Mike Bickle emphasizes the profound partnership God desires with His people, highlighting that God's power is released through our unity with His heart and our prayers. He explains that while God has sovereign plans, the quality of our lives is influenced by our willingness to engage in prayer and intercession, which allows us to access the blessings He has in store. Bickle illustrates the intimate partnership within the Trinity, where the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work together, and invites believers to participate in this divine collaboration. He stresses the importance of being saturated with God's Word, as it empowers our prayers and aligns our hearts with His will. Ultimately, Bickle calls the church to recognize their role in governing creation through intercession, which is essential for sustaining God's order in the universe.

Father I thank you in the name of Jesus and Lord I ask you to release the revelation of the glory of your Word and how it works in us and the authority that it has when we speak it in unity with your heart. We thank you in Jesus name, Amen. Roman numeral one, God's desire for partnership with his people. God wants partnership with us in the release of his power. That's one of the fundamental premises of God's kingdom that he deeply desires to share his power and to govern his universe through his people. Paragraph A, God desires to govern his universe in intimate partnership with his people. This is the ultimate expression of the father's desire to express his love into his enjoyment of partnership is the fact that he wants us he doesn't need anyone to govern with him he really wants to and so he's devised a way where we can have intimacy with him and yet be used to express his power not just in this age but in the age to come as well. B, God has sovereignly determined the main themes of his eternal plan. When we think of God's plan in eternity there's a number of broad strokes main themes that God has sovereignly established and these are set and these are nobody can stop them no devils no matter what people do there are a number of things that God has determined that are set and final in terms of his eternal plan however he has chosen to give the responsibility of determining the quality of life a measure of the quality of life that we experience he's put that in our hands whereas it is true that he has determined the sovereign big-picture things the quality of life that you and I experience in the natural and in the spirit we do have a measure of determination a measure of responsibility to determine it in this age as well as in the age to come and so the net result of that is that there's a number of things that God desires to give us but he will not give them to us except we partner with them though his desire is clear though his desire is set because of his longing for partnership he says I will not give you even that which I want to give you except you rise up and in partnership with me release it back into your own life and into the lives of those that you care about and you love says in James chapter 4 verse 2 one of the fundamental principles of God's kingdom that we all understand I mean we're familiar with this you do not have because you do not ask it's that simple there are things that God would give but he will not give them until his people declare them before his presence in unity with his heart he told the man concerning I mean told the disciples concerning the young child they couldn't get the demon out he said this demon doesn't go out except the people of God lay hold of me in an accelerated dimension of fasting and prayer it's as though Jesus was saying it's in my will to drive this demon out but I won't do it except in context of people who fast and pray and so many things that are within God's will that determine the quality of our life not just our natural life but our spiritual life many things are actually not released to us and the Lord would give them to us he's already approved of them he's already determined to give them to us but he will not violate his own commitment to relationship with us and he knows that he gives them to us apart from relationship that at the end of the day that it's a the kingdom has been set back instead of established in a more powerful way paragraph C God opens doors of blessing and he closes doors of oppression in direct response to us taking a stand before him and declaring in his sight the things that are in his heart which is called prayer as I said already there are blessings that God has already chosen to give but if it's people do not rise up the Lord will keep them in his heart but never release them I mean one one thing I don't want to happen I don't want to stand before the Lord one day which we all will and for him to say Mike there was so much more there was such a higher quality of life in the Spirit I really would have given you it was within your reach as a weak and broken person of the grace of God it was within your reach but you never reached for it says here in Isaiah chapter 30 verse 18 and 19 this is a one of those really important passages that really affect the way that we live our life it says the Lord waits one translation says he waits on high he waits in heaven he longs to be gracious to us but he waits and it says because God is a God of justice blessed are all those who wait for the Lord or that word wait for the Lord is prayer so the Lord's waiting on us to wait on him the Lord is waiting on us to engage in conversation and prayer with him then he goes on to verse 19 for the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem and he will be very gracious to you when at the sound of your cry when he hears your cry then he will release the grace but the Lord is waiting right now and in one translation says he longs he waits and he longs to be gracious and at the sound of the cry of his people he will release that grace paragraph D some people trust the sovereignty of God in a non-biblical way they have this idea of God is sovereign which he is but they they they misapply it in their personal life because God is sovereign God will give me what he wants to give me that is not a true statement because God is sovereign he will give you what he wants to give you in some in some situations but but the majority of the time what he wants to give you he is determined only to give it to you in your response to him and so what happens is that people are asking trusting the sovereignty of God they're saying well if the Lord wants me to have it then I will have it well regardless what I do and in some situations there's truth to that for sure when in situations where we might be tempted to strive in relationships or try to open a door that can't be open but in terms of our prayer life that's a different thing terms of trying to manipulate and pressure people to give you a position or to open a door for you yes I think it's good to say if the Lord wants me to have it I'll have it but in regards to our