Stephanie Ike - The Strategy Room (01/20/2026)
In «The Strategy Room,» the preacher outlines Jesus' strategy for ministry: solitary prayer for divine insight and direction. Prayer connects us to God’s purpose, revealing how to proclaim His kingdom and overcome fear-driven actions like racism (rooted in unaddressed fear). As kings and priests, believers must intentionally «watch and pray,» prophesy God’s word over situations, and stand in the gap through intercession. Divine strategy comes not from human wisdom but revelation in prayer—enabling authority to root out evil, build righteousness, and bring heavenly interference on earth.
The Strategy Room: Prayer as Divine Plan of Action
Right—and then He started revealing certain things to me about this message, and we’re just going to flow how God flows. Amen?
Now, the title of this message is «The Strategy Room.» Someone say, «Ooh, sounds like a movie, » you know. Now, why I call this «a strategy"—let me define strategy real quick. And I’m going to say the way I saw it in the dictionary. So it said a strategy is a plan for action designed to achieve an overall aim. So there’s a plan for action—you have a goal, there’s an aim, there’s something that you’re going towards—but you have a plan of action.
Now, when the Bible says that we have been predestined to be conformed to the image of God, there’s a connection between the fulfillment of our destiny and reflecting Christ. And so I believe that in anything that we ought to do, it ought to reflect Christ. So if Christ had a plan of action—when He came on the earth, there was a goal in mind, He had a ministry to fulfill—what was His strategy? How did He go about His own strategy?
You see, something that fascinates me—and I don’t know, you know, if we have really like just even looked into this—what fascinates me is that before the ministry of Jesus on the earth, there was never a recorded verse about a demonic spirit being cast out of somebody. There was never anything recorded that, before the ministry of Jesus, somebody was delivered of a demonic spirit. And I wondered why—you know, there are prophets on the earth, were all these people on the earth—why wasn’t any of that happening?
And I realized that—you see, Jesus, one of the things He said about His ministry is that He came to proclaim the kingdom of God. Now, in proclaiming the kingdom of God, there’s another kingdom that is in the midst: the kingdom of darkness. Before Christ, the kingdom of darkness was ruling the earth. And so you cannot deliver a spirit that you’re not stronger than. And so when Christ comes on the earth, He comes with authority—with the power, you know, the power of the Holy Ghost. He comes in the authority that is stronger than the kingdom that was ruling the earth.
But even in—you know, what about to fall over here? Move here—but even in all of that, right? Good jokes, you know. But even in all of that, Christ had a strategy. He didn’t just say, you know, «And I’m all powerful—we got this. I’m about to just, you know, shut it down, » right? He had a strategy.
And I want us to read a passage, and that’s in Mark 1:35. And it says, «Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.» Prayer—it sounds very, you know, cliché: «Just pray about it, girl.» But prayer is the answer.
You see, when Christ came on the scene, one of the first recorded passages that we see about deliverance—right, and how many, you know—how many don’t want to talk about when I say deliverance of an evil spirit? Everybody cool, right? So the first recorded passage of a deliverance of a—you know, demonic spirit, an evil spirit, or, you know, some passages they say an unclean spirit—from a person, it was actually in the synagogue. It was in the church.
And what fascinated me about that is there is a man over here—he’s in the church, obviously he’s trying to live his life according to please God, to glorify God—but all along there is something in him that he is not strong enough to get out of him. There’s an unclean spirit residing in this man, and there is no—before Christ—there is no authority on the earth that can take that thing out of him.
Now, when an unclean spirit is in a man, a lot of times it influences him to do certain things. But Christ coming to proclaim the kingdom of God was able to deliver this man. And His strategy was prayer. Everything Christ did, He would often say that «I only do what I see My Father doing.» The place of insight was in the place of prayer. In a place of prayer, He had revelation about how to go about His day.
Overcoming Fear with Love Through Prayer
You see, we’re living in a time where there is also a battle, and it’s a battle between love and fear. As ambassadors of Christ—as the Scripture calls us—we represent the kingdom of God. How do we go about overcoming the actions produced by fear with our love?
You see, one thing that I’ve personally come to realize is that when we even talk about, you know, when we bring up racism—many can say that racism is a result of hate. But hate in itself, I believe, is fear unaddressed. Because you see, to hate someone means you dislike them with a passion—you know, you’re just passionate about your dislike, right? But for you to dislike a person, it means you don’t agree with them, because you cannot agree with someone that you dislike. And for you to not agree with someone, there’s something about them that you do not understand. And in not understanding something about them, it threatens you. And so there is a fear that is unaddressed.
You see, Joseph’s brothers—they hated him. But hate is not the way we think it is. They had a fear that was unaddressed. They did not know what it would look like for men that are older—like Joseph was a young, you know, was like the second to the last one—and he comes and he tells his parents, you know, his family, the whole crew, that «You guys are gonna—you know, serve him, » that they’re gonna bow down to him. You said, «What, Joseph?» All right. So there was this fear: how is it—in what type of world would I be serving my brother? There was a fear that was unaddressed, and it escalated to hate.
Saul—as the Scripture shows—hated David. But it was not really about hate as we see it. Again, there was a fear that was unaddressed. Because you see, when David—we all know the story about when, you know, the prophet came and anointed David. But first of all, the prophet comes, and they’re all—the sons are lined up. The sons are aware of what’s about to take place. It wasn’t like, you know, they didn’t anoint David and say, «Don’t tell nobody.» Everybody in the house knew what was going on. So obviously this message went out.
