HARVEST PRAYING

As we come to a close of our 21 Days - we are entering into a season of Harvest praying! This is the time that we are to be watching NEW DOORS FORM.  To “form” means to develop or mold the shape or outline of something, or to give meaning, character or nature to something. A forming season includes conceiving, training, and disciplining. 

The person in the Bible that has affected my prayer life the most, other than Jesus, is Daniel. I just love how he operated in victory in Babylon. He was truly “in the world, but not of it.” He was disciplined, sensitive, consistent, uncompromising, bold, supernatural, attentive to the past, but always pressing toward God’s expected end for the people of Israel. 
      
He understood how prophecy was important in our prayer lives. He knew we had to use the prophecies spoken, to war for our future! Take, for example, the situation when Jeremiah prophesied that the people of Israel would go into captivity, but would be released in 70 years. Daniel uncovered the prophetic writings of Jeremiah while Israel was still held captive in Babylon. He learned that Jerusalem must lie desolate for 70 years, and that 70-year period had now come to an end. 
      
Because of Jeremiah’s prophetic declaration, Daniel knew that now was the time to act. Jeremiah’s understanding of the future had turned into a “now” word for Daniel.  So, Daniel did four specific things to bring an end to Israel’s captivity:

1.  He prayed and fasted.  Jeremiah was specific in saying that the Lord would turn a deaf ear to His people for 70 years.  Now, however, Daniel knew that the kairos time had come to beseech the Lord for an end to captivity. 

2.  He repented for himself and his people.  Daniel confessed and repented not only for his own sin, but for the sins, iniquities, and failures of the Israelites that resulted in their captivity in the first place.

3. He received an angelic visitation.  God honored Daniel’s efforts and sent His archangel, Michael.  After three weeks of prayer, fasting, and repentance, an angel appeared to Daniel to tell him what was written in the “Book of the Future.” In other words, he told Daniel what would happen to his people.

4.  He received revelation of the future.  Because of Jeremiah’s prophecy, Daniel understood the times in which he was living.  Because he understood the times, he saw his window of opportunity and began to seek the Lord with great fervency.  When he did, he gained an understanding of the future God had for his people, and through obedience to God’s commands, could move them forward, out of their captivity.

When the word of God is released through prophecy, it is never forgotten.  It is stored in heaven until God is ready to release it back into the earth. 

Here is a prayer focus for you as you come to an end of this 21 Day Fast.

SEVENFOLD PRAYER FOCUS FOR YOU 

First, may you understand covenant in a way you have never understood before.  

Second, may your faith be built and connected to your experiences from the past.

Third, may your prayer life become more consistent. 

Fourth, may you press through in that hard situation that seems overwhelming. 

Fifth, may you break through for revelation in the future. 

Sixth, may you gain peace in the midst of the “lions” around you. 

Seventh, may our Lord reveal to you that open door for your future!

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. (Psalm 37:4, 5 ESV)