Episode 8
From Prophecy to Possession: Why Your Promises Haven’t Manifested (Yet)
Ever feel like you’re collecting prophetic words but never actually stepping into fulfillment? In this powerful episode of the Awake Nations Podcast, Glenn Bleakney dives deep into why so many believers are living in the gap between promise and possession.
With real-life testimonies, scriptural insight, and prophetic teaching, Glenn unpacks:
- The four spiritual blockages that delay destiny
- Why presumption, selfish ambition, passivity, and demonic resistance must be confronted
- The difference between admiring a word and advancing in it
- How to partner with heaven through pruning seasons, spiritual warfare, and prophetic obedience
- What it truly means to war with the word and steward your assignment
Whether you're in a season of waiting or contending, this episode will reignite your faith to believe again, pray boldly, and step into what God has promised you.
📖 “Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made... had failed; all came to pass.” — Joshua 21:45 (ESV)
Transcript
Welcome to Awake Nations Ministries, based in the beautiful sunshine coast of Australia.
Speaker A:Here, the fire of revival ignites hearts and fuels a supernatural move of God throughout the nations of the earth.
Speaker A:Join us each week for prophetic insights, apostolic teaching, and powerful conversations that will equip you to live fully awakened in your kingdom purpose.
Speaker A:This is more than a podcast, it's a movement.
Speaker A:Learn more about us by visiting awakenations.org now let's dive into today's episode.
Speaker B:And we're going to share some things today regarding specifically possessing prophetic promises.
Speaker B:How many have received a prophetic promise from God?
Speaker B:All right, a few people.
Speaker B:Can I tell you that there's 7,487 promises in the Bible.
Speaker B:That's about 20 a day.
Speaker B:So for in a year, that's a lot of promises, right?
Speaker B:A lot of promises to pursue, a lot of promises that are available to us.
Speaker B:So the reality is it starts with the Logos, it starts with the scripture.
Speaker B:It starts with what God actually is wanting us to experience.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:And sometimes we think, well, God spoke to me.
Speaker B:You know, someone prophesied over me.
Speaker B:Of course, just basic Christian faith is it better not contradict the word, Right?
Speaker B:That has to be in alignment with the Word.
Speaker B:Typically not saying always.
Speaker B:It's a confirmation of something.
Speaker B:God's already spoken to you.
Speaker B:Now, I'm not saying always because there are times when God absolutely speaks something to us.
Speaker B:And we were like, no, I didn't know that, or I didn't see that coming.
Speaker B:And it's more of a.
Speaker B:A word of wisdom regarding something that's really prophecy forthcoming.
Speaker B:We haven't experienced it yet.
Speaker B:I remember being in America one time and preaching at this church, and it was like more of a prophetic Sunday, and we're prophesying and just sharing things.
Speaker B:And there was a husband and wife, and they were the youth leaders in the church.
Speaker B:And I didn't know that, to be honest.
Speaker B:And I said to them, I see like, an ice skating arena, like a venue that's used for ice skating.
Speaker B:And I said, it's going to be given to you for ministry.
Speaker B:And they literally lifted their heads and looked at me and looked surprised.
Speaker B:About three or four months later, I bumped into them.
Speaker B:And he walked up to me and he was actually a police officer.
Speaker B:And so he.
Speaker B:He was in the area.
Speaker B:And he walked up to me and he said, do you remember when you were at a church and you shared that word?
Speaker B:And I said, oh, yeah, actually I do.
Speaker B:It slipped my mind, but yeah, I recall.
Speaker B:And he said, well, I want to Tell you something, when you told us that, I thought, that's so off base.
Speaker B:That's in, you know, inaccurate.
Speaker B:That's not God.
Speaker B:What would we want to do with that?
Speaker B:You know?
Speaker B:And he said to me, but just recently, someone contacted me.
Speaker B:It's a woman who's getting up in age and in her years.
Speaker B:And she said, I actually own this ice skating rink.
Speaker B:I think they were using it for roller skating, which is how many know.
Speaker B:This isn't too long ago either, by the way.
Speaker B:And, I mean, she said, and I want to give it to you to use for ministry.
Speaker B:So the very thing that I said came to pass, and they were like, no way.
Speaker B:God had.
Speaker B:That was not on our radar.
Speaker B:So I want you to understand that sometimes God can surprise us, right?
Speaker B:He can share something.
Speaker B:And we just need to say, okay, Lord, if that's your will, you know, let it be done according to your will.
Speaker B:Let it be done according to your servant.
Speaker B:Like Lynn talked about Mary recently, let's just do it, Lord.
Speaker B:Whatever is your will.
Speaker B:So we recognize that we don't despise prophetic promises.
Speaker B:The Bible tells us that, but we also test them.
Speaker B:We test prophecies, but we don't despise them.
Speaker B:So we don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Speaker B:Don't say, no, no, I don't want to hear.
Speaker B:I was in a conversation not too long ago with a pastor who has been in ministry for many, many years, and he actually said to me, we're almost at a point right now where we are just saying we don't want to hear any more prophetic words.
Speaker B:We hear so many prophetic words.
Speaker B:Everybody's prophesying, it's on social media.
Speaker B:This is going to happen.
Speaker B:That's going to happen.
Speaker B:And many of us, and he was testifying of himself, have actually come to a place where hope deferred makes the heart sick.
Speaker B:Okay?
Speaker B:You get a word and then you're like, okay, why isn't that word coming to pass?
Speaker B:How come it's not been fulfilled in my life?
Speaker B:And we end up hope is deferred, and we can actually get heartsick.
Speaker B:And so we reject prophetic ministry altogether.
Speaker B:And like I said, not everyone who says this is God actually is hearing from God.
Speaker B:There's prophetic ministry that's just simply pathetic.
Speaker B:We know that, but it's in the sense that if it's just someone speaking from their soul, maybe they know you and they know a little bit about you.