Saul is afraid that in what world would it be like for me to lose my kingdom, and David will rule my kingdom? There are so many thoughts that go through a person’s mind: how would that happen? Does that mean I’m going to have to—does that mean I’ll have to die? Does that mean what? Because literally there’s a message that says, you know, God has taken the kingdom from you, and He’s found another. Now it’s evident to Saul that the «another» is possibly David. The hate came from somewhere, and it was actually about him—because he does not understand how this is going to come about, he’s afraid of David.
And so when we use the word «hate"—and, you know, hate crimes—and when we look at racism, there is a fear that is unaddressed. And when we look at what is the opposite of fear—love. Fear is everything love is not. Love is everything fear is not. Fear comes from the enemy; love comes from God.
And so we see a picture that resembles what Jesus came in with His ministry. He came to proclaim the kingdom of God. He came to take authority over the kingdom of darkness. In our present times, us as children of love—we see fear, we see the actions of fear being played out. We cannot overcome it with our love by responding how people expect us to respond.
You see, a lot of times—even I’ve been hearing so many commentaries, so many people talking about things they want to do to the police, things they want to do to this—nothing about that says love. Amen? Nothing about—even when we try to rush decisions—rush decisions could actually be motivated by fear. Because how many times have we seen decisions rushed, and so it’s empowered by the feeling of that moment? And as soon as the feeling fades away—as soon as society starts focusing on something else—the projects start, you know, they fade away too, and we move on to the next thing.
One action that we can take in love is to actually pray. Because in prayer, we become connected in purpose to that thing. Amen? We don’t give up—we endure till we see what God has revealed to us in prayer become the reality of the land. And anything spoken to you in prayer would always be love. Anything God reveals to you—any action He tells you to take in prayer—would never have division, would never have lies—none of that. It would always come in the form of love, for that is the source that is answering you.
And so this is the time that we are called to pray. This is a time that we are called to pray for our nations. We are called to pray about things in our lives that we don’t understand. It’s a time that we’re called to seek insight from the One who knows all.
Watch and Pray: Preventing Corruption and Expelling Darkness
You see, one thing that I’ve kept seeing is that, you know, some of you that dream and, you know, have visions—that is going to intensify. And we have to—you have to really pay attention to the messages that God has given you. And literally some—it’s almost like your spiritual eyes are going to open, you know. Some people are going to start having like open visions about things. And the result of all this is to see a thing how God sees it.
You see, when God saw darkness—when there was darkness on the earth—it wasn’t just the darkness He saw. He saw light that would come forth, and He called it to be. So apart from this being a time where our strategy comes from prayer, this is also a time for us to prophesy. This is the time for us to declare the word of God to the situations.
You see, the funny thing about God is that the ways of God seem very simple—so it’s complicated because, as in our nature, we need to do something, you know. We just have to like, you know, in our own understanding. But the ways of God are very simple. He wants to give us insight. He wants to give us understanding. He wants us to move in wisdom.
And so along the side of—yes, we need to pray for insight, we need to pray for all these things—this is also a time to prophesy. And I’m going to explain this in a second—I believe so, in a second.
You see, one of the things that I love—that the Scripture refers to us as—and I believe this is in Matthew—it says that we are the salt of the earth, and that we are the light of the world. Now, one of the functions of salt is to serve as a preservative. One of the functions of light is to expel darkness. And these two almost work to serve each other. Because salt—salt will preserve a thing, but salt will not cure the thing.
You see, in ancient times, when sailors wanted to preserve meat, there was a process called salting. And so they would kind of like just dip it in salt. But if the meat was maybe corrupted or what was going bad, the salt would contain the corruption—or, you know, the meat from going bad—and it would preserve the rest of it. So there are two functions here that God is identifying us as: one is to prevent corruption, and the other is to expel the darkness.
And so I’m like, okay—how do we, you know, how do we go about this, right? Recently—not too long ago—the Lord said something to me, and He said, «Watch with Me.» At first, I didn’t—I wasn’t really sure what that meant. And then I began to have vivid dreams about events that seemed to—it was like events that would occur in the future time, right? And I’m like, okay—what do we do about this, right? Because there were some things that looked very disastrous. And He showed me that «As I’m showing you, I need you to watch and pray.» Because in prayer, the Holy Spirit would give you the words to declare to those things to prevent it from happening.
And so we see one aspect of preventing corruption. Then recently—and this was so fascinating to me—I kept feeling, you know, something in my spirit for me to study about global warming. Now, honestly, I don’t have no—nothing, no education on global warming. I hear it all the time—I’m like, «Yes, save the planet, » you know, what up, right? So I’m like, okay—now I’m gonna research global warming. And as I researched it, it really—it saddened me, really, because I saw how we are destroying our earth with things that we are doing.
And then I understood that «watch with Me» was not only about God revealing things to come in a manner that we should speak to it, but also being aware of our present times. As we observe the state that we are in, there are things that the Holy Spirit will start guiding you to speak to those situations. And there are things that the Holy Spirit is going to start guiding you to do in regards to those situations.
This is a time, family, that God is calling us to watch with Him. And it requires intentionality. Because at first I was like, okay, God—in my dream, you know, He’s just going to show me what’s up. I’m going to wake up, and we’re going—you know, talk about that later. But then I started realizing that in prayer—just spending time in prayer—it was almost as though I could see a man. He had like a—like a file sheet, right? And there were things on the sheet, and everything had like a checkbox. And as He would show me one thing, and I’ll pray about that thing, and then they will check it—and then the next thing, and then the next thing, and then the next thing.
And I understood that this is a time that we have to be intentional about preventing corruption and about how we expel darkness—not based on our understanding, but based on God’s understanding. You see, the Scripture says that the ways of God are higher than our ways. So the best thing that we can come up with is still foolishness.
