Signets and Such

We received strong confirmation yesterday that we had broke through in the battle for the next Supreme Court seat and President Bush. We end our 144-hour siege tonight at midnight. Read Psalm 20:1-5. David sacrifices and prays to the Lord before going into battle. Then in the next verse he declares "Now I know." We have been waiting for that moment- the moment you get a word of faith that allows you to say "Now I know!" That's what we felt like we got yesterday. Starting last night, we moved into making decrees over this next seat nomination. Lou Engle felt like God directed him to the book of Esther for this. If you're praying in agreement with us, here's a couple of specific decrees you can make:

Esther 8:2
"We declare that Haman is removed and Esther & Mordecai are raised up."
Esther 8:8
"We declare that the signet ring has been removed from Haman and given to Esther & Mordecai."

Don't stop there. Look at how God changes the law and fate of a nation in a single day. Begin to make decrees of God doing the same thing over the Supreme Court.

Side note: Please pray for our group. The largest television network in Germany arrives today to begin filming us. They will be following us around for about three days. My prayer is that our company will remain humble before them and live above reproach. On an exciting note, Alan Parker made a surprise visit to our prayer rumble last night. He's the attorney that represented Norma McCorvey as she saught to overturn her own ruling in Roe v Wade earlier this year. Now he's representing Sandra Cano, Jane Doe of Doe v Bolton, and expects to have her companion case before the Supreme Court next year. He spoke to us for about 15 minutes about current issues that he wanted us to pray about. What an amazing man! God has given us a strategic alliance between our two warring camps. The Church can't underestimate the significance of what's happening with the Supreme Court now. God is setting His chess pieces in place. He's moving to let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!

Strike, Strike and Strike Again

God has truely blessed us with an awesome group of interns for the Fall track. I can't believe how fast they've gotten up to speed with the vision and mission. It literally feels like a supernatural thing because of the urgency of what's going on right now. So our 72-hour siege was awesome, and we all felt like it was the right time. But in a leadership meeting yesterday, everyone came in not feeling like the job was done. In the meeting, God gave us the scripture 2 Kings 13:14-19. Our three-day prayer strike combined with our Esther fast was great, but perhaps complete breakthrough requires repeated striking. All of the leadership agreed that we should strike, strike and strike again knowing that there is a fierce battle being waged in the spiritual realm over the next seat's nomination. The future of America could depend on what happens in the next few days. Starting last night at midnight, we began another 3-days of continual prayer in front of the Supreme Court. In the natural, this could seem totally uninspiring. Instead, every person in our group couldn't wait to get back and hold the line. We'll be going 12 a.m. Tuesday to 12 a.m. Friday. Please join us in this stand whereever you are. This is the LORD's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over abortion!

We're also preparing for a mass of people to start rolling in to our farm over the weekend. Next Monday, October 3rd, is the opening day of the Supreme Court. We are calling all intercessors to join us in taking a stand in prayer in front of the Supreme Court from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. We're praying for massive concentration of force to break the back of the enemy's stronghold.

A Sabbath

We completed our 72-hour siege of the Supreme Court about an hour ago. I did an 8-hour watch from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. last night, so I'm a little sore and tired this morning. Today we rest. What an invigorating evening though. Three days ago I wrote in my blog that we needed to pray for President Bush big time because "now is the time for this man to stand up and be the man God called him to be- to be a BURNING BUSH. He needs to get his swagger back." Last night during a bathroom break at Starbucks I glanced at a Washington Post. There on the front page was a headline that read, "President Struggles to Regain His Pre-Hurricane Swagger." Wow, what a confirmation that our prayers are on the right track. I believe God led us into this long-distance siege and fast for the purpose of breakthrough. So, I also believe we will see breakthrough! God gave me a scripture last night. It's similar to the parable of the persistent widow. It's Luke 11:5-8. Jesus tells the story of how a man goes to a friend for bread in the middle of the night so he will have something to give to a stranger. The friend refuses since it's the middle of the night, but ends up giving the man what he asks for because of his boldness and persistence. What's more is the friend is not asking for himself but for someone else. What an amazing picture of persistent, bold intercession. Please continue to pray for our president as he is considering a nominee for this next seat of the Supreme Court. Let's call forth the Burning Bush that he was called to be. Also, let's continue to pray for John Roberts. Most sources are saying that he's on track for almost-certain confirmation. But that's not the whole battle. We must press in for the ongoing prevailing influence over his mind–especially since he will be sitting in the most important judicial seat in America.

