We are living in an age of darkness and without God intervening, this generation will end up hopeless. We are up against a lawlessness that sets itself against all that is from God. We must never lose sight that the battle we fight is for the souls of men. It doesn’t matter how difficult life looks when we turn to God in prayer we are empowered to pull down every stronghold. We must take a stand by getting on our knees to push back the darkness and bring about a season of mercy through prayer.

This message encourages us to know God in the high and holy places but also to know Him as our Father. God gives us the opportunity to escape religion and enter into the love of Jesus. Religion causes us to focus on self and everything we do wrong. A true relationship with our Father will cause us to understand even though we may fail God will be faithful to us.

In Acts 7 when Stephen is being stoned to death he see Jesus standing but not helping. Why wouldn’t Jesus intervene and save Stephen? We wonder the same thing sometimes about our own “death” circumstances that God allows in our lives. There is no true fruit in the Christian life without death. Christ uses these situations to uproot and remove things in our heart that are hindering His life from flowing in and through us. Let our prayer not be, “Lord, deliver me from this!” but, “Lord, give me grace and strength as you work out your purposes through this trial.”

The church of Jesus Christ began with the promise of a divine enablement to those who would turn from their sin and recognize Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. In the last days many will settle for an appearance of godliness and abandon God’s purpose for them on the earth. We must beware of always learning but never allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us into the purpose and the place where truth will lead us. In the last day’s the church we will end up where the church began—in the prayer room so that God’s power will be rediscovered. Let us be a people full of the power of God so we can step into public view and point to Jesus Christ the Savior of the world.

God is our Father and fathers say, “No.” When God says no it’s not rejection—it’s protection. This is the bad math equation: a tough season plus an open door doesn’t always mean God wants you to leave a hard place. Stay put and God will give you strength. The one that causes the wounds can be the very one that heals the wounds when you choose to stay in the difficult places. Many times God’s “no” is a course changer.

Have you deviated from the path of God in pursuit of self? If we don’t get the self-focus out of our heart, we will begin to create another Christ that will accommodate our selfish pursuit and we will end up in a dry place. Today, if you have this cry in your heart, “God come and speak to us, we are dry and we have lost our confidence and our joy is almost gone.” God’s answer to you is, “Hear the Word of the Lord.” God desires to give you a power source that is not your own. He will bring you up out of every place where death has reigned.