Kings I have been sharing with you these the past several few weeks out of the incredible teaching of Prophets, Priests and Kings, the importance of our roles as Prophets and Priests. In the last session that I have posted on the blog, I have shown the importance of our ministry as Priests unto the Lord and our ministry of the Priesthood of the Believer. I will just go over some points that I have talked about in the last installment. If you have not had a chance to go over this teaching from the very beginning, I strongly encourage you to do so, in order that you may be able to comprehend the fullness of this great revelation. Remember how I said in the teaching of the PRIEST that we ARE NOT talking about a horizontal forgiveness, like “I forgive you,” we are talking about having the AUTHORITY and PRIVILEDGE of going before the God of the Universe and saying, “Father, let it be as if it never happened.” Next, I wrote about the importance of laying the groundwork for the Priest BECAUSE the Priest is like the LIGHTNING ROD OF GOD that ATTRACTS THE INTERVENTION OF GOD ONTO THE SCENE. Beginning with this segment I will be sharing with you about our ministry as KINGS. WHAT IS IT ABOUT KINGS THAT RELEASES THE REVELATION AND THE LIGHTNING OF GOD? Because this is such a long session, I will have this broken down into more installments at different times. But remember from the very 1st lesson, KINGS SPEAK ON BEHALF OF GOD TO MEN. If I may say, Kings have THREE MAIN roles. They have others as well, but I will only be focusing on the THREE most important ones. 1. THEY DECLARE AND DECREE THINGS 2. They sit as Judges, and 3. They fight WARS. I will get into this later. Let’s look and see. There are FIVE spheres of AUTHORITY in the Universe:1. The INDIVIDUAL2. The FAMILY3. The CHURCH 4. The GOVERNMENT 5. PRAYER The first FOUR spheres have LIMITED AUTHORITY. The FIFTH sphere SUPERCEDES ALL other spheres. Prayer is the HIGHEST AUTHORITY in the Universe – the authority of God Almighty. ALL of the other 4 spheres ARE subject to change as you release the 5th sphere of authority which is PRAYER. All this to say, whatever you are facing in your individual life, in your family, in your church or in your government, they ALL are subject to CHANGE when you release PRAYER into any of these situations that you are facing! WHY? Because when something is out of order in the first FOUR spheres, we have a MANDATE from the FATHER to DISALLOW and SUPERCEDE ALL that OPPOSES God’s will and IMPOSE God’s AUTHORITY! In the natural, you have the Law of Gravity. It is a fixed law in the universe, is it not? BUT it is a LIMITED LAW! There is a HIGHER LAW, the Law of Lift. PRAYER IS THE HIGHEST AUTHORITY! The HIGHEST form of prayer is to pray the WORD OF GOD! We see in Psalm 138:2b “…for You have exalted ABOVE ALL ELSE Your Name and Your WORD, and You have magnified Your WORD above all Your Name!” Now with that said, let me go on to also say the Word of God is the REVEALED WILL of God! It is HIS LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT!!!!! For instance, when a rich father dies, he leaves his children the Last Will and Testament right? In that Will and Testament are his LAST words and desires and wishes given to his children, including all his assets, everything he had and worked for all his life that he wants to now pass to his children. HOWEVER, this Last Will and Testament COULD NOT come into effect TILL the death of the father! NOW when Jesus died, He left us His Last Will and Testament. That is, ALL that He died on the cross for us to have, ALL the victories, His entire WORD, meaning, EVEYTHING that is written in it, ALL that is OUR FINAL WILL and Testament that our heavenly Daddy left for us! It was ALL SEALED, RATIFIED AND PUT INTO EFFECT BY JESUS’ DEATH! ALL OF THE PROMISES OF GOD FOUND THEIR YES answer in the BLOOD SACRIFICE OF JESUS! II Corinthians 1:20 tells us this very REAL fact. “For NO matter how many promises God has made, they are “YES” in Christ. And so thought Him the “Amen” is spoken by US to the glory of God.” What does “AMEN” mean? It means “So be it” or “So let it be”. SO THEN, the verse says that THROUGH HIM that is IN US, WE say the AMEN to ALL of His promises that ARE, NOT WILL BE MADE, BUT ARE ALREADY “YES” in