Blessings to you as you progress into the new! The Lord impressed me to send an "8-Day Prayer Focus" each month of this calendar year. From a prophetic perspective, this is a Feast of Tabernacles Year. In this year of "8", the Feast represented by 8 is the Feast linked with Rosh Hashanah--the Feast of Tabernacles. This is the point in time when we enter the new season each year. This past year, the Feast of Tabernacles was from September 26-October 4. I think you should look back to see what was happening and stirring in your life at that intersection in time. You will probably find that the Lord was initiating or preparing you for some sort of ending and beginning at that time.
Each month of every year is linked with a blessing. The blessings of each month this year should be evaluated from the concept of "New Beginnings." In the Feast of Tabernacles we are called to rejoice and remember our wilderness deliverances. After seven days of celebration, on the Eighth (8) day, we "Rest."
This Eight (8) Day Pray Focus will assist you in entering into a new place with the Lord, or "going beyond" the place you have been halted or stopped in the past. All 8's are linked with GOING BEYOND into a new level of GRACE!
Enter Into Your NEW!
The word NEW is an interesting word. All Eights (8's) are linked with some "new" beginning. I love Isaiah 43:18-19 which says: "Stop dwelling on past events and brooding over times gone by! I am doing something NEW! It's springing up--can't you see it? I am making a road in the desert, rivers in the wasteland."
A new thing can be happening, but in the midst of a beginning, we can fail to perceive the change. In this year of Eight (8), 5768 and 2008, we must remember and contextualize everything within the understanding that we are entering a "New Beginning." Remember, an END always precedes a Beginning. Therefore, the question becomes this: "How are you reacting when an END comes and a NEW BEGINNING starts?"
I love the story of Lazarus' death. This account is a perfect example of how to perceive an END and a NEW BEGINNING. Jesus is notified of Lazarus' sickness and decides to not rush to meet the need. As a matter of fact, He chooses to go to Judea rather than Bethany, the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus! His disciples have a very hard time grasping the reality of the situation. When He arrives in Bethany four days later, you find Martha standing and questioning the Lord over why He was not there when they needed Him. The Lord tells her, "Martha, if you would believe you would see the GLORY of God!" (paraphrased).
Mary then approaches the Lord with the same question, but her posture is one of falling at His feet as a sign of respect, honor and submission. Mary's appeal to the Lord touched the core of His emotions, the very heart of God. This caused Him to groan deeply and release great compassion that led to resurrection power. This was a catalyst that created a chain of events that escalated the need for Him to complete His mission and get to Jerusalem and accomplish the redemptive plan of the Father for you and me.
All 8's are linked with RESURRECTION POWER. The series of events that we see Mary creating is key to our lives this year. In all of your situations, circumstances, and endings, let a worship posture be exhibited. This will move the heart of God and release a catalytic change in the earth realm and atmosphere around you. "When it's time for the NEW, your FOCUS should be: Am I PREPARED to wait until a full manifestation occurs?
To EVALUATE all new beginnings, ask yourself these questions:
1. Is the situation or circumstance you find yourself in causing you to question God's heart and love toward you and making you RESIST your new beginning?
2. Is the enemy using your reaction to stop you from moving into God's best?
3. Are you kicking against the pricks and attempting to move in a way that Holy Spirit is developing checks in your spirit? Are situations or circumstances creating roadblocks to STOP you from entering into a WRONG "new" beginning?
4. Is the situation or circumstance that is happening in your life initiating a chain of events leading to a new beginning? Sometimes one event in your life is a catalyst for many other things. Perhaps you have not seen the end of the thing that has begun to get you to your new place!
5. Is your situation or circumstance creating an offense that keeps you from advancing?
Prayer Focus
Here is an "8 Day Prayer Focus" to assist you as you press into the NEW this year. This focus is built around the Hebrew month of Shevat, the month of Asher. Remember, you can repeat this as many times as you wish. Also, you do not have to complete this Prayer Focus in only 8 days. The purpose is to help you become NEW!
DAY 1: Read and memorize John 14:12-13, "...ask anything in MY NAME and I will do it!" Stop and celebrate over these verses. This is a season of going beyond! We must see a manifestation of the Lord and His Glory in our midst so we can see our future. To manifest means to "reveal or cause something to shine or illuminate." The Lord is saying "I will cause your way to shine!"
