Like in the days of Daniel, the Beatles music captured a sound that called the masses to fall down and worship their Idols. Now In this pregnant moment of history, where are the prophet musicians who will fast and pray and pay the price to pull down from heaven the sound of the Great Singer Of Songs that will call masses to fall down and worship this time the only One worthy of worship.

Years ago a prophet named James Ryle had a series of three dreams. It was all concerning a new music and a new breed of evangelistic musicians to come. They were The Sons of Thunder. The first dream portrayed a traveling evangelistic truck whose side would roll down creating a stage for a band to play. Behind the curtain in that truck were a couple of young men playing their blue guitars. They were playing not for a stage but to an audience of One. Their music was a prophetic (blue) sound borne out of deep intimacy with God. They didn’t know that their guitars were plugged into the ancient Beatles vox amplifiers. When the curtain was pulled back their sound waves created a tsunami of supernatural power that swept masses of souls into the kingdom. Their influence would be greater than the Beatles!

For years this dream has been hanging in the intercessory consciousness of God’s praying people. “For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay.” Habakkuk 2:3. Many times God’s dreams and visions tarry long but when they come to pass they do not delay. They come with sudden outrageous drama. Media blows up, heads spin, it becomes the current conversation of the masses. Isn’t that what happened with The Beatles? One moment on the Ed Sullivan Show, and The Beatles sound bomb goes off! I hear the coming of a another sudden sound bomb, an atomic explosion fueled by fasting and prayer. Millions will be saved and healed. Stadiums will be filled! Here come the Sons of Thunder in response to this great EKBALLO surge!

Prayer

Lord of the harvest, I and thousands of others hear the sound of the rumbling thunderstorm of another great Jesus Movement rolling in. Riding on the storm are this new breed, The Sons of Thunder. Why should The Beatles lead the parade of history. We are begging you Lord of the harvest to hurl forth these sons of thunder now into this hinge of history moment to reap the greatest harvest ever seen. Lord find your men and women playing behind the curtain. Send fire on their devotion. Pull back the curtain and release their day of a public appearance in the earth. Yes God do it!

Ekballo!

March 18, 2019/in Blog /by Robert Shaw

“The number of missionaries on the field depends entirely on the extent to which someone obeys that command (Mt 9:38) and prays out the laborers.” – Andrew Murray

“therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” – Matthew 9:38

I trust that you’ve watched the video for today (See Lou Engles Day 16) We are now launching into praying, what I believe, is the most revolutionary verse in the Bible for the activation of evangelists and missionaries needed to reap the harvest at the end of the age. “The harvest truly is plentiful but the workers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest”. Notice the problem is not the overwhelming harvest. NO! The problem is there are not enough workers to reap the harvest. The solution to the problem; a heaven and earth shaking prayer!

My convictions are simple:

1.) Christ Himself commanded not suggested this prayer;

2.) We have generally neglected this prayer, therefore its potency has never been fully tested;

3.) History depends on its fulfillment. Our neglect of this Prayer was never acceptable, yet it is even less so now.

We prophesied 7 years ago that TheSend at Camping World Stadium would signal a massive shift into a new day of evangelism and missions. If this is true, then this verse stands at the forefront of this new wave of global harvest. In this single scripture, we have been entrusted with fuel for global revival. Matthew 9:38 packs enough dynamite to spark a worldwide reformation of evangelism and missions, mobilize tens of thousands of missionaries and reformers, and literally bring back the King.

I dare say the absence of a final, great harvest is not primarily due to the lack of sincere missionary effort or commitment, but principally to the inconsistency, neglect, and passion with which we have attended to this verse, for it is the Lord of the Harvest’s most elemental harvest strategy. If Andrew Murray is right that the number of missionaries on the field is ENTIRELY DEPENDENT on this prayer then the church worldwide must be praying it day and night incessantly. Let the Church worldwide recognize that heaven’s program for evangelism is a prayer idea launched in red type, an idea whose time has fully come. Beginning today, let all of us who read, make a radical commitment to take up Jesus’ command to urgently pray this verse with faith and passion knowing his word will not return empty but will accomplish the purpose for which it was sent.

Prayer:
Lord of the Harvest, we beg you with thousands around the world to ekballo laborers into the harvest fields of the earth! We cry out for a mass sending. Lord. We are asking for 80 million souls in America and 200 thousand full time missionaries to be hurled forth into the nations. Lord, tattoo this verse into the soul of the church worldwide. Let it be prayed, in every nation, day by day, until it becomes a thundering, pounding sound on the gates of heaven. Let its roar reach to the millions of bored, unemployed potential harvesters standing on the street corners in the eleventh hour of history. Loose dreams and visions on unsuspecting hearts. Invade future harvesters with dreams and burdens. Ekballo them into the harvest field and start with me in Jesus name, Amen.