Fast Time: Tuesdays 6am-6pm
Thank you for your willingness to participate in what God is doing! Above all, please be Spirit-led as you fast. PLease note that this is the designated timeframe set forth by the Shine Empowerment Netowrk. You are invited- but not required- to join us in any way that you can. If you have a medical condition that prevents a complete fast, then please look for another way to participate. Use wisdom and follow the Holy Spirit.
It Matters What You Say
Job 22:28, “Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways.”
Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat it’s’ fruit.”
Did you know your prayers matter? Prayer is communication with God. Prayer is one of the most powerful tools available to us when it comes to changing our lives through the words we speak. Prophetic declarations are often viewed in a different light than prayer. When in fact, the ability to decree future events in your life is not only a legitimate form of prayer, but one of the most practical and effective ways to engage. You, through prophetic declarations, have the opportunity to bring a shift in the atmosphere of your city, church, home, and personal life. You have power from the Most High and your prayers do matter!
One description of a “prophetic declaration” is “a trumpet sound that pushes back the darkness, that makes a way where there is no way.” What a powerful, descriptive picture of prayer. Through the study of God’s Word, I found that He has given us the authority to speak for Him. We are His voice in the earth. We are ambassadors of Christ. I also discovered that God has orchestrated a strategic time for prayers to break through. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord will prompt us to pray the right kind of prayer at that moment. Powerful things will happen as we participate with the Lord at these specific times. We must co-labor with Him in obedience. The Word doesn’t say “if” you pray, but “when” you pray.
God established the church on the earth to continue in the work of putting Satan under our feet as He has already put Satan under His feet. Paul speaks in Ephesians of the work and power made available to the church. He says he was called to “bring to light…the mystery” hidden for ages in God “in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places” and declares that God “is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Eph. 3:9-10,20, NASB).
Paul indicates that God is going to make known His wisdom through the church. According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, the word “known” comes from the Greek verb gnoridzo. It means “to certify, to declare, make known, give to understand, to come to know, discover.” To “make known” means that God is going to use the church to make declarations to the demonic rulers and authorities.
Making declarations is the same as making prophetic proclamations. The Hebrew word for proclaim, qara, means “to call out to, call forth, cry unto, invite or preach. It is usually addressed to a specific recipient and intended to elicit a specific response. Rarely does it refer to a random outcry” (Zodhiates, “Lexical Aids to the Old Testament,” Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible, AMG Pubs.).
The Greek language has several words for “proclaim.” One of them is katagello, which Zodhiates says means “to tell, to declare plainly, openly, or aloud.” Katagello has the sense of an offer of information or encouragement. Another Greek word for “proclaim” that Zodhiates defines is kerusso, a much stronger word. It means “to be a herald.”
A herald was a public crier who was a speaker of divine truth. The message delivered by the crier was a public and authoritative announcement that demanded compliance. When you kerusso, you are like a town crier making an announcement that requires the hearers to comply. How powerful!
Town Criers
Today public heralds have been replaced by newspapers, television and other electronic information sources. Perhaps the best known town crier in all of American history is Paul Revere. However, the tradition predates his famed ride from Boston to Lexington and carries great significance for us today.
Attendants and friends. In Greek literature the public crier was the attendant of a prince—but not just an ordinary attendant. Raised above the status of other servants, the crier was given a respect and status similar to a friend. As believers, we serve the Prince of Peace. Yet Jesus said, “‘No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My father I have made known to you’” (John 15:15). In this, Prince Jesus has raised us to a status like that of the town crier—we are His friends.
He says that He will make known to us everything He has heard from the Father. The Greek word meaning “make known” is the same word used in Ephesians 3:10. What does that mean to us as intercessors?
- It means we are not giving just a random outcry, but we are participating in a process released from heaven.
- God the Father makes known (gnoridzo) His intentions to Jesus.
- Jesus makes known (gnoridzo) the Father’s intentions to the church.
- The church makes known (gnoridzo) the intentions of God to the evil powers through proclamation (kerusso).
- The result? Breakthrough!
Deputies of the prince. A town crier was given a herald’s staff. The scepter in his hands made it clear that as he carried out his commission, he did so under the prince’s authorization. When Jesus rose victorious from the grave, He took back the authority man had given away in the garden. Jesus then turned and gave the authority He purchased to those who would follow Him, declaring that whatever they bound or loosed on earth would be so also in heaven (see Matt. 16:19).