And family, if we are here and we’re saying, «I am serious about the kingdom business, » we have to be serious in our prayer lives. We have to come before God with the intention—not just to talk. You see, there are times—there’s a time for everything, right? There’s a time when we have—we talk about all our issues. But there’s a time where we have to really pay attention to when the Bible says, «Seek first the kingdom of God, and all other things will be added unto you.» So there’s a time that we have to really be attentive to God: «How can I—how can You use me?» Because You created me to be Your vessel.
The fact—the fact that I know You—the privilege that I’m in relationship with You—is a responsibility. You see, for you to be in relationship with God, you’re responsible for revelation. You’re responsible to desire: «Lord, we need to understand what’s going on, because I need to speak to this thing.»
Kings and Priests: Authority Through Prophecy and Intercession
You see, I want to open a passage—it’s in Revelation. I believe I gave that to you—I need to find where it is in my notes. Okay, now let’s read this real quick. It says, «And they sang a new song, saying: 'You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals; for You were slain and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.'»
You see, this is who God has called us to be. Other Scriptures will call us like a royal priesthood—they will say a kingdom of priests. But you see, for us to rule as kings, we must serve as priests. And what I mean by that is—when God has given us the authority to rule, He has given us the responsibility for what is happening on the earth.
Now, in—I believe it’s in Hebrews 7—it talks about how Christ is the High Priest, and it talks about that His position—His priesthood—is a position that He has forever. Now, as a result of this position, it says that Christ is interceding for us. Now, inter—in intercession—one of the things it can mean, when it regards to Christ, is as a result of the blood of Jesus—as a result of the significance of His blood—we are forever seen to God as righteous. And so we are forever in a position of God’s mercy and grace.
So there is a continual intercession—because no matter our shortcomings, the blood is pleading for us. The blood says, «When she called on My name, she’s taking the promise of My blood.» And so there is this: forever you are forever righteous. And that’s why sometimes Paul, you know, would say, «Do not take in vain the grace that you have received—do not use it in vain.»
And so when—if we see that as intercession in regards to Christ—intercession in regards to us—is when we can stand in the gap to be a representative of the promise of God to the issue in our world. Because there is always a word of God to heal the land, but somebody has to declare it.
You see, prophecy—in the book of Ezekiel—Ezekiel had a vision, and in the vision he saw dry bones. And it says that the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel and told him, «Prophesy to these dry bones.» And the words that Ezekiel spoke, he saw it manifest. Prophecy—there are things that—there are words that God is going to give us about what is going on in our land, and we have to take the responsibility to prophesy—to declare that: «Yes, God—this is what will take place.»
God is looking for who will stand in agreement with Me. You see, the word of God says that God watches over His word to perform it. But God would not come down and speak to the issue—He reveals it to a man, and the man prophesies.
You see, I’m reminded by Elijah. For a time there was no rain. Then God tells him, «The rain is coming—go tell the king that the rain is coming.» So Elijah has declared the word of God. He does that—he goes up to the mountain with his servant, but there’s no rain. And even in the time of prophecy, Elijah is praying. And he keeps telling his servant, «Go watch.» The servant comes back: «No rain.» «Go watch again.» No rain. «Go watch again"—until the rain came.
It goes back to watching and praying. Because when God gives us a word—when we come and say, «God, this is what is going on in our nation"—when we can humble ourselves before God—because prayer is a position of humility. You wouldn’t pray if you have it figured out. So we can humble ourselves before God and say, «God, I know I’m smart—you know, I had a GPA of 3 point—you know, whatever—but 4. I know—for some people, not me—sorry, Mama. But we can say, 'God, I know I’m smart. I know I can come up with ways. But I need to know what are You saying? I need to know.'»
Because there are two things that would always happen: there are ways that God would direct you to move on, but there are things that God would require you to prophesy. And as you speak those words, you have to watch in the situation. It’s not just to say it and just, you know, «What—it happens when it happens.» Because then you’re not really—because see, prayer and faith go together. Even when the Bible says that whatever you ask for, ask without doubting.
And so when we believe the word of God and we declare it to the problem, we are watching for it. At the same time, we are acting based on the direction that God has given us.
The Power of God’s Word in Prophecy
I want us to open to a passage—let me see where that passage is going to be. Okay, not too sure. Okay, we’re going to open to Jeremiah—Jeremiah 1:4-5. And in this passage—let’s go to 4 to 5 first. And here I want to talk about the power and the effect of the word of God.
Now it says, «Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.'»
So this is God coming to Jeremiah to reveal to him his identity and his position in the land. Now, a prophet—even if I should have said this earlier, just in case—but a prophet is really one who declares the word of God, right? And in Christ, we have access to the mind of Christ—we have access to how God sees things, right?
And I love the B series that PT is doing—and trust me, if you haven’t watched that, you definitely need to, because he’s talking about also the anatomy of God. So He’s telling Jeremiah, «I have ordained you as a prophet to the nations.»
Now, as a result of this—this is what happens in verses 9 to 10. You see, then it says, «Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: 'Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.'»
There was a connection between being a prophet that launched Jeremiah to a position over the nations. You see, when you can declare the word of God, you have authority to the thing that you’re declaring it to. And so God is saying, «Jeremiah, I’m going to reveal to you the position and your function on the earth. And now, as a result of Me revealing that to you, I have put you in charge of the people I’ve told you to speak to.»
And this ties back in when God says that He has called us as kings and priests that we may reign on the earth. Family, we have a responsibility to what is happening around us. And that responsibility is tied to what we say. Jeremiah—his function, his whole function—is to declare the word of God. And in declaring the word of God, that has the power to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant. All of that is in the power of God’s word.
