“I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem, who shall never hold their peace day nor night. You who remind the Lord, do not keep silent; give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a glory in the earth” (Isa. 62:6-7).

I think it is clear to all of us who are pressing into the Lord presently that we are in a final act of restoration for His church, as though He is forming a new wineskin through His body with a good number of reforms and adjustments in order for His Kingdom to be more effective upon the earth. These reforms will once again properly mobilize God’s body into the works of the ministry and away from the old pew focus that has had most of the ministry works fall upon its leadership. This is one of the major advantages of the church moving back towards a fivefold ministry focus.

From within this context, I would like to address the prayer focus and directives that are already arising in and through us, as many of the reforms in His body are already beginning to take place without us necessarily fully recognizing them as such. This is what is so amazing about this time, whether we agree or not. God is in charge here and moving His body into position. He is bringing these reforms to pass and ultimately as His children, we have a choice to make, speaking metaphorically, to either get on the train or to be left at the station. It’s not that He will love us any less, but that there is so much more for us to gain by fully trusting Him with these changes for His church. In fact, hasn’t it always been like this when God moves in a new and fresh way and many of us get left behind? May it never be this time around in Yeshua’s/Jesus’ precious name, Amen. But the train is already on the move: “All aboard!”

Isaiah 62:6

Regarding this new corporate prayer focus, I have felt impressed of the Holy Spirit that there are two directives in Isaiah 62:6 that relate to prayer and intercession that are significant to our understanding. One in particular, is for the watchmen/women and the other is for everyone else, noted in the above bolded text. One can compare this to the gift of evangelism. While we may not be an evangelist or have this gift, we are all called to witness and share our faith. And the same is true for prayer, for those who are called into the watchmen/women focus and for everyone else.

We are all called to prayer (and not just individual prayer), which must now take a greater priority in His church, more than ever before. In fact, this is one of the main areas of adjustments in the church, among God’s leadership who not only need to lead by example in this most significant area, but also to more fully recognize the call of prayer with these differing focuses.

What’s important to us:

• Not only to recognize the differing focuses of prayer but also the various giftings among us, so we are properly shepherded and guided into them by our leadership. For example, everyone can contribute towards a 24/7 worship and prayer event; or any other type of prayer meeting such as early-morning prayer. That way, the watchmen/women can be called to a more strategic type of intercession that the Holy Spirit is calling us into that requires a greater prayer focus.
• To more effectively empower everyone who is called to know how and where they can serve in prayer and not feel intimidated in any way by those who have a deeper calling in the area. We will emphasize that those who call on the Lord be trained up with this focus in mind.
• To better recognize the calling of prophetic intercession in the church; to raise up more effective training, teaching and equipping in this area for all those called to be watchmen/women, which will have dramatic effects on this end-time reformation that Mashiach/Christ is leading us into with these directives.

For these reasons, I believe this new focus and directive for prayer should be foundational to our approach, and in this light, can help to develop much greater fruit from our works, teaching and training in prayer, as we more effectively guide our brothers and sisters into the right areas of prayer.

The Watchmen/Women Call

In this day, there is a greater call and focus for His watchmen/women through our various prayer assignments and strategies. There is a call to be brought into a greater dependence on the Holy Spirit and to create more Spirit-led environments for these prayer strategies to come forth. For the Lord to put the strongholds of the enemy under His feet through His prayer saints (Eph. 6:12). The Holy Spirit is already leading me into this with a good number of other intercessors with our Reconnection Ministry focus, and we are beginning to receive a small taste of what is to come into this area, as we move into it in greater depth.

Jerusalem

Another major principle that also needs our attention is our focus upon Jerusalem itself. While every prayer need is important to God, the kingdom of God has been established with certain positions; and none greater than our focus on the gospel, which is to the Jew first; then to the nations (Rom.1:16).

As the church reconnects spiritually towards Israel, which appears to be the final act in this reformation, I believe this adjustment and principle also needs to be reestablished in and through our prayer strategies. It will be the same with the kingdom’s outflow, the natural response of which is greater power and blessings into the nations, ultimately bringing the end-time harvest and Israel’s spiritual awakening. This is part of the unveiling of the mystery that Paul refers to in Romans 11:25 along with the power equation of Israel’s spiritual restoration: life from the dead (Rom. 11:15).

