John Hagee - Proclaim Liberty
America's answer to the crisis hour is found in spiritual warfare. The principles of spiritual warfare are simply unknown to the vast majority of Christian people in America. Saint Paul puts pen to parchment in the book of Ephesians 6, and he shows us the pathway to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, how to bring it back to America and to your personal life. Paul writes, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and his mighty power. Put on the whole armor of God: that you may be able to stand".
The word "Stand" really translates "Fight". "That you may able to stand against the devil's schemes". Listen to verse 12. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood", that means other people, "But against rulers, against authorities, and against evil forces in the heavenly places". Now that verse is a mystery to most people. There are three heavens in the Bible, the one that you see with your natural eye with the sun, the moon, and the stars. The second is where Satan has his throne, where he is the commander of powers and principalities that rule over different nations. And under those powers and principalities on the earth are demon forces that obey their commander from the second heaven. In the third heaven, which is called "Paradise," that is where God the Father has his throne, and Jesus stands at his right hand. And when you die, that's where you're going to go, provided that Jesus Christ is the Lord of your life.
Saint Paul is saying to the church, you are in a battle with Satan, who has a highly organized kingdom with powers and principalities that rule over nations and cities of the world while the demons on the ground control the people. And if you are into the occult, let me tell you something: you are walking into the devil's bedroom. It will destroy your life. Get away from it. How many people deny Satan has a kingdom? Most. But Jesus taught in Matthew 12:26, quote, "If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand"? The Bible clearly teaches Jesus has a kingdom. That kingdom is not divided. That kingdom is under his leadership. And that kingdom is highly organized. There are two kingdoms, the kingdom of light, one led by Jesus Christ, who is the light of the world. The other is the kingdom of darkness led by the prince of darkness, which is Satan himself. The question you must ask is, "Which kingdom are you in," because everyone in this room is in one of those two kingdoms.
Listen to Daniel, as he's praying for a prophetic revelation from God. He has received a revelation and it is so mind boggling: he's asking God to send Gabriel to him to translate what's going on. Daniel is the prince of prophets. He's the only prophet that God showed the beginning to the end of the world. It's all the panorama in Daniel. Daniel is praying for this message from heaven. Obviously, the devil between heaven and earth does not want him to get that message. It's described in scripture. The angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel, and he says, this is in Daniel 10, "Daniel, we heard your prayer in heaven 21 days ago, but were intercepted in the second heaven by the prince of Persia". That is the prince that was over Persia. We call that Iran today. "Your prayers made victory possible. Because of your prayers, Daniel, I was able to come through that fight and I'm now here in your presence".
I'm going to say this a half a dozen times today: what you do on the ground in prayer determines what God can do in heaven. You must pray it through before it becomes a reality. So how does God teach us to destroy the Satanic forces in the heavenlies? Listen. The Bible says, "Verily I say unto you that what you bind on this earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on this earth shall be loosed in heaven". The point is, the action in heaven is governed by the action on the earth. All that contradicts God's will needs to be bound. And all that agrees with God's will needs to be loosed. I've heard people say, "I'd just like to know the will of God". The will and the Word of God are in this book. And the will and the Word of God are always the same. If your will is not in accord with this book, you're out of the will of God! It's just that simple! "Thy word have I hidden in my heart: that I might not sin against God". Give the Lord praise in the house!
What you do on earth in prayer determines what God can do in heaven. I want you to hear the testimony of Derek Prince, my dear friend, and a man who ministered in this pulpit for many years. Early in 1953, brother Prince received information from reliable sources that Joseph Stalin, a socialist... Sidebar: you young people that think socialism is so wonderful, Stalin was a socialist, and he killed a hundred million people trying to make socialism come to be a reality in Russia. Joseph Stalin, who was a vicious dictator in the Soviet Union, was planning the systematic slaughter of the Jewish people. Derek Prince felt that it was God's will: God was laying, at his door, the responsibility of praying for the Jews in Russia. He shared his feelings with the leaders over a few prayer groups and various groups and various parts of Britain. He had a deep concern for the Jewish people. They decided to set a day aside for special prayer on behalf of the Russian Jews.
Derek's congregation met in the evening for a prayer devoted totally to the deliverance of the Russian Jewish people. Within two weeks from that day, the course of history in Russia changed dramatically with the death of Joseph Stalin. He was 73 years of age. There was no advance warning of his sickness or impending death was given to the Russian people. Up to the last moment, 16 of Russia's most-skilled doctors sought to save his life. But in vain, the cause of death was said to be a brain hemorrhage. It is to be understood that they did not pray for the death of Stalin. It is to be understood that they prayed for divine intervention to deliver the Jewish people. Stalin's death was God's choice. And I know people say, "Oh, I don't think God is a God of wrath". Let me tell you something. The only thing that matches the love of God is the wrath of God. The church in America has no concept, no concept of the awesome power that's available to accomplish divine purposes with the united prayer of the righteous when they go into the dimension of spiritual warfare.