Siege Baby! Siege

Just a couple pics from our Prayer Siege at the Supreme Court. We're going non-stop for 72 hours, and doing an Esther fast (no food or liquid) also. This is definitely a critical moment for our president. We feel like we're getting breakthrough in the midst of this. While the daytime crew was taking their watch yesterday, a tour bus came by that said "Star of America" on the side. Several of the activists felt like God was confirming that He sees our Esther fast (the name Esther means "star"). Also, one of the activist's mothers called last night. She didn't know about what were doing, but wanted to know if a dream she had was significant. In her dream, she saw President Bush with his arms outstretched holding up a massive weight that included the war in Iraq, gas prices, natural disasters, etc. It was too heavy for him, but then our group came to help support him and support his arms. She said that in the dream it looked like when the marines took the hill at Iwo Jima. What a powerful image!

A Battle of Influence

Late Wednesday night in a leadership meeting Lou Engle expressed that he didn't feel we had gained a dominant position of influence in the battle for the next Supreme Court seat yet. What I mean is that our job here in DC is to fight a spiritual battle for the dominant influence over the leaders of our nation. If there is little prayer and intercessioin of our leadership (1 Tim 2:1-2), then we can expect to have leaders that do not line up with the will of God. See, prayer and fasting can be offensive weapons. They allow God's people to tear through the heavens and engage in a realm that the Church largely ignores. Prayer and fasting moves angels and demons. Take a quick look at Daniel, and you see this clearly. So if we pray and fast with deliberate direction, we can expect to effect the spiritual influences contending for control over the minds of our leaders. Think about how important that is. Paul wrote to Timothy and instructed him that this should be the first thing we do. It's necessary in order for peace, godliness and holiness to reign in a nation.

So what are we doing about it? Many of us have been in a general season of fasting for these issues, and of course we take our usual stand in intercession in front of the Supreme Court every day. But starting at 9 a.m. Thursday, we began a 72-hour non-stop blast of intercession to gain that dominant position. It's baptism by fire for the new interns! We divided our company into three groups and began standing in intercession at the Court in 8-hour intervals. Unending intercession for three days and nights straight. In addition, our entire group is doing an Esther fast. This is nuts! Nothing to eat or drink for three days. But what's it worth? Can you place a price on the value of having good leaders in positions of authority? I'm learning what it means to be an intercessor. It means you throw yourself into the fray. You throw yourself into the gap in between what is and what could be. And you do it with the attitude immortalized by Esther, "If I die, I die." It's gonna be over my dead body that I allow spiritual forces of darkness to have that dominant influence.

Last night I took a shift from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. The city is remarkably quiet and peacefull in the middle of the night. It made for a great evening of prayer. Would you consider joining us in this stand? Consider an Esther fast for yourself with the direction of prayer for President Bush as he considers a nomination for the next seat. This is beyond critical. We feel like he may be considering a softer candidate due to his approval ratings and current events. But now is the time for this man to stand up and be the man God called him to be- to be a BURNING BUSH. He needs to get his swagger back. Know what I mean? Don't sleep through this historical moment. Join us.

Handicapped People Wear Pants Too

Is this really necessary? I mean, c'mon. This has to be the ultimate example of being politically correct. Do you suppose they were hoping that a disabled person would come cruising through the department store, see this and think "Wow. I'm in a wheelchair too and I really like those pants!"?

The Arrow of the Lord's Victory

This is the team of young leaders we sent out tonight for San Francisco. Please pray for them. Left to right: Tanner, Jesse, Missy, Christine, Thomas, Treavor and Monique. They started their own blog to document the trip and experience. You can keep up with their progress at jhoptosf.blogspot.com. "Mercy for San Francisco. Mercy for California. Mercy for America. Remember mercy Lord." Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing.

Apple Picker

Today was a beautiful day here in Maryland. Still a little humid, but beautiful nonetheless. We took a long drive up to Westminster to a place called Baugher's Orchard. We all got to ride a tractor and pick apples all afternoon. I don't think I've ever actually done that before. What a great time with the family. The kids really enjoyed themselves.

Gearing Up

Big day today. We've been working on final preparations today for multiple things. New interns are arriving all weekend and our California group is getting ready to leave. Our good friend Ali Orewiler arrived today. Kim and I have known her for pretty much...forever. Or at least her entire life. She hates it when I mention this (which tends to be often), but Ali and her twin sister were the flower girls at our wedding. Maybe I'll dig those pictures up to give her a thorough embarassing experience. Don't worry mom! We won't let anything too bad happen to her.