CHRIST! So then, what form of word is the AMEN? It is A DECLARATION! So then, the DECLARATION IS SPOKEN BY US! What do Kings do? They make DECREES!!! They DECLARE! So what am I saying here? BECAUSE EVERY PROMISE IN THE WORD OF GOD IS ALREADY OURS BY INHERITANCE, BECAUSE WE INHERITED IT THROUGH HIS LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT THAT HE LEFT TO US HIS CHILDREN, WE DON’T HAVE TO ASK FOR IT IN THE FORM OF A PETITION OR REQUEST – (as we did in the Priestly Prayer. Remember, in the Priestly Prayers we come ON BEHALF OF MAN TO GOD, we stand in the gap on behalf of MAN TO GOD so in that PLACE of a PRIEST, we have at our disposal different types of prayers for us to use including Petition, Request, Travel Prayers and others. But because we ARE NOW NOT talking about being in the Priest Place BUT KING, KINGS DECREE!) WE SIMPLY SAY “AMEN! – SO BE IT!” We DECLARE IT SO! That which He has given to us in His Last Will and Testament is FOREVER SETTLED! IT is NOT open for debate! When Jesus taught the disciples to pray He said to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done!” That was in the form of an IMPERATIVE – in other words, it can be said, “KINGDOM of GOD, COME, WILL OF GOD, BE DONE!” DECLARE IT! So when we pray the Word of God, it needs to be in the IMPERATIVE – A DECLARATION – A COMMAND – or a PRAISE and THANKSGIVING to the Father for the FINISHED WORK of the CROSS. WE simply ENFORCE the FINISHED work of the CROSS when we pray the WORD OF GOD, or when we DECLARE those things that are NOT (experientially YET) as though they are. We see an example of this in Romans 4:16-17 – “As it is written, I have made you the father of many nations. (He was appointed our father) in the sight of God in Whom he believed, Who gives life to the dead and SPEAKS of the non-existent things that (He has foretold and promised) as if they (already existed).” Just like FAITH, is the substance of things HOPED for, the evidence of things NOT YET seen! We are speaking a CREATIVE WORD, just as GOD did when He said, “Let there be light!” Lazarus was dead, but Jesus released that CREATIVE word of God, the word of life. EVERY situation in the first FOUR spheres that is CONTRARY to the WORD OF GOD MUST ULTIMATELY YIELD to the HIGHER law! The WORD is ETERNAL, UNCHANGING, FOREVER SETTLED! EVERY SITUATION IS TEMPORAL, it IS subject to change! EVERY TEMPORAL, which is now inconsistent with the WORD of GOD, sooner or later MUST and WILL change. See, it is NOT a matter of, “IS God going to change my situation,” It is a matter only of “WHEN” and THAT “WHEN” is going to happen when YOU will be blessed the most, and when GOD will get the MOST GLORY! What am I saying you might be asking yourself? Well, let me give you an example. With Lazarus’ story, his sisters sent for Jesus to come and heal Lazarus, but He chose NOT to go. NOW, He KNEW that Lazarus would die if He did not go to heal him. Could He have gone to heal Lazarus? YES! Would God the Father have gotten as much glory for the miracle if Jesus would have went to see Lazarus the 1st time he was called upon, or the 2nd time he was called upon? Or did the Father receive the MOST glory when Lazarus was ALREADY dead and everyone thought that obviously the situation was now impossible to improve, to be solved, it was all over, it was too late, and here comes Jesus and raises him from the dead?! When did God get the most glory? When Lazarus was raised from the dead! So the enemy meant you can say for Lazarus to die, BUT Jesus applied the FINAL, CREATIVE WORD OF GOD to one of the 1st four SPHERES and in that, He turned around what the enemy MEANT for BAD into GOOD for Lazarus and his family and FOR the GLORY OF THE FATHER! SO, NOW let me say my point again….IT IS NOT A MATTER OF IF, IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF WHEN, AND THE WHEN WILL COME THROUGH WHEN IT WILL GIVE GOD THE FATHER THE MOST GLORY, when people will see your situation turned around under such IMPOSSIBLE circumstances, that they WILL have to recognize God and His power and give glory to Him! I encourage you when you face situations where you think that God is not hearing you, or situations where you have prayed and believed for something and still do not see the breakthrough, and you want to give up, because you think that God forgot ALL about you….REMEMBER it is not a matter of IF, only a matter of WHEN, and that “WHEN” will come down with such power and glory that it will astound everyone around you! To be continued next week……..
