Ending 2006 with a bang!

Saturday night I stumbled upon some Todd Bentley articles that were of great interest to me. They were on the breaker anointing. Several times since I have been out here I have had leaders tell me that I have a great breaker anointing but I was always thinking, "cool, but what is that?" So I stumbled across these articles about the same time that I got a call from Target asking me to come in because they got a truck that was unexpected (how? I don't know). So, I decided to read through both articles after I started to get hooked on the first one even though I knew I needed to get to bed to get the amount of sleep I was hoping to get.

Well, at the end of the article Todd starts to talk about contending for it and doing so early in the morning. It reminded me of how earlier in the semester I had started waking up early to try to get in the presence of God (remember that this is getting up early before I am supposed to be at work at 4 am). And for a while I was so burdened to pray for more of God that I would wake up even earlier (an hour before work) so that I could pray as well. Needless to say, I haven't been doing that recently. I can't remember when I stopped, but it was probably somewhere around when I was gonna quit my job because I was so sleep deprived. However, now with a fresh fire and goal to chase after I was even more heavily burdened to pray than I was before.

Luckily, when I was called to come into work yesterday it was our first day back at 4 am instead of 3. That would have been pretty dismal to wake up at 2 am and be going for the entire day (not that 3 am is great, but that is one more hour of sleep!). So yesterday I got up and decided that instead of praying in my car like I used to, and frequently had times where I would feel like I was falling asleep (mainly when I was trying to soak), that I would go to the prayer house and give myself some intense time of intercession.

It was amazing! For me having a specific time to pray for breakthrough makes things much easier. I mentioned how I was struggling with always shifting to praying for breakthrough while I was soaking instead of just worshipping God and listening to Him. Well, now I have a time and a place to pray for breakthrough so that I don't ever feel conflicted when I soak.

After getting off work at 8:04 (long story, only 4 of us showed up and so we had to do things a bit differently) I rushed home, took a shower and got to church right at 8:30 before the service started. Have I mentioned how much I love being on the ministry team and getting to pray for people? It is just great to give people an encounter with God. In the first service I got a chance to pray for one of the church/ministry school leaders of where I will be going on my mission trip to La Paz. He was just wanted to get filled up and it was so much fun. In the second service I was praying for a young guy who was visiting who had some pain in his shoulder, jaw, and foot. Well, Jesus gave him an overhaul and just healed him up in a matter of 2 or 3 minutes. I noticed that as I prayed for him, I was praying with a confidence that he would be healed. More on that later.

Pastor Bill talked about our part of the 1 billion soul harvest that is starting this year (now that it is 2007!). Since I got to hear it twice I was really starting to get pumped up about the role I would get to play in it, expecially since young people are going to be a huge part of it. Some prophets are even saying that their will be 1 billion young people saved, so even better! Bear with me as I make a prophetic declaration...Over the next several years I believe that I will get to lead many thousands of young people into the Kingdom. Praise God! You might question that number based on current trends, but I will respond that I have just begun (or not even begun yet).

At the evening service most of the pastors shared what God has put on their hearts for 2007. It was fantastic. THe following are some of my favorites...

Ideas will be released that are well beyond our time

Dreamers will be released that will ask, "why not?"

More encounters with the supernatural

Mantles will be easily picked up by the next generation of leaders(!!!!)

Fearless generation

Grace to pray more than we ever have before

Spirit of evangilism released

How would I live my life if I wasn't afraid?

Who do you want to be? Go after it.

You were born for greatness

Innovation and creativity released

Revival is established in our culture

definitions of establish from dictionary.com
1. to found, institute, build, or bring into being on a firm or stable basis: to establish a university; to establish a medical practice.
2. to install or settle in a position, place, business, etc.: to establish one's child in business.
3. to show to be valid or true; prove: to establish the facts of the matter.
4. to cause to be accepted or recognized: to establish a custom; She established herself as a leading surgeon.
5. to bring about permanently: to establish order.
6. to enact, appoint, or ordain for permanence, as a law; fix unalterably.
7. to make (a church) a national or state institution.
8. Cards. to obtain control of (a suit) so that one can win all the subsequent tricks in it.

Supernatural becomes choice A

As we pray we are prophesying

There is authority in the declared word; declare the word of the Lord

Learn to live in the realm of unlimited supply

how would you pray for someone with cancer (or any disease) if every person you have ever prayed for with cancer (or that disease) got completely healed?


WOW. That is a lot of good stuff to ponder. That last one hit me. Other than that morning when I prayed for the young man who got healed, I have been starting to pray timid prayers recently. The "God, please if you can, do something to maybe heal this person" prayers. Ok, not really like that, but quiet prayers that would be totally reliant on the grace of God (and my faith not playing at all into it) to heal the person. So when I got to pray for a man who had a stroke and a brain anurism and was all messed up from that, I prayed as though I knew he would be healed and that I pray for people with his same problem every day and always see them get healed. Man, it is such a better way to pray. There wasn't a way for him to check it out last night, but I am believing that it is finished. He certainly was encouraged. People are probably so used to the timid prayers and claiming that they believe God will heal them that when they hear a prayer of faith they might really believe it and get healed! I would definitely like my chances of getting healed when a person who sees healing 100% of the time prays for me as opposed to someone who has never seen anyone get healed and prays accordingly.

Last night I also prayed for this on fire man in his 50s at our church that was in a lot of back pain and also pain in the area where you would receive a shoulder massage. Well, God just wacked him real good and healed him up. Same story of praying in faith as though every time I have prayed for someone God has healed them.

Sorry this is so long, but I'm almost done and this next part is really exciting!

I am in the middle of a fast. Yesterday morning during the sermon I realized that in Acts chapter 1 they were together praying (and fasting?) in the upper room for the same length, 10 days (I'm not sure where the 10 days came from, but I will trust that it is accurate). One of the things that I have been praying is that I would get baptised in the Holy Spirit and that power would come upon me to spread the gospel (Acts 1:8). Secondly, Jesus went into the desert to fast and pray for 40 days. In Matthew 17 Jesus tells his disciples (in the NASB and NKJV) that they couldn't drive out the demon because, "this kind only comes out by prayer and fasting." However, Jesus didn't pray or fast for the breakthrough then. I would like to propose to you that his 40 days of fasting in the desert was his preparation that purchased the breakthrough to cast out that demon. Key word breakthrough. From yesterday when I started to pray I will have 40 days to pray for the breakthrough of the paralyzed man who I believe will get healed and for the breaker anointing to come upon me in a mighty way to see many get healed and saved when I go to Georgia Tech in February. How about that! If I had started today it would have been 39 days. Haha. Talk about fuel for the fire! C'mon Jesus!