Speaker B:God forbid they've been online and stalking you and reading your Social media profile, which recently we've heard about that.
Speaker B:Those who've been speaking words, and they actually got it secondhand.
Speaker B:But the truth is God still speaks, and he speaks encouragement, right?
Speaker B:We know 1 Corinthians 14:3, that prophecy is for what, Exhortation, edification, comfort.
Speaker B:So it's, it's God's will that we, we hear from Him.
Speaker B:But what is prophecy?
Speaker B:Well, prophecy is God speaking to us.
Speaker B:It could be a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge, a prophetic word, a different way, even dreams, visions, those type of things.
Speaker B:But he's speaking to us regarding something that he has in plan.
Speaker B:It's not just foretelling the future, but it can be forthtelling what is he saying to us right now?
Speaker B:And we all need to be a prophetic people.
Speaker B:And what I mean by that is we need to be a people that lean in to hear his voice.
Speaker B:We need to be in the New Testament, in the new Covenant, read Acts, chapter two, 17 and 18.
Speaker B:It's all about in the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit, right?
Speaker B:Sons and daughters will prophesy, talks about dreams and visions, etc.
Speaker B:So we need to be able to hear from God and receive from God and expect these things in our lives and even see it activated.
Speaker B:And, and true prophets that carry a fivefold ministry grace can activate that.
Speaker B:But I want us to understand that there is a place for each and every one of us to hear the voice of God, to receive revelation, have him speak to us in different ways at different times, and at that point be able to steward what it is that he's saying to us.
Speaker B:Can you imagine being an Old Testament prophet?
Speaker B:Like literally the responsibility that you had if you stuffed up, first of all, you were stoned to death.
Speaker B:And then secondly, just the weight of that, right?
Speaker B:So many people being dependent on you.
Speaker B:And yet in the New Testament, we all can approach the throne of grace.
Speaker B:We all have access to the spirit of prophecy.
Speaker B: Revelation: Speaker B:What is it that Jesus is saying about your situation?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Lazarus dies and everyone, the sisters and all the people, Lazarus is dead.
Speaker B:If you had have been here, it's too late.
Speaker B:Well, you can still do anything.
Speaker B:But you see, and what does Jesus, what's the testimony of Jesus?
Speaker B:He's not dead, he's sleeping.
Speaker B:So in every situation we have two interpretations, two assessments.
Speaker B:Really, what is man saying?
Speaker B:It could be what other people are saying about our situation, could be the way we're perceiving Things and sometimes even the devil speaks to us, try to discourage us, condemn us, get us to doubt.
Speaker B:And then what is Jesus saying about the situation?
Speaker B:It's incumbent upon us.
Speaker B:That's an old school word, isn't it?
Speaker B:Incumbent.
Speaker B:Not many people use that word anymore.
Speaker B:But it is our responsibility to actually lean in and say, what are you saying about this situation?
Speaker B:It looks like he's dead.
Speaker B:But is he actually dead or is he just sleeping?
Speaker B:Come on now, what is God saying about this situation?
Speaker B:So it is his will that we receive and experience the fulfillment of every legitimate prophetic word that's been spoken over our lives before we leave the planet.
Speaker B:Now, there may be some things related to other people, related to successive generations that will not happen until after we exit this world.
Speaker B:But ultimately those that are specifically for us in this time, it his will that we experience them and see them come to pass.
Speaker B:Let's look at Joshua 21.
Speaker B:As I mentioned, we'll unpack some of these other verses, the preceding verses, in the weeks to come, or at least next week.
Speaker B:But we'll just look at verse 45, Joshua 21.
Speaker B:English Standard Version not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed, all came to pass.
Speaker B:Did you hear that?
Speaker B:Can you imagine?
Speaker B:So here's Joshua.
Speaker B:They gone in and they had possessed the land.
Speaker B:It says God had given them the land and they possessed it.
Speaker B:So you have a promise, right?
Speaker B:But you have to possess the promise.
Speaker B:So what does it say?
Speaker B:It's saying that not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed, all came to pass.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:How many are believing for some promises to come to pass still?
Speaker B:Amen.
Speaker B:God wants to.
Speaker B:He doesn't want us to be disappointed.
Speaker B:He wants.
Speaker B:He wants to do good on his word.
Speaker B:He wants to deliver these promises to us.
Speaker B:So here's another.
Speaker B:Here's another two verses in John 16, 23 and 24.
Speaker B:It's interesting.
Speaker B:Several people prayed this morning and prayed verses and things that I was reading this week.
Speaker B: But John: Speaker B:Now listen to this.
Speaker B:Until now, you've asked nothing in My name.
Speaker B:Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
Speaker B:Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
Speaker B:Remember James 4.
Speaker B:1.
Speaker B:You have not.
Speaker B:Because you what you ask not sometimes it's as simple as that.
Speaker B:We just don't ask The Lord to do it.
Speaker B:And the Lord says, ask of me and I will give you the nations.
Speaker B:That's pretty tall order, but ask me and I'll give you the nations.
Speaker B:But we still have to ask.
Speaker B:We still have to inquire.
Speaker B:So we have the promises of God, but we have to go before him and say, okay, God, this is your word.
Speaker B:This is what you've spoken.
Speaker B:Do it.
Speaker B:Bring it to pass.
Speaker B:Now there's also a responsibility that we have in seeing these prophetic promises come to pass.
Speaker B:These prophetic words could be you open your Bible.
Speaker B:God spoke to me several months ago when I opened my Bible one morning, and I'm telling you, it was like this verse just jumped off the pages of the Bible.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And he spoke to me and he said, you've been working in someone else's vineyard.
Speaker B:It's time to work in your own vineyard.
Speaker B:That's the word he gave me.
Speaker B:Song of Solomon 1:6.