Forgiveness, Prayer, and the Lightning Rod of God!!!
Right before Christmas, we studied how forgiveness releases God’s vengeance, untying His hands in a situation where our unforgiveness and bitterness might otherwise keep Him bound. And when God releases His vengeance, it isn’t against those who have sinned against you or the ones you love, but against the demonic forces that are operating through, or controlling that person who has violated you, or others.Now we’ll take a look at what happened at the cross, and how Jesus was truly our example in how forgiveness opens the pathway for God’s vengeance . . . WHAT HAPPENED AT THE CROSS? What was the last prayer to come out of Jesus’ mouth before He died? “Father Forgive them for they know not what they do.” Jesus SET an example for Stephen did He not? He set one for you and me. Because He did that, releasing FORGIVENESS, a DIVINE REVELATON of WHO He is comes in for all that choose to see Him and receive Him! Do you see? The death on the cross was actually an INTERCESSORY act and He had to go THROUGH the valley of death in order to be given that authority to pray that prayer, and release the divine revelation and intervention of Heaven on earth! The Father has the greatest joy and He receives the greatest GLORY and the GREATEST VICTORY when you are in the place of your greatest woundedness, yet you are still able to say, “Father Forgive.” THEN HE GETS OFF HIS THRONE AND STEPS IN WITH A VENGANCE ON YOUR BEHALF!!! Let’s look at another aspect of the Priestly Prayer. Let’s say you are praying for a loved one that is suffering with something horrible in their lives. You are praying and praying and praying but still you see no results. What is a possibility of this? You see, if that person is in sin, that sin might have opened the door to whatever they are facing in their life to come in. LEGAL RIGHTS!! Sin brings consequences. HOWEVER, LOVE covers a multitude of sins! That is what the Bible says. What LOVE? The intercessory act that Jesus did on the cross! BUT someone needs to apply it just like the priests did in the Old Testament. We are no longer applying the blood of animals, but the blood of Jesus! Is this Biblical you ask? YES it is! Let’s take a look at an account in the Bible that clearly shows us this. Matthew 9 1-8 – “and behold they brought to Him a man paralyzed and prostrated by illness, lying on a sleeping pad, and when Jesus saw their faith He said to the paralyzed man, Take courage, son; your SINS are FORGIVEN and the PENALTY REMITTED.” And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man blasphemes – He claims the right and prerogative of God!” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil and harbor malice in your hearts? For which is easier to say, Your sins are forgiven and the penalty remitter, or say, Get up and walk?” (NOTICE JESUS JUST STEPPED FROM THE PRIESTLY INTO THE KINGLY ROLE! HE DECLARED THE WILL OF THE FATHER AS A KING AFTER THE SIN WAS COVERED AS A PRIEST WHEN HE SAID HERE “GET UP!”!!!) HE JUST APPLIED THE AUTHORITY OF HEAVEN TO THIS MAN’S CONDITION AND THE AUTHORITY OF HEAVEN TOUCHED EARTH – CAUSING A FULL MANIFESTATION OF WHAT HE JUST DECLARED IN THIS MAN’S BODY!!!) And in order that you may know that the Son of Man has AUTHORITY on EARTH to FORGIVE sins and REMIT the PENALTY, He THEN said to the paralyzed man, “GET UP!!! Pick up your sleeping pad and go to your own house.” When the crowds saw it, they were struck with fear and awe, and they recognized God and praised and thanked Him, WHO HAD GIVEN SUCH POWER AND AUTHORITY TO MEN.” Are we included in that word “MEN” YES!!! You see it? Another incredible scripture is John 20: 23… “Now, having received the Holy Spirit and being led and directed by Him, if you REMIT the sins of ANYONE, THEY ARE REMITTED; IF YOU RETAIN THE SINS OF ANYONE, THEY ARE RETAINED.” See that? Now back to the story of Jesus and the paralyzed man. Notice He did not tell the man to pick up his bed and walk! He knew that there were some sin issues that were in