You see, one of the things—there was something that Jeremiah prophesied, and I believe it’s in Jeremiah 25—and he was talking about how the people of Judah—that at a certain point they’re going to go into captivity for 70 years, and after the 70 years that they will be free. This was just a prophecy.
Now, let’s go to Ezra 1:1—I want to show you something incredible. So the prophecy is that for 70 years they’ll be in exile, and after that they will come out. Now, in Ezra 1:1 it says, «Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus the king of Persia, so that he made…»
Everything else is important, but the fact is—because of a word that was prophesied by Jeremiah, God caused the king of Cyrus to take action in favor of that word.
You see, there are things that you cannot touch, but you can touch through prayer. There are things that you cannot have access to, but you have access to through prophecy. And if we keep thinking that the answer to everything is going to come by what we do—we’ve missed it. If we think it’s going to come by what we do through our understanding—we have missed it. Because God knows how to stir up the hearts of people—He’s an expert in doing that. But who is going to stand in the gap?
And truly—because if we truly say, «I’m upset, I’m this, I’m that"—if we truly love the people that we’re fighting for, we would be praying about solutions. We’re not going to respond in the same spirit that is attacking us. Because when you respond so quickly—when you respond—and if you’re true to yourself, you’re responding from a place of anger—hate and judgment is going to fail as quickly as it started. Because you’re responding—you cannot combat a thing in the same spirit. You have to combat something opposite from that.
This is the time, family, for us to bow down and say, «God, I don’t know what to do—You show me what to do.» There are people that God is going to elevate in positions—they’re going to be people that you didn’t see coming—elevated in positions of authority and influence to start changing things. There are people that we’re not going to expect that God is going to touch their hearts to start implementing certain systems that will make sure that justice is brought to the earth. But we have to stand in the gap. Amen?
We have to come to God—not just by the rent, you know—the rent. Sometimes we fast more for the rent than anything else. We have to come to God.
You see, one story I love—and when you have the chance, even write this down—I believe this is in Daniel, Daniel chapter 9. Daniel is a man who—in every way—when you read about the story of Daniel, Daniel was a man who stood in right standing with God. Daniel was a man that even the angels would affirm him that «You are beloved by the Lord.»
But you see, there was a time where—so Daniel—funny enough, it was even connected to this prophecy with Jeremiah. Daniel had, you know, somehow found the prophecy that Jeremiah wrote down—because Daniel was one of the people that was in captivity. So he sees this whole thing about 70 years. He didn’t really understand it. And Daniel—someone who was in right standing with God—he goes into fasting for understanding.
But if you read—not even if—when you read, okay—somebody—Daniel—when you read Daniel chapter 9, Daniel comes before God and he says, «We have sinned, O Lord.» He starts describing the sins of the land. He took it upon himself—and he’s standing in the gap for his people. He’s seeking God for his people. He didn’t come before God and is like, you know, «Lord, they just tripping—you know, show me the way to help this, you know, sinful people.» No—he came and he took it upon himself.
You see, that is a spirit of responsibility. That is a person who understands that «I have a part to play in how all this ends up.» And so he was there—he’s seeking God and fasting and prayer. And the angel comes to him to give him understanding. And lo and behold, you know—they were set free.
Do we truly—are we truly connected? And are we truly passionate about our causes? Because if we say that we are, we’re going to go to the One that has all the answers. Amen? Amen.
Enduring Through Vision and Prayer as License for Heavenly Interference
Let us open to—where we open to—let us open somewhere. Let’s open to—where is this going to go—Hebrews 12:2. Now, I bring this passage up—really, I’m not sure why—but I bring this passage up now. Okay, I know why I bring this passage—oh gosh, I bring this passage up because—you see, when we align ourselves—thank You, Jesus—when we align ourselves with what—let me put it this way: when you see something, you cannot deny what you’ve seen.
When God shows you His plan and His purpose for a thing, you cannot be in denial about it any longer. Amen? You see, a lot of times when we act too fast, we’re acting based on what we wish would happen—not what we see would happen. Now, when you wish for something to happen, you’re not as connected—because you haven’t seen it.
You see, for example—it’s different to imagine—I like houses, right now—it’s different to imagine to live in a kind of house that you haven’t seen. More than likely, you will settle for the apartment. Okay, that was funny—ha, right? Now, what I’m trying to say is that what you’ve seen—if I see a beach house, like for example—there’s a house I’ve seen—it is just phenomenal. When you see something, you can connect yourself to say, «This is what I want.» Now, this is why a lot of times people encourage vision boards, right? Because when you see it, you’re like, «Okay, I see what I want—I’m not trying to lower my standards, Lord. We’re going for this.»
When we do things out of what we wish—where there is no sight, there is no vision—when there is no vision, there’s nothing to guide you. You see, what comes after a vision is a blueprint. Because when you can see it, now you start—you’re creating the way to it. But when you don’t see it, it’s going to fade away.
What happens when we go before the Lord and say, «God, show me what is Your plan and purpose»? You become connected to that thing. Amen? Because you can never deny what you’ve seen.
And that is why a lot of times, you know, people are having relationship problems—because they’ve seen people that they’re like, «Ha ha, » and they get «uh-uh, » right? That was un—but let’s go back to the focus. Let’s focus, people. I have all these things in my head—that’s just how I think, okay? But let’s focus. Let’s read the passage—you know, let’s read the word of God.
Okay, now the passage says—looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Now check this—it said, «who for the joy that was set before Him"—He saw something. He wasn’t just doing His ministry because He didn’t have any vision. He saw what was going to be at the end of it all. And it says, «who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross.»
