Beloved Intercessor,
Loving greetings from green, rainy Engeltal! Spring is in full swing with widely varied weather and fresh, young flora all around. The early greens of young leaves are growing darker as they grow larger. The drab dullness of winter has been replaced and in the same way, our hearts are warming and growing still more passionate toward the love of our Heavenly Father as He has been pouring out His Spirit here!
Consuming Fire Worship: Dean Braxton was here last weekend to share his experience of how he worshipped the Father when he was in Heaven during the hour and forty-five minutes when his body was dead. Jesus sent him back and he now spends most of his time evangelizing, but he feels led of the Lord to teach and share more in-depth when he comes here.
Dean explained that worship is much, much more than singing praise and worship songs to the Lord. It includes movements you make, dancing, bowing, prostrating yourself—and anything you do in the will of God, that is, your service to Him from the heart. He explains all this and more in his book, Deep Worship in Heaven, available in our bookstore. (Click this link to order online, or call (870) 715-0281 and press 2 for the bookstore. His other three books are also available.)
The format the Holy Spirit gave Dean was to teach first about worship and then put it into practice in each of the sessions. He brought Michelle Adams, an anointed worship leader, who opened up the Glory Realm. Dean encouraged us to go beyond what we have always done and try some new movement. Many responded and had great breakthroughs. There were some significant healings, as well, HALLELUJAH!!!
Pray, Pray, Pray, Pray! As I was getting ready to write this, I asked the Lord what He wanted me to bring. Shortly, I heard in my spirit, “Pray, Pray, Pray, Pray!” I immediately remembered a song that our Founder, Sister Gwen Shaw, wrote decades ago. We didn’t sing it often, but it speaks to our current situation in the world. I’ll share the words to the chorus here, but if you want to download the written music with all four verses, click here.
Chorus:
Oh pray, pray, pray, pray; Just pray, pray, pray, pray.
When the battle seems hopeless, Just pray, pray, pray, pray.
As we look to the Lord, with our trust firm in Him;
His promise stands true, He’ll give victory to you.
We know that Jesus is truly coming soon—how soon, we don’t know, but we have a LOT of work to do to bring in the Harvest and disciple nations in the meantime. And prayer and worship from our hearts to His is the key to the Outpouring of His Presence in Fire as on the day of Pentecost that followed Jesus’ ascension! The one hundred twenty remained in the Upper Room for about ten days in prayer before that first great Outpouring. As we walk with Him, co-operating with Him, we can fully expect to be doing His works and greater as we yield to the Holy Spirit as He did when He walked the earth. He was a Man of prayer and we must follow His example! Let’s multiply our prayer life in this season!
National Day of Prayer: I am writing this on the National Day of Prayer. Multiplied thousands of Believers will have gathered in local observances to pray and repent together, lifting America before our Father and asking for mercy. The televised observance is expected to reach 110 million homes. These events will have passed by the time you read this, but you can still continue to pray for the effectual, fervent prayers that were prayed to grow and multiply like the ripple effect of throwing a rock in a pond! May our Father receive these heartfelt, humble prayers and show us mercy, based on the power of His Son’s completed work on the cross. May the Glory of His Face shine on this nation and be gracious to us, pouring out His Holy Spirit to send a sweeping Third Great Awakening.
We are once again at a “Red Sea” moment where the situation looks bleak in the natural—but we aren’t looking with our natural eyes! We are looking through the eyes of faith at the Promises of God! Think of all the impossible situations in the scriptures where our Father showed His Glory by His miracles: Abraham and Sarah having a baby at the ages of 100 and 90, Isaac sowing his fields in a time of drought and reaping one hundred fold, the Exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt following ten plagues that devastated Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea on dry ground, manna falling from Heaven to feed the multitude, the walls of Jericho falling flat, the sun standing still in the Valley of Ayalon, David bringing Goliath down with a sling and a stone, enemy armies killing each other instead of Israel…. And the list goes on! We have precedent, Beloved! We can fully expect our Father to do His part when we do ours: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). Just don’t stop when the National Day of Prayer is over! We’ve only begun!
