The Hidden Battle The Scriptures often refer to “heavenly places” or “the heavens.” The Greek word is epouranios and simply means “of or pertaining to heavenly realms or regions.” We’ll define it more momentarily, but first, listen to the following 5 verses in Ephesians that speak of “heavenly places”: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. And raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” This sounds like one uninterrupted passage of Scripture, doesn’t it? It is actually 5 separate verses from Ephesians 1:3, 1:20, 2:6, 3:10, 6:12. I became fascinated one day as I read these verses consecutively, with none of the in-between sections. When I saw how well they flowed together, I realized they really do provide a continuity of thought. In summary, they tell us: we have been given everything we need in order to operate in heavenly places; Christ has been given all authority in this realm; we have been legally seated there with Him in His position of authority; through us, from our position there with Christ, God intends to defeat the kingdom of darkness; finally, the last verse describes that evil kingdom, listing its various components. Let’s consider this realm, “heavenly places,” a little more fully. It not only refers to heaven, God’s home, but to all of the invisible, spiritual realm around us. We must consider this relatively unknown dimension in order to fully partner with God and experience the fullness of His blessing. It is the unseen realm of the spirit - invisible yet real, hidden yet very active. Much of what happens on earth is influenced by it; certainly anything of eternal significance or regulating the destinies of people and nations is influenced from it. Most people, including Christians, give little thought to an unseen world impacting the natural world we see. Many, especially in cultures that emphasize higher education and intellectualism, are actually cynical of this dimension’s existence. But the Bible is filled with descriptions and accounts of it. Apart from the invisible realm, there is no God, Satan, angels, demons, fall of humankind, birth of Christ, redemption through the Cross, miracles, or resurrection of the dead. Yet again, surprisingly, most American Christians live their lives without weighing how much this realm affects us, let alone how we can operate in and influence it. Consider the following significant statement from Chuck Pierce’s and my book Releasing the Prophetic Destiny of a Nation: the more we learn to function in the invisible spiritual realm, recognizing and applying its governing principles, the more we can partner with God, positively impact our world, avoid the snares and influence of the evil one, and enjoy the blessings of our salvation. (1) As I meditated on the above Ephesians verses, God began showing me that I was not conscious enough of this realm. It was not a new subject to me - I have comprehended it for many years and realized that we can influence it through our prayers and actions. However, Holy Spirit began revealing to me that I was not as cognizant of this dimension as I needed to be. I saw clearly that if I was to be as effective as was possible in changing situations on earth, I had to understand more fully how forces in these “heavenly places” affected them. Also, I needed a greater understanding of how I could influence the invisible world. And, hopefully, how I could do so without becoming weird! The more I meditated on this spiritual realm, the more I realized it is the Bible’s major theme - two invisible kingdoms working to control the world. If we humans could see what takes place around us in this dimension, we would no doubt see a great clashing of kingdoms - angelic and demonic forces engaged in phenomenal warfare. I don’t know exactly what it looks like, but I know it is occurring. The following vivid account of the unseen gives us a glimpse: When the attendant of the man of God had risen early and gone out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was circling the city. And his servant said to him, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he saw; and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Strike these people with blindness, I pray.” So He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. (2 Kings 6:15-18, NASB) The invisible, spiritual forces were present all along - it was just that Elisha’s servant could not initially see them. And so it is with us. We live in a world filled with constant angelic and demonic activity. Our natural eyes, however, cannot perceive it. It amazes me how many Christians, though they claim to believe the Bible and would say they believe in this invisible realm, still have a problem with consciously relating to it. Many, for example, take issue with any form of prayer, visions, or dreams that speak of demons, angels, or invisible strongholds. Many who do not profess to be Christians have an even greater problem with acknowledging the invisible spiritual realm. The very suggestion of an invisible sphere influencing the visible world usually elicits immediate skepticism - even mockery - and often an inference that anyone who believes in this realm is not in touch with reality. What a boost for the devil’s activities! At some point, however, if we are going to be truly effective in prayer, we must acknowledge, understand and learn to influence this spiritual realm through prayer, fasting, speaking God’s word, binding and loosing, repentance, and living righteous lives. We believers must move beyond our fear of criticism and agree with Scripture. Jesus is our example, and He frequently dealt with the invisible. He was aware of it and consistently engaged unseen entities, stirring up demonic opposition everywhere He went. He released His spiritual authority into this realm through His words and actions. The early church in Acts also did so, releasing Spirit-led decrees and confronting forces of darkness when appropriate. We are inconsistent if we confess to be Bible-believing followers of Christ and yet refuse to acknowledge and operate in the invisible realm. Failure in this area has rendered us largely impotent. Pray with me: Father, teach us more about the spiritual realm around us. Give us greater understanding of how to impact this dimension and extend Your Kingdom influence into it. Christ’s victory is secure; we ask for greater revelation of how to release His victory into the earth, changing nations, cities, and people. Make us more conscious of the invisible realm where much of what happens on earth is determined. We pray that anointed teachers will be raised up to skillfully teach on this subject. Please awaken them to the need for this so that we can influence the spiritual realm with balance, skill, and accuracy. And please break off of the church all hesitancy of operating in this spiritual realm. And as we do so often here, we ask You for and thank You in advance for sending the greatest awakening/revival that has ever occurred to the nations of the earth. We are asking for entire cultures and people groups to be swept into Your family. With the authority You have given us, we break off them the control of principalities and evil spirits, freeing them to see truth and receive Your love and provision. We break the demonic strongholds off our nation and close every door through which demonic rulers have entered. We declare the exposure of evil, and we command the door of awakening to open! We ask all of this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Our decree: We boldly declare that the spirit of wisdom and revelation is being released to the Church, bringing new levels of faith and authority. Portions of today’s post were taken from my book Authority in Prayer. Click on the link below to watch the full video. ____________________________ Dutch Sheets and Chuck Pierce, Releasing the Prophetic Destiny of a Nation, (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image, 2005) pp 75-76.

Let’s Save Some More Lives “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb, I knew you…” (Jeremiah 1:5) If you have been watching GH15 for a while, you know I am passionate about the pro-life cause, including adoption. Ceci and I endeavor to support at least one adoption each year through Zoe's House. We have had the founder, Kelsey Bohlender, as our guest on posts in the past and will again soon. We have another friend, Nancy Alcorn, who is also doing a great work for babies and unwed mothers. The ministry she leads has become, without question, one of the most effective in the world for healing troubled young girls. Their incredible success has led to expansion into several other arenas and multiple locations. Their website says: “Mercy Multiplied exists to provide opportunities for all to experience God’s unconditional love, forgiveness, and life-transforming power. Our Residential Program is voluntary, biblically-based, and free-of-charge for women ages 13-32; our Outpatient Program is free-of-charge for men (Louisiana only) and women ages 13 and older; and our Outreach Services offer multiple resources online and onsite designed to equip men and women of all ages to live free and stay free in Jesus Christ. “The vision for Mercy Multiplied was launched in 1983 after Founder and President Nancy Alcorn spent eight years working for the government. Realizing that true transformation would never come as the result of any government system, Nancy started the first residential home in West Monroe, Louisiana. Mercy’s Residential Program helps young women ages 13-32 break free from life-controlling issues and situations, including anxiety, depression, sexual abuse, eating disorders, self-harm, addictions, unplanned pregnancy, and sex trafficking. These residential services are offered free of charge. “Over the years, Mercy has expanded its United States residential locations to Nashville, Tennessee; St. Louis, Missouri; and Sacramento, California, with future plans to build a residential home in the panhandle of Florida. The organization has grown beyond the borders of the United States, including locations in the United Kingdom and Canada. “Remaining ever faithful to our three guiding principles: (1) we provide residential and outpatient services free-of-charge, (2) we tithe 10%, and (3) and we will never accept money with strings attached or that which would prevent our ability to share Jesus Christ.” In a recent communication, Nancy shared, “After Roe V. Wade was overturned and sent back to the states, my leadership team and I spent a season of time praying about what our response should be. In that process, God gave us clear direction: be laser-focused on getting the word out nationwide that we take young women facing unplanned pregnancies into our residential centers from all 50 states. We will take care of the girls for the full duration of their pregnancy, free of charge, and they can then make their own decision about whether to parent or place their child for adoption. In addition, thanks to generous donors, we are able to provide airline transportation from all 50 states for them to come to our Nashville home, if they so choose. Once the Florida home in the panhandle is built, we will also be able to take pregnant girls to that location as well as provide transportation. We are calling these donors “Carriers for Life.” That simply means that when a young lady is in need of an airline ticket, we can call those on the list to pay for their ticket. God actually dropped this plan into our hearts BEFORE we began to hear about companies offering to pay the expenses for girls to travel out of state to get abortions.” Chelsea Rahbar, Director of Pregnancy Services at Mercy Multiplied, said of their life-giving program: “A unique component of Mercy Multiplied's program for women facing an unplanned pregnancy is our ‘Basic Decision-Making Classes.’ These classes are designed to assist the young woman in making a well-informed decision regarding whether she will parent or place her child for adoption. It is the vision of Mercy to provide the most supportive environment for each expectant mother to make her own decision about what is best for her and for her child. In conjunction with the decision process, we also provide the following services: Free housing: experience 24-hour support in a beautiful home environment Free individual & group counseling Free prenatal care Access to parenting classes, if applicable Access to adoption services, if applicable Access to well-balanced meals and fitness. “All of these services are offered completely free of charge because of the generosity of our donors. Additionally, if a young woman is struggling financially to travel to our Nashville location, we will pay for her plane ticket.” You can see a wonderful short video from Nancy Alcorn sharing her heart and vision for Mercy Multiplied by using the following link: CLICK HERE We are also providing you with contact information for Mercy Multiplied and how to reach their Pregnancy Services. Pray for this amazing ministry, perhaps even sow a gift. And if you know of a young lady who may need this service, please contact them. Let’s save some more lives! Pray with me: Father, in our efforts to save babies, we cannot and will not forget the moms who face many challenges. Thank You for raising up ministries like Mercy Multiplied and families who are willing to adopt children. We pray that great provision and incredible blessing come to them. We pray that America’s collective conscience would be transformed, and that a generation fed millions of lies would be delivered from the deception. Raise up more voices of truth and silence those who speak lies. Give us more people in government and media that will speak up for life, and more pastors who will make a stand. And lastly, give us an awakening of awakenings. Write Your laws on the hearts of 100,000,000 Americans that do not currently know You. This revival has begun, but just barely. Turn up the fire! Then turn it up again! Fan the flames with the incredible wind of Holy Spirit, until it is completely out of control. This we ask in the name of Christ, who has all authority in heaven AND EARTH. Amen. Our decree: The tide is turning! You can find out more about Mercy Multiplied by: Going to their website: mercymultiplied.com Email them at: info@mercymultiplied.com Write to: P.O. Box 111060, Nashville, TN 37222 Or call: (615) 831-6987 Mercy Multiplied is a nonprofit Christian organization that equips people to live free and stay free through Jesus Christ. Click on the link below to watch the full video.

