Last week I was asking the Lord what was on His heart for the pioneers when my spirit began to flood with His thoughts and insight, so I quickly took out my phone and wrote down what came to me.
The Pen, the Key and the New Chapter
The first thing I received was a vision in which I was holding a pen, a key and a book opened in the middle to a new chapter with blank pages. I instantly knew we were shifting from one chapter to another; there is something God wants us to pioneer this year onward to fill those pages.
As I was thinking about this, I heard these words in my spirit: “It’s up to us to write the future. We must write history!” We aren’t powerless in the storyline that’s taking place right now; in fact, God wants us to be the writers and authors with Him of what takes place.
Pioneers, you are God’s pen, and this year He is anointing you to be His vessels of glorious poetry to usher His heart into the earth. “We have become His poetry, a re-created people that will fulfill the destiny He has given each of us” (Eph. 2:10a, TPT).
In the last few years, there has been a major attack against the pioneer’s pen, the creatives and the ones called to write history with God through the unique expressions He has given us all. But in this new chapter, the pages will be filled with the words, topics, themes and language of a new day and hour.
The blank pages represent the “blank slate” season we are in that demands a response from the body of Christ to stand up, courageously step into the unknown, speak what has been unspoken and create the world we want to see. We have to close the doors to the past (the past moves, the past methods, ways, formulas) and embrace the uncharted road.
The key I saw is the authority God is reminding us that we have. It’s the Isaiah 22:22 (NIV) key of David, which is a governmental key that changes everything it locks or unlocks: “I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.”
This speaks to me of our role to impact and change the storyline taking place in the earth and around us. We get to shut doors and open them. We get to determine what is allowed and what is not, and what is acceptable and what is not.
This new chapter slams the door to the era of powerlessness in the church. It is the Father handing us the keys to the kingdom, saying, “OK, mighty ones, it’s your time to step up with the authority I have given you through the blood of the Lamb!”
Pioneers, Let’s Set the Stage
Then I heard the Lord say, “This year sets the stage. What you write and legislate from the heavens will become the cornerstone for the days to come.”
We have the responsibility to set in motion the things God has on His heart, but with that comes the reality that if we don’t, then something else will fill that vacuum. Will we author heaven to earth this year, or will we allow man’s ways and methods—or worse, the enemy, to fill that void?
I believe this “setting the stage” means that we have been called to lay a foundation, lay the groundwork or establish a precedent. What comes into my spirit is the call to break new ground and pave a new path, or way, forward that the body of Christ will walk in.
How do we set the stage? We have to recognize the areas in which God is asking us to prepare for the new. We have to sow into tomorrow by planting seeds now. The crops of the last season have ripened and are beginning to droop. It’s time to break new ground and plant what we want to see become a harvest in the days ahead.
This is the “decider” year; a year to determine what doors we will open and walk in and what doors and areas we will need to shut. It’s a “stock-take” year of removing the unnecessary extra baggage from the church and casting it away. We must shift our perspective and position. We have been so focused on the fruit and trying to hoard more fruit that we have forgotten to plant the seeds that others will feed off in the days to come.
A Greater Tension Begins
As the Lord continued to speak, I sensed a greater tension coming upon the pioneers. It was the tension of the call to go deeper while also feeling the call to launch out farther. It was the call to the secret place and the clarion call of the hour to live at His feet more than seeking the public place—but at the same time, not sitting still or being inactive.
We have already been in a season of extreme delay and “pull back,” where the enemy has warred against us producing, so those days are over. This will be a season of deeper wells and a greater outpouring at the same time.
Many pioneers have mistaken this tension as inner conflict, but you need to know that this is simply the pull of the new chapter and the reality of what you are seeing and experiencing in the now. This tension will make you feel uncomfortable at times, but it is harpooning you to the future that you are the representative for. That’s right; God is planting you in the future, and you will learn to navigate that line between what is coming and what you see.
This tension will cause you to feel deeply dissatisfied and unable to settle in the wilderness; it will uproot all places of potential apathy in your life. But the good news is that you will see the goodness of God and the breakthrough you have been praying for.
The Shelves of Heaven Must Be Seized
I heard Him say, “The shelves of heaven must be seized!” I knew this was referring to the books, the songs: the blueprints of movements, ideas, strategies and themes on God’s heart that have not yet been discovered. But the word “seized” struck me. It means:
1. To grasp suddenly and forcibly; take or grab.
2. To take by force; capture or conquer.
3. To take quick and forcible possession of; confiscate.
This is not just a retrieval or a pickup of goods but a takeback of what has been both blocked and stolen.
“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it” (Matt. 11:12).
Pioneers, your role this year is to peel back the curtain so that the church can see what is theirs for the taking. It’s your role to remove blindfolds and reveal the glorious future that has been shrouded by doom and gloom—to open the eyes of those who have been stuck.
The Key of David and the Psalmist’s Detour
However, the key you possess this year is not just the key of authority and access, but the key of David. It’s the key of worship and priesthood that has been lost. I feel this so strongly: There is a new sound of worship rising this year and onward that is going to break the church out of the glass ceiling of man’s ability and restore the raw cry of a generation that must have Jesus at all costs.
The radio edit can inspire, and it can definitely encourage, but the Lord is looking for those who will put the emphasis back on the altar floor over the studio room. He is looking for those who will run into the secret place and not leave till they carry His songs and His melodies. {eoa}
To read the entire prophetic word, visit elijahlist.com.
Nate Johnston is a prophetic voice and worshiper who has a heart to see sons and daughters unleashed into passionate friendship with God and an effective supernatural lifestyle. Through his ministry school “Everyday Revivalists,” he leads people from the basics of the gospel through to being sent and released into their mission field, as well as championing and raising up emerging prophetic voices around the world. His burning cry and desire is to see the body of Christ become a beacon for the lost by raising up a generation that walks in the love and power of God, representing Him well. Nate and his wife Christy have three daughters, Charlotte, Sophie and Ava, and live in Redding, California.
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