personal prayer life that's a different thing because the Lord says I'll give you certain things if you ask me and if you don't ask me I will not give them to you and so people trust the Lord in this non-biblical way because they're trusting God to do the role that God assigned us to do when I trust the Lord to send revival to Kansas City but do not pray for revival that's an inappropriate confidence in the sovereignty of God it's non-biblical I can't trust him to do what he commanded me to do that's called presumption we cannot do God's part and he will not do our part he will not do our part and so it is true to say that there are things that God wants to give us but will not give them because he would violate the principles of intimate relationship with us that are at the foundation of his government over his kingdom we're gonna look at at them at the relationship of Jesus and the Father and that's the model that we're following Roman numeral two I call this the mystery and the majesty of partnership within the Trinity this is the most mysterious and marvelous and majestic thing how the Father the Son and the Spirit work together in partnership paragraph a there is an intimate partnership within the Trinity the Father delights to do work through Jesus in the Holy Spirit as the Father creates and governs his universe he really longs to to do it through Jesus and through the Holy Spirit though the Father is greater in authority than Jesus in the Holy Spirit the scripture says but he delights to operate through them in his government and his creation be Jesus is clearly in the Bible the one the Bible clearly says is the creator he creates under the Father's authority he is the creator we'll read in Colossians 1 verse 16 for by him for by Jesus all things were created in heaven and earth Jesus created everything under the Father's authority see the Father's passion for partnership with his Son is seen that he's only made the world's through Jesus again the Father has more authority than Jesus has but he says I don't want to create except through him and this is gonna affect our relationship our understanding of our relationship with the Lord so I get to that in just a moment here that's the foundation I'm laying says in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2 the God has spoken to us by his Son through whom through whom the Father made all the worlds he made them through his Son all the worlds and the worlds is in the plural all that beyond anything that we understand the galaxies upon galaxies out there he made all of them he said I'm not going to use my own authority but rather I will operate through my Son to establish my will in creating the worlds now God has ordained a very unique relationship between the Father and the Spirit here in Genesis chapter 1 gives us insight into that relationship and the way it works is that is that God the Father has thoughts he has plans in his heart God the Father has these magnificent ideas in his mind God the Son Jesus speaks these ideas and he articulates them and then God the Holy Spirit releases power and brings them into he brings them to pass he brings them into existence in the natural in the natural world its natural form let's read Genesis chapter 1 it says in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth now it's God the Father Son the Holy Spirit working in partnership the earth was without form and it was void and here now watch how the Spirit relates this the Holy Spirit is hovering or one translation says brooding over the face of the earth the Holy Spirit has the authorization to move in power but is waiting until the Word is spoken by Jesus the Holy Spirit has the Father's authority to work and to move in power and to release the awesome creative power of the Father but the Holy Spirit's brooding over the face of the earth hovering moving like this watching Jesus and then Jesus speaks it's clear that Jesus is the Creator within the Godhead Jesus is the one that did the speaking he spoke let there be light and when he spoke the decree the thoughts that were in the Father's heart the Spirit moved in power and created light let's look at E each one in the Godhead had it has a different role in creating and governing the universe and again this is going to relate to us in just a moment here the Father has deep and holy thoughts in his heart God has so many more thoughts than he has many thoughts that have never ever been spoken he's hidden them in his heart for yet another another age for billions of years from now God the Father already has ideas of what he will do billions of years from now but the Father has not spoken them out and when it comes time for those thoughts to be spoken out Jesus will stand in in his position before the Father and Jesus will declare them and then the Spirit will move in power to establish them and to bring them into existence so the Father has deep thoughts he has the plans of his heart number two the Son he articulates he speaks those plans and that's called intercession when Jesus does that that is called intercession he speaks the plans and the thoughts of the Father he stands before the Father and he says to the Father what the Father is thinking somebody might say why does it the Father just do it without Jesus doing that the Father says I want partnership I will not create except through relationship with the Son and the Spirit and then the Holy Spirit number three is brooding and he releases but only releases power creative power but only in response to the to the Son speaking what the Father is thinking so the Father is thinking the Son articulates it and the Spirit releases it in power that is the intimate partnership that is made known to us in Genesis chapter 1 and that model of partnership is what we are invited into as the body of Christ and that same model of partnership is how Jesus created it's how he will sustain the created order and it's how he will govern it and it's how we will govern it with him under the Father's authority the key is understanding the Father's thoughts then speaking them back to the Father with lives of unity with what the Father is thinking and the Spirit moves in power on it and establishes it into the created order the Spirit is fully authorized to move but he will not move until the Son speaks it he will not move until the body of Christ speaks it and if the body of Christ does not speak it there are certain things that will not be established even though the Father would desire to establish them but his commitment to relationship is his primary commitment the other dimensions of releasing blessing are secondary because I will not violate my relationship with them I will not create or better yet I will not release my blessing and government without them in partnership with me I would rather hold back the blessing and waken them up to relationship with me relationship with Jesus and relationship with the church is the primary governing principle in God releasing blessing he wants us to