A Wake-up Call to the American Church Yesterday, America honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As I pondered his life and work, I found myself considering the importance of forerunners, voices of change who point the way toward the right path. Their journey is always difficult as they challenge the status quo and ruffle comfortable feathers, but God gives them steel backbones and steadfast hearts. Some, like Dr. King, are also blessed with great intellect and communication skills. One of the forerunners of our day who is certainly blessed with these extraordinary gifts and skills is Eric Metaxas. You may have read his great book on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer entitled Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. Metaxas has other great books, but today I want to highlight his latest book entitled, Letter to the American Church. I know Eric Metaxas, though not as a close friend. He is simply a person I greatly respect and admire. Neither he nor his publisher has asked me to promote his book; frankly, he doesn’t even know I’m doing this. I am doing so because I believe his message is urgent. Today’s American church has failed to be the voice we were called to be. The stakes could not be higher regarding our need for this to change. Eric’s appeal is passionate, intellectually and factually sound, historically reinforced, and biblically based. In the words of Erwin W. Lutzer, pastor emeritus of The Moody Church in Chicago, “This book is like a bucket of cold water thrown into the face of a sleeping church.” Please read this book. Consider giving a copy to your pastor or a friend. I want to read a few paragraphs from his Introduction, after which we will pray. “The German Church of the 1930s was silent in the face of evil; but can there be any question whether the American Church of our own time is guilty of the same silence? Because of this, I am compelled to speak out and to say what - only by God’s grace - I might say to make plain where we find ourselves at this moment, at our own unavoidable crucial crossroads in history. “It is for good or for ill that America plays an inescapably central role in the world. If you have not read Alexis de Tocqueville on this subject, you likely nonetheless understand that the extent to which that central role has been used for good and for God’s purposes has had everything to do with our churches, or with the American Church, as we may call her. So if America is in any way exceptional, it has nothing to do with the blood that runs through American veins and everything to do with the blood shed for us on Calvary, and the extent to which we have acknowledged this. America has led the world in making religious liberty paramount…It was this that made Tocqueville marvel most: that while in other nations - and especially in his own nation of France - the Church was adamantly opposed to the idea of political liberty, in America, it was in the churches that helped encourage, create, and sustain a culture of liberty. “Because of the outsized role America plays in the world today, the importance of whether we learn the lesson of what happened to the German Church ninety years ago cannot be overstated. Though it may be a gruesome thing to consider, the monstrous evil that befell the civilized world precisely because of the German Church’s failure is likely a mere foretaste of what will befall the world if the American Church fails in a similar way at this hour. “And at present, we are indeed failing. “We should underscore the idea that the centrality of our nation in the world does not mean that we are intrinsically exceptional, but rather that God has sovereignly chosen us to hold the torch of liberty for all the world, and that the Church is central to our doing this. So the idea that He has charged us with this most solemn duty should make us tremble. Nonetheless, we must carry out that duty in a way that is the opposite of prideful and that is meant to be an invitation to all beyond our shores. If we should aspire - in the words of Jesus as quoted by John Winthrop - to be a “shining city on a hill,” the idea is that we should exist and shine for the sake of others and not for ourselves alone. President Abraham Lincoln said that we in America were God’s “almost chosen people” and acknowledged that this placed upon us an almost unbearable burden. It is a certainty from the Scriptures and from our experience over the centuries that apart from God, we can do nothing. So if God has chosen us for some task, we must do all we can to shoulder that task, and must know more than anything that unless we lean on Him and acknowledge Him in all our ways, we are guaranteed to fail. “We must also remind ourselves that when God chooses anyone - whether the nation of Israel or a single person - to perform any role or any task, it is never something to be celebrated, as though the one chosen has won a contest. Quite to the contrary; it is a grave and fearsome responsibility. So if the Lord has chosen America and the American Church to stand against the evils and deceptions of this present darkness, we had better be sure we understand what is required of us, and had better make sure we do all that is possible to fulfill our charge… “If anyone would feel that believing God has chosen the American Church for such a vital role somehow smacks of an egotistical nationalism, they have already bought into the Marxist and globalist lie that America is nothing special - or is probably a force for evil at this point. In any case, they miss the point and have only leapt away from one ditch to fall headlong into another. It is a fact that God in His sovereignty chose the German Church to stand against the evils of its day, but it shrank from acknowledging this and from standing. Germany has been living with the deep shame over it unto this day. So for the American Church to say that God has not chosen us is as bad as saying He must choose us because we deserve to be chosen. Both stances are equally guilty of the sin of pride. It is far easier to ignore God’s call than to acknowledge it and rise to fulfill it, but it is more difficult and painful than anything to live with the results of ignoring God’s call. Let the reader understand.” (1) Pray with me: Father, thank You for raising up voices to point us in the right direction. Though forerunners often make us uncomfortable, they nonetheless prepare the way for needed change. We ask You to breathe great momentum into this book by Eric Metaxas. Use it to awaken the American Church, especially, but not limited to, leaders in the Church. We see signs that a remnant in the Church has been awakened, and we thank You for this. But we ask for this to increase exponentially. Rain fire, passion, and great zeal onto Your people in America. Revive us, as You have promised. Breathe great favor and momentum into the voices of change. As always, we thank You for your promise that America shall be saved. We declare our faith that You will do this, as we appeal to You based on Your obvious will and purposes. Continue to deliver us from evil and bring Your Kingdom authority to bear in our land. We thank You for this in Christ’s name. Amen. You can find out more about Eric Metaxas and order his books at EricMetaxas.com. Click on the link below to watch the full video. ________________________ Eric Metaxas, Letter to the American Church (Washington, DC: Salem Books, 2022), pp ix-xi, xiii-xiv.

In Hope Against Hope, He Believed As opposed to a teaching for today’s post, I’m going to share from my heart regarding the current condition and future of America. First of all, I’m as convinced as I’ve ever been that we will see a sweeping revival and reformation in our nation. This includes the restoration of our God-given assignment to the nations of the world. These things - revival, reformation, and restoration - are what the statement “America shall be saved” means to me. My first allegiance is to the Kingdom of God, not the United States, and always will be. However, I do love America with what I am confident is a God-given love. I believe wholeheartedly in His calling to this nation and in the Judeo-Christian ideals upon which we were founded. I also have a natural love for America - it is appropriate to love and honor one’s homeland. I see no contradiction between my patriotic love for America and my first love, God; to me, they are completely compatible. Having said this, I am not in denial of America's backsliding and of our great need. Without the aforementioned reviving, we would no doubt perish, at least spiritually, and forfeit our destiny. Nothing else can possibly save our nation. Like many of you, I am angry over America’s condition, at times, but I also grieve deeply over it, and am very embarrassed. Who would have thought a generation ago that the primary battle of our time would be over the legality of killing babies in the womb (and even the survivors of this cruelty)? Add to this the harvesting and selling of their body parts, and one can only weep. What have we become? Who would have believed that our government would one day tell parents they had no right to know what the state was teaching their children, much less doing to their childrens’ bodies? Sterilization and mutilation!? Are you serious? It is insidious, insane, and should be criminal. Who would have believed America’s leaders would sanction half-nude perverts dancing for kindergartners while rubbing their crotch? Our President, Vice President, former Speaker of the House, Senate Majority Leader, and the members of their Party in Congress have no problem with this. If they do, they certainly haven’t said so. Who would have believed that our once great America would be led by a senile man who can barely communicate, habitual liars in Congress, and Supreme Court Justices who claim that defining the difference between a man and a woman was too difficult for them? Men now wear dresses to the President’s Cabinet meetings. Who would have believed that our government would one day lead us into debt to the tune of TRILLIONS of dollars, while continuing to take billions of our hard-earned dollars for foolish projects and personal gain? How narcissistic do leaders have to be to vote for the creation of buildings and trails bearing their name, while millions of Americans must choose between heat, medicine, or food? How self-absorbed and addicted to power must leaders become to prioritize future votes - through open borders - over the lives of a hundred thousand young people killed annually by fentanyl? They could end this tragedy almost overnight if they wanted to. Trump had it reduced drastically by controlling the border. The sad truth is that those in charge care more about votes than they do these young lives. Their hesitation to even talk about these immeasurable losses - how often do you hear them bring it up? - betrays their priorities. How deceived must a people become to believe Marxism could succeed…to be okay with a leader of our military who is more loyal to Chinese leaders than our own President…to believe a “woke” but weak military is acceptable in today’s world, that anything but strength could guarantee peace…that anarchy and violence now trumps law and order…and that police are bad while criminals are victims? As much as we don’t like it, God did us a huge favor in 2020 by allowing this evil to be exposed. The truth is that the swamp is far deeper and larger than any of us realized. The muck and mire are putrid. Evil, corruption, and depravity rule our nation. America is lost - hopelessly lost. We are past the point of a human solution, certainly of a political one. No program, law, government, political party, or educational plan can heal America. These things can one day reform and will be essential, but they cannot generate a rebirth. We needed to see our true condition. The word repentance is rooted in the concept of seeing and understanding clearly, of coming into increased and accurate knowledge. Repentance is more than a simple decision to choose a different direction. Americans needed to know how far we had fallen and that no President, Party, or plan could fix our nation. We must have a great awakening. Please don’t hear that as a suggestion to back off or relent in your governmental, educational, or practical efforts. We must NOT do that! Hear this only as a plea to pray as never before. Ask for revival. Decree change and the coming of Christ’s Kingdom rule. Be His Ekklesia! Things may get a little worse, naturally speaking, before they get better. Spiritually, however, we are gaining ground and momentum. Christ’s Kingdom is increasing, just as He said it would, and HE WILL PREVAIL. “...God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. In hope against hope he [Abraham] believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.” (Romans 4:17-21 NASB) I want to end by saying that I wish no harm to any person or group of people - nor do those of you who join me on these posts. We sincerely love and pray for the salvation of all. Our battle is spiritual and our enemies are satan and his spiritual forces. And we overcome evil with good. Pray with me: Father, we intercede today for this apostate nation. We have wandered far from You. Yet, we are confident that Your mercies endure forever and that mercy is our currency. Your love knows no end. Heal this land, we pray. We declare life over the dry bones of America, and we prophesy to the wind of Holy Spirit: blow! We boldly proclaim that the doors of wickedness, destruction, perversion and darkness are closing. We declare and decree that the exposing of evil will continue. And we decree that America shall be saved and participate in earth‘s greatest revival. We ask for encouragement to intercessors and spiritual laborers throughout our land. Strengthen them. Renew their strength. Keep their faith strong, may they never give up. Infuse them with great zeal and perseverance. We pray these things in the mighty name of Jesus, the Lord of the harvest. Amen. Our decree: We decree that the dry bones will live again. Click on the link below to watch the full video.

