HEIDI BAKER: Say Yes to God’s Promises

Carrying the Promise
Let’s say you allow God to overshadow you, and He says: “I am planting a ministry in you. The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the crippled will walk, the dead will be raised, and the poor will hear the good news.”

You respond, “Yes, Lord!” And you become pregnant with the promise.

So you go out and pray for the blind, but nobody sees. You pray for the deaf, but nobody hears. You go out and love people, but there are no miracles.

Time passes and nothing happens. You feel so pregnant; you think you’re going to pop.

Will you keep carrying the promise until it’s born? Or will you say to the Lord, “Enough”?

I was 16 when God told me I would preach in Africa. I was 35 when I finally stepped foot in Mozambique.

Perhaps you are five, 10 or even 20 years pregnant. You don’t think that your prophetic word is ever going to be fulfilled. Let me encourage you: If you will keep carrying what God placed in you—if you will nurture it and continue to live in intimacy with Jesus—it will come to pass.

Perhaps you feel that you are “barren.” You think that your time has come and gone—that prophetic visions and new ministries are for the younger generation.

Remember Elizabeth? She was Mary’s older cousin. She was barren for decades.

But just a few months before Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, God allowed Elizabeth to conceive a son in her old age. His name was John the Baptist.

The truth is, you’re never too old. God can use anyone to minister His love to others. Age isn’t the determining factor; willingness is.

Perhaps you received a word from God at some point, but then you aborted the promise. Don’t despair. For you, there is mercy and grace.

God loves you. If you choose to live in His love, He will overshadow you again.

God is looking for yielded vessels. He is looking for people who will say: “Yes, Lord. Here I am. I don’t care what it costs. Be it unto me.”

Is there a “yes” in you for God? Is there a “yes” in you for the promise that He wants to place inside you?

Mary’s life was never the same after her visitation from God. It cost her everything, beginning with her reputation and ending with the sight of her beloved Son dying on a cross.

Yet listen at her response: “‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed'” (Luke 1:46-48, NKJV). Like Mary, we, too, can rejoice in our great God. He is our portion and our exceedingly great reward. He loves us, and He wants to birth His great promises within us.

All we need to do is say, “Yes, Lord!”

He will overshadow us. He will plant His prophetic vision within us.

Yes, it will cost us everything. But in His timing, God will make His vision come to pass.

Heidi Baker and her husband, Rolland, founded Iris Ministries more than 30 years ago.