Cornerstone Church, if we can learn that as a body of people, there is nothing on earth we cannot accomplish. Let me give you the three dimensions of prayer. Write this down in your prayer journal. There is, first, thanksgiving. There is, secondly, praise. And thirdly, there is warfare. Thanksgiving and praise are devotional prayers, and they are required, and they have power. Psalm 100:4, David writes getting into the presence of God like going to visit the king. He said the way you get into the gates of the compound where the king lives is by thanksgiving. "Be thankful unto him and bless his name". Say that with me. "Be thankful unto him and bless his name". Don't go to God with your gripe list. Don't open your prayer life with that. Thank the Lord for every good thing he's done for you. I'm reading your mail here. "Well I don't know that I have anything to be thankful for".
Let me tell you a prayer I pray every morning, as I'm leaving my house. "Lord, I thank you for the gift of this day. I thank you that I can walk, I can talk, I can see, I can think, I can live". You just keep on going down that. The things you take for granted are gifts from God. The fact that you have the health to be here today is a gift from God. You do not change things in your life in America on earth until you hit that third dimension called warfare. So let's make a proclamation. A proclamation is something based on the Word of God. It's not what you want. It's not what you will. This is what God wills.
There is awesome, awesome power in this book. And you turn it loose by what you say. Let's take your financial provision. Heavenly Father, I come to you in the name of the Lord Jesus, who is my intercessor in heaven. Based on the authority of your word, I make this proclamation concerning my finances. Your word declares, "It is the Lord that gives you the power to get wealth". Your word says, "Beloved, it is my desire that you prosper and be in good health even as your soul prospers". Your word says, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven". And father, because your children have traditionally been wealthy, Abraham was wealthy, David was wealthy, Solomon was wealthy, I ask for you to open the windows of heaven and bless me with that kind of wealth so that I can prosper the Kingdom of God. Brother, heaven will turn itself upside down to help you!
Often, I am asked this question: "How did you get where you are"? Praying. Holding this up, when you open your Bible and start reading it to God, my friend, you are setting off an atomic bomb spiritually. And God will answer your prayer: I promise you. I promise you. Keep asking. Keep seeking. Keep knocking. Keep believing. Keep fighting the good fight. Keep praying until the light shatters the darkness. Nothing, nothing, nothing is impossible to those that believe and are called according to the purposes of God! God answers prayer! The anointing is on its way! The things you're seeking for will happen! He is the God who never fails! Keep on believing God answers prayer! Bless the name of the Lord!
If you want to see God move, "You" make a move. When the Israelites were on the verge of entering the Promised Land after 40 years of suffering in the wilderness, God commanded the priest to step into the water. This is found in Joshua 3. The Bible says, quote, "When you reach the banks of the Jordan river, take a few steps into the river, and the waters will part. And you'll walk across on dry ground".
Now at flood time, it was 200 feet from bank to bank and deep in the middle. But what was required was that first, they had to put their feet in the water. The problem with many American Christians, you've lived all of your life on the east bank of the Jordan on dry sand. Right across is everything you've wanted. There's the Promised Land. It's what God has promised you. The thing you've been begging God to do is right over there. But as long as you stand over here saying, "God, why don't you do something," God is talking back to you saying, "You make a move. Put your foot out in the water and start walking". And brother, God will divide the water. You'll walk across dry ground. You will reach your Promised Land. God will break through. Everything you've been seeking will happen, because nothing is impossible to those who trust in the Lord! Give the Lord praise in the house!
Many of you have lived close to what God wants for you, but you've never been quite able to put your foot in that water. The power of prayer begins with persistence. Consider the persistence of the woman in Luke 18, the story that Jesus told. There was a corrupt judge in a certain city. No doubt that was Washington, D.C. To story Jesus told that there was a corrupt judge. There was a widow in that city that, quote, "Was asking for justice for me and my adversary". The corrupt judge refused her after she came several times. But she just kept on coming. She just kept on knocking on the door. The judge says, the Hagee Amplified version, "This woman is driving me crazy"! And he gave her exactly what she wanted. Why? She was persistent.