Rejoice each day as you speak this word forth into your atmosphere. Read these verses three times a day. STAY AVAILABLE TO THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE WORD! Don't stop at your last blessing, but keep looking for new manifestations of God's blessings in your life. Break any mindset that says, "This is all there is...I cannot see the Lord blessing me in new ways!" Also, don't think that you are the source to produce your more! This is actually "a works" mentality that is rooted in poverty.
DAY 2: Read Matthew 24:32-36. Watch the NEW BUD that is coming forth! See what the fig tree teaches! How will what has dried up and not blossomed in the past begin to bear new fruit in your life? This month, press into the blossoming that will produce the fruit and the oil for your future. List on a sheet of paper what you wish to see blossom in your life. Review what has dried up and ask the Lord to show you a new "bud." Also read Isaiah 35 and Haggai 2. Be willing to be shaken and pressed so the latter glory will be greater than the former. Feel the weight and pressing of His glory that will produce the oil for your future.
Finally, read Psalm 92. Declare that a new anointing will begin to manifest in you in the next several months. A nine month process is necessary for the olive tree to blossom, for its harvest to mature, and to be harvested for the production of oil. Decree that this month your blossoming begins. Expect the pressing and pouring out of your new anointing. Rejoice over the Latter Glory.
DAY 3: Read Genesis 22 and Isaiah 59. This is a season to connect generationally! This will produce a sustaining inheritance in the Lord. Our generations possess the gates. Ask the Lord to roll up all the blessings of your generational bloodline that have never manifested and cause those blessings to begin to manifest. This is a year of manifestation! In many of the first chapters of each book of the Bible, there is either a death or a birth.
DAY 4: Read Genesis 1, Exodus 1, Joshua 1, 1 Samuel 1, Matthew 1, and Acts 1. Certain things need to end so you can see your beginning. Let go of things in your bloodline that God exposes. Certain people will die and it will end a season for you. Others will be born. Honor those who have gone before you. Honor your father and mother so that you might live long and prosper. Receive the next amount of revelation to "possess the gates of your enemy."
DAY 5: Read Genesis 15, Psalms 9 & 11, Isaiah 11, and 2 Corinthians 5-6. Memorize and meditate on Matthew 3:15. Ask the Lord what "one thing" you need to do to unlock your next phase. Jesus had to be baptized by John. Let your right standing come forth! The Lord is longing to crown you with righteousness. If we refuse to wear this crown, then the accuser will begin to attack and condemn you later in the year. Dominion comes when we wear this crown (Psalm 9). We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, but you must wear the crown of that righteousness. Our righteousness must become experiential.
Stand in your righteousness. Set your face to obey and to do what will keep you in right standing so the enemy can't accuse you later for not doing something you should have done. Ask the Lord to reform the foundation for our standing. Some of you are having to make shifts because the foundations you stood on in the past seasons are too shaky for you to stand on in the next season. Some of you made great shifts back in July and September. Now allow the Lord to solidify your stance so you walk in the fullness of what He will cause to blossom.
DAY 6: Read Genesis 24-26. This is a time the Lord desires to remove stones from our wells, create new wells, and bring us into an enlarged place. He longs to water the roots of our future. The Spirit of God has been taking us through a process of pulling out old root systems that will not produce the necessary fruit for the next season. This month there is a new watering and refreshing which goes down deep into root systems that have not been watered. Look for those you are aligned with this month that can fill your pitchers for the future.
Let revelation and supply strategies be poured into you. At times, even that old religious structure can be your supply. This is a month that water will be poured out and turned to wine. Read John 2. Jesus had pots of water that were used for the purification ritual brought to Him and then He shifted everything. Look at all your alignments this month. New energy will arise in you. Your identity can be shifted and reformed suddenly! Also meditate on John 4.
DAY 7: This is a day of celebration. Meditate on your favorite Psalm. Spend this day celebrating. Do not let "joy robbers" stop you from experiencing God's best. The Spirit of God will see to it that you celebrate. If you feel like your celebration is dwindling, just ask Him to release an anointing of gladness for three more days. This will sanctify you and cause you to press past that old season. This month the trees clap their hands. The wind blows in the mulberry trees. Read 2 Samuel 5.