Proclamation carries with it a nature of binding, commanding and settling. Zodhiates says the word “bind” means “to fasten or to tie up with chains or a cord.” Prophetic proclamations released through the mouths of intercessors have the ability to tie up the effect of evil powers like an animal tied with chains or a cord.
The verb translated “loose,” according to Zodhiates, means “to loosen, break up, destroy, dissolve, unloose, melt or put off.” When you loose the powers of darkness from a situation, person or city, the enemy is no longer able to do what he intended to do.
Protected heralds. The Greeks believed that a herald who came in wartime must not be touched. If he were, the one who touched him would incur the wrath of both the one who sent the crier and his gods.
The security of the intercessor is his faith in the powerful blood of Jesus. Intercessors are on assignment in a spiritual war. They have been sent by the Captain of the Hosts to do His bidding. A scepter of authority has been given to them, and they are to rule in the earth.
Crier Characteristics
There are some general characteristics that apply to all public criers, historical and current.
Under authority. A crier was always under the authority of someone else. The crier was only the spokesman. Intercessors should always be under the authority of the Lord. A submissive spirit is vital. We also need to submit to others (see Eph. 5:21). No person is above the need for accountability. Each of us has blind spots. We need those who love us enough to tell us the truth.
Convey the message of the master. The crier was not to deliver his own message or compromise with the one who was receiving it. He simply delivered the message he was sent to speak. Often, I find people who were, at one time, very powerful in prayer. As difficulties came into their lives, they retreated and stopped involving themselves with the body of Christ. But an intercessor cannot compromise with the enemy during a spiritual battle.
Announce judicial verdicts. What the public crier announced became valid by the act of proclamation. Likewise, Jesus the righteous Judge hands the verdict to the intercessor, who then delivers a prophetic proclamation to the evil powers. The verdict becomes valid through the proclamation spoken by the intercessor.
Jesus said, “‘What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim [kerusso] upon the housetops’” (Matt. 10:27).
In 2 Timothy, Paul wrote: “The Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the lion’s mouth” (4:17).
When intercessors are given the right word to speak at the proper time, there will be great victory and spiritual breakthroughs. There will be deliverance for God’s people, for cities and for nations. God will provide strength to intercessors so that they can do the will of the Lord.
Jesus will make known to you the intentions of His Father. Let Him strengthen you so that the prophetic proclamation of His Word can go forth from your mouth without compromise and establish His will on the earth.
“It’s imperative to understand that your present declarations are becoming your future manifestations. What you say today is creating your tomorrow.”
Important Things To Remember When Making Decrees
- Use the word of God as your basis. So when I declare a thing over my life, I speak it in the now with applicable biblical context to back what I’m saying.
- The next step is to identify your problem, find the proper scripture to apply to that situation, and speak the antithesis of what you are going through.
An Example Of Praying With Prophetic Declaration
“Father in the name of Jesus, I decree and declare that I am now healed according to your word. I confess according to Isaiah 53:5 that by your stripes I am already healed. I declare that according to 3 John 2, above all things I prosper, I am in health, even as my soul prospers. I thank you that I now walk in divine health. “
I implore you today to identify the areas of your life that you are ready for God to invade. Whether it is health, deliverance for yourself or a loved one, financial breakthrough, or a complete overhaul of your life, find the scriptures that relate to your desires and speak it as if you already have it in the present tense. Then praise God for it until what’s in the spirit manifest in the natural. Remember, it’s already done!
A Word From Christy
Fellow Believers and Prayer Warriors, you can’t quit now! The Lord is calling us to return to those things that we know to do: to pick back up the things that we may have laid down due to distractions, weariness, or even busyness. Remember, we have already been handed the victory, we just have to agree with it, declare it, and then stand in it. The Lord is faithful and true. He has marked breakthroughs for this time. We must receive His word and choose to believe. May this Tuesday of prayer and fasting truly bring breakthrough to your life, your family, your city, and your nation. Transformation Tuesday, it is ON! “Lord, refresh your people. Father, re-ignite the Holy Spirit within us that we may SHINE brightly for YOU! I the name of Jesus, Amen.”
Shining Brightly for the King,
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