Speaker B:Interestingly, the same day, someone sent me a little cute meme which even how many know that memes can be prophetic?
Speaker B:I guess fortune cookies can be prophetic, but don't put too much stock in those.
Speaker B:But no, I'm kidding.
Speaker B:But the.
Speaker B:The point is, the meme said this.
Speaker B:If you don't build what God's called you to build, someone will hire you to build their.
Speaker B:Their vision, their dream.
Speaker B:Something like that.
Speaker B:So the Lord was speaking to me and he was saying, it's time to build what I put in your heart.
Speaker B:It's the season to build this.
Speaker B:And not that we haven't been doing that previously, but we had, for whatever time, diverted away from that.
Speaker B:We were part of a great ministry.
Speaker B:And then the Lord, just the way he orchestrated this situation was he said, I'm going to be releasing you because there's something I put in your heart.
Speaker B:There's promises that I've given to you that I want to see them birth and come to pass.
Speaker B:So it's time to build what I've called you to build.
Speaker B:And each one of us has a responsibility to hear from God.
Speaker B:Each one of us has a responsibility.
Speaker B:I don't know is not an excuse in the kingdom of God.
Speaker B:Because if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, right?
Speaker B:My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Speaker B:And then it says it's rejected knowledge.
Speaker B:So the idea is this.
Speaker B:It's not ignorance.
Speaker B:Ignorance doesn't.
Speaker B:In God's economy, there's no place for that.
Speaker B:Everything, all things pertaining to life and godliness have been given to us through the knowledge of him, all things.
Speaker B:It's powerful.
Speaker B:So we see that God actually is not just giving us, like, you know, tidbits of.
Speaker B:Here's some encouraging words.
Speaker B:Here you go.
Speaker B:Isn't that nice?
Speaker B:No, no, he's not doing this.
Speaker B:They're not just like prophetic promises aren't just casual encouragement.
Speaker B:Words of casual encouragement.
Speaker B:No, they're actually divine invitations into a higher realm of faith, obedience, and spiritual warfare.
Speaker B:Faith, obedience and spiritual warfare.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So let's explain.
Speaker B:Or let's look at this morning.
Speaker B:This is our objective this afternoon.
Speaker B:Our objective is to look at four reasons why our prophetic promises are not being fulfilled in our life and to look at four.
Speaker B:I'm not saying this is an exhaustive list.
Speaker B:There's more.
Speaker B:Then we're going to talk about specifically what we need to do to cooperate, to partner with the Lord to see this come to pass.
Speaker B:Number one, many people miss the fulfillment of these prophetic words is because what begins in faith can end in frustration.
Speaker B:How many know this?
Speaker B:That the prophetic word will be tested?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Abraham, you'll be the father of many nations.
Speaker B:Years go by.
Speaker B:Nothing.
Speaker B:Psalm 105 talks about Joseph.
Speaker B:It says that the Lord tested Joseph until the Word came to pass.
Speaker B:The Word.
Speaker B:The Word, The Word.
Speaker B:Do you believe the Word?
Speaker B:Are you going to continue to trust the Word?
Speaker B:Are you going to reject the Word?
Speaker B:Are you going to basically become lazy with the Word?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So it's really important that we understand this, that we have a role to partner with God and seeing the fulfillment of every prophetic promises.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Number one, the first reason why we do not see prophetic words come to pass is what I call spiritual presumption.
Speaker B:Spiritual presumption.
Speaker B:We are praying without knowing God's will.
Speaker B:Okay, now what do I mean by that?
Speaker B:Well, many believers pray blatantly contrary to the will of God.
Speaker B:That's true.
Speaker B:We ask God for something, it's not his will.
Speaker B:There.
Speaker B:There are times when we do that, but there's also times when we don't understand what God is doing.
Speaker B:And in the midst of God answering our prayers and working in our lives, we're praying against what he's doing.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Are you.
Speaker B:Are you following me?
Speaker B:All right, so here's.
Speaker B:Here's what I mean by that.
Speaker B:We are fixated on the outcome of that promise, the fulfillment of that promise, but we actually become oblivious to the process of seeing the promise be fulfilled.
Speaker B:So what happens is we could be in a season where God is actually doing something, but it doesn't look like what we think it should.
Speaker B:Look like.
Speaker B:And we just write it off as God's not doing anything.
Speaker B:Remember the song?
Speaker B:It says, even though I can't see it, he's working.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:Come on.
Speaker B:He's working behind the scenes.
Speaker B:Now, let me make it really practical and personal.
Speaker B:God often brings us into a season of pruning.
Speaker B:The before we.
Speaker B:The we possess the prophetic promise.
Speaker B:God.
Speaker B:I'm believing I received a prophetic word and God is saying, yeah, now I'm going to prune you and I'm going to prepare you before I promote you.
Speaker B:Because you're not ready.
Speaker B:You don't have the capacity.
Speaker B:You're not at a place of maturity.
Speaker B:You're not at a place where you can steward what I've given to you from.
Speaker B:For whatever reason, you're not ready.
Speaker B:And look at.
Speaker B:This isn't just for individuals.
Speaker B:This can be for entire churches.
Speaker B:This can be for.
Speaker B:Listen.
Speaker B:And sometimes we think God's not doing anything and he's actually pruning.
Speaker B:We're in a winter season.
Speaker B:We come from Canada.
Speaker B:I know what winter's like.
Speaker B:As a kid, I would go out into the woods and we literally have trees everywhere that have been tapped for maple syrup, maple SAP.
Speaker B:What do they do?
Speaker B:They do it in the dead of winter when it looks like there's no life.
Speaker B:There's no leaves on the tree, it's barren.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And literally, they take a hammer and they tap this.
Speaker B:This spigot into the tree, hang a bucket on it.
Speaker B:And then near the end of the winter, the next thing you know, SAP starts to flow to the tree, filling up the buckets, and eventually they make syrup and many other things from it.