stand up in position speak the word in on that condition he releases it to us look at F it's just it's all through the book of in Genesis chapter 1 and God said let the waters under the heaven be gathered and it was so then in verse 11 let the earth bring forth grass it was so verse 14 let there be lights in the heaven it was so let the earth bring forth the beast of the earth live it was so and whenever Jesus would declare it the Father had thought it before Jesus declared it and the Spirit had the power to bring it to pass but would not release it till Jesus said it this is no accidental model this is a very intentional clear pattern that we're supposed to understand as the people of God look at G here's the principle the Spirit follows the spoken word the Spirit follows in power after the word is spoken or we could say sang because I'm not distinguishing between speaking or singing but it's only true when that person who speaks is living in unity with God's heart the person who speaks it's not a Bible memory kind of mechanism where if we learn something for the Bible that we know is God's will as long as we say it then it works that's not how it works it's it's when our hearts are in unity and filled with the Word of God and then we speak it and that's the critical point that's missing so much in the body of Christ people have Bible verses memorized but their hearts aren't alive in with those verses their hearts aren't filled with the Word and when they speak it it's like an empty sound and the Spirit does not bear witness to it it's not the information that the Spirit is waiting for it's the full partnership of the heart of God's people the Spirit is waiting for and then the Word comes out of that context we speak it when our heart is in unity with the Lord in it okay Roman number three Jesus's intercession he's called the Word of God paragraph a the father has deep thoughts burning in his heart he has many thoughts burning in his heart he has thoughts about your life he has thoughts about this city he there's thoughts about your future he has thoughts about cities that God's gonna put you in the father has deep thoughts that are burning in his heart Jesus knows those thoughts and Jesus gives voice to those thoughts he expresses them he says that he can't skip that step the father requires that Jesus declares them when they fill his heart that he must declare them in the Father's presence and when he declares them when he articulates them he is functioning as the living Word of the Father John chapter 1 verse 1 to 3 is one of the most important passages on intercession John 1 1 to 3 is often it's the famous passage about Jesus being the Word this is one of the most important passages in the Bible on the subject of intercession Jesus as the Word another way to say that is Jesus as the intercessor the one declaring the Word that's in the Father's heart and in that regard Jesus was the Word Jesus was the Word this this is his name God calls him the Word of God because he knows what's in the Father's heart because the Word in its fullness the essence of the Word it's a thought in the Father's heart it's a purpose in the Father's heart Jesus knows it number one he fully agrees with it in his heart and I don't mean just mentally agrees with it his whole being is in unity with that Word he knows it he's in unity with it and he speaks it and when those three things come together the Spirit of God moves in power and establishes it Jesus does this at such an ultimate level he has perfect knowledge of the Father's heart he is in perfect unity and he speaks it with perfect authority under the anointing of the Holy Spirit he does it so often he does it so dynamically so ultimately that God has called him the Word of God that's his name he is the one who knows agrees and speaks the Word of the Father's heart so the Father has declared something like this I will call you the Word of God you do it so perfectly you do it so ultimately you do it so fully that is one of your names the Word of God and in the beginning was the Word in the beginning was the second person of the Trinity in full understanding and unity and authority in the Word ready to speak it and that Word that Word was God he was a circle he's the second person of the Trinity and that Word he was with God and he was God and it says in verse 3 this is remarkable we're so used to the idea that we can sometimes lose the power of it all things everything was made through him everything that was in the father's mind was only made when his son discerned it agreed with it and spoke it out all things nothing came into being he went on to say and without him nothing was made that was made absolutely nothing nothing the father conceived of did the father do apart from his son speaking it nothing with the father in the father's plans nothing with the father do on his own the father would only do it when the son discerned it agreed with it and spoken under the anointing of the Spirit and the Spirit was quick to move on it now this is an amazing thing because God the Father has so many thoughts and so much authority but he would not move outside of relationship with the Son and the Spirit but he would only move through them in partnership with him and this is the very thing that he's going to continue to do with the body of Christ now and through all of eternity it's called intercession it's called speaking the Father's thoughts back to him as our hearts are in agreement we it's the same three things we need to know those things that are in God the Father's heart because we have the Bible so we have a lot of information about what's in God's heart but knowing it is part of it but knowing it's not enough then we have to live a life of agreement with our heart I don't mean agreement intellectually that our being is consumed with the values that are represented by what's in the Father's heart it's a value agreement with our heart and then that's not enough either it yet has to be spoken through in what we call intercession it must be sang or declared or the Father will not bring it to pass be I've said this already but I'll just say it again the Father has many thoughts that have never been spoken out he has thoughts that are for a billion years from now he's hiding them in his heart Paul the Apostle in Ephesians 3 verse 9 tells us that it says to make everyone see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning of the ages was hidden in God's heart God has been God it is God's way it's God's norm to hide in his heart for ages and ages to hide what his plans are and never to speak them out because once they're discerned and spoken by someone in an in full agreement under the authority of the Spirit they do come to pass and God hides many things in his heart because the agency of releasing them into the natural is that they're revealed and then spoken and then the Spirit moves behind it in power this is how things come to pass in the natural world let's go to Roman numeral four Jesus not