Agreeing with the Voice of God I am concluding this week’s teaching on the power of Spirit-led decrees with a short teaching from Jane Hamon’s book Declarations for Breakthrough: Agreeing with the Voice of God. Tom and Jane Hamon are among the prophetic voices I trust most. They are also great teachers and authors. The insights Jane shares are part of the ongoing revelation Holy Spirit is bringing forth as He builds Christ’s Ekklesia on the earth. Jane says... “Do you want to supercharge your prayer life? Do you need a greater strategy for what to do when you hear God speak? I believe that understanding the biblical concept of declarations and decrees will take each of us to a greater place of effectiveness in advancing the Kingdom of God and bringing awakening into our land. “I love the voice of God. When He speaks, things change. As a matter of fact, I believe one word from God can change anything and everything. When we agree with the voice of God and verbalize what He is saying, we are releasing power to shift heaven and earth and change our circumstances. These authoritative, spiritually empowered decrees have the capacity to bring breakthroughs and initiate change. “Decrees have been used for thousands of years by governments as a means to deliver judgments, laws, and orders with the expectation that they will be carried out. Esther, Ezra, and Daniel are books about decrees being issued that changed the course of history. Such is the governmental, Kingdom power God has put into the mouths of His people as we decree what He says! Decree the Abundance of Rain “My husband, Tom, and I were ministering in Edmonton, Canada, during a time when they were experiencing one of the most severe droughts in modern history. Because I always check the weather forecasts before arriving in a new city, I knew there were no weather patterns indicating they could expect relief. But the first night of our conference, in the middle of my message, I suddenly heard the Lord tell me to decree that the heavens be opened, and release the sound of abundance of rain. I prophesied what I had heard the Lord say, directed the people to shout for joy in response to the word of the Lord, and we pointed our fingers toward the sky while decreeing an abundance of rain. “Fifteen minutes later, I noticed someone come in the back door and whisper to their family members. Those individuals got up and left the service. Soon others came in and whispered to their friends and families; again, those individuals got up and left. This was becoming disruptive, so I paused in my ministry and asked what was causing people to leave the service. “With big smiles on their faces, people began to shout, ‘It’s raining! It’s raining!’ “We ran quickly to the doors and saw that all those who had left the service were in the parking lot dancing in the rain. Pretty soon, the whole congregation was dancing and declaring, ‘The drought is over! The drought is over!’ “When watching the weather report that night on the local news, we were amused to see that the meteorologists were perplexed, commenting that they had not seen the rain coming. It seemed to come out of nowhere. It rained the whole week we were there. “Clearly, God shifted the atmosphere over Edmonton and brought an open heaven through the power of the decree. Jesus Taught the Power of the Decree “Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus demonstrated the power of the spoken decree. He told His disciples, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you’ (Matthew 17:20, emphasis added). “When Christ ministered healing and breakthrough to people, He never actually prayed for them to be healed; rather, He released declarations of breakthrough, saying things like, ‘Stretch out your hand;’ ‘Be made whole;’ ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’ Jesus raised the dead by making decrees: ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ In the situation with Jairus’ daughter, He said, ‘Do not weep. She is not dead; only sleeping. . . . Child, get up.’ To the dead man at Nain, Jesus decreed, ‘Young man, I say to you arise.’ To one woman who had suffered from a spirit of infirmity for twelve years, He decreed: ‘Woman, thou art loosed,’ and she was instantly delivered and healed. When He and His disciples were on a boat and a ferocious storm broke, rather than pray, Jesus made a decree: ‘Peace, be still!’ The Early Church—Our Example “Jesus’ disciples learned how to use decrees to bring breakthrough to people, setting the example for all believers through the ages. When confronted by the lame man begging for alms at the Gate Beautiful, Peter made a decree that released healing: ‘I have no silver or gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk,’ (see Acts 3:6). The power behind that decree caused the lame man suddenly to jump to his feet, walking and leaping and praising God. These words rise up and walk are expressed in the Greek language’s imperative mood, which means Peter was not asking or making a suggestion, but giving a command. “In Acts chapter nine we read the story of Dorcas, also called Tabitha, a follower of Christ from the city of Lydda, who became very sick and died. Peter went to her and got down on his knees to pray. After doing so he turned to her dead body and decreed, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ Then she opened her eyes, looked at Peter, and sat up. “The apostle Paul also utilized decrees. In Acts 13:11, we read that Paul decreed blindness on Elymas the sorcerer who was hindering the Gospel from going forth. In Acts 14:10, he spoke to a lame man in a loud voice, ‘Stand up straight on your feet!’ And the man leaped up and immediately walked.” This does not discount the importance of communing and petitioning prayer. To the contrary, Jane continues by saying, “Prayer is actually the foundation for every decree we make, for through a constant flow of communication with the Father, we are able to more clearly hear the words He would have us speak. We pray, connecting to the Father, then we decree, shifting the earth. “We must marry the power of prayer and the authority of the decree. Prayer is our petitions, communication, and fellowship with God, while decrees are God’s words released through our voices into the earth realm to bring change. “Job 22:28 begins by saying, ‘You will decree a thing’—not just your pastor, not just a prophet, but you shall make decrees that cause things to be established and light to shine on your way. The Hebrew word for thing (omer, Strong’s 562) means ‘the word’ or ‘the promise.’ What do we decree? We decree what God has spoken. “Today, God is looking for believers who will stay filled with the power of Holy Spirit, so they can boldly declare His life and divine purposes—and change history.” Pray with me: Father, You told us in a recent dream that Communion would empower us to break satan’s hold off America. One of the reasons is that when we partake of it, we are declaring and releasing Christ’s victory over the powers of darkness. You also said the doors of demonic access into America must be closed by the apostolic decrees of the Ekklesia. We are doing both today: taking Communion together and releasing apostolic decrees. As we take the bread, we declare our steadfast faith in the work of Christ. His body was broken for us: by His stripes, we are healed from sickness and disease; by His wounds, we are delivered from all wounds inflicted on us - spirit, soul, and body. Oppression must go as we partake of Christ’s salvation. Generational diseases must leave us. God will rise in and through us, and His enemies will scatter. (Eat the bread) As we take the cup, we proclaim the power of the blood of Jesus over all our sins, weaknesses, bondages, and addictions. We are made new by its power. We declare that we are free from all curses and that oppression is now far from us. (Drink the juice) We also declare that the blood of Jesus now powers our decrees over our nation. In His name: Release these decrees with me: We decree that satan’s ability to devour and destroy America will no longer be successful. We speak to his door of access and command it to close! We declare our faith in the mercy and blood of Jesus - that God has heard the repentance offered up by millions of believers on behalf of America’s sins and is healing our land. We decree that people in government and business will no longer feed our nation to the dragon through sins, compromise, and unholy alliances. We decree that their evil will be exposed, their funds will dry up, and their influence will end. We close the door to their control. We decree that the evil pictured by Nero - violence, lust for power, tyranny, murder, persecution of the church, insane laws and edicts - will no longer rule America. We close the door to the spiritual powers causing this destruction. We close the door to the destruction of our children, our families, our homes, our cities and our nation. We speak to the door of promise - the door of the awakening and transformation of nations - and command you to open. We call forth revival, refreshing, remodeling, and reformation into America and the world. We prophesy to the wind of God: blow on the dry bones of America and the world. Reconnect our scattered bones, breathe life into us, and make us a great army. Salvation, healing, purpose, and destiny are in this wind - we decree its release NOW! In the mighty name of Jesus! You can find out more about Jane Hamon here. Click on the link below to watch the full video.

