February 27, 2007
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Will Ford: "PRAYER ALERT--SOUNDING THE TRUMPET OF PURITY"
"God is trumpeting the message of holiness, and wants us to fasten our loins to truth and purity."
 Pursue Holiness
I'm sending out a prayer alert because God has revealed through dreams and His word--2007 is a critical year for the church to pursue holiness in order to release Godly influence in every sector of society. He desires a people without mixture or compromise. God is warring against immorality and idolatry and is dismantling the religious system that props it up. Once again, those leaders who refuse to break their agreement with the enemy will be exposed. This is affecting everyone in the Body of Christ regardless of denomination or race, in both local and national spheres. My awareness to this was sparked by a dream that has been unfolding over the last 2 ½ years.
In the summer of 2004, a friend of mine had a dream about several well-known influential preachers. About four of them were national church leaders he recognized, and others he didn't. It was a racially diverse group, but they all had one thing in common. In the dream, these leaders were on top of church steeples, arms outstretched, and their heads were lifted high with their necks stiff and defiant. In other words, they were lifting themselves up, not the Lord, and they had exalted themselves above Christ and His cross.
As the dream continued, my friend watched as a giant whip with three cords appeared in the sky. In the dream, a giant eagle then grabbed the base of this whip with its talons, and began to strike it at these exalted ones, creating a loud cracking sound. The whip would hit the belt buckle of the exalted ones, their pants would fall down, and they were exposed one-by-one. End of Dream.
After the dream, we knew God was saying he was exposing defiant self exalted leaders for sexual immorality. Because they refused to break their agreement with Jezebel, they were about to be exposed. The "belt buckle" also represented the places in the nation that are considered the buckle of several "Bible belts" in America. God is trumpeting the message of holiness, and wants us to fasten our loins to truth and purity. Since the dream, 3 of the 4 major leaders my friend recognized in the dream have been publicly exposed for sexual immorality, even homosexuality.
Before we start guessing who's next and pointing fingers, we must honestly answer these questions: How often have you and I consistently prayed for our pastors and Christian leaders, especially those on the front lines of confronting the culture? Could God trust you and me with that level of money and influence and the temptation that comes with it? Could you and I handle the level of warfare these men and women must endure on a consistent basis? Could these leaders public exposure be revealing what is privately hidden in the Church and needs to be addressed in us all?
It is overwhelming when you understand the warfare that goes along with having influential ministries with thousands of members and millions of TV followers. Of course, this in no way justifies any leaders abusive or sinful behavior; leaders are held to a greater standard of accountability (Luke 12:42-47; I Timothy 3:1-7). I just want to shed light on the intensity of the warfare and the necessity of us fighting together in prayer. We need to pray for the fear of the Lord to come back into the church, starting with you and me.
The public exposure of the private immorality of any fallen leader is painful, so why does the Lord cause or allow exposure? I don't have all the answers, but while God is merciful and slow to anger, if we do not repent, He exposes sin in order to:
• Restore and heal the victimized.
• Bring justice when necessary.
• And in His mercy, recover the soul of the fallen.
Our battle isn't against flesh and blood, but against the kingdom of darkness (Ephesians 6:12). God is warring against the religious spirit and structure that has seductively bound leaders and exalts itself.
In another dream on September 27th, 2006, the Lord gave me another perspective of how He sees the religious system at work in many churches.
The Machine
In my dream, I was in a house owned by an African American preacher. He was showing the house to several people and myself, who were potential donors. Inside the house were people who looked like they were in the last stages of cancer. They were unconscious, lame, very thin and frail, and were all connected to artificial breathing or life support machines. The preacher, who was very friendly and charming, said to us, "This is what your donations enable us to do. Every time you give, you are helping us to support the life of someone connected to these machines. Without the machines or your support, we wouldn't be able to keep these folks alive. The need is really great, and I'm asking for you to increase your monetary support, because without it, we can't keep these support systems going for these people, who are so desperate. Won't you be a part of helping us?"
