Can you hear the battle-cry?

Dear brothers and sisters, let us be in prayer. We will be entering a season of spiritual warfare and testing. This is the rite of passage whenever we are to take new territory. Whether it be in our soul, family, finances, and or spirit. Maybe it is all of the above. Whenever we take new territory we need to be prepared for the battle. Jesus already won but we must dispossess the enemy. We do that by arming ourselves with the Word of God! We do that by prayer and fasting! We do that by thanking and praising God! Does it hurt? Yes! Is it going to be hard! Absolutely. Warriors are not born they are made. Don't expect the devil to leave you alone when you are down. Don't expect him to cut you a break. Quite the opposite. The devil comes in your wilderness. He comes when your hungry, tired, alone, and contending. We have only one thing to answer, "IT IS WRITTEN!" Doing all to stand. Do you know what that means? You don't budge. You don't even wink an eye. You don't retreat. You don't throw in the towel. Help is coming. God will send angels to minister to you. Stand in faith. I'm talking to me and many of you this morning. If you want new territory then you will need to pay the price. Don't expect everything to be handed to you. It doesn't work that way. Get up, stop feeling sorry for yourself, and playing the victim. Realize you have favor, blessing, and victory. Can you hear the battle cry! It's time to call a solemn assembly. It's time to bow our faces to the ground, in humility to God in repentance. Then we will hear from heaven. It will stop the devil right in his tracks. If that's what you want to happen in your life then that's what we need to do. It's time to go to God's throne room and win our battles in our knees.
Jaziz Gutierrez

Put Unbelief Outside!

While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” Mark 5:35

Have you ever been standing for a miracle when someone from church comes to you with the discouraging news that what you are believing for is beyond the help that Jesus can give? They start sharing about either their failed faith experience or that of someone they know. Such was the case with Jairus a ruler in the synagogue whose daughter was dying. While Jesus was on the way to pray for his daughter, a woman with an issue of blood received her healing and immediately after that some people from church informed Jairus that his daughter was already dead. Sadly, many times we know Jesus heals but have a difficult time believing that God will do the same for us. We allow the experiences of other people's failures in church to dissuade us from standing for our miracle. Be sure that the the devil is always shouting GIVE UP, GIVE UP Jesus can't do this. Don't even bother him with prayer. 

Not only does the devil use people to make you feel that Jesus can't help you but the devil wants you to believe that what you are believing for is dead. Are you dead in the water financially? Is your marriage dead and has your love grown cold? Do you feel that God is distant and unreachable? Maybe you are looking at your situation and it looks lifeless. It doesn't even look like it has a pulse. Is what you have been believing for been dead for days, years, and decades? Are you accusing God of not being on time? Do you feel that if only he would have been there for you things would have turned out differently? Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” (John 11:21-22) As you can see our natural response in times of crisis is to take a stand of accusation towards God's character when actually it our hearts that God is dealing with. 

There are some of you who are believing for the prodigals to come home but feel that their sin may be too great for God to pull them out of. I am declaring that even if we are DEAD in our trespasses, and sins that God's resurrection power can bring life to those dry bones! I don't care how far you have run from God. The moment we repent from our hearts God is ready to begin the restoration process, and make us alive again! "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins." (Ephesians 2:1) But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-5) Part of God's restoration process is to once again give us our rightful position as son's and daughter's in His kingdom. He makes us to sit together with him in heavenly places. 

And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” (Ezekiel 37:3) As the prophet Ezekiel stood in the valley of dry bones he saw nothing but death, destruction and wasteland of what used to be a great and mighty army for God. Sometimes we can look at people on the street, look at fallen ministers, look at our prodigals, and look at the lives of people who the enemy has destroyed with a sense of hopelessness. God then turns to us, and asks, "Can it live?" The prophet modestly answered, "Only you know." That's the problem we have. Sometimes when we are faced with something that is too hard for us to believe for we throw back the responsibility of believing on God with "If it is your will." I am going to say this boldly, "IT IS ALWAYS GOD'S WILL THAT WE LIVE FOR HIM! IT IS ALWAYS GOD'S WILL THAT OUR LOVED ONES COME INTO THE KINGDOM!" 
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 God is not slacking off. He is waiting for us to speak to the dry bones, our wilderness, our storm, and our circumstances. We were made in His likeness, and have the power to declare what we want to see happen. Some of you need to dip your tongue in God's Word, and start declaring God's promises of those lifeless situations until your Lazarus comes forth. We need stop throwing the responsibility on God, acting helpless, hopeless, and start believing we serve a good, good Father. Come on can anyone say Amen! Brothers, and sisters it is time to believe God's Word. It is time to stop being victimized by the devil, and yes even in some cases stop making excuses. 