Dusk on the Farm

I looked out the window earlier and the sky was amazing. I grabbed my camera and ran outside for few snapshots and a quiet walk. My friend here seemed very interested too. God has been so good to us. To be living here with this community of believers is really rocking my world. You really get a sense of covenant and fellowship that is so hard to experience in the modern world with our six-foot privacy fences. Taylor started school this week and seems to be liking it a lot. The boys are just loving being with their new friends at a place with lots of places to play.

Small update on our involvement in California. We definitely feel that God has given us an assignment to fulfill in San Francisco. It seems completely ubsurd in the natural sense. It totally goes against common sense and practicality. But we feel God has given us a mandate in this hour to intercede for the state of California. As a result, we will be splitting our group in half. Yes, half. One half will stay here in DC, and the other will be leaving for San Francisco on Monday morning and staying until Yom Kippur (Oct 13). Read this link about this Jewish holiday if you don't already know about it. Things are converging in a major way. This is all particularly insane because the new Fall internship begins Monday and we have 19 new activists arriving over the weekend. Looks like everyone will be doing double duty. We just got an email tonight from an intercessor in California that we didn't previously know. Out of the blue she says that she had a dream two years ago that our kids were caravaning into San Francisco as everyone was evacuating. In the dream, we were excited to be going in because we knew how to difuse the situation. It just keeps getting better and better. Who knows what God is up to, but it must be glorious!

Aid For Katrina Victims

This is our team that we mobilized and sent down to minister to the victims of hurricane Katrina. I think we ended up raising over $6000 to purchase supplies.

We've been praying in front of the Supreme Court ever morning this week and attending the confirmation hearings in the afternoon. One of our Senator friends has managed to score us tickets each day. Please pray for John Roberts. We believe he's the right man for the job. Judge Roberts held up well under an all-out assault by a number of Senators including Specter (R-Pennsylvania), Feinstein (D-California), Leahy (D-Vermont), Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) and Biden (D-Delaware). No surprise that the topic of abortion is central to the hearings. There's a group we met that's giving out shirts that say "Roberts Rules". I want one.

California Continued

Please continue to press in prayer for California. We are sending a team of young people there in the next couple days to go and pray for a period of time. Specifically, they'll be going to San Francisco for 21 days or maybe more. Right now I think we'll be doing 10-hour night watches pleading for God's mercy. This is the prayer key right now- intercede for mercy instead of judgement. Also, pray that widespread revival would grip this state, and that there would be a massive turning to God.

The family is settling into our new rooms today. The Bohlenders left yesterday to move back to Kansas City, and we're moving into their part of the big house. It's all pretty nice compared to the mobile sleeping arrangements we've enjoyed for over a month now. The new Fall internship begins a week from today. About 20 new interns will be arriving this weekend. We all have a lot to do this week to prepare for them. Not to mention that we're attending the confirmation hearings of John Roberts this week. Please pray for him too.

Urgency For California

Please pray for California. I don't want to go into a lot of detail here, but our JHOP and the IHOP in Kansas City have received some recent insight that call for major concern. We are calling the body of Christ to move in massive intercession and plead for God's mercy for California and the nation. Don't let this moment in time slip by you. Don't take the posture of sitting and waiting to see what happens. Engage with God, and play your part in this time.

Go Team

So our conference ended Sunday night, and we took Monday as a rest day. But some of our interns were so stirred that they drove 8 hours from Charlotte to DC Sunday night. They were praying in front of the Supreme Court Monday morning. The result? They ended up in USA Today. We're all back in DC now and settling in.

Please Pray

Lou Engle is in a season of extended fasting right now. He’s fasting 40 days on only water for breakthrough in a number of areas. I was talking with him yesterday morning, and the intensity in his voice was astounding. If you can imagine, he’s not just sitting quietly in a room meditating through this and conserving his energy. On the contrary, he’s been blasting away in our prayer meetings with everything he’s got. Not to mention teaching and speaking in each of our sessions. He told me that he’s wondering if God would have him go emaciated to identify with the holocaust that is abortion. Does that sound weird? Does that sound too extreme? What is the role of the intercessor? Is it not to stand in the gap. God is looking for people that will identify with His heart. To feel what He feels. Unfortunately, the body of Christ has become quite adept at learning how to not “feel” anything. Somewhere along the line we convinced ourselves that feelings are bad and intellect rules. While there’s definitely valid reason’s for this shift, we’ve also definitely gone too far. Jesus took some disciples with Him on the eve of His final path to crucifixion, and begged them to keep watch with Him. At that most painful and crucial moment, He wanted someone to experience it with Him. Clearly He expressed an immeasurable amount of emotion, but His followers slept through it. What would it have been like to be praying with Him as His sweat turned to blood?

