"Restoring Joy: A Ten Day Prayer Focus"

December 13, 2004

"Restoring Joy: A Ten Day Prayer Focus"
by Chuck D. Pierce
Glory of Zion International
www.glory-of-zion.org
 

Dear Radiant Saint:

May the Lord bless you during this season! As we approach the holidays my heart is filled with gratefulness toward you. The prophecy of Zacharias seems amazingly relevant today. He prophesied about the change that was to come upon the earth. He decreed that a Deliverer would come. This prophecy is really speaking to me as I am praying for you.

Luke 1:71-75 says:

"That we should have deliverance and be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who detest and pursue us with hatred; to make true and show the mercy and compassion and kindness [promised] to our forefathers and to remember and carry out His holy covenant [to bless, which is all the more sacred because it is made by God Himself], that covenant He sealed by oath to our forefather Abraham: to grant us that WE, being delivered from the hand of our foes, might serve Him fearlessly in holiness (divine consecration) and righteousness [in accordance with the everlasting principles of right] within His presence all the days of our lives." (AMP)

May the JOY of His delivering power overtake you. Sing this with me:

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

I love the third verse of this Christmas Carol! I am pondering and processing your faithfulness in light of the meaning of the year ahead! This is a year for things to come FULL CIRCLE!

FULL CIRCLE -- AN END OF SOME THINGS, AND THE BEGINNINGS OF OTHERS

In the Hebraic year of 5765, the character "7" is Shin, and means to come full circle, consume, and destroy. That means we will come to an end of some things and begin other things. That also means that old cycles will attempt to hold us captive and keep us from breaking fully into our future.

Therefore we must destroy some old patterns that would love to resurface in our life cycle. The Lord will give you a second chance to confront and deal with that thing that defeated you in the last season!

I am decreeing that you will go UP your mountain called ZION which will cause you to be favored with the Lord's presence all year. I am decreeing you will not go AROUND any wilderness SINAI mountain again.

Our life cycle is, Biblically, like a circle. You are on a boat, rowing backwards into your future. Your past connects to your future. But your future is opening now into your cycle of victory. This allows all of your expectations in and of God to be fulfilled. I am declaring no more thorns to infest your ground. May every curse let go from deep inside your thought processes.

A TIME FOR JOY

Joy comes from the verb "gil" or "gul." That means to go in a circle or to be excited, dancing around for joy, or rejoicing. In the New Testament, joy is linked with grace. Another word for joy is agalliasis. This word expresses exuberant joy or exultation.

JOY is a positive attitude or pleasant emotion or delight. Joy includes gladness, contentment, and cheerfulness. Joy should be holy and pure. This joy rises above circumstances. Joy embraces the highest emotion of God and His character.

The joy required of the righteous person (Psalm 150; Philippians 4:4) is produced by the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:22). This kind of joy looks beyond the present to our future salvation (Romans 5:2, 8:18; 1 Peter 1:4,6) and to our sovereign God, who works out all things for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28-30).

This kind of joy is distinct from mere happiness. Joy like this is possible, even in the midst of sorrow (1 Corinthians 12:26; 2 Corinthians 6:10, 7:4).

Sameah means "to be bright or to shine." Joy expresses His Glory. Proverbs 13:9 says, "The light of the righteous rejoiceth" -- literally, "is bright."

Joy has a bodily expression. The Hebrew words mean "to spring," "leap," hence, "exult" and "rejoice"; and "rinnah" means "shouting." Joy is the response of the mind to any pleasurable event or state (1 Kings 1:40; Esther 8:17).

Joy as a religious emotion is very frequently referred to in the Old Testament. Religion is conceived of as touching the deepest springs of emotion, including the feeling of exultant gladness which often finds outward expression in such actions as leaping, shouting, and singing.

May every religious spirit that is robbing your joy let go! May your communion with God be full and expressive.