Today let us pray: Lord, I am believing and even declaring a shift over my circumstances. I am speaking to those dry bones. I am calling my Lazarus of impossibility out of the tomb. Live! I call back the prodigals, the stubborn and rebellious back into the house of God! Help me God to be love, and love them back into your loving arms! I choose today to dip my tongue into your Word, and write a different story about my life. I will prosper as my soul prospers. I will live, and not die. I will serve the Lord and become a fruitful servant in His kingdom! I am revival and his passion forever will live in my heart. Nothing is impossible for you God. Resurrect my situation in Jesus name!

Get Your Prayers Answered!

One of the biggest complaints I quite commonly hear among Christians is that their prayers are not answered. While there may be many reasons our prayers not being answered, there are times that we fail to recognize when God does. For example I had a friend who prayed to be married for years. He had gotten a girl pregnant and the girl truly loved him. He didn't find her attractive but she was a terrific mother and would have made a great wife. Before long she moved on and she got married. He was very upset! All he would do is complain about how someone else was raising his child. She waited quite a few years on him but he was caught up in indecision and being picky about her looks. She was actually a good looking gal. I ran into him years later, he was still alone, single and wishing he could be in his daughter's life full-time. Unfortunately, he failed to recognize the gift God had brought into his life and missed out on his blessings. His expectations were way out of the boundaries of being reasonable so he did not receive what he was believing for. I hate to say but this happens more than we think. We fail to seize the moment or enter into the doors God opens. We start to put unreasonable expectations on God.

A good example of a an unreasonable expectation is to believe for a young beautiful looking spouse when we are old and mediocre looking. The truth is many people believe for things in their flesh because they have been looking at far too many magazines. Most people do not look like Hollywood stars my friend. For instance, you might be entertaining mental fantasies that has created unreasonable expectations of your mate. You may be missing out on someone who is already in your life willing to love you but your are too hung up on an ideal that no one can live up to. Our selfish desires sometimes cause us to miss out on our answered prayers!
Another way you can miss your answered prayer is if you think you are too good for a job, a person or an opportunity. Pride will keep you from receiving from God. It isn't realistic to believe for something you can't afford. I knew a brother who refused to get a used car even though he was on a budget and instead wanted a new one off the lot. The most expensive one! Well the money came and went with no car. I knew another Christian who lost a job opportunity because they decided to make unreasonable demands for a salary. The employer never called back. You have to know when you are in a position to bargain and when you are not. Perhaps you are believing for a house when you don't have a job to make the payments. You may get what you prayed for but then not have the money to make the payments. We can't allow presumption to cloud our reasoning. God wants us to operate in wisdom. We must count the cost of every relationship, purchase, decision and hear God's voice in every matter. Faith may get us what we want but wisdom will help us keep what we received by faith.

Believe it or not unrealistic expectations caused the Jews to miss their Messiah. The Jews could not receive their king because they were stumbled at the fact that Jesus was looked upon a everyday blue collar worker. "Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him." Mark 6:3 They couldn't get over the fact that they knew him and the town he was from. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” John 1:45-46 They were expecting a Moses or Elijah and expected to be delivered from the hands of the Romans. They expected Jesus to overthrown the Roman government by force like Joshua or David but Jesus came to establish a kingdom that could not be seen. When the time came and Jesus was crucified they thought all was lost. They rejected Jesus as their savior because He did not meet their expectations.

This can also happen in spiritual relationships when people create unreasonable expectations of people in leadership. The truth is they couldn't possibly live up to the expectations they place upon others themselves. They expect every call, e-mail, or glance to be acknowledged or they get offended and leave the church. The problem with that is that they are probably missing out on something God had for them but they were never were around to receive it because of offense. There are people that literally wander around for years without anyone to speak into their lives and mentor them because they continually find fault with those over them. They want God on their own terms and on their own time. It doesn't work that way. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8

In fact not being able to make to make up our mind, being hesitant, fearful, or expecting way too much are all signs of being double minded. Which really means that we are of two mindsets. The bible exhorts us this way, 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:6-7 Instability is caused by our lack of faith or double mindedness it causes us not to receive what we prayed for.