only does he create he sustains and he governs those are three different things he creates Genesis 1 he sustains I have no doubt that Jesus will continue to create in the in the ages to come I mean a billion billion years from now we're only at the beginning I have no doubt that Jesus will create in ways that will be beyond anything we could imagine but after Jesus creates he sustains and after he sustains that he keeps it going he keeps it to its existence he keeps it in existence then he governs that he brings it into its perfect order it's not enough that it exists I mean the garden might exist it may actually be there but it needs to be governed it needs to be cultivated and brought into its full potential that's what government is all about a by declaring the father's decrees and that's how Jesus does it he stands before the father and he declares what the father is thinking by declaring the decree of the father back to him Jesus creates and then sustains which involves the governing everything under his father look at B as Jesus sustains and upholds the created order in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 it's talking about Jesus says Jesus who being in the brightness of his glory Jesus was in the brightness of the father's glory and Jesus upholds all things by the word of his power everything in the universe is upheld by the present tense speaking of Jesus Jesus did not speak one time in Genesis chapter 1 and everything came into being there is a present tense speaking that maintains the order of the universe you know scientists can't figure out the basic building block of where energy really comes from I mean they can figure out energy comes from this that and the other and all the different components but at the very very center of it they there's a mystery where does it come and it comes through the sustaining power of Jesus and Jesus doesn't sustain just by waving his hand he sustains I mean the Sun how does the Sun keep working I'll tell you how the Sun keeps working in the same way it was initially created by the present tense intercession of Jesus if Jesus would cease to speak the word if he would somehow cease to be in this relationship before the father where he did not speak the word the Sun would not be sustained we're kind we're just so accustomed to his faithfulness we're so accustomed to his steadiness we're just expecting him to stay steady in intercession and I and that's a good confidence to have he will stay steady in the intercession but what we don't think about is that if he did not speak the word in the present tense the Sun would not be upheld it would go out our heart would stop beating our breath would not work if he ceased to speak now my theory I have here in C I'll say it in kind of a strange way the concept is as undoubtedly true even though the language I don't know how to say it exactly right is that in heaven amongst the angels amongst the Saints and on the earth the intercessory ministry that sustains creation is Jesus and those under his authority and so I'm calling it a vast intercessory worship network that sustains it all I'm sure that's not exactly the best terminology but it's under Jesus's leadership and all of Jesus's people and all the angels of God they're under his mandate to sustain the created order by worship and it says in the passage below here in Revelation chapter 4 the four living creatures they do not rest day or night they cry out holy holy holy Lord God Almighty verse 10 the 24 elders they fall down before the Father and they say you're worthy to receive glory because you created when they 24 hours a day in terms of a natural time never ceasing they're worshiping God the Creator that is that's under the the mandate of Jesus to sustain everything by his word the word is going forth around the throne intercession is in worship is going forth in the spirit and in the natural on the earth and it is actually sustaining the created order under Jesus's mandate from the Father the house of prayer in heaven stops we're in trouble I mean if the fire goes out on the altar in that place we're in big trouble because everything just scatters and disintegrates but it's not going to go out many believers have never thought about their role in the created order being sustained and governed we're just so kind of accustomed to the fact that way which you know just learn the word a little bit and go to a few prayer meetings and maybe you know we'll our ministry will grow a little bit and this and that and we're and we're disconnected from the larger picture of what worship and intercession is at the very center at the core of the Trinity a Father Son and Holy Spirit it is critical for the sustenance of the created order and for the government of it the Father will not do it except the word comes to him the word that's in his own heart must come from the lips of those in unity with him in order for his blessing to be released through the Holy Spirit hovering over the works of God it's most magnificent calling it is no exaggeration I want to say it boldly because we need to hear the absolute highest most important ministry in time and eternity is clearly intercession and worship it is the priority ministry of Jesus in his relationship to the Father as the second person of the Trinity as God and even as a man his number one function is to praise the Father and to intercede for the Father's will to continue to go forth like it did in Genesis 1 and the body of Christ is being brought into this governmental role with Jesus we think we govern now in part we govern substantially in the Millennial Kingdom and then in the ultimate sense our government continues in dynamic partnership with Jesus and the Father's thoughts are released in power when we speak them back to him Roman numeral five declaring God's decrees King David had a revelation of this King David and Psalm 2 had a revelation of Jesus's governmental role of the universe through or of the earth better is a better way to say it a David had this this divine insight that Jesus could only take possession of the earth according to the measure of his intercession and this is a it's a mind-boggling thought the God told David that if Jesus doesn't ask in intercession perpetual intercession he cannot take possession of the ends of the earth he will only take possession of it to the measure of his intercession and Jesus's intercession is going to be in partnership with the body of Christ now and in the age to come Roman numeral a I know that some of you this is just such a different idea we've kind of thought of prayer is something kind of we did because well we don't know why we do it it's in the Bible and it seems a little bit odd that we have to do this but we do it because it's in the Bible everybody else is doing by the way besides that I joined IHOP and that's what they do at IHOP I don't even know why I'm doing this and it's God's great goodness I don't mean that you're at IHOP in that sense but it's God's goodness that