Family, we cannot endure things if we haven’t seen anything. We cannot endure our way—we cannot fight for something if we have not seen anything. If God has not shown us, «This is the end result, » we cannot fight for it.
You see, even when you look in your lives—the reason that a lot of you are pushing, and the reason a lot of you are accepting—some of you could have gone back home. I mean, I’m one of them. But the reason that we’re not doing these things is because God has shown us something. And it’s either God is a liar, or I’m just going crazy, right? And because of what you’ve seen, you’re like, «It does not matter—I am going to fight for this thing until it becomes my reality.»
And so it says, «who for the joy that was set before Him He endured the cross, despising the shame.» Anytime that you’re doing something—anything, especially when you’re fighting a cause for God—you’re going to get—there’s going to be some—you know, it’s going to be a lot of times it’s controversial, right? A lot of times you’re going to get some very funny responses, right?
So there is always one thing—there’s a passage, and I believe that’s in Isaiah 61—and God says, «For your shame I will give you double.» Why that passage always hits me is because sometimes in life you go through certain things, and you’re like, «God, you know—Your word supposed to say that I would not be put to shame, » right? And you’re just like, «Why is this going on?» And then He would remind you, «No, no—I said for your shame I will give you double.» So there is a possibility that you will go through a shameful time, but for that I would honor you double.
And so He says, «despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.» He has sat where He saw Himself—what He saw has been fulfilled.
Family, we need—we need to see. Amen? We need to see: «God, where are You going with this?» You can’t be so focused on what is here. We have to elevate and say, «God, where are You going with this? What is the vision of all this? And where is my part in this? Is it to—at this point—prophesy? Is there something You’re going to lead me to do? Is there somebody I need to be praying for?»
Even the Bible tells us to pray for our leaders. Hallelujah. Because God is for good government—yes, He is. And sometimes God even just needs you to be praying for somebody—He needs someone to be covering someone.
You see, the prophet Samuel—when Saul was king in Israel—there was a passage where the prophet Samuel—and, you know, thank God for Google—because when you Google these words, the passage will pop up, right? So you can Google it. There’s a passage where the prophet Samuel said, «I would sin unto God if I do not intercede for you.» He’s basically saying, «If I’m not praying for you—because you’re the leader, you’re the one who has been appointed in the place of leadership over the people of Israel—if I’m not praying for you, it would be a sin unto God.»
A lot of times things are not changing because nobody is praying. You see, I had a dream—and I’m going to share this dream. The dream was real crazy, but I’m going to—I won’t really give too much details because it could be a little sensitive, right? Some people are sensitive right now.
In this dream, a man comes up to me, and he tells me, «What you’re about to see is going to be controversial.» And in other words, that I’m not going to agree with what I’m going to see. I’m like, you know, «Bring it on, » you know—what now?
A man comes up—another man comes up to me—and he says, while he was committing a very evil act, he said, «God was with him.» And I got upset. I said, «What?» I said, «That is a lie—that is blasphemy. How can God—» you know—that is not true, right?
Now, in the dream, I have a vision in the dream, and I see the whole thing playing out. I see this man committing an act that appeared to be very evil—and the—you know—and God is in the room. Christ was in the room, but His hands were like—it seemed that His hands were bound. And so I was upset, and I’m like, «Lord, how can You be here and this is happening? What is going on, » right?
And now He’s speaking to me, and He says—have I—have I heard about something of such—basically, have we heard about evil acts that happen in the world, right? I’m like, «Yes.» He’s like, «Am I not there?» I’m like, «You are—no, I’m everywhere—so I guess so.» Where are we going with this, Lord?
But what the message was the whole time—He’s waiting for someone to speak. He’s waiting for somebody to call on Him. And because no one called on Him, it was as though His hands were bound.
Now, when the man said—when the man said that God was with him—what I later understood was: when something is against you, and the person that should be for you isn’t for you, then obviously it appears that they are with who they are with—the situation that is against you.
God wants to be for you, but His hands are literally like—when who’s going to call on Me? What, right? And I woke up—and I tell you, I woke up and I was—I was really like—I was really messed up by that. I was like, «Lord"—I was still questioning it. I was like, «No, no, no, no.»
And then I was reminded by something the late Myles Munroe said. And he said, «Prayer is an earthly license for heavenly interference.» In other words, prayer gives God license—gives Him permission—to move.
Because when we look at the beginning, we see that God gave us authority—and the type of man that He gave authority—because you see, when God gave the man—who was present—the type of man, right? So God gives Adam authority, but Adam at the time was a man who functioned like God. He had the mind of God. He worked through the anatomy of God.
When God created man—it’s so fascinating—because right after He does something—now the Bible says—and again, if you Google this—Hallelujah—the passage will come up, right? So the Bible says that God brought the animals that He had created—He brings them to Adam, and it says He brought them to see what the man would call them. And everything Adam named those animals, the Scripture says that was its name.
So in other words, God is like, «Cool—okay, this man is functioning the way he should. He’s functioning like Me—he’s calling things like Me.» And so from the beginning of time—from the beginning of time—it was the will and purpose of God that earth—that our world today—would function by His will and purposes. But the man He gave the responsibility to is the one that functions like Him.
And we are in Christ—so we have access to function like God. And so this responsibility—this responsibility—is in our hands. We have to start praying, family. We have to pray with intention—to watch and pray—to hear what God is saying and prophesy that—and hold God to His word. He said He is not man that He should lie.