Ask that your root system would be reformed and that the roots deep in you would be watered and flourish. Watch the trees. Watch some blossom prematurely. Watch others go into their place of nourishment. Watch how the winds blow through the trees this month. Watch the direction of the winds. Watch where the winds blow! Catch the wind that will allow you to come from behind--you can catch up quickly. Your bills will not overtake you this month. The strategy to catch up will overtake you, and you will move into that new place of victory. You will surprise the enemy this month! The Lord is saying, "I will give you cautions well in advance so you can shift the direction of your path." Read Psalm 16!
DAY 8: The tribe of Asher is associated with the month of Shevat. Asher was linked with pleasure and happiness and with words like delicious and fat. His mother was Zilpah, Leah's handmaid. Read Genesis 30:13 and Genesis 49. During movement and war, Asher was positioned between Dan and Naphtali (Numbers 2:27). The boundaries of the inheritance given to Asher (which contained some of the richest soil in Palestine) and the names of its towns are recorded in Joshua 19:24-31 and Judges 1:31-32. The wealth offered to this tribe could have been its downfall.
Pray for the economy this year. Great fluctuations and shakings will occur in the earth. One of the promises to Asher was that he would dip his heel in oil. Watch the oil structures this month and every nation aligned with oil, every state aligned with oil, and every place that is an oil reservoir. If you understand the effects of oil, how it effects the commodities, and know how to operate financially in that, you can do well! The automobile industry must begin to make a shift this month because of oil. We need to see new inventions this month, so watch for their announcement. They actually mean something this month.
Your anointing begins to be produced in a new way this month. Beware of falling into religious structures; trust for an anointing to come forth that will overthrow all old structures that have stopped you in the past. Memorize and meditate on Isaiah 10:27.
Anna, the prophetess, was of the tribe of Asher (Luke 2:36) and recognized the Christ child. Therefore, ask the Lord for a new dimension of discernment. Read Hebrews 4 and 5. Ask the Lord to bring us past milk. Let us digest the protein the Lord is giving us this month. Declare that we will step through the gate of life into a new type of nourishment. Go out with joy, delight and happiness!
Read Daniel 1. Remember Daniel and his friends ate vegetables. They were healthy and their faces radiated! Watch what you eat these next three months. Many fast at this time of year. There are many ways to fast. Let the Lord choose your fast at times (Isaiah 58). You must shift in certain patterns or else these patterns will remain with you the rest of the season ahead. Be willing to change so you are not captured in an old, familiar place. Let God tell you the one thing you need to do.
I was with one of my children's friends and noticed that he had lost weight. He said that he lost 30 pounds by not drinking soft drinks or eating fast foods for the last three months. Don't get in bondage in any ways this year--just ask the Lord to shift your appetite. It's not really about eating, but about appetite and faith! Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you! Lay your hands on your esophagus and stomach and decree healing for the esophagus, stomach and digestive system of your body. Also, declare the Body of Christ will be able to digest new revelation. Ask the Lord to allow you to spiritually digest what you could not in the past season.
2008 is a Year of Gates! In this year of going through the gates, seek the Lord for His blessing each month. Find the places where the revelation of Heaven intersects with a gate in the earth realm. Revelation creates the entry way for your next opportunity. May the Word of God come alive in you in a new way. Receive a spirit of revelation. I decree that this is just a beginning of new manifestations in your life. You will see many things happen. May you see new prosperity, digest new revelation and receive a new anointing. May you create new inventions.
In Jesus' name I send you into this Year of the Gates, the Year of New Beginnings and into all your blessings that will manifest and blossom.
Blessings,
Chuck D. Pierce
Glory of Zion Ministries
(Los Angeles, CA)—Two of the nation's most influential pro-abortion leaders have admitted publicly that the pro-life movement has convincing arguments that pro-abortion forces have no response to.
(
Olive Farmer, 80, a resident of Red Bluff, died Friday, January 18, 2008 in Redding, CA.
Notes Thomas: "Depending on how one counts the number of abortions per year since 1973, more than 50 million people who might have been are not. These were people who, regardless of the circumstances of the women who carried them, had the potential to contribute to the country and to the world. But now they cannot, because they are not." (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
(United States)—There was encouraging news on Thursday, regarding the number of abortions performed in the U.S. A new study by the Guttmacher Institute, which deals with reproductive issues, showed that the abortion rate had fallen to its lowest level in nearly twenty years.
(
I believe as we look to this passage of Scripture to be our goal in this new year—pressing in to God, and into a closer, deeper relationship with Him as the means of achieving it—then we will look back at this time a year from now, and be able to see that growth. It will be a growth by God's own hand, the work of His Spirit in us.