The Creative Power of God’s Word I am constantly amazed at how many prayer meetings I attend where so little of the Word of God is implemented. The greatest weapon God has given us often goes unsheathed! If Christ, our greatest example, used the spoken Word as His number one weapon when confronted by satan himself, shouldn’t we use it regularly? And God’s Word is more than just a weapon. The Hebrew word asah (Strongs 6213), translated “create” in the Genesis account of God creating the world, also means “to accomplish, do, or perform.” It is used in the following verses, referencing the speaking of God’s Word/s: “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has he said, and will he not do [asah] it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19). “So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing [asah] what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). “Then the Lord said to me, ‘You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform [asah] it’” (Jeremiah 1:12). God’s Word “does.” God’s Word “accomplishes.” God’s Word “performs.” Yet, here is something most Christians do not consider. In each of these references, humans spoke the words God used to do, accomplish, and perform! Let that sink in. “I’m going to use My words to accomplish some things,” He said in these passages, “and I’m going to use you to speak them.” The Lord actually told Jeremiah in the first chapter of Jeremiah mentioned above, “I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the Kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant,” (Jeremiah 1:10). He began by saying, however, “I have put My words in your mouth,” (verse 9). The Lord followed these instructions by saying, “I am watching over My word to perform it,” (verse 12). There is absolutely no doubt Holy Spirit was saying to Jeremiah that He was going to “accomplish” some judging, tearing down and rebuilding, and that He was going to do so through Jeremiah’s words. This - speaking words - is how authority is released! Apart from the power of the tongue to wound people, slander, encourage, edify, etc., our words also: Activate our salvation (Romans 10:9) Release death and life (Proverbs 18:21) Remove mountains of adversity (Mark 11:23) Defeat spiritual forces (Ephesians 6:17) Heal the sick (Acts 3:6) And more. We’re obviously not teaching that we can create (asah) physical matter with our words, but they certainly create God’s desired results in human lives and situations. And, of course, our declarations must be based on God’s word and will, agreeing with Scripture, and inspired by Holy Spirit. The literal meaning of the New Testament word for “confession” actually means “to say the same thing.” In other words, we must say what God says. We do not have carte blanche authority to command our will into anything and everything. First John 5:14-15 tells us: “And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” We must find out what the Scriptures teach about situations, then make our biblical confessions and declarations accordingly. We are then “saying the same thing” God says, which honors Him and offers Holy Spirit a decree He can truly empower - a biblical declaration. This is a powerful facet of intercession. Hebrews 3:1 states that Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession (which, again, means “say the same thing”). When we speak God’s words and will on earth, He can and will back them up from heaven, just as He did for Jeremiah. In the dream we discussed last week, God has instructed us to do this to close and open doors. We are to close doors that have been opened to demonic activity in America and open the door of awakening and transformation. Let’s do it now after this short prayer. Pray with me: Father, You are not a man that You should lie. What You have said You will do. Your words do not return to You void, they accomplish everything You intend them to accomplish. We agree with Your prophets who have said a great awakening, in fact, the greatest revival ever, is now coming to planet earth. We call in a billion souls and declare boldly they will come into the kingdom. And Lord, You have shown many what You want to do in the government of America. We come into agreement with that also, declaring that America will have righteous government and the evil being propagated in Washington DC, and other parts of our nation, will fail. You will give us godly and righteous people in Congress, as judges, and in the Executive Branch of our government. We bind the evil forces that oppose this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Release these decrees with me: We decree that satan’s ability to devour and destroy America will no longer be successful. We speak to his door of access and command it to close! We declare our faith in the mercy and blood of Jesus - that God has heard the repentance offered up by millions of believers on behalf of America’s sins and is healing our land. We decree that people in government and business will no longer feed our nation to the dragon through sins, compromise, and unholy alliances. We decree that their evil will be exposed, their funds will dry up, and their influence will end. We close the door to their control. We decree that the evil pictured by Nero - violence, lust for power, tyranny, murder, persecution of the church, insane laws and edicts - will no longer rule America. We close the door to the spiritual powers causing this destruction. We close the door to the destruction of our children, our families, our homes, our cities, and our nation. We speak to the door of promise - the door of the awakening and transformation of nations - and command you to open. We call forth revival, refreshing, remodeling and reformation into America and the world. We prophesy to the wind of God: blow on the dry bones of America and the world. Reconnect our scattered bones, breathe life into us, and make us a great army. Salvation, healing, purpose, and destiny are in this wind - we decree its release NOW! In the mighty name of Jesus! Click on the link below to watch the full video. Part of today’s post is taken from my book Essential Guide to Prayer.

Why Do We Decree and Declare? Today’s post on releasing apostolic decrees is taken from the Give Him 15 devotional. The lessons in this book are not only to inspire you; they are also to instruct you as you become a powerful intercessor. We are receiving wonderful feedback from this book of 30 short teachings. It WILL help you on your spiritual journey. It was 1980, and I was fresh out of Bible school. I was radical enough spiritually to pray for anything that moved…or grew. That’s why I was standing in the middle of a field, reading Bible verses to a crop of maize. No, I’m not kidding. I was taking my cue from Jesus, who spoke to a tree on at least one occasion. He spoke a death sentence to the tree, and the next day it was dead (see Mark 11:13-14, 20). He also spoke to a storm, commanding it to be still (see Mark 4:39), and even addressed a corpse, giving it life (see John 11:43). One of His disciples also did the latter (see Acts 9:36-41). No, I’m not trying to start a communing-with-nature cult. Jesus knew that nature and dead people weren’t “hearing” Him, but that His words were releasing the power of Holy Spirit to impact those realms. Our words, when they are God’s words and Holy Spirit leads us to speak them, also release divine power. That’s why I was reading the Bible over a field. Actually, I was reading it to the field and some flies that were invading it. I read the blessings of Deuteronomy 28 concerning the crop: “Blessed shall be . . . the produce of your ground . . . The Lord will command the blessing . . . in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you . . . And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity . . . in the produce of your ground” (vv 4, 8, 11). I read Psalm 91:3 concerning the flies: “For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper, and from the deadly pestilence.” The flies died and the crop lived. The situation was as follows: A Guatemalan farmer, already in financial trouble from previous losses, was in danger of losing thousands of acres of maize to these flies. He was about to spend approximately $25,000 to have them crop-dusted and wasn’t even sure this would stop the plague. We spoke to this new Christian about the biblical principle of tithing and the promise that God would “rebuke the devourer” (see Malachi 3:10-11) for those who obeyed Him in this regard. We then read him the verses mentioned above and asked if he would like us to join him in reading and declaring these words of God over his crops. He did, we did, and God did. The crops lived, the flies and their larvae died; the crop-dusting wasn’t even necessary. Not only was the crop saved, but the $25,000 the treatment would have cost was, as well. This may seem radical and you may find it odd. However, when scriptural principles are followed, the spoken Word is a powerful weapon of intercession. This little-understood truth need not lead to imbalance or weirdness. However, being balanced biblically does not mean we do nothing that contradicts human understanding or reason. It means we stay within the parameters of biblical teaching and the leading of Holy Spirit. Much so-called balance in Christianity is simply a desire to stay totally in the realm of our human understanding and natural laws. This eliminates many spiritual laws and much of that which requires faith, which certainly includes speaking the word of God as a weapon. Jesus not only spoke Holy Spirit-inspired words to a storm and a tree, as mentioned, but when tempted by satan, the spoken Word of God was His primary weapon against the attack (see Matthew 4:1-11). Ephesians 6:17 calls this “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” The Greek term translated “word” in this verse means “spoken words,” as opposed to written words or unspoken thoughts. The verse, used in this primary New Testament passage on spiritual warfare, is telling us that the word of God on our lips is a powerful weapon against satan, as Christ demonstrated. God honors His Word above His very name (see Psalm 138:2 KJV). A person’s name means nothing if his word can’t be trusted. When we consider the Word of God as unfailing and all-powerful, we are giving Him the greatest honor we can give. We’re stating that we know He cannot lie (see Hebrews 6:18), that His Word is eternal (see Isaiah 40:8), and that He can be trusted implicitly. A Roman centurion came to Christ asking Him to heal his servant. Christ was willing and offered to go with the man to minister to his servant. The centurion gave a startling answer, however: Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I, too, am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, “Go!” and he goes, and to another, “Come!” and he comes, and to my servant, “Do this!” and he does it (Matthew 8:8-9). This man understood the authority of God-inspired words and declarations. Jesus did speak the Word, and the servant was healed. Several years ago I faced a situation in which evil spirits were obviously involved. In order to protect the privacy of the individuals involved, I must be vague as possible regarding the details. Generally speaking, however, great anger and strife had arisen in a family. A strong possibility existed that the next day this family would be torn apart for years, if not forever. I prayed late into the night about this very volatile situation, asking God to intervene. After a couple of hours of prayer, I clearly heard Holy Spirit say, “Speak the Word.” The instruction came with such force, I knew it was God talking to me. Obeying Him, I began to aggressively declare Scriptures Holy Spirit brought to my remembrance, also making declarations based upon them, which I felt were appropriate. It went something like this: “Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you” (Luke 10:19). “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). I declare that God has given me authority over the spirits involved in this situation. Holy Spirit in me is greater than any power they can muster. “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exaltheth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5 KJV). I declare that my weapons are fully able to disarm this situation. In Jesus’ name I tear down the strongholds of the powers of darkness in this family situation. “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). I am fully submitted to God and know that as I speak His Word, the evil forces at work must flee. I command you, demonic powers, to leave this situation in Jesus’ name. I free these individuals from your influence. I’m sure I used a few other verses, as well - this was many years ago - but I’m sure you can understand what I was doing. After 10-15 minutes of this, I felt great peace in my heart and went to bed. The following morning every person involved had a change of heart, and total peace prevailed. The power of God’s Word had overcome the evil spirits and positively influenced the minds and hearts of the individuals. I was NOT carrying on a conversation with these spirits nor was I trying in some extrasensory way to speak to the people involved. I was simply using God’s Word as a weapon in the situation, which released the power of Holy Spirit to prevail, accomplishing what He knew was necessary. In the dream we discussed last week, God instructed us to release apostolic decrees in order to close and open doors. We are to close doors that have been opened to demonic activity in America, and open the door of awakening and transformation. Let’s do so now, using the following decrees: Release these decrees with me: We decree that satan’s ability to devour and destroy America will no longer be successful. We speak to his door of access and command it to close! We declare our faith in the mercy and blood of Jesus - that God has heard the repentance offered up by millions of believers on behalf of America’s sins and is healing our land. We decree that people in government and business will no longer feed our nation to the dragon through sins, compromise, and unholy alliances. We decree that their evil will be exposed, their funds will dry up, and their influence will end. We close the door to their control. We decree that the evil pictured by Nero - violence, lust for power, tyranny, murder, persecution of the church, insane laws and edicts - will no longer rule America. We close the door to the spiritual powers causing this destruction. We close the door to the destruction of our children, our families, our homes, our cities and our nation. We speak to the door of promise - the door of the awakening and transformation of nations - and command you to open. We call forth revival, refreshing, remodeling and reformation into America and the world. We prophesy to the wind of God: blow on the dry bones of America and the world. Reconnect our scattered bones, breathe life into us, and make us a great army. Salvation, healing, purpose, and destiny are in this wind - we decree its release NOW! In Jesus’ name, Amen! Click on the link below to watch the full video. Today’s teaching is taken from my book Essential Guide to Prayer.