There are times when prayer must be persistent to prevail, but God will answer. Persistent prayer, write that down in your prayer journal. People say, "Well, I think that God wants special people to pray". Let me tell you something. God's just as interested in your prayer as he is the prayer of Billy Graham or anyone else. You don't have to be special. Just look at the Bible. Jesus honored the prostitute, who crashed the party at a pharisee's house to anoint his feet. Think about that. Jesus saw a tax collector. Say, "IRS". Jesus saw a tax collector in a tree in a three-piece suit. And he said, "Come down, we're going to lunch". Frankly, I would have let the wretch starve, but Jesus took him down and went home with him.
There were four friends who had a friend who was sick. And they went to a place where Jesus was teaching. And they cut in line. They couldn't get in, so they got on top of the house, cut a hole in the roof, and let him down! That's persistent. And it is going the second mile to accomplish the will of God. God is still honoring persistent, bold, and relentless prayer. Bold prayers and big dreams are normal to an Almighty God. Elijah prayed, and fire came from heaven. Daniel prayed in a lion's den, and the lions started acting like house cats. The three Hebrew children prayed for the fourth man in the fire. They walked through the fire without the smell of smoke upon them. They did not bend! They did not bow! They did not burn, because God answers prayer! Hallelujah to the Lamb of God!
There's a song we used to sing in church long ago. "Keep on believing God answers prayer. Keep on believing he's still up there. God keeps his promise. His word is true. Keep on believing and pray your way through". My friends, in all of my life, I can tell you that prayer bears precious fruit. Prayer is like a seed that you plant into the ground. And it produces something many multiples of its power. It has been calculated that a watermelon seed planted into the ground that dies produces 200.000 times heavier than that seed. Little prayers move big mountains. Think about that. Hmm. When God gives you a vision, he will give you a provision. Write that down. When God gives you a vision, he will give you a provision. Most of us don't get what we want, because we don't know what we want. When you pray, pray specifically. I mean you pray so specific that when God answers prayer, you know it couldn't be random chance. You know that.
You say, "Well, I'm just one person". That's all God really needs. Let me tell you the story of Nehemiah. He fasted and prayed. He was a captive. He was in a foreign country. He waited on the king. And he started his prayer by confessing his sins. Daniel started his prayer by confessing his sins. I mean that humbles me every time I read it. He fasted three times a week. He prayed three times a day. And he starts off confessing his sins. But Nehemiah confessed his sins. He asked God to remember the covenant of his people. He said, "You have promised us a land, but now we're captive. I want to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls". So he walked into the king's presence. The king said, you've got a very sour face today. What's your problem? He said, "The walls of Jerusalem have fallen down and I want to rebuild them".
Now those walls had been fallen down for a hundred years. Those stones weighed thousands of tons. It was a massive undertaking. This is not a charismatic king, who's reading the King James version. He is a pagan! You wouldn't think he would do anything. But the king gave him the timber, the money, the manpower, and the letters of authority to do the impossible. The result is that 52 days later, the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt. Our king is the king of the Jews, King of kings. He's Lord of lords. He has given us 66 books of authority. He has said, "Call upon me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things that you know not". I will give you power to rebuild the fallen walls of America. I will give you power to rebuild the fallen walls of your family. I will give you power to rebuild the fallen walls of your life. Your dreams that you've given up on, I'll bring them back to life! Just put your foot in the water and start walking toward me! I'll move heaven and earth! God answers prayer!
Can we stand? How many of you in this room would say, and those of you who are watching by television would say, pastor, the walls of my family are broken. We are a divided family. We're in conflict. We're angry. We're bitter. We're resentful. Today, I want to pray that God would bring unity to my family. If that describes you, slip your hand up right where you are. How many would say, pastor, like Israel at the Jordan river, there is a goal I've been trying to reach. And I need the faith to put my feet in the water and take that first step. If that describes you, can I see your hand right where you are? Wow! Get ready. Get ready. God is going to surprise you. Thirdly, prayer is a seed planted that provides a harvest that never ends. But how many of you in this room could confess with me that your prayer life is very poor? It's not what it ought to be. Let me see your hand. Most. Church, if we'll learn how to pray, and if we pray together and for each other, we can create a spiritual force that can shake this nation. That's not an exaggeration: that's a Bible fact. I want you to lift your hands and repeat this prayer after me.
Heavenly Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I have come to the house of the Lord today to lift up holy hands without wrath or doubting and to proclaim that the Lord my God is going to make a way where there seems to be no way. He's going to remove mountains of impossibility. He will cause the waters to part. And I will reach the other side. The financial provision that I need is coming, because the Lord is the Lord of all wealth. In the authority of his name, we pray and receive this, in Jesus' name. Amen.