Speaker B:So the reality is, what's happening?
Speaker B:It's a winter season.
Speaker B:God is doing a work in us.
Speaker B:He's preparing us pruning.
Speaker B:Can I say that in a pruning season, it doesn't look like things.
Speaker B:Things are growing.
Speaker B:In fact, it contradicts that very notion.
Speaker B:Usually.
Speaker B:Now, in the Bible, in John 15, when Jesus talked about pruning every branch that bears fruit, I prune it, I cut it back.
Speaker B:What did.
Speaker B:What was he saying at that time?
Speaker B:Those branches, if they were left on their own to grow wild, those branches could grow in excess of 3 meters.
Speaker B:But when he would.
Speaker B:When he would cut them back, they would be less than a centimeter.
Speaker B:And they were like, where's all the fruit?
Speaker B:Where.
Speaker B:Where's, you know, the life.
Speaker B:It's been cut back.
Speaker B:But what is he doing?
Speaker B:He's preparing for the next season.
Speaker B:He's preparing for the next Season.
Speaker B:And it doesn't matter what things look like in the natural.
Speaker B:See, prophetic attunement is critical.
Speaker B:We can look at things and we can say, God's not doing anything.
Speaker B:Nothing's happening at that church.
Speaker B:God's not working in my life.
Speaker B:He's not answering my prayers, personal or collectively.
Speaker B:We can look at that.
Speaker B:And we're not tuned into what the Holy Spirit is saying.
Speaker B:We're judging by mere appearances.
Speaker B:We're operating in the soulish realm.
Speaker B:We don't have ears to hear, but.
Speaker B:But we're judging according to what things look like or appear.
Speaker B:But God is saying, I'm working.
Speaker B:You may not see it, you may not understand it, but I'm preparing, I'm pruning, I'm getting things ready because there's more that I want to do.
Speaker B:And no matter how powerful the promotion is, understand that the pruning and preparation process will always be painful.
Speaker B:If God wants to prepare someone to use them greatly, he prunes them.
Speaker B:He cuts back.
Speaker B:What, even.
Speaker B:Even the things of success.
Speaker B:There are so many great men and women of God that have gone through seasons of being successful, and then they've lost it.
Speaker B:They went off the rails because of pride, forgetting about God, whatever it is.
Speaker B:And those who truly stay humble and close to God will find that he will actually, at times, prune them back.
Speaker B:He'll humble them, he'll close doors.
Speaker B:I may seem like, why isn't anything happening?
Speaker B:Why is it that I don't have the favor that I had previously?
Speaker B:Because God's saying, I want to take you deeper.
Speaker B:If he just allowed us to continue where we're at, guess what?
Speaker B:We wouldn't go deeper with him.
Speaker B:Many of us, most of us, we just continue on the status quo.
Speaker B:But God's saying, I want to do something deeper in your life.
Speaker B:I want to use you more powerfully, but I've got to prune you.
Speaker B:I've got to prepare you.
Speaker B:And so spiritual presumption is that we end up looking at things, thinking God's not at work.
Speaker B:We say, hey, I'm not going to pray for that.
Speaker B:I'm in pain right now.
Speaker B:I'm frustrated, I'm upset.
Speaker B:I don't like this season.
Speaker B:I'm in.
Speaker B:And we just kind of rebuke it.
Speaker B:And we actually, listen to me, please.
Speaker B:We start rebuking God, what are you doing?
Speaker B:What are you doing, God?
Speaker B:Like, this is a devil.
Speaker B:That can't be God.
Speaker B:You can rebuke the devil and he'll flee, but you can't rebuke God.
Speaker B:And God won't flee.
Speaker B:So that's the reality.
Speaker B:So he's doing something deep in our lives.
Speaker B:See, the goal of prophetic fulfillment is not simply to get what we desire, but to be in alignment with heaven's agenda.
Speaker B:That's good.
Speaker B:That is so good.
Speaker B:Did you hear that?
Speaker B:The goal of prophetic alignment or fulfillment is not simply to get what we desire, but to be aligned with heaven's agenda.
Speaker B:See, Jesus said we're to pray.
Speaker B:Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:Prophetic promises are invitations to discover, to declare, and to demonstrate God's will.
Speaker B:They're not shortcuts to bypass it.
Speaker B:Sometimes the reality is you can be going through a situation and you're like, yeah, let's get through this season quickly.
Speaker B:I come from Canada.
Speaker B:You know how long winters are?
Speaker B:It's like half of the year sometimes, depending on where you live.
Speaker B:It's so frustrating.
Speaker B:The sun comes out one day and you're like, oh, winter's over.
Speaker B:And then the next thing you know, you get a snowstorm.
Speaker B:So frustrating.
Speaker B:And we're like, oh, it's been five months.
Speaker B:It's been cold.
Speaker B:It's been minus 10 degrees every day for the past, you know, three months, four months.
Speaker B:Yeah, I've had enough.
Speaker B:And you can't rush winter as much as you want.
Speaker B:It's part of the season.
Speaker B:And we are in a time where God, I believe some of us say, I want to see.
Speaker B:I want to see a move, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker B:And it seems like things.
Speaker B:Come on now.
Speaker B:Pastor Kevin knows all about this.
Speaker B:Look at the 90s.
Speaker B:What was happening.
Speaker B:Look, what was God doing previous to that?
Speaker B:I mean, we saw things even 15 years ago, 10 years ago.
Speaker B:We saw amazing things even a few years ago.
Speaker B:And it just seems like God's saying, no, no, no, not this time, guys.
Speaker B:No, no, no, no.
Speaker B:I'm not, you know, just handing out lollies here.
Speaker B:Time to grow up, church.
Speaker B:Time to be more responsible and steward what I've given to you.
Speaker B:Time to be a people of prayer and maturity.