All of this sounded all right at first, until I noticed that there were patients everywhere. They were crammed into every available space within the house. Every bedroom was full of people who appeared sedated, connected to breathing machines which, of course, caused their chest to go up and down. I noticed as we kept walking on our tour, even the hallways were lined with unconscious cancer victims connected to respirators. I opened the door to one of the bathrooms in the dream, and even in the bathroom were several unconscious cancer victims in cots, connected to artificial breathing machines. These victims were all over the place. Each room was crowded, and the house was filled to capacity. Though this was starting to weird me out, I excused what I felt by thinking to myself, "Well, he sure knows how to make the most of his space."
All seemed well, until I intently looked at one of the unconscious victims. I was broken-hearted about her being lifeless, watching her lungs expand, as she was connected to the breathing machine. Upon inspection, however, I looked closer, and realized that had it not been for the machine pumping air into her, her lungs could not go up and down. Then the thought occurred to me, "There is no way this lady can actually breathe without the machine." Then I realized, though I can visibly see this woman's chest expanding, this respirator is not reviving her at all, but in actuality is only aiding the appearance of her being revived.
Then it dawned upon me: This woman is actually dead! Then I became aware that all the cancer victims in this house were really dead! They only looked like they were alive, because the machine pumped air into them. The preacher began staring at me, and suddenly I knew that his greatest fear was anybody finding out that these people were really dead and not alive. Instead of their conditions becoming better, they actually had fatally deteriorated, and this preacher didn't want anyone to know. He made up lies and exploited these victims. They only had the appearance of being revived because he needed their bodies as an excuse for monetary support.
Interpretation:
When I prayed and asked the Lord for the interpretation, I began to weep as I realized God was giving me spiritual eyes to see what the religious system in many churches looks like. In the dream, the pastor's greed was the cancer that killed the people. Many of these churches, like the house in the dream, have lifeless people who have been "pumped up" or artificially resuscitated by messages full of hype and no substance. Instead of the system or machine being there to support and empower the people, the opposite is occurring, and the people are there to support a religious machine.
No lasting change has come into their lives, and the needy are used as an excuse for the monetary support of the machine. In other words, these leaders are extending their influence and increasing their affluence, at the expense of other people's pain and misery. How things look matter more than how things really are, and image is everything. Pumped up by hype to give the appearance of life by the machine, these people and their ministries have names that they're alive, but many are dead (Revelation 3:1). Unfortunately, though the house is crowded, and the machine is running, much that is taking place is an artificial revival. Thankfully, the same God who wept over Jerusalem is pursuing us now, and the zeal for His house has consumed Him.
The Zeal of the Lord
In Jesus' day, there was a similar situation. The temple was turned into a money machine for spiritual thieves and robbers, who took advantage of people's desire for God. Just like the dreams, the people were there to support the temple's religious machine, instead of the temple being there to magnify God and support the people in their pursuit of God. The Bible says that Jesus came in and drove out those who bought and sold with a whip, but when He saw the moneychangers' tables and seats where they were selling doves, He became the whip. The Lord not only cast them out of the temple, He destroyed their work area! (see Matthew 21:12). He was more intense where the doves were being sold because doves represent the Holy Spirit. You see, these leaders were building their own kingdoms by merchandising His presence.
After He created this commotion, Jesus said in Matthew 21:13, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a robbers den," and an interesting thing happens next. The people that were taken for granted by others, after this incredible display of anger and zeal, made their way toward Jesus, instead of away from Him. These people were considered to be bothersome and in the way unless they had money for the expensive sacrificial lambs and doves.
Jesus is saying through His actions, however, that the machine or religious system is in the way! You would think that a blind person would be hitting people with his cane, trying to make his way out of the temple after Jesus' emotional outburst, but instead, these outcasts and even the children began making their way to Jesus (Matthew 21:15). That day, there were two crowds running in opposite directions: Those who wanted the religious system were running away from Jesus, and those who wanted God were running toward Jesus! They knew the Lord, in His zeal, was fighting and clearing the way for them.