So when He says something, and we come in agreement with Him and declare that word—now He’s watching to perform it. A lot of things that happened in the life of Jesus happened because it was to fulfill a prophecy. There are many times in the Scripture that it would say, «And to fulfill the prophecy by so-and-so—this had to happen.» So the spoken word of God has no choice but to be fulfilled.
And so when God gives you a word concerning your nation—that is the most exciting thing that can happen. Because now you have something to hold God to. And now we can move and act in accordance to that word.
Altar Call and Prayer for Tongues and Commitment
Family, rise with me. Praise God. Amen. This is a time—this is a time for our function to be revealed. You see, Jeremiah had been living his life, you know, all along doing his own thing—and then he encountered what would bring him to himself. He encountered his truth. And then God spoke to him and said, «I have ordained you as a prophet.»
But we are in Christ—and it’s so on time that PT is doing this B series—because it is an encounter with ourselves that God—with everything going on here—there is someone that I must be. There is something that is in me to answer this. And with every higher level that we create in ourselves, it requires a deeper level in God.
And so we cannot—we cannot function as His eyes, we cannot function as His mouth, we cannot function and know His mind if we are not spending time in His presence. It’s not going to be based on what a group of people agree sounds smart. It’s going to be based on what is God saying.
Because I tell you, family—God wants us to touch places that we cannot physically reach, but our words can reach. And prayer—some of the things that God reveals to me—it is just some really interesting things. I’m like, «God—I’m always on the news like, 'What—when is this going to pop up? '» In prayer, sometimes I would hear, «Pray about sex slavery in Cambodia"—just random stuff. And God will start giving—the Holy Spirit will give you the words to speak. And it would seem that—and one would think that, well, you know, «I’m not from Cambodia—you know, I’m from Nigeria—what am I going to do with Cambodia?»
You see, the Holy Spirit is not—it doesn’t move through you based on your race, your who looks like you. And that is evidence in itself—when we see, when we talk about the manifestation of tongues, right? When you speak in tongues, sometimes you could be speaking Arabic, and you’re from China, right? We see this even in the Bible—where they said that—and when the people were speaking in tongues, there were so many people from different countries that understood—they were speaking their language.
So this is evidence in itself that the Holy Spirit does not move through you only to your people and to your kind. Because in reality, we are connected to everyone. There is no one who is different or separate from us. We are all one body—whether you are from Cambodia or whether you’re from Afghanistan—that’s far place, right? It does not matter. We are all one body.
And this is when we start coming and say, «God"—you know, one thing—one thing that fascinates me, and I’m saying this to encourage you in prayer—there was a day that God laid a certain lady—she, her name on my heart—and He’s like, «Pray for her on this day.» And He told me things to just declare over her life. So later on—because I’m always searching—I’m like, «Let me find out, you know, what’s going on here.» And I put her name on, you know, Instagram—and I found out that that day was her birthday. I don’t know her—I have no nothing. But God needed someone to say, «Let me release My promise over her life on that day.»
It is time—it is time, family—more than ever. It is time to seek God’s face in prayer. It is time that our strategy-ology is not based on, you know, a group consensus—but it’s based on divine revelation. That we start to prophesy—that we start to declare God’s word to things that we don’t understand. Because when the Bible says that His ways are higher—so how He performs things is not based on how we think it would happen.
You know, David is such a funny story—you know, David is having a little issue with, you know, his like his son and all these things going on. And the son had one of David’s counselors who was a very wise man. And David knew that if this man counsels his son, the son will probably have victory in the thing that he’s doing against his father.
And David goes in prayer—again, you can Google this, right? —and David goes in prayer and he says, «Lord, confuse the counsel of Ahithophel.» And all of a sudden, this man starts, you know, giving him like some nonsense advice—a man that was so smart. God heard David’s prayer, and He said, «I got you.» Because what is going on here is not even My will—He’s like, «I—you know what? We’re going to confuse some people.» And that is what happened.
The power of God to touch an area that you cannot physically touch—but you can touch with your words. It is the most powerful thing.
And so family, if you’re here today and you say, «God, I am not trying to fight this war by myself—I’m coming in partnership with You, and we’re going to do this thing together"—come down here. You’re making the commitment to live a life of prayer—then come on down. Come on down. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus.
This is the strategy room—it’s in prayer. It is in prayer. There are things that I cannot explain that happen just by praying. There’s no way that I could even—by my strength—I could have done any of that. It happened in prayer. It’s in prayer, family.
If Jesus prayed—Jesus—come on, the Son of God, right? —if He prayed, and He was so intentional about His prayer life that He said, «I’m going to even pray when the rest of the folks are sleeping, 'cause I don’t want to be disturbed—I don’t want to be looked for—I just need My time.» If Jesus could pray—there’s something about that. There’s something so powerful about that.
We need insight. We need understanding. We cannot do this by our own selves. We cannot do this by our strength—cannot do this by articles that we read: «Say yes—you know what, right?» We need God. We need God. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus.
If you’re still out there—there’s some of you that you’re like, «I’m with you—I’ve agreed.» But there’s something so powerful about walking out—you’re free of—it’s not even about—it’s not about you’re not thinking about who’s looking at you. It’s almost like a—thank You. Praise God. Come on down. Amen.
You know that you’re still where you are because you’re like, «I’m not trying to walk down—I’m trying to have people watch me and all this stuff.» But there’s something so freeing. Amen. I see you. There’s something so freeing that «God—at whatever cost—I am with You.» There’s something so freeing. Come on down. Thank You, Jesus.
Now, there are some of you—maybe already here—but if you’re out there—I still say that—and maybe you are watching—some of you, you actually do desire to pray, but it’s—you always feel like there are two things. One—there’s a very easy diagnosis: one is that when you want to pray, you always feel, you know, you end up falling asleep, right? And really, you just have to move from your bed somewhere else. Okay? And if that’s you, just—you know, come on down. It’s a very simple diagnosis. Amen?