Speaker B:Time to be a people.
Speaker B:Look.
Speaker B:Who know what it means to be sons and daughters, not consumer Christians.
Speaker B:Moving from one place to the next, to the next, to the next.
Speaker B:To get a word from here, to get a word from there, to get, you know, to go somewhere where.
Speaker B:Listen, no, no.
Speaker B:There's a time and a season.
Speaker B:I believe we're in it right now, where God is saying, put down roots.
Speaker B:Put down roots.
Speaker B:Grow deep.
Speaker B:Grow deep in your Walk and your relationship with me and watch what I'll do in your life.
Speaker B:Watch what I'll do in your life.
Speaker B:Because we're.
Speaker B:It's not just about us.
Speaker B:It's about the city, it's about nations, it's about others, it's about our families.
Speaker B:So knowing God's will is critical.
Speaker B:Well, what is God actually doing?
Speaker B:Ah, know the ways of the Lord.
Speaker B:What is he doing?
Speaker B:How's he operating?
Speaker B:Oh, this is God.
Speaker B:You pray and the Lord says what he says.
Speaker B:I do nothing without revealing my secret to my servants and prophets.
Speaker B:So I'm going to reveal to you what I'm doing.
Speaker B:I'm going to speak to you what's happening in your life in this season.
Speaker B:People that go through seasons where they can't get a job, doors are closed.
Speaker B:What's going on?
Speaker B:I better ask him.
Speaker B:What's he saying?
Speaker B:It could be.
Speaker B:We've been there, Lynn and I pastoring in Canada.
Speaker B:We had location, more than one location.
Speaker B:We were planting churches, we were traveling.
Speaker B:I would go to Africa and put on crusades with 50,000 people and places and do things like that.
Speaker B:And then all of a sudden the Lord actually brought us into a season where we on our own accord left the church that we were at.
Speaker B:But we thought we were walking into a season of great fruitfulness.
Speaker B:And we relocated from Canada to Florida in the usa.
Speaker B:And can I tell you, it was hell.
Speaker B:The next year was hell.
Speaker B:Then the economy collapsed and where is the worst place in America to be?
Speaker B: he great economic collapse in: Speaker B:Florida.
Speaker B:And California too.
Speaker B:In parts of California, Florida was the worst place in.
Speaker B:Everyone was fleeing, not staying, leaving, leaving.
Speaker B:Guess what?
Speaker B:Florida is now the fastest growing state.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, some say Texas, but it's definitely up there.
Speaker B:It's number two at least.
Speaker B:And everybody's moving there and you can't even get a home just in a few years.
Speaker B:And so here we are, full time itinerant.
Speaker B:We thought we had support from our home church.
Speaker B:That didn't work out.
Speaker B:Step into full time itinerant ministry in a city, in a nation where we really didn't know people very well, what are we going to do?
Speaker B:And God says to me, I mean I was like, God, this is crazy, this is frightening.
Speaker B:And the Lord spoke to me one day when I was in prayer and he showed me, he gave me one verse, was 2 Corinthians, one verse 9 says we have the sentence of death in ourselves.
Speaker B:That we might not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.
Speaker B:He said, I'm pulling out everything that you've been leaning on, everything you trust upon.
Speaker B:I want you to trust 100% in me.
Speaker B:Do you know that right after that, someone from Brazil, whom I never knew, randomly sent us $1,000 and we had $100 to our name, $100 to our name.
Speaker B:We were coming up to Christmas, no money, couldn't buy gifts.
Speaker B:We lived in a small home.
Speaker B:God gave us favor, but we lived in this.
Speaker B:So small.
Speaker B:Our house was smaller than this room, like 3/4 the size of this room.
Speaker B:And out of nowhere, a great man of God.
Speaker B:A great man of God, one of the most respected men of God, literally around the globe, who's had decades and decades of ministry, invited me to come meet him for lunch and then invited me to speak at his church.
Speaker B:That was the massive breakthrough.
Speaker B:When I said, hey, yeah, I preached that and people saw it.
Speaker B:You were at his church?
Speaker B:I was like, yeah.
Speaker B:He goes, whoa, how'd that happen?
Speaker B:I said, yes.
Speaker B:It was very intimidating.
Speaker B:And he blessed us with a very generous, very generous love offering.
Speaker B:And from that point, we started traveling, seeing the hand of God.
Speaker B:Provision, provision, provision.
Speaker B:Time after time, God opening doors, miracles taking place.
Speaker B:But if we hadn't realized, the season that we were in would have probably moved back to Canada.
Speaker B:We probably would have tried to circumvent what God was doing.
Speaker B:But he was saying, no, this is a journey that I'm taking you on.
Speaker B:It's necessary for what I'm preparing you for in the future.
Speaker B:Can I say now that when we go through these times of testing and uncertainty, that I'm more prepared?
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:It was a bear, a lion.
Speaker B:Giant, yeah.
Speaker B:We can take the giant out because God helped us with the bear and the lion, right?
Speaker B:Come on now.
Speaker B:So good, so good.
Speaker B:So delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Speaker B:That doesn't mean God gives us everything we want.
Speaker B:It means he imparts his desires into our hearts and he fulfills them.
Speaker B:This is my will.
Speaker B:And guess what?
Speaker B:Ephesians 3:20, he's able to do immeasurably, more, exceedingly, abundantly beyond all we could ask or think according to the power that works in us.
Speaker B:So we think it's outlandish.
Speaker B:He's like, I can do immeasurably, more, exceedingly, abundantly beyond that.
Speaker B:So pray, knowing the will of God.
Speaker B:And if you don't know what it is, search out the scripture.
Speaker B:Ask him to help you to interpret and understand the times and the season that you're in.
Speaker B:Number two, selfish pursuits.
Speaker B:So spiritual presumption, which is praying without knowing God's will.