Prophesy to the Breath Last week we addressed a dream that instructed “the apostolic Ekklesia” to make “decrees”. This was to be done for the purpose of closing doors to demonic activity, and opening doors of awakening. Though I defined Ekklesia somewhat when unpacking the dream, yesterday I gave a more complete teaching on this all-important subject. Today I’m beginning a short series, adding to my previous comments on why we decree. This is not a new spiritual activity - it was mentioned in the first chapter of Genesis! Most Christians have no idea of the power of God‘s Words. The sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17) - the spoken Word - is our most powerful spiritual weapon. For it to be the weapon of choice for Jesus Himself when resisting satan, should be all the proof we need that it is the number one way to deal with the devil. Not only is God’s Word a weapon, however, it also does much more. The Scriptures refer to God‘s words as “seeds.” The root Greek word is speiro (Strongs 4687); another form of the word is sperma (Strongs 4690). As you can hear in these words, we do, indeed, get the English words “sperm” and “spore” from those Greek words. Holy Spirit used them in order to communicate that His Words have creative life in them. Just as physical seeds do, they reproduce life; they multiply. First Peter 1:23 references this, telling us we were born again by the power of the “incorruptible seed” (Greek: spora [Strongs 4701]), the Word of God. The parable of the sower (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8) also refers to God’s Word as seeds, possessing the power to reproduce and multiply fruit. Job 6:25 reads, “How forcible are right words!” (KJV). Right words would obviously include the Scriptures. “Forcible” is the word marats which also means “to press.” As the signet ring of a king presses a document with his seal, our spoken agreement with God acknowledges submission to Him, releases our faith, and seals or settles a matter. Speaking God’s words seals our salvation, the promises of God, our destinies, and many other things. Ecclesiastes 12:11 tells us, “The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies” (KJV). Our words, when agreeing with God’s, act as nails, constructing lives, circumstances, events, etc. in the spiritual realm. Just as a nail is used to keep a board “in place” and to build structures, words are used to keep God‘s promises in place, allowing them to build and construct things in the spiritual realm. Hebrews 1:3 says all of creation is held together by the power of His words! Jeremiah 23:29 says God’s Word is also like a fire that consumes and a hammer that breaks rocks. Declaring His Word against the plans, strategies, and powers of darkness causes them to be consumed and destroyed. There is no more powerful weapon against the enemy than releasing the Word of God from our lips. As a hammer, it breaks and crushes. Luke 1:37 says it is filled with explosive power (Greek: dunamis from which we get the word dynamite). No wall, not even a mountain, can stand against the power of God‘s explosive, crushing words. Speak them! Psalm 107:20 tells us we are healed by His Words, also. The most effective way to release your faith for the healing of your body is to speak God‘s Word over it. His Words, filled with life, will go into your body and begin rejuvenating and restoring. The Word of God is never ineffective - it will always produce. When we speak it into situations, we are sowing God-seeds, which enables Him to bring forth life! In the dream from last week, we were told to open a door, behind which was the wind/breath of Holy Spirit, through our apostolic decrees. This is biblical! Ezekiel and the Valley of Dry Bones is an example of God’s life being released through words spoken by a person. “Speak to the bones!” God first said to the prophet (see Ezekiel 37). Can you imagine what Ezekiel must have thought? Speak to them? God, if You want something said to skeletons, why don’t You just do it? But Ezekiel obeyed and said, “O dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord.” And they did! Bone came to bone, flesh came on them. There was no life in the bones, however, and Ezekiel’s next assignment must have startled him more than being told to prophesy to the bones. The Lord said, “Prophesy to the breath.” Later in the passage we’re told that the breath he was prophesying to was Holy Spirit. God didn’t say to Ezekiel, “Prophesy by Holy Spirit,” nor did He say, “Prophesy for Holy Spirit.” God said, “I want you to prophesy to Holy Spirit. Ezekiel obeyed and the Spirit of God performed what a man prophesied/decreed. Incredible! Did the prophet actually give a “command” to Holy Spirit? Is Holy Spirit now to follow the dictates of humans? Of course not. Ezekiel wasn’t commanding God; He was commanding for God. As has been God’s plan and heart from Creation, He was partnering with a human. “I’m going to allow you to make the declaration for Holy Spirit to release the wind, Ezekiel. He’ll wait for your decree” Amazing! In that situation, God chose to work through the prophetic declaration of a human being. Sometimes we must ask, petition, or appeal to Him - He is in charge, after all! - in other situations, He needs or wants us to be His voice, releasing His words and will. In the dream we discussed last week, God instructed us to release apostolic decrees in order to close and open doors. We are to close doors that have been opened to demonic activity in America, and open the door of awakening and transformation. Let’s do so now, using the following decrees: Release these decrees with me: We decree that satan’s ability to devour and destroy America will no longer be successful. We speak to his door of access and command it to close! We declare our faith in the mercy and blood of Jesus - that God has heard the repentance offered up by millions of believers on behalf of America’s sins and is healing our land. We decree that people in government and business will no longer feed our nation to the dragon through sins, compromise, and unholy alliances. We decree that their evil will be exposed, their funds will dry up, and their influence will end. We close the door to their control. We decree that the evil pictured by Nero - violence, lust for power, tyranny, murder, persecution of the church, insane laws and edicts - will no longer rule America. We close the door to the spiritual powers causing this destruction. We close the door to the destruction of our children, our families, our homes, our cities and our nation. We speak to the door of promise - the door of the awakening and transformation of nations - and command you to open. We call forth revival, refreshing, remodeling and reformation into America and the world. We prophesy to the wind of God: blow on the dry bones of America and the world. Reconnect our scattered bones, breathe life into us, and make us a great army. Salvation, healing, purpose, and destiny are in this wind - we decree its release NOW! In the mighty name of Jesus! Click on the link below to watch the full video.

Christ’s Ekklesia When Jesus showed up on the fallen world scene, He left no doubt as to His ownership of it: He demonstrated authority over the laws of nature by walking on water (Matthew 14:25). He controlled the forces of nature, altering weather patterns (Mark 4:39). He trumped the laws of physics, multiplying food, turning water into wine, translating His physical body from one place to another, and destroying trees simply by speaking to them (Matthew 15:36; John 2:9; 6:21; Mark 11:13-14, 20). He demonstrated authority over the animal world, using a fish to collect the money needed for a tax (Matthew 17:27). He had dominion over disease, healing multitudes (Acts 10:38). He even displayed power over death, bringing dead people back to life (John 11:43-44). In a plan so daring, bold, and staggering in its ramifications that no one could even guess what it was - including satan’s kingdom and even the angels - God had become an adam (a Hebrew word meaning “man”). In doing so, He was legally qualified to redeem humankind and win back their lost authority for them. Ownership of the earth wasn’t the issue, nor was Christ’s personal authority - He had never lost His, here or anywhere else. The issue at hand was authority for the human race - whether or not they would regain their forfeited governmental rights to earth. When this God-man, Jesus, paid our penalty and restored us to God, in the process He also recovered Adam’s lost authority. It is now safe in the hands of a human who will never lose it again. God’s original plan was restored: There is now a race of humans on the earth filled with God’s life and nature, capable of relating to Him as Father and managing this incredible home He created for them. If only they realized it! When we are born again, we are no longer mere humans—adamites—we are a new race of supernatural beings called Christians (“little Christs”). In his first letter to Corinth, Paul chastised the believers for acting like “mere men” (3:3). We are not “merely human”; we are supernatural daughters and sons of the Most High God, filled with His Spirit and anointed to represent Him. God has His family back and can now continue His original plan, which includes this family managing and governing the earth spiritually. He calls this family the “church.” The church is first mentioned in Matthew 16:18-19: I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. When Jesus used the word “church” (Greek: Ekklesia), the disciples weren’t hindered by our contemporary ideas as to what it meant. Their paradigm of an Ekklesia differed greatly from what it has become. To us today, the church can be: 1. A worship service 2. A building used by Christians 3. A local congregation of Christians 4. For those who tend toward its literal meaning, it is a “called out” assembly of people. The last concept is the most accurate, based on a strict translation, but still falls far short of communicating what an Ekklesia was when Christ made His stunning announcement. To the Greeks in Christ’s day an Ekklesia was an assembly of people ”called out” of the populace to govern the affairs of a city or nation – in essence, it was a city council, parliament or congress. To the Romans, it indicated governmental authority, as well, but was used more narrowly. To them, it was a group of people sent into a conquered region to rule it, but also to reshape the culture until the region thought like Rome. The Romans realized this was the ideal way to control their empire. They discipled the conquered region’s government, social structure, language, schools, businesses, etc., until the people thought, spoke, acted like, and considered themselves Romans. When Jesus said He would build His church (ekklesia), He was without question speaking of a body of people that would “legislate” spiritually for Him, discipling nations and extending His kingdom rule, ideals and principles thoughout the earth. His statement that “the gates of Hades will not overpower it” makes much more sense when we understand this. These “gates” are not physical gates, but rather the governmental plans or decisions of hell. In biblical times, gates were often where judges sat to rule, or governing councils of cities met to make decisions; therefore, they often symbolized government (for examples, see 2 Samuel 19:8; Proverbs 22:22-23). In Ruth 4:10-11, the Hebrew word for a gate is actually translated as a “court.” In this first decree announcing the church, Jesus was stating that He would raise up a spiritual kingdom government on earth, which hell’s government wouldn’t prevail over. He followed this declaration by saying He would give His Ekklesia “keys” (Matthew 16:19), which symbolize authority. Keys lock and unlock, in order to close or open. Christ was declaring His church would have spiritual keys (authority) to lock the gates (government) of hell and open the gates (government) of heaven. This is accomplished primarily through declarations and decrees made FOR God, not petitions made TO God. When needing provision or help from Him, we do request and petition. When dealing with the powers of darkness and their plans, however, we command and decree. Jesus told us to command His Kingdom (rule) to come and will to be done (Matthew 6:10). The verbs “come” and “be” are in the imperative Greek tense, meaning to command. Christ was saying, “Command My kingdom rule and will to come forth!” If I were satan and wanted to stop evangelism, the spread of biblical morality, or the influence of God on the earth, I can’t think of a better way than deceiving Christians regarding the meaning of Ekklesia. My first priority would be to keep them from understanding what it means to be the church. The end result would be to leave God and His Kingdom without a functioning government on earth. Then, even though I had lost my authority there, I could still rule. Obviously, we are not to expand the Christian faith or implement God’s rule on earth through physical force or domination, as some religions do. We are to impact our culture, workplace, city, nation, etc., with the spiritual power of God’s kingdom, spreading His life, love, and Kingdom principles everywhere. Jesus told us to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) and to preach (declare) the good news of Him “to all creation” (Mark 16:15). The Ekklesia in Acts turned their world “upside-down” (17:6 AMP), upsetting status quo everywhere they went – and we should also. Tomorrow we will discuss one of the ways we do this. In the dream we discussed last week, God instructed us to release apostolic decrees in order to close and open doors. We are to close doors that have been opened to demonic activity in America, and open the door of awakening and transformation. Let’s do so now, using the following decrees: Release these decrease with me: We decree that satan’s ability to devour and destroy America will no longer be successful. We speak to his door of access and command it to close! We declare our faith in the mercy and blood of Jesus - that God has heard the repentance offered up by millions of believers on behalf of America’s sins and is healing our land. We decree that people in government and business will no longer feed our nation to the dragon through sins, compromise, and unholy alliances. We decree that their evil will be exposed, their funds will dry up, and their influence will end. We close the door to their control. We decree that the evil pictured by Nero - violence, lust for power, tyranny, murder, persecution of the church, insane laws and edicts - will no longer rule America. We close the door to the spiritual powers causing this destruction. We close the door to the destruction of our children, our families, our homes, our cities and our nation. We speak to the door of promise - the door of the awakening and transformation of nations - and command you to open. We call forth revival, refreshing, remodeling and reformation into America and the world. We prophesy to the wind of God: blow on the dry bones of America and the world. Reconnect our scattered bones, breathe life into us, and make us a great army. Salvation, healing, purpose, and destiny are in this wind - we decree its release NOW! In the mighty name of Jesus! Portions of today’s teaching were taken from my book Authority in Prayer. Click on the link below to watch the full video.