If that’s you—if that’s you—this brother has screwed over—he’s like, «Look.» Amen. Come on, dad. You always want to pray—you wake up, but you’re in the same position like, «Oh Lord—wow, praise be to You"—and then you fall asleep, right? All you need to do—there’s no, you know—you know, you don’t need to go crazy in the spirit. You just need to, you know—get up, stand up, pray up, right?
Now, there’s some of you—amen, come on—it’s a fun time in the Lord. Amen. Now, some of you—literally you feel attacked in your prayer life. It’s like you want to pray, but you almost feel like there’s this—you—in another word, maybe you—it could seem like boredom, or it just seems like you—you’re not really sure what’s going on. But you want to pray, but there’s always this resistance. And it’s like you just can’t seem to—but you desire it. Amen? Come down. You desire to pray, but there’s this resistance.
And a lot of times—you see, one thing in God is that sometimes you just have to press through it. Because when we’re so used to—and for some of you, it’s because there were times where you would pray, and it’s like you could feel, you know, the fire—you know, you’re just like, «Whoa"—you just keep going, you know. And then all of a sudden you was just like dry—it’s like, «What is this, » right?
And sometimes that’s even when the enemy confuses you—because you connect the feeling of like fire, right, to your prayer being effective. But you see, in God we walk by faith and not by sight. And sometimes you just have to believe what is going on. You just have to know that, «Lord—this could be"—trust me, sometimes it’s really boring. I’m like, «Okay—yeah, you know what—this checklist is still going, » right? Sometimes it really gets boring. But you have to know that what you’re doing—and as you do it, God would increase the desire for it. He would start giving you the passion for it.
But we have to—we have to fight through that, you know—like «What is going on?» We have to fight through that feeling of—in lack of better words—boredom. We have to fight through that. Because what we’re doing is so powerful—it’s so powerful.
And then some—literally we’re going to pray into this—'cause some—the attacks that you feel is almost like a—it’s almost like a spiritual attack. And sometimes it’s like you want to pray, and all kinds of things just start happening. And we’re going to pray into that.
And the truth is that God is just so funny—because at the end of the day, anything—what the things that He allows you to experience in the spirit—is not because the enemy really has power like that for you. Because in Christ, we have the victory. So in Christ, the powers of the enemy is not really effective to us.
But when God allows you to experience it—He’s not just allowing you to experience it because you’re like, «Oh my gosh—the enemy is attacking me.» No—He’s trying to show you the power in what you’re doing. So He allows you to see some—sometimes some of you even see certain things that you don’t want to see when you’re praying. Some of you experience a real spiritual opposition.
But it is not because the enemy has power like that in your life—but God is allowing you to see the power of it—to see how much even the enemy fights against it. And so as we pray—it’s not to pray for you know—for that to stop—but it’s to pray for your faith to be strengthened—to know that «This is nothing.» Because God is going to use you in ways that you can also speak to other people and say, «No—keep going, keep going.» Because in Christ we already have the victory. «Keep going.»
And if anything I’ve said—and you’re out there—and you know I’m speaking to you—maybe some of you are here—but if you’re out there, just come down. And we’re going to seal this. Amen. Amen. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God.
Let’s just close our eyes, family. Close our eyes. Praise God. Praise God.
Who here—who here are you—if you’re here and you desire—you desire to speak in tongues? Who—yeah. Praise God.
And if you’re in the crowd now—some of you—some of you might not—praise God. Some of you might not understand—when we talk about praying in tongues, it’s like, «What are they doing—all this, you know, show show show, » you know? Well, now—biblically, Scripture tells us that the one who—when you pray in tongues, it edifies yourself. And it’s unfruitful to the mind—the mind has no understanding of what you’re doing.
But the more you—when there’s such a power—because sometimes you don’t have words. You’re—you know, you run out of words to say, right? Unless you speak another language—you then you can repeat it in, you know, Spanish, right? But sometimes you literally—you run out of words to say. And then we start praying in tongues—because it—it’s like a—it builds up your inner man, right? It builds up your spirit. And all of a sudden you have insight on what else to pray for.
And even as you—even as you pray in tongues—what happens is that sometimes you’re actually declaring things that you know—sometimes God will make known to you, or you know—it might not, right? But that’s—if you pray in tongues, you know—pray for, you know, interpretation if you’re going to share with somebody. But literally it builds you up.
And so sometimes in the—when you’re praying and you just get tired—it’s so powerful to start praying in the Spirit. Now, everyone has the gift of tongues. There’s always this like confusion that «I don’t have the gift—I don’t have the gift.» No—everyone has the gift, because you have the Holy Spirit. The only difference is the manifestation of that gift.
And now, honestly—you know, I started praying in tongues in my bedroom. I was really—because everybody talks about it—I was like, «God, I want to know what this is about, » right? So I start researching, and I’m like, «Okay, okay, okay.» So it was like I was reading the Bible about different things to just understand—in the Scripture-wise—what it meant.
And God literally spoke to me, and He said, «It’s all in here.» The problem is that we are so caught up in our mind—because it sounds like, you know, like baby talk—you know, like «goo goo ga ga, » right? It sounds like—it just sounds crazy, 'cause it’s unfruitful to the mind.
And so even as we pray—I’m going to pray into that and allow what is in your spirit to come out. Because—and it’s in there. It’s in there. It’s in there. You just have to free yourself. It’s the most freeing thing—because you’re not thinking about it. Because trust me—your mind will be questioning you.