Speaker B:Number two, selfish pursuits, misaligned motives.
Speaker B:Misaligned motives block the fulfillment of prophetic promises.
Speaker B:All right?
Speaker B:While knowing and aligning with God's will invites fulfillment, self centered motives can actually obstruct them.
Speaker B:Okay, James four, three.
Speaker B:Listen to this.
Speaker B:You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives.
Speaker B:The King James says you ask amiss.
Speaker B:That word in Greek literally means you pray.
Speaker B:Sick prayers.
Speaker B:It's a Greek word, kakos, which means sick.
Speaker B:To be sick.
Speaker B:Come on now.
Speaker B:We don't want to pray sick prayers, sickly prayers, whatever.
Speaker B:We want to pray healthy prayers.
Speaker B:We want to pray prayers that literally are godly and so on.
Speaker B:In fact, the word can also be translated evil.
Speaker B:You pray evil prayers, you ask for evil things.
Speaker B:So in spiritual presumption, we may still desire God's blessing, but we lack the revelation of his will.
Speaker B:But in selfish pursuit, we project our own desires onto God and attempt to spiritualize them.
Speaker B:Come on again.
Speaker B:Abraham.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Child of promise.
Speaker B:Sarah, send Hagar over to my tent.
Speaker B:Right, okay, yeah.
Speaker B:God helps those who help themselves.
Speaker B:Isn't that in the Bible?
Speaker B:God help those who help themselves.
Speaker B:I say like literally no.
Speaker B:And so what do we do?
Speaker B:We project onto God.
Speaker B:God told me to do this, to do that, and it wasn't God to begin with.
Speaker B:Later on, after Abraham had created the mess and he ended up telling him to send away Ishmael, send him away because he can't coexist with the child of promise.
Speaker B:That was your doing.
Speaker B:I'm not going to bless your mess.
Speaker B:So don't try to spiritualize it.
Speaker B:Prophetic promises are always rooted in God's glory and purposes, not just our comfort or success.
Speaker B:They're meant to produce Christ likeness, kingdom impact and deeper surrender.
Speaker B:Christ likeness, kingdom impact and deeper surrender.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:What does that mean?
Speaker B:So any motive that seeks to use God rather than partner with him will eventually falter.
Speaker B:So we move.
Speaker B:God wants us to move from prophetic potential to possession.
Speaker B:We move from prophecy to destiny.
Speaker B:We receive a word, the fulfillment is here.
Speaker B:But in between, there's a work of preparation.
Speaker B:There's a work that God's doing, contending, being tested.
Speaker B:Will you believe?
Speaker B:Will you hang on?
Speaker B:Will you go the journey?
Speaker B:Will you throw in, maybe just throw in the towel and go, it's too difficult.
Speaker B:I'm going to settle for this.
Speaker B:I'm going back to fishing.
Speaker B:I'm going back to whatever.
Speaker B:Like the disciples.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:I've got.
Speaker B:Are we going to hang in?
Speaker B:Are we going to go the distance.
Speaker B:Are we going to keep trusting him?
Speaker B:Number three, the third reason why our prayers and prophetic promises are not coming to pass is satanic plots.
Speaker B:Satanic plots.
Speaker B:Warfare surrounds prophetic destiny.
Speaker B:Warfare surrounds prophetic destiny.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:1 Thessalonians 2:18.
Speaker B:Paul says this.
Speaker B:We wanted to come to you.
Speaker B:I, Paul did again and again.
Speaker B:He said, but Satan hindered us.
Speaker B:Satan hindered us.
Speaker B:That word hindered isn't like, oh, he's making it a little hard for me.
Speaker B:Can I tell you, the Greek word here was actually used of a military strategy.
Speaker B:And the military strategy, that's the Greek word ekopto, E, G, K, O, P, T, O is the transliteration.
Speaker B:It literally means this.
Speaker B:In those times, they would do.
Speaker B:They would create roadblocks to obstruct the enemy from being able to move forward.
Speaker B:They would create an egg copto.
Speaker B:So it was in.
Speaker B:And what it would be is they would take a road, they would dig it up, they would.
Speaker B:They would blow it up.
Speaker B:They do whatever they had to do so you couldn't drive down that road.
Speaker B:And they would also fall trees on the road so you couldn't go through.
Speaker B:That's what he's saying Satan did to me.
Speaker B:Interestingly, the same word is used in Galatians, chapter five, where Paul says, you are running a good race.
Speaker B:Oh, Galatians, you know who's bewitched?
Speaker B:You remember that?
Speaker B:Chapter three?
Speaker B:Then in the fifth chapter, he says, you guys were running a good race, and he says, who cut in on you to prevent you from obeying the truth?
Speaker B:And the imagery is this.
Speaker B:It's like in the Olympics, and you're in a race, and another runner literally comes over and knocks you off your feet so you're not able to complete the race.
Speaker B:It's the same Greek word.
Speaker B:The enemy would try to stop you.
Speaker B:He wants to hinder you.
Speaker B:Some translations say, satan blocked us.
Speaker B:It's a very powerful word.
Speaker B:So understand this.
Speaker B:That delays, distractions, even demonic interference may increase, not because you're off track, but because you're on target.
Speaker B:Resistance isn't failure, it's confirmation.
Speaker B:Come on.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:It's like you sign up to be in.
Speaker B:In the military, and then they actually send you to go fight.
Speaker B:And you're like, hang on a minute.
Speaker B:I didn't sign up for this.
Speaker B:Like.
Speaker B:Like, well, sorry.
Speaker B:Suck it up, buttercup.
Speaker B:Like you're gonna do it.
Speaker B:That's what you signed up for.
Speaker B:My cousin, half of my family lived in the US the other half lived in Canada growing up.
Speaker B:My cousin, who's my age, became very high up in the US Military.
Speaker B:And I remember when he was.