Fasting and Prayer for Israel: As I mentioned in the last prayer letter, the Lord has put it on the heart of Mike Bickle, founder of the International House of Prayer (IHOPKC), to call for one million intercessors to pray and fast (as they are able) for Israel and Jerusalem, May 7-28, 2023. They stopped counting when they passed one million on April first, but estimate that at least five million have committed to pray for Israel for at least one hour a day for 21 days (May 7-28). The intention is to believe God for the increase of His salvation promises and plans for Jerusalem and Israel. They are encouraging everyone to pray based on the twelve verses of Isaiah 62. This is a very significant time in Israel. Tensions are high, divisions are bitter, and dangers are intensified. But this unifying of the Body of Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One is unprecedented! We must Pray, Pray, Pray, Pray!
Many ministries are unifying in this prayer effort, Glory to God! And we are too! Sid Roth has come alongside and added some good prayer points: 1) Pray in Tongues! You will always pray the will of God that way and beyond human understanding. 2) Pray Romans 11:26 “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob’” (Romans 11:26 NKJV). 3) Pray the prayer of Moses in Exodus 33:18 “Then Moses said, ‘I pray You, show me Your glory!’” (Exodus 33:18 LSB).
Pray with Our Team in Jerusalem! We felt led to organize a one-hour daily prayer meeting with our team in Jerusalem at the House of Peace. Marylois Little will be leading a daily Zoom meeting at 7:00 PM Israel time, which is 12:00 Noon Eastern time, 11:00 AM Central, etc. If you would like to join us, you are welcome to click this link at the appointed time during May 7-28. We would love to have you join with us! We can be praying together from around the world! Let’s just pray, pray, pray, pray!
Tips for Fasting: There are unlimited possibilities for denying yourself something that you normally enjoy, and all of them will add weight to your prayers during this time as you lighten your soul of its control, whether is laying aside TV, social media, sodas, movies, or denying certain types of food, or denying food altogether. We have some good experience with fasting 21 days as it is the primary criterion for joining this ministry. If you have been thinking about doing this fast for Israel, you can add increasing the anointing in your life to your intentions and apply for membership following the fast. Our founder, Gwen Shaw, was given the pattern of fasting 21 days for the anointing by using diluted fruit juices (approximately 25% juice or less and 75% or more water). Our Membership Coordinator of many years, Betty Coates, introduced boiling vegetables to make a broth. You can freeze the vegetables for later use and drink the broth. Diluted low sodium chicken or beef broth, the juice of half a lemon with a teaspoon of honey in hot water, and herbal teas are all possibilities to use. Since I have experienced low blood sugar issues (weakness, shakiness), I learned that I could use licorice root tea (not for use if you have high blood pressure) to dilute orange juice, but clear juices are preferred, if possible.
It’s also a good idea to get off of caffeine products before your fast by weaning yourself a little at a time. Headaches are common when getting off coffee, etc., but you can decrease your consumption over time to get off without headaches. You can also use caffeine pills (Jet Alert, NoDoze, etc.) to help you in the weaning process.
And it’s very important, once you have completed your fast that you take the same number of days you fasted to get back to normal eating. In other words, if you fast 21 days, continue to deny yourself for another 21 days by eating very light foods in small quantities at first, and slowly increase to normal. Otherwise, you are likely to put on weight that is difficult to lose, as your body thinks it’s in starvation mode and grabs food and makes it stick! More great advice is available in Gwen Shaw’s Bible study, Your Appointment with God, available as a book or downloadable electronic version (PDF).
Mark Your Calendar! The Global Outpouring Convention 2023 is scheduled for Tuesday, July 4-Friday, July 7 at the Glory Tabernacle! Speakers include Tony Kemp, Etienne Blom, Claren McQueen, and me. We expect to have the registration page up on our website soon!
Youth and Young Adults Retreat Returns! August 9-12. More details will be coming, so pray with us for it to be all that our Father has in mind and that everyone He wants to be there will be able to come.
School of the Supernatural—Translation by Faith, September 4-9, 2023: Bruce and Reshma Allen, and Michael and Gordana Van Vlymen will be with us once again to bring a very clear, scripture-based teaching about some of the supernatural signs, wonders, and miracles that we should be expecting as we yield ourselves fully to the Lord in loving obedience to Him. Come for this school and learn! The cost is $550, which includes tuition for six days of classes, seven nights’ accommodations, and all your meals. Click here for more information.
Deep Appreciation! Thank you so much to each one who is standing with us in prayer and giving as the Lord leads you. We so appreciate your co-operation with the Holy Spirit as we work together for His Kingdom purposes!
Your handmaiden and servant,
Sharon and Philip