Tonight, after speaking at another event, Lou began to cramp severely and was feeling ill. Please take a moment in prayer and help lift this man’s hands up during this time. Lou Engle is a general in the army of God, and he’s carrying the marching orders right now. He’s paying the price for a better future for all of us–for me, my children and my children’s children. It’s inspiring, and begs the question “What more can I do? How far can I go?”

Also, let us mourn the loss of Chief Justice Reinquist. This amazing man served our country well, and was a strong voice for justice in our nation. I was watching an interview about his life today. I don’t know who the man was being interviewed, but he was close to him. He recounted a number of amazing career accomplishments, but said Judge Reinquist’s greatest regret was not being able to lead the high court in the overturning of abortion. “God, would you give us another judge with a double-portion of wisdom, morality and passion. Give us righteous judges, God, that will restore justice to America.” If you don’t think now that you’re living in a crucial time in history, you’re not breathing. We seem to be in one of those moments when “all bets are off.” Come on!

Awake

Do you ever find yourself at a place where you suddenly realize how incredibly inadequate you are? It’s never a gradual realization either. It comes all of a sudden. It must be the Holy Spirit breaking in through all the protective layers of pride, self righteousness and self assurance. When that stuff cracks and breaks, it’s like a flood of sobering truth comes rushing in. “I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m fine,” and then WHOOM! I’m convinced that God is raising up a people that will be big in His eyes and not our own. That’s no big new revelation. I could quote you half a dozen scriptures and put together a three-point sermon on the topic. But it’s a whole ‘nother deal when that truth blasts into your spirit and becomes more real than the air you breathe. That in itself probably shows that we like to talk about it a whole lot more than experience it.

The place got rocked last night. No, not the music. It was the people of God getting rocked by some of the sharpest truth I’ve heard in a long time. Honestly, I can’t remember ever being in meeting like the one I was in last night. We were about half way through our 60-hour prayer meeting, and the presence of God was heavy. A group called Chosen came to join us and minister. They’re a youth drama group out of Alabama. This young dude named Damon spoke, and it was some of the most revelatory stuff I’ve heard on some of the most basic and elementary scriptures. There was so much stuff in there, I’m going to have to get the CD of the session and digest it for the next few months. The overall theme was that it’s imperative now more than ever for the Church to awake in the hour she now lives. I think I saw some stirring last night. There’s definitely a Church waking up.

The Return From Exile

Yesterday was the first day of our conference here in Charlotte. It’s hard to go on with life as usual in light of the devastation and suffering going on in New Orleans and Biloxi. It’s good to hear in the news that it’s the Church down there that’s rising to the occasion. We prayed at length for the victims and scrambled some emergency support. There aren’t a ton of people here and most are young, but I think I heard we raised about $3500 to buy water to send. Who knows what the death toll will be when things are tallied. I’m sure that the results will be far beyond anything we speculated. We will absolutely mourn and consider the tremendous loss of life. But can I just point out here that 4,400 babies are murdered in the womb every day of every week of every year, and no one mourns for them. We don’t consider them because we don’t believe they’re real people. If we took a moment to ask God what He thinks about them, what do we think He would say?

Yesterday began what will be 60 hours of non-stop worship and intercession–continual incense offered up before the Lord to see a changing in our nation. Who needs just another conference? Yes, there’s great music and t-shirts, but God has ignited our hearts for the house of prayer. It must be restored in the Church. He has made us a royal priesthood to make priestly intercession and kingly decrees. God’s people rule with Him from the quiet place. How did this get lost? How did we miss it on such a massive scale? But, as always, God has preserved a remnant. Thank God for all the little old ladies that understood the real power of prayer and made war in their prayer closets through the ages. Heart were changed, kings were swayed and nations were turned because of it. Something is rumbling again, and those with ears to hear are beginning to respond.

I was thinking about Nehemiah and Ezra today. They tell the story of how the exile’s hearts were stirred to return and rebuild Jerusalem. They left their lives and everything they knew behind in Babylon simply because God had given them an inner fire to restore the house of the Lord. I can’t help but think about what my family is doing. It doesn’t make much sense on, well, any level. But God has stirred our hearts for the house of the Lord. RESTORATION! When you get something like that, you either run after it or stay in exile.