Speaker B:He's in the Navy, so he was in an aircraft carrier in North Africa, in Libya.
Speaker B:And they were bombing Libya at that time, and everything was going on.
Speaker B:And literally some of the.
Speaker B:The Marines.
Speaker B:Marines, yes.
Speaker B:The big tough guys, right?
Speaker B:We're actually saying, oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:They were like, we're gonna go.
Speaker B:We're gonna go to war.
Speaker B:Be ready.
Speaker B:We might have to go and invade.
Speaker B:They never did.
Speaker B:But he said that.
Speaker B:And literally some of them young guys started crying, oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:We're gonna actually go to war.
Speaker B:We're gonna.
Speaker B:We have to go and fight, and we have to actually go and do battle.
Speaker B:And some of them were really upset.
Speaker B:Okay, so my cousin, what he actually did as their superior, he took them aside and he punched both of them in the face.
Speaker B:That's nice.
Speaker B:He said, yeah, you signed up to be in the military, right?
Speaker B:We fight in the military.
Speaker B:We have weapons.
Speaker B:We do warfare.
Speaker B:We signed up for the kingdom.
Speaker B:Warfare is part of it, guys.
Speaker B:Warfare is part of it.
Speaker B:So we have to recognize that.
Speaker B:We have to recognize that.
Speaker B:Number four.
Speaker B:This ties in really, with number three.
Speaker B:Spiritual passivity.
Speaker B:Spiritual passivity.
Speaker B:We're waiting when we should be warring.
Speaker B:We're waiting when we should be warring.
Speaker B:All right, Hebrews 11.
Speaker B:Let me read this one first.
Speaker B:Hebrews 6:12.
Speaker B:Through faith and patience, they inherited the promises.
Speaker B:Did you hear that?
Speaker B:Through faith and patience, they inherited the promises.
Speaker B: Hebrews: Speaker B:Who through faith subdued kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:They contended for the fulfillment of promises.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:It's kind of like Caleb, right?
Speaker B:A ripe old age of 80.
Speaker B:He's still believing for the promises of God.
Speaker B:Now, therefore, give me this mountain of which the lord spoke.
Speaker B: Joshua: Speaker B:Believing, contending.
Speaker B:It's a powerful thing.
Speaker B:And it actually says in Hebrews 6, verse 12 in.
Speaker B:In the new living translation.
Speaker B:Listen to this.
Speaker B:It says the.
Speaker B:That you do not become sluggish.
Speaker B:It's an interesting word.
Speaker B:It literally means lazy, dull, sluggish, spiritually indifferent.
Speaker B:But you imitate those who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises.
Speaker B:Lazy.
Speaker B:Can I be honest for a moment?
Speaker B:Can I say it the way it is?
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:I'm glad two people gave me permission.
Speaker B:You have no right to complain about anything if it's because you're being lazy.
Speaker B:You've not actively entered into warfare about your situation, but you complain.
Speaker B:Oh, it's bad.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:Oh, my.
Speaker B:And all it is is because you've settled on the Other side of the river Jordan.
Speaker B:Can I say that when God's called you to go in and possess the land, to take it all, to possess it.
Speaker B:But no.
Speaker B:So we can't be lazy.
Speaker B:We can't be lazy through faith.
Speaker B:We obtain promises through faith.
Speaker B:We literally need through faith that rekindles our passion and, and a willingness to, to pursue what God has.
Speaker B:So we can't be spiritually indifferent.
Speaker B:Now, there's a lot we could say about this, but I want to give you an example of a modern day person situation in which a woman, a great woman of faith who was not known even to this day, most people would not know her, believed the word of God against all situations and believed to the point that the outcome changed and literally saw the dead brought to life again.
Speaker B:This story was documented by Reinhard Bonnke.
Speaker B: pened, I believe, in the year: Speaker B:There's a pastor in Nigeria named Daniel Ekachukwu, Pastor Daniel and his wife.
Speaker B:It was close to Christmas time.
Speaker B:And like as pastors, we know how many know, pastors never do this.
Speaker B:They never get in arguments with their, with their partner or their spouse.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:They got into a big argument and he was fuming angry at her, how disrespectful she was and everything.
Speaker B:And he jumped in his car and they lived on top of a mountain.
Speaker B:And he began to drive down the mountain and literally the brakes on his car failed.
Speaker B:He hit a concrete barrier and the steering wheel punctured his chest.
Speaker B:They took him to the hospital.
Speaker B:He was pronounced dead on arrival.
Speaker B:They began the process of embalming him.
Speaker B:Now in Africa, it's a little different.
Speaker B:They don't necessarily empty your internals, but they start shooting chemicals in you.
Speaker B:And they started the process of embalming him.
Speaker B:And he laid there for a few days.
Speaker B:I think it was two or three days in the morgue, on the slab, cold as ice.
Speaker B:The medical certificate.
Speaker B:Dead.
Speaker B:His wife was so distraught because of what happened.
Speaker B:How could I see this happen to my husband?
Speaker B:She felt so guilt ridden and she began to pray.
Speaker B:And as she was praying one day the Lord spoke to her out of this verse.
Speaker B: Hebrews: Speaker B:Women received back their dead by resurrection.
Speaker B:She received this word from God.
Speaker B:God, you're speaking to me.
Speaker B:I believe you're going to raise my husband back to life again.
Speaker B:He went to the morgue where her husband was and she said, I want him to be transported to a church in an area that was not really close where Reinhard Bonnke happened to be there preaching and conducting a crusade.
Speaker B:And they took him there, and as they got close to the church, because it was in a dangerous area, they literally had to open up the casket to make sure him.
Speaker B:And it wasn't, you know, bombs, explosives.
Speaker B:And they allowed his body to be taken into the basement of the church.
Speaker B:And she said, please, let me bring him up into the service.