However, regarding this realignment, in a sense, it is like David moving the ark back to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6), which had to be done in accordance to the Word of God in order for God’s full blessing to be upon it. The same is true of our spiritual realignment  to Israel, as this principle of the kingdom written in Romans never changed and must now be restored. This is significant to our understanding in this place, as in this day, of Israel’s spiritual awakening and restoration; it will help to lay the foundation for world revival.

Look also at the directive of the Scripture in Isaiah related to this positioning, never to be silent and to give both God and ourselves no rest until He makes Jerusalem the praise of all the earth. We must not spiritualize this Scripture, as Jerusalem is not the church here. It is a holy city where our King will come back to reign, and one that we are very much going to have to contend order for Yeshua/Jesus to return. We must consider all that this means means to us as He fully restores us in the one new man, between Jew and Gentile and Israel and the church. {eoa}

Grant Berry is a Jewish believer in Yeshua/Jesus and author of The New Covenant Prophecy and The Ezekiel Generation. He founded Reconnecting Ministries with the specific focus to help the church reconnect spiritually to Israel and considers it vital to the kingdom of G-d in the last days. His message focuses on the unity, love and healing that the Father wants to bring between Jew and Gentile, yet clearly points out the differences and misunderstandings between the two groups. Now is the time to look more carefully into this mystery to make way for healing and reconnection in the Spirit. For more information, please visit .

Paul offered a detailed prophecy to Timothy about the end times, but the apostle’s words weren’t exactly full of rumbling earths or deluges from heaven. Rather, Paul specifically called out the heart of man.

“Men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, slanderers, unrestrained, fierce, despisers of those who are good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying its power. Turn away from such people,” Paul writes in 2 Tim. 3:2-5.

Watch the video to see how much of this applies to right now.

Why is it that God so often speaks the language of mystery?

Our Father wants to be understood when He speaks; however, He frequently communicates in “dark speech.” (See Num. 12:6.) This means He speaks in ways that are veiled, or mysterious, and we need revelation if we’re going to understand what He’s saying. Dreams fall into this category all the time.

“Even when things without life give sound, whether flute or harp, how will it be known what is played unless they give a distinction in the sounds? If the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for the battle? So also you, unless with the tongue you speak words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you shall speak into the air” (1 Cor. 14:7-9).

God sets a principle in 1 Corinthians 14 that He Himself abides by: You can’t expect someone to respond to something they don’t understand.

We need understanding for our dreams—but how do we get it?

Where to Go for Dream Answers

As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:10–11, interpretation is a gift of the Spirit, not a process of human intelligence. Technically, this passage is talking about tongues and interpretations, but the principle holds true for all spiritual communication, including dreams.

Only God can interpret spiritual communication. In other words, there is only One who can tell us what we need to know.

Because God Himself is the answer to the dream question, we can study principles of interpretation and develop a skill set that will help us understand dreams, but we won’t be able to grasp the full understanding God has for us if we depend solely on what we’ve learned. Joseph understood this concept when he asked, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” Yet he also understood he had a role to play in the process of interpretation, for he added, “Please tell the dreams to me” (Genesis 40:8, author’s paraphrase).

In later blog posts, we’ll talk about the skills that can help you position yourself to interpret the dream, but these skills can only position you for the interpretation—revelation is still required.

The Difference Between Disciples and Crowds

Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables and veiled speech, and His disciples asked Him about it in Matthew 13:10b: “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He told them the understanding belonged to them—but not to the crowds.

What set the disciples apart? Why did the understanding belong to a select few but not to everyone? As we read the rest of the chapter, we realize the answer: It was their relationship with Jesus. The crowds would hear the parables and be entertained; they would go back to their lives feeling like they had an experience, but the disciples would return to Jesus and ask Him to explain what He meant.