"In thy presence is fullness of joy; in thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." (Psalm 16:11)

This is a time to experience a new release of JOY. Therefore, the following 10-Day Prayer Focus: Restoring JOY and Gaining Strength to Break Old Cycles will prepare us to enter into the beginning of the year.


10-DAY PRAYER FOCUS: RESTORING JOY AND GAINING STRENGTH TO BREAK OLD CYCLES

Day 1: Read Psalms 4, 5, 51, and 35. Let the joy of the Lord fill you. Praise Him that He is your source and the object of your joy.

Day 2: Read Zephaniah 3. Hear Him rejoicing over you. Receive His love. Let Him pour His grace and mercy over you.

Day 3: Read Luke 1-2. Rejoice! Ask the Lord to deliver you from grief or trauma. Thank Him that He has come to deliver you from any prison the enemy has devised.

Day 4: Read Matthew 13. Ask the Lord to uncover the true joy of life to you.

Day 5: Read Acts 3. Ask the Lord to remove any spirit of infirmity that is holding you back from accomplishing His purpose. He is coming to the Gate Beautiful.

Day 6: Read John 2, Luke 10, and Mark 2. Rejoice! Clap your hands. Be willing to go into the fullness of joy. Do not stop participating halfway through the wedding feast. Ask the Holy Spirit to remove all of your religious ritual that has robbed your joy. Break any power of pharisee-ism. Thank God for the new wine.

Day 7: Read Luke 1:14,44; Acts 2:46; Jude 24; Hebrews 1:9; Matthew 5:12; Habakkuk 3:18; 2 Corinthians 7:13. All of these verses will connect you into joy. Memorize two verses. Stand up and twirl. Express to the Lord that you love Him.

Day 8: Read Isaiah 9, 11. Thank God for the shifting government. Thank Him and rejoice that change is coming. Thank Him that your territory will rejoice. Read Joel 2 and 3.

Day 9: Read Psalm 16. Declare that the fullness of God's purposes will overtake you.

Day 10: Read Revelation 1-5, and 12. Receive strength to go through the open door that has been set before you. Declare the accuser of the brethren is bound. Receive power, wealth, and favor.


HOW TO PRAY FOR ME PERSONALLY IN THE COMING YEAR

I consider that the Lord has given me a great honor to represent Him and you as a prophetic voice around the world. The prophetic voice is going through a metamorphosis and is getting ready to emerge. Many have grown weary of a lack of integrity and immaturity in the prophetic. However, I have seen the prophetic since 1986 being like a butterfly emerging out of a cocoon.

When the butterfly emerges, there is great beauty. A metamorphosized beauty is linked with holiness. Psalm 96:9 says,

"O, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth."

God is removing the old garment from His prophets, transforming their minds and spirits, and preparing them to speak a clear word in season.

This is a generation that is arising that will enter into a holy clarity of God's expression in the earth. Thank you for praying and believing in the gift the Lord has given me. Pray that I seek and gain wisdom for us and declare BOLDLY the word He gives me with grace!

As I have said earlier, let us hear from you and pray for you. We realize you have probably had many testings this year on your path. However, recognize that you are on a path of life. It is set before you. We urge you to press along that path and endure that path until you reach the end.

There are big boulders and potholes in the way and, often times, the path needs to be cleared out before you can begin. There may even be boulders all along the way. However, our Father in Heaven is going to watch after you from the beginning of that path until the finish-line, because He already knows the end. With this reality we should never lose faith or hope along our path.

The real issue along the path is to have a reality of who God is and what His purpose is from the beginning until the end. A verse that I want to remind you of is Jeremiah 33:3 from the Amplified:

"Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge of and understand)."

Let God show you things that you do not know so you can walk in victory.

I am including my top TEN priorities for the next year. I would love to have you support me in doing these:
 

• Keeping my prophetic gift sharp by leading prayer meetings at my church, praying, and discussing prophetic paradigms with my apostolic leaders.
   

• Mobilizing the prayer army in America through prayer focuses and speaking engagement in states and regions.
   