many even in your young age he's awakening you to the majesty of intercession he's putting you in a context where you can begin to see the bigger picture it's more than keeping a couple prayer meetings going or just praying for revival right now it's how the entire created order is sustained and governed forever and ever and ever and it's God's wisdom to do this to join to join his people to his own heart I'll look at that just a moment says here in Psalm chapter 2 Jesus is speaking he's standing before the Father and the Father has just declared to Jesus in Psalm 2 verse 6 he said Jesus is my king who's gonna who I'm putting on my holy hill and so Jesus stands before the Father and he says this Father I will declare the decree I will give the decree that you have given me I will say to you what you told me to say to you and here's the decree the Father has said to me Jesus is talking he goes I will decree what the Father has told me and here's what the Father told me I should ask of the Father and the Father would then give me the nations according to my asking this is the most amazing thing because Jesus by virtue of the fact that he's God has the right to rule the earth he created it in Genesis 1 I mean he created the earth in Genesis 1 he was the one that spoke and the Father says okay let's lay that down over here let's just put that at the side for a minute then Jesus has a second argument as a man not as God but as a human he paid the price he died on the cross and rose from the dead he lived in perfect obedience he earned the right to be the king of the earth the Father says that's right too you earned the right to rule the earth because you created it as God you earned the right to rule the earth because you redeemed it as a man yes however even though you deserve to lead it as God who created it and as a man who redeemed it still the mystery of my relationship with you you must continue even after all that to ask of me in the present tense to get the possession that is yours called the ends of the earth and Jesus stands before the Father and he says this is my delight I will I can add the words I will continue to declare the decree of the Lord again somebody might say but Lord Jesus by virtue of being creator it's yours by virtue of being redeemer it's yours and Jesus says yes but by virtue of perpetual intercession I will take possession of it and I will bring my church into that partnership with me of governing the earth as they join me in intercession creator redeemer and intercessor the three come together in Psalm chapter 2 and Jesus takes possession in the office of the intercessor and this is a continual intercession he didn't ask one time father give me the nations and the father says okay that's a done deal he will take possession of the ends of the earth think of the most remote parts of the earth the most remote area every single area of the earth not this geographically all the infrastructure of the earth he will possess it issue by issue land by land nation by nation by speaking to the father in intercession he declares to the father what the father's thinking about that nation the spirit moves in power and brings it under Jesus's dominion this is magnificent the Lord's calling us into this same dynamic relationship with him be and Psalm 2 verse 7 David makes one of the most important statements about Jesus's method of world government this is one of the most absolute important statements of how Jesus will govern the earth in the Millennial Kingdom Psalm 2 is clearly about the Millennial Kingdom it's not only about the Millennium but it's mostly about the Millennium it had a it has a partial fulfillment in church history in Acts chapter 4 we find that out it has a down payment of church history but Acts 2 is mostly about when Jesus returns at the second coming to govern the earth and he will govern it through intercession but not his own intercession exclusively through the whole intercessory reality of him and his people you and I will be involved in intercession a million years from now which means we will discern the father's heart we will come in perfect unity with the father's heart or dynamic unity is maybe a better way to say it and we will declare the father's heart and in that condition the spirit will move in power in our lives to sustain and to govern that which God has ordained and that intercession may be spoken as a decree it may be sang as a worship as a worship expression before the father whether it's worship or whether it's declaration it's still the same reality as the point let's go to Roman numeral six why intercession why is this the means that God has chosen again I'm using the word intercession in the broadest sense of the word whether it's worship whether it's intercession it's speaking back to God with full agreement in our heart a intercession when we speak God's Word back to him it causes us to internalize God's Word inside of us when we speak God's Word Lord release your power release your power and we name unbelievers and touch their hearts we're saying back to God many many times through our life in this age and on through eternity we're declaring what the father desires and what the father has already thought about a person or a situation or a location or an event and every time we speak it we internalize it and it marks our mind in our spirit ever so slightly in this age but it builds up line upon line and the analogy that I'm using it's kind of like a computer program programming it in and reaching and changing it each line of code reprogramming it line by line putting in new lines of code and tell us a complete different function going on and what's happening is our inner man it's like we have all these lines of code that are contrary to God and an intercession every time we say it it's another line of code that's rewritten on our inner man it marks us we internalize the father's heart and the father's thoughts through this act of intercession now why does that work so good why does it work be Jesus said it in John's chapter 6 verse 63 he said the father's words are spirit and life when we speak the ideas in the father's heart there is spirit and there's life even though we can't fully measure it even though we fully can't understand all the dynamics when we speak the thoughts that are in God's heart there's spirit and life on them and when we do it it's it's called renewing of the mind but it's rewriting these lines of code right through our inner man 10,000 times 10,000 times what happens see is God's mind and heart progressively dominates and saturates our human heart and mind thousands of times in this age hundreds of millions of times in the ages to come we're saying what God's thinking we're saying what God's thinking it dominates little by little and completely saturates the human mind of the human heart it joins us to him deep intercession declares what God's decrees are it's progressive but it's more than progressive it's a present tense perpetual renewing of our mind