The Key to Interpreting Dreams

The key to interpreting dreams is relationship with the author of dreams. When you have a dream or someone shares a dream with you, go back to God and ask Him what He was trying to say. It can be helpful to ask questions like these:

• “What did You mean by that?”
• “What were You trying to say to this person?”
• “What are You accomplishing in my life?”

As you engage with God about His revelation, He will speak to you in greater detail. Most revelation is an invitation to engage God for more.

Develop friendship with the Holy Spirit. Deepen your ongoing conversation with Him. Speak to Him constantly, and you will find He is already speaking constantly to you. Expect Him to clarify what He is saying. As Bill Johnson succinctly says, “He doesn’t hide stuff from us. He hides stuff for us.”

Seek Relationship

God’s veiled speech reveals our hearts: Do we really want to understand, or do we just want to have an experience? Are we looking for relationship or entertainment?

Our response to dreams can reveal the kind of soil we’re working with (See Matt. 13:3–23). We can treat dreams lightly, without paying much attention to them, or we can see them as invitations to seek God and listen for His voice.

“And He answered them, ‘To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him'” (Matt. 13:11-12). {eoa}

John E. Thomas is the president of Streams Ministries and the co-author of The Art of Praying the Scriptures: A Fresh Look at Lectio Divina with John Paul Jackson. Teaching on prophetic ministry, dream interpretation and the Kingdom of God, he travels internationally and works to help restore the awe of God to a world that has lost its wonder. John and his wife, Dawna, live outside of Dallas, Texas.

To learn more about dreams and dream interpretation, check out Dream Foundations as well as other resources from John E. Thomas and John Paul Jackson at .

Many problems between the LGBT and Christian communities come because the two groups don’t interact with one another. Jackie Hill-Perry, a former lesbian who is now a Bible teacher, tells The Gospel Coalition the biggest thing that Christians misunderstand about LGBT people. Her insight could dramatically change how you witness to them.

A South African pastor says God gave her a vision to conduct a mass wedding ceremony to save couples from living in sin.

“Last week I had a vision from God; I saw white wedding tables,” Pastor Tanelle Welft-Dixon tells the Daily Voice. “This was during my two-week campaign of praying until something happens. I asked God to reveal his plans to me, and the message was that I should marry those who have been living together, or who did not have money for a wedding. I announced this in church, and the couples came forth and admitted that they no longer wanted to live in sin.”

Six couples said “I do” after the pastor’s call. Many of the couples had been together for decades and never officially tied the knot due to finances.

Mass weddings are on the rise, with thousands of couples participating in giant ceremonies around the globe.

Just last month, about 4,000 couples participated in a collective wedding ceremony outside of South Korea’s Unification Church.

They are being referred to in some circles as “the footprints of God.”

But, though they are a phenomenal archaeological discovery, they are actually ancient manmade stone structures, possibly dating back to the time of Joshua and the entry of the children of Israel into the promised land after their 40-year exodus journey from Egypt.

Found just to the east of the Jordan River, these six sandal-shaped rock structures—one bigger than two football fields in length and 228 feet wide—are getting attention, not just from archaeologists, but increasingly from the Israeli public.

Perhaps the most famous of these sites is one found on Mount Ebal. Its unique feature is a massive altar found in the center measuring about 23 feet by 30 feet in size and a story high. Charred animal bones and ash were found in and around the altar.

Adam Zertal, the archaeologist who discovered the site, believes this is the altar Joshua created when Israel first entered the promised land. He believes it may be the one mentioned in the Bible (Josh. 8:30).

To read the rest of this article, click here.

I once read a quote that said, “We can’t do more than pray before we have prayed, but we can do more than pray after we have prayed.”

Prayer is the weapon of choice for effective leaders.

Prayer must precede the steps of a leader. But after prayer, action becomes our mandate.

Prayer is necessary but not sufficient. Likewise, action is necessary but not sufficient.

We see a powerful demonstration of prayer followed by action in the book of Nehemiah.

In chapter 1, Nehemiah prays the leader’s prayer: “Hear the prayer of Your servant, which I now pray before You, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against You. Both my father’s house and I have sinned” (v. 6).

We know that after offering a prayer from his heart as a leader, Nehemiah set out to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. Prayers for the wall to be rebuilt were surely offered by others who didn’t build.