• Assisting key apostolic anchor churches from region to region.
   

• Interceding to see new breakthrough in the Workplace. I am called this year to see the supply for our future released. Therefore, I will concentrate on training intercessors for breakthrough concerning a Transference of Wealth. I want to see the Lord's people increase and double their supply and influence.
   

• Doing conferences and seminars that will assist the Body in shifting their paradigms.
   

• Developing Eagles of God prophetic prayer missionary teams.
   

• Visiting other nations with Dr. Peter Wagner as he gathers apostolic leaders. I will also be working to see the International Coalition of Apostles, where I serve on the Apostolic Council, come into a whole new realm of victory and authority.
   

• Writing three books: A 50-State Tour book with Dutch Sheets, Shifting a Nation: The 50 State Prayer Tour; a book with Pam, In a World of Chaos...Don't Miss the Simple Things (this book I am very excited about). And one other book, The Issachar Anointing: Understanding Times and Seasons.
   

• Taking a team to retrace the disintegration of the power of the Church in the world. We will be going to Moscow, Istanbul, Rome, and Jerusalem. I will represent us as we decree a reversal of lost power.
   

• Gathering and participating with intercessors and leaders from all over the world in the culmination of our 40/70 Prayer Focus. This will be held in Rome and Pozzuoli, Italy, in September 2005.
   

Thank you for supporting my staff who help me accomplish all I do. You help support the most efficient staff in the world. Finally, thank you for praying for my family. In the midst of a very demanding year, I have watched each one of them prosper. They are a wonderful bunch who seem to be moving forward on God's path.

Pray that I have the time to enjoy watching each one of them further mature in the Lord. Daniel marries Amber Sauce next weekend. She will finish her last semester at Texas Woman's University and he will continue his call to the Police Force. They will reside in Denton.

Rebekah will continue her studies at University of North Texas.

John Mark is working and involved in bowling and the band Strategy of A Launch.

Isaac and Ethan are in Texas Tech's Distance Learning Program. Isaac also is a member of Strategy of A Launch.

Joseph, Cynthia, and their four live in Denton where they serve on staff in Youth and Children ministry.

Pam supports us all and makes sure we accomplish the call of God on our lives. She is a Saint!

Blessings,

Chuck D. Pierce
Glory of Zion International
www.glory-of-zion.org

   ~~~~

P.S. My schedule through the end of January is:

Dec 13 Fresh Wind Rising: Turning the Battle at the Gate - Fresno, CA (559) 225-0411
Dec 17–18 Amber Sauce and Daniel Pierce Wedding
Jan 2 (AM) Shekinah Christian Church, Ann Arbor MI (734) 662-6040
Jan 2 (PM) Annual USSPN Strategic Gathering, Straight Gate Church, Detroit MI (734) 662-6040
Jan 4 Trinity Fellowship Church, Pastor Lonny Robbins, Pampa TX (806) 665-3255
Jan 5 Trinity Fellowship Church, Pastor Jimmy Evans, Amarillo TX (806) 355-8955
Jan 6–8 Starting the Year Off Right Conference, Denton TX (888) 965-1099
Jan 10 WWJC Radio Interview, 10 AM CT
Jan 12–14 Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders, Colorado Springs CO
Jan 14 (PM) Springs Harvest Fellowship with Dutch Sheets, Colorado Springs CO (719) 548-8226
Jan 21 Business Meeting with Hal and Cheryl Sacks, Phoenix AZ
Jan 21 (PM)–22 Pressing Through the Gates of Change for our Nation, Phoenix AZ (800) 296-0659
Jan 23 (AM/PM) Church for the Nations with Pastor Michael Maiden, Phoenix AZ (602) 861-0000
Jan 27–29 Victory in Spiritual Warfare Conference, Charleston SC (888) 965-1099
Jan 30 Harvest Rock Prophetic Conference, Pasadena CA (626) 794-1199

 

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