A Dragon, Calamity, and A Promise (Part 3 of 4) On Tuesday, we began looking at an important dream which described 3 scenarios in America’s future. Two of them are destructive and devastating. The third is revival and restoration. I encourage you to read Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s posts if you have not yet done so. I believe they are very important and lay a foundation for today's and tomorrow’s posts. I will not read the dream again today but will include it at the end of today’s post. Behind the third door, the door of promise, was Holy Spirit. The door was referred to, among other things, as the door to awakening and the transforming of nations. The blessings behind this door were not just for America but for other nations, as well. Holy Spirit’s choice of these 2 words in the dream - awakening and transformation - was strategic and very intentional. Several years ago, the Lord showed me the important differences between Christ’s great commissions of Mark 16:15-18 and Matthew 28:18-20. Each corresponds to one of the two commissions God gave humankind through Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:26-28. The first of these assignments or commissions was to be fruitful and multiply: “Give me more kids,” God said. The second commission was to steward, manage, or govern the earth. “You will represent My kingdom’s government on this outpost of the Kingdom,” He told them. Both of these plans were interrupted at the Fall. God temporarily lost His family and His ambassadors on the earth. Jesus, of course, was sent to recover and restore this. This is what Christ meant when He said in Matthew 16:18-19, “I will build my Church…” The word “build” is oikodomeo (Strongs 3618, 3624), which means to build a family or household. In choosing this word Christ was saying, “I’ve come to get the family back!” “Church” is the word ekklesia (Strongs 1577), meaning a legislative, governing assembly. I have shared posts on this word in the past and mentioned it frequently. However, the meaning and concept behind this word Christ used is so significant I’m going to do another entire post on it next week. For now, suffice it to say that by choosing this word, He was saying, “I have come to reestablish My family as My government on earth.” Christ’s other comments amplified and explained this further. He went on to say that this ekklesia would be given His Kingdom authority (“keys”), would lock and unlock, forbid and allow (“bind and loose”), and that the government (“gates”) of hell would not overpower them. After reversing the setbacks and reestablishing these two plans at the Cross, Jesus re-commissioned His followers in Mark 16:15-18 and Matthew 28:18-20. In Mark’s gospel He said to go and preach the good news so that humans can be delivered, healed, filled with Holy Spirit, and be part of God’s family once again. In other words, He told them to “be fruitful and multiply!” This is what is occurring in revival or awakening. In Matthew 28, however, Jesus re-commissioned us to disciple nations according to His teachings. “As My Ekklesia, You have My authority. In My name instruct and disciple nations back to what I intended in the beginning,” He instructed us. This is transformation or reformation. Both of these activities are absolutely essential. To understand them more fully, here are a few comparisons and differences: Awakening brings people into God’s family; Reformation teaches them His ways. Awakening births them spiritually; Reformation trains them practically. Awakening changes the human heart; Reformation changes the human mind (thinking). Awakening is internal (takes place in us); Reformation is external (is worked out from/by us). Awakening is accomplished through preaching; Reformation takes place through teaching. Awakening produces converts; Reformation produces disciples. Awakening releases God’s life; Reformation establishes His laws, principles, and ways. Awakening saves the individual; Reformation saves regions/nations. Awakening produces a bride, worshippers; Reformation produces an Ekklesia, those who govern. In most revivals, believers think only of getting people saved, born again (Mark 16). This, of course, is essential and must be the starting point - birthing obviously precedes training. But if Matthew 28 - the reforming and discipling of individuals and nations - doesn’t occur, the long-term fruit will be minimal and can even be lost. The great Charismatic Movement of the late 60’s through the early 80’s, which included the Jesus People Movement, saw tens of millions of people saved around the world. It was a wonderful example of Mark 16 occurring with great momentum, a significant revival. However, there was little understanding of our calling to do Matthew 28. The minimal awareness of discipling that did exist was limited to the discipling of individuals who came to Christ, not the discipling of nations, societies, and cultures. Discipling nations involves and includes government, education, and all other societal institutions. It is not a dictating or forcing of God’s laws upon people and nations, but rather teaching and implementing His ways and principles at every level and in every sector of society. Salvation opens the heart and will to this, which is why it must occur first. When people are born again, Holy Spirit writes God’s laws in their hearts, making them open to His truth - even possessing a strong desire to find and pursue it. Also, their conscience is alive, active. When a nation experiences significant revival, the portion of the populace affected by it does not have to be “forced” to implement God’s will and ways. They desire to do His will, to obey Him. But they must be taught, retrained. And their children must be, as well. If this does not occur, satan attempts to counteract the revival by infusing wrong thinking, ideas, philosophies, etc., into the culture. Sadly, during the Jesus Movement/Charismatic Movement of the ‘70s, Christians did Mark 16 only. Though millions of people were saved, humanists, secularists and atheists were busy doing their version of Matthew 28, discipling a nation. We saved individuals, they discipled a nation. We preached the gospel; unbelievers taught dogmas and doctrines. We went to church; they went to our schools and universities. We gathered on weekends; they gathered all week. We enjoyed Christian TV; they made movies, programs, and eventually took over the industry. We sang and worshipped at church; they took over the airwaves and discipled a generation with their music. The result: we experienced one of the greatest revivals in history AND LOST OUR NATION! This is almost incomprehensible! Yet, it occurred. Now, the generation that humanists, secularists, and atheists discipled is in charge - governing, teaching, entertaining and informing our nation. This is the fruit of Mark 16…without Matthew 28. In this dream, however, the angel said a revival was coming that would produce both awakening AND transformation, refreshing AND remodeling. The body of Christ will once again accomplish both commissions. This will produce the greatest transformation on Earth since the Cross! Indeed, it will be the full outworking of what Christ accomplished at the Cross. Tomorrow, we will look at what Holy Spirit said we must do in order to close the evil doors and open the Door of Promise. Pray with me: Father, Jesus said He was building an Ekklesia, a family the gates/government of hell would not be able to overcome. He then commissioned us to relaunch the plan of multiplying Your family, and of stewarding the earth for You. We embrace these commissions. This 2-fold plan is gaining momentum. Christ’s bride is growing in numbers and the Ekklesia’s revelation of who we are in Him is increasing. Bring another wind that increases this even more. Cause the greatest season of awakening and transformation in earth’s history to now take place - Mark 16 and Matthew 28 simultaneously. Hit a grand slam, Holy Spirit! Knock it out of the park! Open the door and suck us into Your room of blessing! We ask this in Christ’s glorious name. Amen, so be it! Our decree: We decree that the Great Commissions of Christ WILL be fulfilled by His legislative bride! Click on the link below to watch the full video. ______________________________________________________________________________ The Dream of 3 Doors (12/2/2022) “On 12/02/2022, the Lord gave me [Greg Hood] a dream. The dream opened with Dutch and I being led by an angel up to large, iron double doors. The angel took us through them, and inside we saw three doors down the left side of the room. Each door had a combination lock with a keypad on it. “We approached the first door, which was open slightly, allowing us to see a little of the room. Dutch reached and opened the door further so we could see more of what was inside. What we saw was unnerving - a dragon eating from a bowl that was shaped like the United States. As the bowl would become empty, men in suits replenished it. “We stepped away from the door, and it returned back to its original position - open, but only slightly. As the angel led us away from the door, I [Greg] reached to push it fully closed, but could not move it. While motioning us toward the next door, the angel said to me, ‘You can’t close it with your hands!’ “We approached the second door, and again, it was slightly ajar. Once more, Dutch reached out and opened it fully. Inside was a movie theatre with a movie playing on the big screen. The movie was depicting spiritual darkness causing all sorts of evil - famine, communism, war, and calamity. A man was sitting in the front row of the theatre. In the dream, we knew he was Nero, the former emperor of Rome. The movie became more intense. We could see cities being overrun, homes and families being displaced. Again, as we stepped away from the doorway, the door automatically went to its original position - open slightly. As we were led away from the door, I [Greg] again reached to push the door closed, but couldn’t do so. While motioning us to move toward the next door, the angel again said to me, ‘You can’t close it with your hands!’ “The angel then led us to the third door. This door was also cracked open, but a little more than the others. As we approached it, we could hear a sound coming from inside the room. Again, Dutch opened the door fully, and as he did, we could feel powerful energy coming from inside. This energy created a strong wind that was blowing outward, then sucking inward, like a person breathing, only much stronger. The wind was so strong it was moving us backward and forward. The angel of the Lord spoke and said, ‘This is the door to awakening and the transformation of nations.’ “The angel then said to Dutch, ‘These doors picture what America is now facing. They can’t be opened or closed by the hands of the prophet, but must be opened and closed by the decrees of the apostolic Ekklesia. Operate them with your mouth, not your hands!’ “Dutch then began speaking forcefully to the first two doors: ‘MY CODE IS 22-22, AND WITH IT I COMMAND THESE DOORS TO CLOSE, AND I DEADBOLT THEM CLOSED FOR GOOD!’ When he declared this, both doors slammed shut with powerful force, and an angel was placed at each one to ensure that it remained closed. “Dutch then turned to the third door and declared loudly and boldly, ‘AMERICA, THIS IS YOUR DOOR. IT IS THE DOOR OF YOUR PROMISE! I CALL YOU INTO YOUR PROMISED DAY OF REFRESHING, REMODELING, AND PURPOSE! AMERICA, THIS IS YOUR DOOR OF DESTINY: THE DOOR OF AWAKENING! IT IS NOW OPEN TO YOU, AMERICA, AND WILL BE THE OPENING OF THE NATION TO AWAKENING!’ “As Dutch finished declaring this, the wind and energy in this room sucked us through the doorway. And we knew the nation had been pulled into the room of awakening!” End of dream. You can find out more about Dr. Hood at GregHood.org.