But Nehemiah prayed and then took action. It was his love for the Lord—and His love for his fellow Israelites—that propelled him to prayer and action.

In 2 Thessalonians, we read that Paul first asked the brothers to pray for him and to pray that the Word would “quickly spread and be glorified” (2 Thess. 3:1).

After prayer he told them all to get to work: “For when we were with you, we commanded you that if any will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). Prayer wasn’t going to fill their bellies.

It almost seems facile to exhort a leader to pray before taking action. Yet I’m often reminded to pray a specific prayer prior to engaging in a very specific effort.

Without prayer I act on my own. I tacitly declare my independence.

But I dare not lead from a position of independence. Without Christ, I am nothing.

A surprisingly touching moment unfolded outside of Richard Spencer’s speech at the University of Florida on Thursday when a black man embraced an apparent white supremacist.

Aaron Courtney, a 31-year-old high school football coach, found himself hurt and dismayed when he learned about Spencer’s speech, so he showed up to protest and interacted with a white supremacist in the crowd, the New York Daily News reported.

But rather than clash with the guy, whom media identified as Randy Furniss, Courtney opted to do something else entirely: engage and then embrace Furniss. {eoa}

Click here to read the rest of the story from our content partners at Faithwire.

Thousands gathered at First Baptist Dallas and more than 24,000 tuned into the church’s iCampus today as Pastor Robert Jeffress addressed the spiritual and moral unraveling of our nation and how Christians should respond.

Joining Dr. Jeffress was renowned Fox News host Sean Hannity, who was interviewed by Jeffress about his upcoming movie, Let There Be Light, and how he became “a sinner saved by grace.” In words of appreciation for Hannity’s testimony, Dr. Jeffress noted, “People want to know if Catholics are going to be in heaven or Baptists are going to be in heaven. Nobody goes to heaven in a group—it’s one by one, based on our relationship with Christ.”

Dr. Jeffress noted that America was at a crossroads: “Unless there is some great spiritual revival, America’s collapse is inevitable.” The sequence that occurs in the demolition of a building is the same for nations: explosion, delay as the weakened structure buckles and then sudden collapse. “Over the last 50 years, there have been three explosive decisions by the United States Supreme Court that have so weakened the spiritual and moral infrastructure of our country that our collapse is inevitable. The explosions have already happened; the implosion is coming. We’re living in that period of delay,” said Jeffress.

Those three disastrous decisions were Engle v. Vitale, the first of a series of decisions banning religion from the public square; Roe v. Wade, which allowed the butchering of over 60 million babies in the womb; and Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage and in so doing cheapened marriage and made it irrelevant to many Americans. As Jeffress summarized, “No nation can survive that outlaws the mention of God in the public square, celebrates the killing of its own children and destroys the most basic unit of society, the family.”

In this moment of peril for America, Dr. Jeffress called Christians to commit to being salt and light in America.

Salt is a preservative that delays decay. For Christians, this means engaging in the political process. “God created government for the very purpose of restraining evil. It is one of only three institutions created by God along with marriage and the church. That makes it holy,” Jeffress explained. “Every time we walk into the voting booth, we are casting a vote for righteousness or a vote for unrighteousness. And when we stay at home, we are saying, ‘I don’t give a you-know-what about our country,'” Jeffress emphasized.

The reason Christians need to be salt in our society is so we can be light and share the gospel of Jesus Christ. “The only way to change the direction of America is by changing the hearts of Americans,” Jeffress observed. Calling Christians to a renewed emphasis on personal evangelism, Jeffress quoted the words of his predecessor, Dr. WA Criswell, who 35 years ago observed what was and is needed in America, “The nation cannot turn to God if I do not turn to God. The nation cannot repent if I do not repent. God doesn’t win nations or companies or crowds or throngs; He wins souls—one by one. And the only way we can lift our nation Godward is if I am moved Godward.” {eoa}

Dr. Robert Jeffress is a best-selling author of 24 books, a nationally and internationally syndicated TV and radio host and the senior pastor of First Baptist Church Dallas, one of the largest and most influential churches in America.