the way of his healing! He heard the Father (as a prophet 1st – remember a prophet simply is one that hears what the Father is saying) saying that there were sin issues there and that He could not intervene because of His character, so Jesus realized, “I’ve got to be a Priest before I can be a King to declare healing. I’ve got to stand in the gap and cover some sin here. Once I cover the sin, GOD, who has been waiting to bring in healing, can intervene with His divine INTERVENTION because the sin has been covered. The opening that the enemy had to bring infirmity or disease has been shot. NOW I AM NOT SAYING THAT THIS IS ALWAYS THE CASE! However, Jesus HEARD as a Prophet FIRST and discerned in this case, that there was sin in the way. He not only stepped in and covered the sin, but He REMITED the penalty. He released the man from the penalty that comes as a RESULT of the sin! As you are reading this, if you have had horrific things committed against you or if you have been a victim of ritualistic abuse, sexual abuse or physical abuse and if you have been through hell, this doesn’t minimize the awfulness of what has happened to you or make it ok!!!! What is does, is it MAXIMIZES the mercy of God and His Love and it brings Him glory! Your ability to release a priestly prayer brings Him glory because as we said before – the one with the greatest wounding has the GREATEST AUTHORITY!!! Remember what it DOES! It RELEASES God to bring judgment on those demonic powers that used the person or persons to come against you. Those demonic powers WILL NOT go unpunished by the Lord your Father IF you allow Him to step in by forgiveness, by asking Him to cover that horrific sin that was done to you and REMIT the punishment due TO THE PERSON. I have been through it; I have seen it work MIRACULOUSLY in my life! Now, back to Stephen’s story. After Stephen remits the sin, what happens in the very next chapter of Acts, in Acts 9 1-6? We see that Saul has an encounter with the living God. Now was Saul seeking out Jesus, or a revelation of Him? NO! He was entirely opposed to the purposes of God! BUT something happened on the way. He was met with a revelation of Jesus Christ. WHY? Because Stephen became a priest. The priestly prayer, releases divine INTERVENTION and it releases divine REVELATION. Again, ONCE THERE IS A REVELATION OF Jesus, sin is NO LONGER THE ISSUE! When we see God, all of a sudden we have a very clear perspective of who we are. THAT WILL BRING REPENTANCE, just like with Saul. I will end with this incredible revelation! The root word for PRAYER is LIGHTNING! PRIESTLY PRAYER IS THE LIGHTNING ROD OF GOD! I will write on this more in the Kingly teaching, BUT what does a lightening rod do? It ATTRACTS the LIGHTNING!!! The purpose of priestly prayer is to prepare the path for the release of the Word of God! It will PULL HEAVEN to earth! It will attract Heaven to earth so that Heaven and earth touch, so that Heaven will REFLECT on earth in ANY given situation that you are bringing before the Lord! WE are ATTRACTING GOD onto the scene; we’re attracting His KINGDOM on the scene! JOB 38:25 – “God prepares a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderbolt.” This is what we’re doing in priestly prayer! We are preparing a path for the thunderbolt of God, for the lightening and revelation of God to intervene in our situation! JOB 28: 26 – “The Lord makes a DECREE for the rain, and a WAY (PATH) for the lightning of the thunder.” In the next teaching, I will talk about KINGS which are the LIGHTNING of GOD! When we release the NOW SPOKEN CREATIVE WORD OF GOD, we are releasing LIGHT and REVELATION into the situation. But if we have not first covered and remitted the sin, there is NO ATTRACTION for it! We have not created a PULL or a PATH for the lightning to strike! As we cover the sin we are CREATING a PATH and we have created a PULL on Heaven – and ALL that Heaven represents and all of the authority of God to intervene in the midst of the situation. We created the PATH and we THAN RELEASE THE NOW spoken word of God and “BAM!” you have LIGHTNING!!!! That is REVELATION! Saul was literally KNOCKED OFF HIS DONKEY WITH A LIGHTNING BOLT THAT BROUGHT THE REVELATION OF JESUS! Dare to make a PATH for the LIGHTNING OF GOD to HIT!!