The Last Minute Attempt to Save Roe vs Wade As I am certain most of you know by now, a man was arrested near Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh’s house, saying he had gone there to kill the Justice. There has been a great deal of prayer for the safety of the Justices over the last few months. This is quite likely the reason the man did not go through with his intentions. Intercessors For America shares the following comments: “IFA intercessors have been praying for all of the Supreme Court Justices for months. Since the Dobbs draft opinion leaked, we felt the urgency of persistent prayers for protection, especially for the 5 Justices supporting the overturn of Roe. “On June 8, a man was arrested outside Justice Kavanaugh’s home with the intent to murder Justice Kavanaugh. The affidavit supporting charges against the man, Nicholas Roske, describes events that we believe are answered prayer, thanking God for intervening. “Here’s a summary of the affidavit: “Roske traveled from California, intending to kill Justice Kavanaugh because of the leaked draft Dobbs opinion and because he feared that Justice Kavanaugh will join opinions relaxing gun control laws. Ironically, although Roske supports gun control, he purchased a Glock 17, as well as a variety of other weapons, in order to kill the Justice. “After traveling all the way from California, Roske got out of a taxi in front of Justice Kavanaugh’s house, saw U.S. Marshals and walked down the street. He then called 911. He told the operator he was having suicidal thoughts, that he had a gun, and that he planned to kill the Justice. He was then apprehended by local police without incident. “We see the demonic leading of this man to plan to kill Justice Kavanaugh and then to kill himself. We also see divine intervention in Roske stopping at the last minute! “Intercessors, God hears and answers prayer. Let’s praise and thank Him and persevere in praying for protection for the Justices, their clerks, and all of their families. We don’t always know what our prayers are affecting—there could have been other plans for evil that were stopped due to the power of prayer. We DO know that this plan for harm was very obviously thwarted, inexplicably but for a supernatural intervention by God. “Please continue to keep Justice Brett Kavanaugh and his family in your prayers – as well as the other four Dobbs draft majority Justices and their families: Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett.”(1) Most legal scholars believe that it is illegal to protest and march in front of a judge’s home. This is because of a statute enacted in 1950: Title 18, Section 1507, of the U.S. Code. The law states that it is illegal, “with the intent of influencing any judge,” to: picket or parade “in or near a building or residence occupied or used by such judge, juror, witness, or court officer” “or with such intent,” to resort “to any other demonstration in or near any such building or residence” Tabatha Abu El-Haj, an expert on protest rights at Drexel University’s law school, said that the current protests at justices’ houses would fall under this statute, and that the statute, if tested, would probably be found constitutional.(2) Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Schumer is being criticized for fueling the anger and violence. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said of Schumer‘s inflammatory remarks: "’Chuck Schumer is on record on video, calling for violence, basically a dog whistle for them to come after Justices Kavanaugh and [Neil] Gorsuch,’ the Georgia Republican said on Newsmax's ‘John Bachman Now.’ ‘He named them by name, and he said they won't even know what hit them. Was he talking about a bullet? Was he talking about a knife? What kind of attack?’ “In March, Schumer, D-N.Y., was criticized after standing outside the Supreme Court, surrounded by abortion rights supporters, and commenting that Gorsuch and Kavanaugh ‘have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions,’ reports The Washington Post. “Greene also said that there has been no effort to go after the person who leaked the Roe v. Wade draft decision, which has left the conservative-leaning justices' lives in danger. Further, protests have been allowed to be held at the justices' homes, and that should have been stopped, Greene commented. "’There should have been a bigger effort by the Department of Justice to stop these protests, and thankfully, this man was arrested before he did the unthinkable,’ said Greene. ‘Democrat leaders like Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, and others, we don't see an effort for them to protect anyone but themselves.’”(3) Green was likely referring in part to the Democrats blocking a bill that would have protected the Justices and their families. Breitbart.com clarified: “House Democrats on Wednesday stalled a bill that would have provided additional security for Supreme Court Justices on the same day the man was arrested for attempting to murder Justice Brett Kavanaugh. “House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) made a unanimous consent request on the House floor to bring up S. 4160 for a vote. S. 4160, which passed the Senate by a unanimous vote, would have allocated additional security for the justices’ family members. “Despite McCarthy’s request, Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats failed to comply with McCarthy’s proposal to bring the bill to vote. “‘This is the same party whose heated rhetoric has encouraged political pressure on conservative justices,’ McCarthy stated. “As McCarthy noted, President Joe Biden’s White House encouraged protests on the front steps of Justices’ homes. “‘Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “I know that there’s an outrage right now, I guess, about protests that have been peaceful to date. And we certainly do continue to encourage that outside judges homes. And that’s the President’s position,” said McCarthy.’”(4) The murderous rage over the partial ending of abortion in America - the reversing of Roe vs Wade would not end all abortion, only send the decision back to each individual state - is a confirmation of its demonic roots. The bloodthirsty principalities and demons that have been empowered by the shedding of innocent blood, are enraged by the possibility of that ending. The spiritual and legal war over this issue is certainly not over, nor will it end if Roe versus Wade is overturned. We must remain incredibly diligent to pray for the Supreme Court and to continue our intercession for the ending of this evil. Pray with me: Father, we ask You to comfort and strengthen the Justices who are under this intense pressure and the threats of violence. Sustain and protect them and their families, staffs, and friends in the midst of this murderous plot. Protect them physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. May these attacks fail and backfire in the Name of Jesus! We persevere in our release of Spirit-led decrees and declarations against the evil law, Roe versus Wade. In doing so, we release the powerful sword of the Spirit against this stronghold. We declare that its hold over America is broken. We bind the enemy powers that have kept it in place. And we release the authority of the kingdom of God against this evil. We declare and decree, as we have done before, that satan will not be able to alter God’s timing and plans (Daniel 7:25). We bind his attempts in the powerful name of Jesus, declaring their success to be forbidden, according to Matthew 16:18-19. We boldly command, “Kingdom of God come! Will of God be done!” We do and say all of this in the powerful name of Jesus, who has all authority in heaven AND ON EARTH. Amen. Our decree: We decree that we will triumph over the evil of abortion and the unrighteous law, Roe versus Wade. Click on the link below to watch the full video. ____________________________________ https://ifapray.org/blog/plan-to-kill-justice-kavanaugh-stopped/ Adapted from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/11/protest-justice-home-illegal/ https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/marjorie-taylor-greene-kavanaugh-abortion/2022/06/08/id/1073529/ https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/06/08/democrats-block-bill-providing-additional-security-for-supreme-court-justices/

A Dragon, Calamity, and A Promise (Part 4 of 4) We have been discussing a dream in which Holy Spirit revealed 3 rooms, representing 3 scenarios in our nation. Two of them represented devastation and destruction, one represented revival and restoration. We were told that we can and must close the doors to the first 2 rooms, and open the door to the third. If you haven’t seen or heard the previous 3 posts, I urge you to do so. I believe you will find them instructive and enlightening. They also lay a foundation for today’s post. As I did yesterday, I will include the entire dream at the end of this post for your personal reference. We come now to one of the primary reasons I decided to address this dream on the posts. After showing us the 3 rooms, the angel gave us instructions on how to close and open the doors to each one. Three times he told us, “You cannot close or open the door/s with your hands.” This is obviously an important instruction. When the Lord repeats something, He is clearly emphasizing it. Hands represent our natural strength, gifts, efforts, methods, ideas, programs, etc. Holy Spirit is reminding us that human strength and ability will not be able to close the doors to the evil in our land. This is because the root of and power behind evil is spiritual, not physical. We are wrestling with principalities and powers of darkness (Ephesians 6:12), even though their efforts manifest through people. Zechariah said when speaking of removing spiritual mountains, “Not by might or power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord” (Zechariah 4:6). However, remembering this truth is more challenging than most believers realize. When dealing with issues that are seen, heard, and experienced physically, it isn’t easy to remember that they are often caused by invisible forces. Certainly, however, when dealing with the destiny of nations and people groups, demonic forces are involved. Resistance to reaching the lost, including the blinding of peoples’ spiritual eyes to the gospel, always involves spiritual forces (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). Likewise, when attempting to stop the “dragon” (satan) and his forces from destroying America, we cannot close the door to his activities through natural power and human methods. We must do so with spiritual power and weapons. This leads us to the next point. In the dream, we were told by the angel that the doors could only be