it's a present tense perpetual it goes on forever because God will never ever change the way he governs the universe we will always say it and the more we say it the reason saying it right now is hard because there's so much in our inner man that's not an agreement with God and it's boring and it's oppressed because there's a even though our hearts are sincere and we want God so much of the lines of code if you will so much of the way our mind operates is in resistance to it though we've repented and we're in God's kingdom and we love God our inner man is not in sync with God's heart and there's a resistance and it's boring and prayer is lethargic and the Bible is hard and Lord says you just stay with it because the day is coming the reason it's hard and the reason it's boring is because we're out of sync with it on the inside of our heart our emotions in our mind but I with just a little bit of experience I don't want to exaggerate my experience but over the years as I have become more in the flow of intercession the word I've had those times I wish I had a lot more but I've had those times where the Word of God and prayer was so exhilarating and fascinating I've had those moments where my inner man was was in sync and flowing in that partial way but the pleasure of his presence in my inner man I thought is this it and the Lord might go hardly it's way more intense than that when you're fully in this thing and I'm thinking if this is what we do this is awesome if it's what I did when I first started is like I'm gonna do this forever this sounds like purgatory I don't really believe in purgatory but this is this seems like a prison sentence and the Lord might say something like yeah your inner man will change you're gonna you're gonna get in sync with me and there will be an exhilaration there'll be surges of power and waves of glory and pleasure breaking in on your spirit every time you say that word you say it back there's a surge that will go through your inner man and that's what happens when Jesus says it power the Father's glory just races through his being I don't pretend to know how to say that in an accurate way e intercession is a brilliant strategy of God to rule the universe because it draws us into intimacy with God's heart it humbles us it changes the way we think and feel it transforms us and then it unifies us to all of God's people in all the while while we're governing God's creation it's the most amazing thing I must say it again and eat it draws us into intimacy with God this the more we do it the more we grow in intimacy it humbles transforms and it unifies us and God ends up with a governed universe of people in intimacy with himself in perfect unity with one another with blameless holiness in their heart I remember when the Lord first called me to intercession it was it came in a very definitive way and it certainly doesn't need to be that way in everybody's life it just happened to be in my life it was in May 1979 it was like it was a crisis week I was 23 years old and he called me to the ministry of intercession he said this is your primary ministry I didn't even understand it I'd never been to an intercessory prayer meeting but I it was so clear from heaven and I committed myself to intercession and and told everybody you know in those days every time I got a thought I told everybody before the thought was even formed I just made sure everybody knew it and then changed it the next day because I didn't say it right the day before so everybody knew okay Mike's an intercessor what's that mean I don't even know I've never been to an intercessory prayer meeting never been to one not one been to prayer meetings where we prayed devotionally I love you God God you love me oh Jesus you're mine please help me love you and I love you you know we did those prayer meetings but three of us said you know in the apartment that kind of deal but never praying for revival type deal he said you're an intercessor I remember I'm two to three years into this and we're having daily prayer meetings really boring oppressed we're doing it every single day during a couple hours a day I mean really boring and I remember two three years into this I said Lord I'm just gonna be really straight with you this is a really weird way to run your government this is like you this is such a mismanagement of my abilities and talents I told him I said you you know I know you're brilliant but I don't think you know who you got when you got me I could really do stuff for you and you have me in this room telling you what you tell me to tell you all day you already know it why do you want me to tell you what you tell me to tell you and then skip meals I go this is insane I have so much more to do for you than that I mean I really I had I was offended by intercession two to three years into it because I I felt I was cold it for the rest of my life I was only thinking my life on the earth I had no idea for the rest of my life I had no idea I'm glad the Lord didn't tell me that I just thought you know the 70 years on the earth deal and I remember at the two to three year market I've been doing it a couple hours every day with no with no almost no understanding and no there was so don't think it's gonna take you two to three hours a day for three years and you're still gonna hate it I mean things were really things are going fast these days people are getting into the flow of things so much faster in 2005 than the 1979 and I remember I remember being at a place of offense at about the three-year mark I don't know exactly no but it was this is this is really not smart but it was all through the Bible you know I'd open it up I go man this per thing is everywhere why I I can't for the life of me grasp why you want me to do this I had no idea that my inner man was being changed and my ideas and I was being drawn into intimacy with him and transformed and unity with I had no idea that so much things were happening inside of me now it's some years later I look back I go this is brilliant beyond exaggeration Lord I cannot tell you how smart whoever thought of this idea was really thinking it through to the end I'm sure the father says thank you Mike I appreciate I did think it through till the end this hit this strategy will never wear out it will perpetually exhilarate my people unify them to one another and draw them into fresh encounters of intimacy with me and I don't need to do it to my people I want them in this role with me and with one another I am a father I want them feeling my heart I want them feeling one another's heart I'm gonna govern everything forever in this mode and my son my chief intercessor is leading the way he's leading the pack Roman numeral seven Roman numeral seven the word abiding in us there's a passage here I have it in a at the bottom of a John 15 and we most most of us know it I'm just kind of kind of abbreviated because I need to get close up here in just a moment here we know Jesus said if you abide in me if you live in me and