Speaker B:Bring Reinhardt, or at least have Pastor Bonnke come down and pray for him.
Speaker B:And they said, no, no, he's busy.
Speaker B:He can't.
Speaker B:And so they literally took him out of the casket, placed him on a wooden table, and he was stiff as a board.
Speaker B:Rigor mortis had set in.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And they began to pray.
Speaker B:And they began to pray and contend.
Speaker B:And as they began to pray, and Reinhard Bonnke was preaching upstairs, they noticed that his feet started to move, his toes started to move.
Speaker B:The next thing you know, they saw his chest rise.
Speaker B:He was breathing.
Speaker B:He came back to life.
Speaker B:And people heard about it, and they all came from upstairs during the service to see what was going on.
Speaker B:The man came back to life.
Speaker B:He was raised from the dead because of a woman who believed and contended for the fulfillment of her prophetic word.
Speaker B:When he went back, he already.
Speaker B:They had his funeral.
Speaker B:Do you know that?
Speaker B:You know what happened after this?
Speaker B:He walked into his village after they had a funeral for him, and people literally ran and screamed, saying, it's a ghost.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:There's a video on YouTube.
Speaker B:You can watch this called Raised from the Dead.
Speaker B:How appropriate.
Speaker B:Listen, she didn't just grieve.
Speaker B:She warred with the word.
Speaker B:She didn't simply mourn the promise.
Speaker B:She moved in faith and activated it.
Speaker B:See, this is prophetic strength in action.
Speaker B:It's not passivity.
Speaker B:It's propelled obedience in response to a spoken word.
Speaker B:How many know you can, for whatever reason, think you've heard from God or not.
Speaker B:That's why the first point was make sure you do the will of the Lord.
Speaker B:She heard from God as she prayed.
Speaker B:The Lord spoke to her, gave her a rhema word.
Speaker B:See?
Speaker B:But the word would not come reality until she walked it out.
Speaker B:Let me say this.
Speaker B:This is what the Lord's been really challenging me with.
Speaker B:Many of us, we are collectors of prophetic words, not possessors of prophetic promises.
Speaker B:We're collectors of prophetic words.
Speaker B:We might write them down, archive them, take them out, periodically admire them, even talk to others about it.
Speaker B:You know, I received a prophetic word.
Speaker B:I remember when I was in my early 20s, starting out in ministry.
Speaker B:We had pastored, and we moved back to our home city and While we were there, I ended up coming under the leadership, under the tutelage of a great man of God who had been the glory of God and imparted to him under the ministry of Kathryn Kuhlman himself and also Benny Hinn at that time, both were in Toronto, Canada.
Speaker B:Benny went to the usa, became well known.
Speaker B:He stayed in Canada, really didn't become well known, but he was filling up stadiums because all the miracles that were happening.
Speaker B:And I remember I told him about a dream.
Speaker B:I had a vision.
Speaker B:I had a vision, and I saw, like, these young people.
Speaker B:And the Lord said to me, in the particular part of the city, you need to go and share the gospel with them.
Speaker B:And I said, okay.
Speaker B:Shortly after that, I saw on the front page of the newspaper, or in the newspaper, maybe not the front page, there was an article about these kids.
Speaker B:There were a lot of homeless kids in a particular area.
Speaker B:And there was an apartment box literally above these shops in the older part of the city.
Speaker B:And it said that they were living there all together, and they found a body in someone's refrigerator, that apartment.
Speaker B:And the Lord spoke to me and said, didn't I not tell you they need to hear the gospel?
Speaker B:So I told the pastor that I was under.
Speaker B:I said, lord spoke to me, said, I need to go share the gospel with them.
Speaker B:And I had a dream.
Speaker B:I read this in the newspaper, and he spoke to me, and he looked at me and he said, so, when are you going?
Speaker B:I'll never forget that.
Speaker B:He was such a man of faith and action.
Speaker B:He said, when are you going?
Speaker B:And I said, well, I actually haven't got to that point yet.
Speaker B:I'm still kind of like, this is really cool.
Speaker B:God spoke to me.
Speaker B:I had a dream.
Speaker B:When are you going?
Speaker B:Are you going to do something about it or not?
Speaker B:So I told a friend of mine, I said, hey, you know these guys.
Speaker B:He knew all about them because he.
Speaker B:He was a street evangelist.
Speaker B:He'd shared the gospel with them many times.
Speaker B:I said to him, the Lord spoke to me, we need to go and see them.
Speaker B:We show up, here's the door to get into this apartment.
Speaker B:So literally, it's a door.
Speaker B:It's locked.
Speaker B:It's glass door.
Speaker B:You can see through it, and flight of stairs going up into where the apartments are.
Speaker B:So I'm there, and I'm like, all right, what do we do?
Speaker B:No one's here.
Speaker B:No one's around.
Speaker B:And we decided we'd pray.
Speaker B:So we said, lord, here we are.
Speaker B:We came in obedience.
Speaker B:Nobody's here.
Speaker B:Do you want us to come back another day or if we didn't know your.
Speaker B:If we missed your will or if this was just us, you know?
Speaker B:And next thing I know, I hear this noise, like, cling.
Speaker B:And it's like metal.
Speaker B:The sound of metal touching, like a concrete or cement.
Speaker B:And I looked down and literally at our feet was a key.
Speaker B:I looked around.
Speaker B:There's no one around.
Speaker B:No one.
Speaker B:Where did this key come from?
Speaker B:This is super creepy.
Speaker B:We grabbed the key and we're like, no way.
Speaker B:No way.
Speaker B:What if?
Speaker B:So we grab the key and we walk up to the door and we put the key in and, oh, my gosh, it was the key.
Speaker B:Do you see the extent God went to?
Speaker B:Because we acted in faith, in fear and trembling, not fully convinced.
Speaker B:But even in our weakness, even in our doubt, the Lord delivered.