opened and closed by the decrees of the apostolic Ekklesia. This is profoundly important. First, let’s make sure we understand what the angel meant by “apostolic,” then we will look at “decrees.” Apostolic Satan has worked hard to confuse and divide the body of Christ regarding the 5 giftings/functions of Christ mentioned in Ephesians 4:11 (apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher). He has done so because these 5 giftings represent the 5 aspects of Christ’s nature He gave the Church, with which we are to reveal and represent Him. No wonder satan works so hard at this! To simplify these giftings, think of them as Christ’s governing, seeing and hearing, reproducing, nurturing and teaching gifts. (Some refer to these gifts/functions as “anointings” because the name “Christ” means “anointed one.” The “Anointed One” broke Himself down into 5 anointings and gave them to the Church.) Much confusion has been created - no doubt with satan’s orchestration - by the Church taking what God intended as functions and making them titles and/or positions. This would be similar to taking the roles of mothers or fathers and making them titles. Being a father or mother isn’t a position or title; it’s something one does, a function. These functions of Christ are the same. What the angel meant by “apostolic” decrees wasn’t that they had to be made by an individual with the title of “apostle,” but that the decrees must be issued with Christ’s apostolic and governing authority. The apostolic gifting and anointing is more associated with the governmental anointing of Christ, which all believers can operate in. Just as a believer doesn’t have to be a prophet to prophesy or hear the voice of God, an evangelist to evangelize and lead someone to Christ, a teacher to teach and share truth, or a pastor to nurture and care for people, one does not have to be an apostle to operate in the apostolic, governmental authority of Christ. She or he must simply understand and embrace our governmental authority in Him, delegated to us as His Ekklesia. EVERY believer can operate in ALL the anointings of Christ to a certain degree, including His apostolic anointing. Decrees In the dream, the angel said the apostolic Ekklesia must release “decrees” to open and close the doors. Why decrees? Why not prayers? The answer is actually quite simple: speaking is the primary way spiritual power and authority are released. With His words, Christ created all that exists (see John 1). He spoke to a storm, not because storms can hear, but to release His authority (Matthew 8:23-27). He spoke to a fig tree and cursed it, not because fig trees can hear, but because His authority to release power was exercised by speaking, by words (Matthew 21:18-22). Christ spoke to nature, demons, dead people, and human body parts. And before He became human, He spoke into the heavens and to the earth at creation. His authority released His power, and this was accomplished with His words. And we release Christ’s delegated authority the same way. Back in the late 90’s Holy Spirit spoke a clear word to me: “[The Church] will fully shift the nation when the praying church fully shifts from priestly intercession only, to kingly intercession as well.” I immediately knew what He was saying. Priests minister prayers and worship upward - petitioning, appealing, worshipping, representing the needs of people to God. Kings, on the other hand, release authority downward from their seat of power, doing so through commands and decrees. Christ does both. He is our High Priest, representing us to God, and He is our King, representing God’s authority to earth. As His body, He needs us to represent Him by doing both: offering up priestly requests and releasing kingly decrees. The revelation that the Church is Christ’s Ekklesia has fueled this understanding. Many believers now realize they are seated with Christ (Ephesians 2:6) and that in His name, they CAN and MUST speak for Him. We are His voice on Earth. This authority, delegated to us, is released from our mouths. And quite frankly, some assignments can be accomplished no other way. The angel said, “these doors can only be closed and opened by the decrees of the apostolic Ekklesia.” At this moment in time, God needs us to rise up in boldness and declare His will and words into our nation. He did not say to ask Him; in this situation, He told us to declare His will! “Use your mouth, not your hands,” we were told. This is the meaning of Isaiah 22:22: “Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder, When he opens no one will shut, When he shuts no one will open.” Jesus has this key of government - it is on His shoulder (Isaiah 9:6-7). In Matthew 16:18-19, He said He would give us the keys. We have them now, and WE MUST USE THEM. In the dream, I, picturing the apostolic Ekklesia, fulfilled Isaiah 22:22, declaring forcefully and boldly: “MY CODE IS 22-22, AND WITH IT, I COMMAND THESE DOORS TO CLOSE.” And the doors slammed shut. I then declared: “AMERICA - THIS IS YOUR DOOR. IT IS THE DOOR OF YOUR PROMISE! I CALL YOU INTO YOUR PROMISED DAY OF REFRESHING, REMODELING, AND PURPOSE! AMERICA, THIS IS YOUR DOOR OF DESTINY: THE DOOR OF AWAKENING! IT IS NOW OPEN TO YOU, AMERICA, AND WILL BE THE OPENING OF THE NATION TO AWAKENING!” When I did so, the door opened fully, the wind of Holy Spirit sucked us inside the room, and awakening began. Again, in the dream, I picture the praying Church. We, the apostolic Ekklesia, MUST release His voice. To assist us in doing so, I have written several apostolic decrees, and will write more. We will release them together over the coming weeks. And in next week’s posts, I will be teaching more in depth on the power of biblical, Spirit-led, apostolic decrees. Release these decrees with me: We decree that satan’s ability to devour and destroy America will no longer be successful. We speak to his door of access and command it to close! We declare our faith in the mercy and blood of Jesus - that God has heard the repentance offered up by millions of believers on behalf of America’s sins and is healing our land. We decree that people in government and business will no longer feed our nation to the dragon through sins, compromise, and unholy alliances. We decree that their evil will be exposed, their funds will dry up, and their influence will end. We close the door to their control. We decree that the evil pictured by Nero - violence, lust for power, tyranny, murder, persecution of the church, insane laws and edicts - will no longer rule America. We close the door to the spiritual powers causing this destruction. We close the door to the destruction of our children, our families, our homes, our cities and our nation. We speak to the door of promise - the door of the awakening and transformation of nations - and command you to open. We call forth revival, refreshing, remodeling and reformation into America and the world. We prophesy to the wind of God: blow on the dry bones of America and the world. Reconnect our scattered bones, breathe life into us, and make us a great army. Salvation, healing, purpose, and destiny are in this wind - we decree its release NOW! Click on the link below to watch the full video. ______________________________________________________________________________ The Dream of 3 Doors (12/2/2022) “On 12/02/2022, the Lord gave me [Greg Hood] a dream. The dream opened with Dutch and I being led by an angel up to large, iron double doors. The angel took us through them, and inside we saw three doors down the left side of the room. Each door had a combination lock with a keypad on it. “We approached the first door, which was open slightly, allowing us to see a little of the room. Dutch reached and opened the door further so we could see more of what was inside. What we saw was unnerving - a dragon eating from a bowl that was shaped like the United States. As the bowl would become empty, men in suits replenished it. “We stepped away from the door, and it returned back to its original position - open, but only slightly. As the angel led us away from the door, I [Greg] reached to push it fully closed, but could not move it. While motioning us toward the next door, the angel said to me, ‘You can’t close it with your hands!’ “We approached the second door, and again, it was slightly ajar. Once more, Dutch reached out and opened it fully. Inside was a movie theatre with a movie playing on the big screen. The movie was depicting spiritual darkness causing all sorts of evil - famine, communism, war, and calamity. A man was sitting in the front row of the theatre. In the dream, we knew he was Nero, the former emperor of Rome. The movie became more intense. We could see cities being overrun, homes and families being displaced. Again, as we stepped away from the doorway, the door automatically went to its original position - open slightly. As we were led away from the door, I [Greg] again reached to push the door closed, but couldn’t do so. While motioning us to move toward the next door, the angel again said to me, ‘You can’t close it with your hands!’ “The angel then led us to the third door. This door was also cracked open, but a little more than the others. As we approached it, we could hear a sound coming from inside the room. Again, Dutch opened the door fully, and as he did, we could feel powerful energy coming from inside. This energy created a strong wind that was blowing outward, then sucking inward, like a person breathing, only much stronger. The wind was so strong it was moving us backward and forward. The angel of the Lord spoke and said, ‘This is the door to awakening and the transformation of nations.’ “The angel then said to Dutch, ‘These doors picture what America is now facing. They can’t be opened or closed by the hands of the prophet, but must be opened and closed by the decrees of the apostolic Ekklesia. Operate them with your mouth, not your hands!’ “Dutch then began speaking forcefully to the first two doors: ‘MY CODE IS 22-22, AND WITH IT I COMMAND THESE DOORS TO CLOSE, AND I DEADBOLT THEM CLOSED FOR GOOD!’ When he declared this, both doors slammed shut with powerful force, and an angel was placed at each one to ensure that it remained closed. “Dutch then turned to the third door and declared loudly and boldly, ‘AMERICA, THIS IS YOUR DOOR. IT IS THE DOOR OF YOUR PROMISE! I CALL YOU INTO YOUR PROMISED DAY OF REFRESHING, REMODELING, AND PURPOSE! AMERICA, THIS IS YOUR DOOR OF DESTINY: THE DOOR OF AWAKENING! IT IS NOW OPEN TO YOU, AMERICA, AND WILL BE THE OPENING OF THE NATION TO AWAKENING!’ “As Dutch finished declaring this, the wind and energy in this room sucked us through the doorway. And we knew the nation had been pulled into the room of awakening!” End of dream. You can find out more about Dr. Hood at GregHood.org.