my word abides in you what Jesus wants is our hearts to be consumed with the word it's not enough to memorize it and repeat it though that's a that's a certainly a good beginning but that is certainly not the fullness of what he wants and and it doesn't work if that's as far as we go is by memorizing ideas and repeating the back but even that though has has a pull it it pulls our heart into the grace of God he said it when my words I live in you they live and move inside you when my word saturates your heart when my word saturates your mind and your emotions and you declare my word back to me the spirit will move in power and whatever you ask it will be established like it was in Genesis 1 beloved we got to get people we got to be people saturated with the word I don't mean a couple Bible classes and a couple basic ideas we need to be men and women consumed with the word saturated with the Word of God may they say after our lives that was a man that was a woman fully saturated in the Word of God what may somebody say that about your life when your life on the earth is over and the way that we know it now the word I have down and see the word only works Paul the Apostle talked about the working of the word the effectual working of the word he said the Word of God which works effectually in you the Word of God works but it only works when our hearts are saturated with it and we speak it back not memorizing is not enough the information just the sterile information is not enough it needs to live and move in us because God is interested in intimacy is the foundation of the intercessory work he wants the person consumed with the word he wants the word in a value agreement a convergent values convergence our hearts fully alive with what the Word says and then we speak it that's the kind of prayer movement that's going to change the earth D it's the domination of the Word of God the domination of the Word of God the dominion of God's Word it dominates all the areas of life there's a dominion of God's Word where God's Word grows we know we we pray the passage all the time but I hope that the Word of God runs swiftly it would grow and we think of it mostly as new converts there's people added to the Word and that's a very biblical concept but it's more than that it's the Word of God dominates it has dominion over the even the people of God Paul was praying not just that the Word of God would add a thousand new converts that the thousand that already existed would become consumed by the Word the Word would have dominion and every single man or woman they would abide in the Word they would live in the Word and when they spoke the Word the Spirit would move in power and things would shift in the spirit realm let's go to Roman numeral 8 Roman numeral 8 we all know this passage but we battle with the Word but it's not enough to speak the Word the Word must be abiding it must be living in our hearts our hearts must be saturated with the Word that we're speaking back and that's where some and you know I really appreciate the faith movement faith movement some of you don't even know what that is but it's a began to have a to be recognized as a movement in the 70s and the 80s it's called some people call it the word of confession or the health and wealth gospel the different people depend on if they like it or don't like it whatever but what happened there's a certain negative thing that happened in some dimensions of the faith movement is that people began to to try to use the information Bible verses as information without being consumed with God at the heart level they wanted to speak the Word without the Word abiding and living in them not everybody I'm just saying that some in the midst of it and it began to be a thing if you knew the information and you said the information repetitively then the information would mysteriously work and of course nobody would just say it that way that's kind of crass but but it's the idea that it became an equation that kind of had a life of its own and Jesus would say no no when the Word consumes you when it abides in you when the Word you're filled with the Word and then you speak the Word out of that place of fullness then the Word of God goes in power but and many people a lot of folks have kind of shaken their head negatively at the faith movement and what's because of the detachment of using biblical information apart from intimacy in a life consumed in God but what we threw away what so much the body of Christ threw away was the revelation the faith movement has of the power of the Word when it's used right and the Word only is you can only use it right when you're consumed with it and some try to use it as a mechanic and as a principle outside of being consumed with God and consumed in intimacy and it doesn't work but I still appreciate that that movement took the revelation the power of the Word and brought it center stage in the body of Christ and again there's been plenty that have gone a ways where they tried to use the Word and in ways that were just opposite of intimacy with God but not all have done that by any means well anyway in Matthew chapter 4 Matthew chapter 4 we know the passage I have it right there it's the one in the wilderness you could just read it on your own if you want to check it out later but the devil comes to Jesus and he says to him you know command these stones he gives him three temptations and all three times Jesus says it is written he's doing to the devil the same mode of operation he was doing back in Genesis 1 he's declaring the decree of the Father the devil comes to him and the Spirit of God is brooding it's just the same old Genesis 1 setup Jesus declares the decree of the Father and the Spirit moves in power and the devil had never faced a man so consumed with the Word of God I mean when he said it is written it was like a blow hit Satan in the chest I mean it says that the devil departed but I think more accurately it was like a strike and it wounded him and I knocked him back it knocked the the wind out of him and injured him it injured the kingdom of darkness and Satan kind of recovered he he looked at him he said you're you're you're a man you're you're a man with flesh and blood and he said I'll give you all the nations of the earth and Jesus said it is written and whoa man hit hit him again and the rage breaks out of him and he says he offers him the other thing of of going to the the pinnacle of the temple to throw himself down he goes it is written and it strikes Satan again and Paul the Apostle would say in the next passage here in B he called the Word of God the sword of the Spirit beloved it is a sword when it consumes us the Word when we're men and women filled with the Word I'm telling you it is not just the devil says okay I'm out of here it strikes him it wounds them it clashes with power but when the when the human vessel is consumed and the devil had never met a man consumed with the Word he's talking to the Word of God himself he had never met us