I remember the first time I prayed in tongues—now, because I studied that—you know, I studied that biblically—sometimes you’re speaking in other languages. So being the person I am, I went to Google Translate, right? And I was like, «I’m going to try and write down what I’m saying to know what I’m saying.» And so I was—I was like writing it down to the best of my ability.
And so I go on Google Translate, and I was like, «Okay, guys—time of, you know, testing.» So I go there—and it’s so incredible—it translated. Now, I can’t even remember what language that was—but it translated and said, «Joseph is a position of circumstance.» That I can never forget. Because what it showed me is that it wasn’t Joseph—the position of Joseph being elevated in a way that doesn’t even make sense—is a position of circumstance.
And it spoke to me so much—because in that time there were a lot of certain—there a lot of circumstances, right? You know, in the present of that time. And so God was showing me that all this would lead you to the place of your Joseph. It’s not just about Joseph the person—almost symbolizes a man raised up from nothing to somebody. And God showed me—and I didn’t even know this—I was just trying to, you know—you know, translate. But I could recognize the fact that when I was praying in tongues, everything around me didn’t seem to matter anymore.
And so the understanding was just a bonus. But even if I never got that understanding, it did something to me.
And so we’re going to pray—and if you’re here and you desire to pray in tongues—just let go of your mind. Just let out whatever starts coming out of you. It sounds like—trust me, the first time I think I only had two words. I think it was «ratata ratata ratata, » right? I kept saying «R"—I said, «Where’s the rat?» Okay? It took me a long time to add some more words to my ratata, okay?
So even if it’s two words—say it and continue with it. And God will give you—and it would increase. Okay?
So family, let us pray. Let’s pray.
Father God, we thank You. Lord Jesus—oh Lord, we worship You, my Lord, my God.
Everyone here that say they desire—they desire to move into a different dimension in their prayer life—Lord, this is such a beautiful sight to behold—that we are coming to say, «Lord, we are standing to stand in the gap. We are coming to stand…»
Father God—wow, wow. Thank You, Lord—because literally it’s—there’s like a—there’s like fire like on people’s heads or something. I thank You, Lord, that You would release the tongues from them right now in the name of Jesus.
I disconnect their minds from what they’re doing in the name of Jesus. Lord God, that no matter how it sounds—that they would release it, Lord God—right now in the name of Jesus. They would release it, God—right now in the name of Jesus.
If you pray in tongues—pray in tongues right now.
Lord God, we thank You for what You’re doing in this house. We thank You for what You’re doing in this house. We thank You, Lord God, that when You are looking through the earth—when You are searching, Father God—who You can make Yourself strong through—that who You can—Your glory can come out through, Father God—that You would see us in the name of Jesus.
Lord God, I thank You, Father God, that in a time that the nation needs an answer from You, Lord God—that You can count on us to come before You and say, «God, we do not know what we would do.» Lord God, that we would represent the nations—that we stand for, Lord God—that we would come to You in a position of humility, Father God—and say, «God, show me that which You want me to speak to—show me that which You want me to prophesy to.»
Lord God, may we not be so consumed with ourselves, Lord God—but may we know that You have called us beyond our race, beyond our kind—in the name of Jesus.
Father God, I thank You, Lord God, that You are strengthening us, Lord God. I thank You, Lord, that You are equipping us, Father God.
May this word, Lord God, never depart from us—in the name of Jesus.
Jesus, Lord God—thank You, Father God. Thank You for the anointing that is pouring on this house right now—in the name of Jesus.
Thank You, Lord God, that You are equipping Your children—in the name of Jesus.
I thank You for those watching—I thank You for what is taking place in their life right now—in the name of Jesus.
Lord God, I thank You that Your hands are touching these ones—in the name of Jesus.
I thank You, Lord God—Lord, we give You the glory, Father God. We give You the glory, Father God.
You can count on us, Lord God. You can count on us, Father God. Thank You, Lord God—in the name of Jesus.
I disconnect Your children from doubt—in the name of Jesus. I disconnect Your children from doubt—in the name of Jesus.
We would move in faith, Lord God. We would move in faith, Lord God. We would not be afraid, Father God—because You are with us—in the name of Jesus.
Lord God, thank You, Father God, for what is taking place right now. Thank You, Father God. Thank You, Father God.
Have Your way—have Your way in this house. Have Your way in this house.
Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus.
You are touching them—You are touching them—You are touching them, Lord God. You are touching them, Lord God.
Your fire is on this house—Your fire is on this house.
Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus.
The oil is flowing—the oil is flowing—the oil is flowing. May it touch everybody—may it touch everybody—may it touch everybody.
Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus.
Wow—wow, wow, wow. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus.
Thank You, God. Thank You, God. Thank You, God. Thank You, God. Thank You, God.
Eyes are being opened—in the name of Jesus. Eyes are being opened—in the name of Jesus.
Lord God, thank You, God. Thank You, God.
Through us, Lord God—may Your grace and mercy fill the earth—in the name of Jesus.
In the name of Jesus.
Wow—we give You all the glory, Lord. We give You all the glory, Lord.
Have Your way—have Your way in Jesus' name. Have Your way in Jesus' name. Have Your way in Jesus' name.
Release Your people, Lord God—release them into destiny—release them into purpose, Father God.
Thank You, God—in Jesus' name. Thank You, God.
Lord, we will no longer be just spectators—but we will be involved—Your way—in Jesus' name.
In Jesus' name—we seal this prayer, Lord God, in Your name.
Thank You, God—for we stand in agreement with You and all that You purpose to do through us—in the name of Jesus.
Amen. Amen.