Not only can we miss God's answer to prayers because of our expectations are not reasonable but also because our expectations are too low. Perhaps we are asking God for a job with benefits and weekends off but then take a job that works us on the weekends with no insurance. Little did we know that the next call would have been our dream job but we failed to wait for it. Our unbelief can cause us to settle for less. Our desperation can cause us to be hasty.. We can't act out of desperation we need to move in revelation. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. James 1:5 Yet, it happens all the time we get so impatient with the process of waiting that we jump ahead of God. I wonder how many people got married to the wrong people because they jumped in the sack before really waiting on God for the answer? I had a friend who desperately wanted to get married. He didn't care to who; he just wanted to be married. Well finally a girl complied and she ended up abusing him. Before long they divorced and I never heard from him again. He was the sweetest guy you could ever meet but he settled for less. How is God going to answer your prayers if you aren't willing to wait? "What are you believing God for?" What do you want? It is ok to be specific within reason.

Here is a great example from my own life. I was looking for a car and was a place of desperation because the car we were driving was breaking. We went to a car lot, quickly began the contract and went to get the money. We never signed anything they were still getting the car ready. My husband could not get peace. We called for prayer and the Pastor encouraged us not to be hasty but wait on what we really wanted. We felt embarrassed but we decided to go up the street to another lot. There it was, a natural gas car that my husband always wanted. We knew right away that we wanted it. It was what we waited for. I am so glad that we listened to the lack of peace we were feeling it saved us hundreds of dollars in gasoline. If we take the time to listen to God and wisdom we too can have our prayers answered.
You might be thinking, shouldn't someone do what they said they would do? It is better to back out of your commitment than to make a longtime mistake. We can't allow pressure to cause us to make detrimental choices. We can't ignore the red flags and sirens going off just because we don't want to look bad. Never ignore the red flags. I don't care if you already planned the wedding and caterers. God will do what he can to warn us but we need to take the time to hear Him. We can't allow ourselves to be people pleasers. We also can't be indecisive or hesitant because like I mentioned before we will miss out on God's answer for our lives. You may be asking God for a promotion but because you are hesitant to ask your boss for it you miss out on the favor God has for you.

Also, many people pray but don't follow through with their part. You have to put feet to your prayers! You can't expect to become wealthy by sitting at home without a college education, without trying to look for work or at least allowing God to prosper you through witty inventions or creative ideas. For some reason many Christians believe that somehow if they mystically put their money in the basket every week that they will automatically prosper. God's word says he will bless the work of our hands but that means you have to work. It seems like everyone wants to live off the gospel now or days. However, more than ever Christians are needed in the marketplace like places of government, medicine, education, entertainment and etc. I always hear about this wealth transfer that will supposedly come from the world. That my friends will happen when Christians leave their pews and start cooperating with God's plan to take over areas of influence. God has called us to take dominion over the earth. If you read the bible you will see God always raised up leaders among his people. Daniel, David, Solomon, Esther, Joseph and Moses were in key government positions. They were the decision makers of their day. Deborah was a judge and the general did not go to war without her! Abraham was a wealthy real estate tycoon he just needed an heir. God loves to bless his people but his people need to rise up to action.

Just to recap on how to get your prayers answered:
1. Set reasonable expectations by setting attainable goals. People don't plan to fail; they fail to plan.

2. Don't lower your expectations; God can do great things! Don't be hesitant, fearful or allow self doubt. This is unbelief and double mindedness. You will never reach solid ground in your life if you allow your mind and emotions to rule you.

3. Don't wait around for God to do everything rise up to action! Don't expect others to do things that you can do for yourself. Be proactive in what God has shown you.

4. Don't be afraid to change your mind if you have made a mistake. Please God not men!

5. Remember to get wisdom and revelation from God he is the best consultant you can ever find. Also, find people who provide good counsel to be sure you are hearing from God.

Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.

Proverbs 11:14

6. Get involved and cooperate with God. Believe it or not you can miss out on God's will if you sit around and do nothing. All his promises are conditional upon obedience. "If" "You" then "I" "Will."

7. Always know that God has the best in mind for you so never get tricked into believing anything less.
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life" Psalm 23:6

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

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