match like this and Jesus spoke and the Spirit of God moved and Satan drew back and said this is a this is a whole nother order the sword has struck me but beloved you and I can move with that sword Roman numeral nine beloved you and I got to get mighty in the Word I'm gonna just throw a little outline for you and you got to look it up later because I don't want to take the time to develop it but I just want to let you know it's here and we'll close with that but we got we got to be people mighty in the Word I don't mean we do a little Bible study for you know half hour day and then we got to be consumed with the Word consumed with it we got to use the word like a sword it says here in Acts chapter 18 at the top that Apollos was a man the Scripture he was called mighty in the Scriptures this was a passage that I laid hold of when I was in my early 20s and I want to talk to the early 20s I heard a man preach on this when I was in my early 20s Apollos mighty the Scripture gave a whole message on him and I determined in my spirit I was going to be a man mighty in the Scriptures I don't mean mighty where I have Bible knowledge that's not what I meant although I like Bible knowledge Bible knowledge is important but it's not enough in itself I mean mighty where it consumed me I want to be consumed with the Word I don't mean I do a little Bible study an hour or two a day I want to be a man so filled with meditation that I fill my mind at every opportunity with the Word of God and over these years I've sought to do that not in the fullest degree but certainly it's been a something in front of my mind I want to talk to 20 year olds about being a man or woman mighty in the Scriptures hey what do you do in the prayer room when you're not engaged number one personal Bible study plan getting a personal Bible study plan I want to challenge you to read 10 chapters a day I remember again when I was about 23 22 23 years old I was leading a group of young people and somebody told us this I don't know remember who and I said I'll do it and so we I we started reading 10 chapters every single day you get through the New Testament once a month and then a couple of us got together and said we're gonna read 20 chapters a day get through the New Testament twice a month did that for a year and I went through that season I didn't even understand almost anything I read honestly when I was 22 years old I read the Bible I was so confused by Romans and you know Hebrews and I thought I didn't try a revelation you know I thought what on earth it was also confusing I just said I don't care I'm gonna read 10 chapters then I moved up to 20 every single day took a couple hours read it slow with journal with it I'm gonna do 20 took it more than a couple hours beloved I want to give you a vision to be mighty in the word and I give you some what do you do how do you get a Bible study plan if you if you want to read more about that just look it up in the internet and do it do that number two it's not enough to get a Bible study plan you got to have one if you don't have a Bible study plan you will just flounder you'll just sit there and just kind of not know what to do and hope there's a good music set coming no you want to go somewhere in God you want to go somewhere in God you want to be consumed with God and the Word number two pray much in the Spirit again many years ago as I heard somebody say this and I was in my again early 20s and I determined to do it I've sought to pray in the Spirit an hour a day the last 25 years haven't always done it but I've done it many many many many many times and many times I said whenever I can to two hours a day but I would I challenge you especially those of you that are here interns or Bible student or your full-time staff pray two hours a day in the Spirit read ten yea twenty chapters a day and two hours in the Spirit you've got half your IHOP time already you know where you're going now you got something to do I mean I would pray in the Spirit by the clock 59 minutes got one more minute pray in the Spirit I'd focus on the throne of God and the reason is because Paul the Apostle said when you pray in the Spirit you speak mysteries God gives your revelation and when you pray in the Spirit it edifies it builds up your spirit your spirit will get mighty if you pray in the Spirit Paul the Apostle said he prayed in the Spirit more than anybody he said I pray the Spirit more than anybody I figured that was the verse that got me 1st Corinthians 14 verse 18 at the bottom of that paragraph 2 I said what why would the busiest guy in the kingdom of God pray in the Spirit so much I thought praying the Spirit was a waste of time and you find out 1st Corinthians 14 in verse 2 and 4 it builds your spirit up if you do it number 3 schedule regular fasting beloved at least one day a week I urge you to do two days a week two days a week won't hurt anybody unless you have some real bad physical condition you know the the real kind of rare thing I'm not talking to that situation but I'm talking about 99.9% of people it's not a problem to do that you'll make your spirit fiery the biggest problem with fasting is the fear of it not the doing of it it's the fear of it develop a prayer list I started off had a prayer list page or two wrote down a few things it was three pages four pages five pages you know it was people I cared about situations I care about I'd pray a minute or two for each one at the most that thing got three four five it took me an hour or two to get through it but I was focused I was going somewhere and then I would get done with my prayer list for others and then number five was the one I really liked the most except for the reading the ten chapters begin started getting fun but then number five I liked as well as my own personal prayer list and then my own personal prayer list I I'm gonna give you a lot more about this in the days to come I had three basic directions on my own personal prayer list in Roman numeral 10 a I would pray for breakthrough for my heart and I'll skip the details of that be I would pray for a breakthrough in my mind go ahead and be on the PowerPoint go down one more there you go a breakthrough in our heart a breakthrough in our mind and then number C or letter C a breakthrough for our ministry I would pray for those three areas I write down all these verses and by the end of this thing I had ten chapters a 20 I had prayer list for my people prayer list for myself praying tongues I couldn't do the thing in seven or eight hours I had a full day's worth of work and that's before I ever had a chance to even read another book you know I was a fanatic on reading biographies but you know what happened to me 23 24 25 31 32 33 41 40 I started feeling God my inner man started changing I started thinking oh man I love this and the Lord might say back you're at the beginning of the beginning you have no idea how this will exhilarate you I created you to be exhilarated and this is the pathway of exhilaration amen let's stand