Matthew 21:14 says, "And the blind, and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them all." The beauty is that once He shut down the artificial revival by clearing the obstacles out of the temple, He then released authentic revival! If we humble ourselves and pray, and allow Him to deal with the tables in our hearts, maybe we can become the house of prayer and power He desires us to be.
Prayer Focus
"Change will not come without prayer, repentance, and standing with the Lord in intercession."
These dreams were given to us "out of the blue" so to speak, and God has arrested my attention. I pray that He gets the attention of us all. I was in repentance and tears for days when I received these dreams and their interpretations, allowing God to do surgery in my heart. Beloved, we can't ignore any longer what is taking place in and around our churches. Do things have to stay the way they are? No, but change will not come without prayer, repentance, and standing with the Lord in intercession. Not all of the leaders that were part of my friends dream have been exposed, and beloved, we don't need to wait for another catastrophe to happen or for another major leader to fall. Let's be proactive and intercede now.
Again, this is not about race, but about a religious spirit and system that God is judging, and we believe that the next segment to be affected in the church is the African American community, both locally and nationally. That being said, let's have personal and corporate prayer together. We need to pray for our leaders, and allow God to expose and heal everything that needs to be addressed in us individually and collectively.
If we don't, when God manifests Himself in the temple, we may find ourselves running to another religious system and away from the Lord when authentic revival comes. That being said, let's get ready and let's start praying now:
Let's Pray: "Father, forgive us for building our own kingdoms instead of Your Kingdom. Forgive us for caring more about appearances instead of the state of how things truly are. Give us eye salve and Lord, awaken us! We ask Your forgiveness where there's been hype for appearance sake, and we've bound people to a religious machine. We cry out for true repentance and healing to come regarding greed, sexual immorality, hypocrisy, and pride. Help us to turn from where we are, and face the future of becoming the glorious Church we will become with Your cleansing."
"Father, all over America, bring healing to the families of leaders that have been exposed and please restore any followers hurt by the ripple effects of sin. Father, where we've judged these churches and stoned these leaders, we ask for Your forgiveness. We are thankful that You are no respecter of persons and love these men more than their ministries and our shallow opinions. We thank you that You will leave the ninety-nine and go after that one leader that needs You. Give us tears to sow for their recovery, and more importantly, heal and restore those that have been victimized."
"Oh God, awaken any defiant leaders before it's too late. Rescue them from the snare of the enemy and bring recovery. Lord, invade Your temple and turn over the tables once again. Start first in my temple, my heart, and from the pulpit to the pew, Oh God, shut down the machine again! God we need You and the life only You can bring."
"In Your mercy, raise up those who will speak the truth motivated by love to these leaders. Turn the hearts of those who have secretly gone astray back to you, and raise up those that will turn a generation toward You again. Jesus, bright Morning Star, don't pass us by! We so desperately want You. We desire to run away from the system and run after You, oh God. Please open our blind eyes and heal our lame condition! Cleanse Your temple and give us authentic revival! In Jesus name, Amen."
Because of these dreams and the leading of the Lord, I want to invite you to join me in forty days of prayer and fasting for the church in the African American community. No matter what race you are, if you are a Christian, please join us because this isn't about race, this is about something affecting us all. We need each other and we each need to pray for personal and corporate cleansing.
History belongs to the intercessor, and this is a strategic time to contend for awakening for the church in the African American community because of its key purpose of releasing justice in America.
By William Ford III
Hilkiah Ministries
http://www.willfordministries.org
Email: w.ford@verizon.net
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Will Ford's Itinerary:
March 4-10, 2007
Word Conference
White Horse Christian Center
Lafeyette, IN
Contact: click here
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