ISSUE 22 | MARCH 2019
BLIND. FAITH. PART II // 02
E VA N G E L I S T N A T H A N M O R R I S
03 // BLIND. FAITH. PART II
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n “Blind Faith, Part 1,” we discussed the gift of faith and how to grow in our measure of faith. In this article, we want to look more closely at faith and what Scripture says about it. Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” We see that the fruits of faith are actually the works of God. When faith is present, God is working! It is so important for you to understand that revelation causes you to speak with authority. When you have been walking in faith and the fruits of faith are being produced in your life, your trust in God becomes your confidence in Him. Jesus says something powerful in the book of John that will change your life. John 14:12-14 says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” I want to focus on the word “ask” in verses 13 and 14. It is used twice. “Ask” is translated from the Greek word “aiteo.” This word means, “to ask in the strongest manner possible when applied between people.” It also means, “to command” when used on a “whatsoever” or an “anything.” Is healing a “whatsoever” or an “anything”? Yes! This means that to ask is to command. You do not ask, you command!
BLIND. FAITH. PART II // 04
This is why when Peter and John met the lame man at the Gate Beautiful in Acts 3, Peter did not ask for the man to be healed. He commanded, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” This was not a negotiation. Peter had heard when Jesus had commanded the fruitless fig tree to shrivel up and die. When he saw that the fig tree obeyed the words of Christ immediately, this became a revelation to Peter. That revelation caused him to speak with authority; thus, the lame man went away walking and leaping and praising God. Jesus said in John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” There is a seeing, a knowing that comes through abiding in the presence of God. This is what causes revelation to flow and authority to increase. That’s why the Bible says, “And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed and therefore I spoke,’ we also believe and therefore speak,” because abiding with God brings faith that causes us to speak. The gift of faith is released by the power of God. According to 1 Corinthians 12, it comes for a moment, for a season, and for a reason. It is the instantaneous assurance of God’s ability to act in a specific situation. It does not deny a fact, but it does change it. In Acts 6:8, we see that Stephen was full of faith and power, and he did great wonders and miracles among the people. The miracles and wonders were attributed to the fact that he was filled with faith; the gift of faith. Sometimes, when we don’t see the results that we want, we can become discouraged. But James 5:18 reminds us that Elijah prayed seven times before he saw the rain come. We pray, and we pray again! Just like Jude wrote that we must contend for the faith, we contend for the miracle with our prayer. I want to encourage you not to give up. You are a blood-bought child of God! Abide in Him, spend time in His presence, and let the revelation that comes from that place cause you to command your situation to change. Let faith arise in your heart and life, in Jesus’ mighty name!
05 // BECOME A COVENANT PARTNER
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THE GREATER HARVEST: SEND US OUT // 06
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he Lord spoke to Evangelist Nathan at the beginning of 2019 that this would be “The Year of Greater Harvest.� We know that God is stretching us beyond what we have ever experienced. He is doing a new thing, and we are stepping into it! When God speaks a word like that, it is so crucial to respond to it in faith. For us, we believe that if God says this year is about Greater Harvest, we must step out and hold more Gospel Campaigns than ever before. We feel an urgency as we strategize to take the Gospel into regions of the world that so desperately need an encounter with Jesus. This year, we are going to El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador, Malaysia, and Latvia. We are currently planning campaigns in several other Latin American nations as well. God has been opening tremendous doors with national leaders, and we know that God is giving us favor so that the lost can be reached by the power of His Gospel. We stand totally committed to running with His message to the ends of the earth.
07 // THE GREATER HARVEST: SEND US OUT
We are believing God for the financial provision for these Gospel Campaigns. We are always so grateful for every offering received and every Covenant Partner gift, but to hold more campaigns than ever before means that we are having to believe God like never before. That is why we want to say this to you: if you will send us out, we will go. You may never stand in a stadium in El Salvador, but your gift will allow our team to go. You may never get to visit Malaysia to pray for the sick, but if you will send us out, we will go on your behalf. Maybe you will never set foot in the nation of Ecuador, but your gift will allow the good news of the Gospel to go in your place. This is a season of extraordinary breakthrough for the Gospel. So many people are hungry for God,
and so many are desperate for the healing touch that only Jesus Christ can bring. We want to encourage you, be a part of something bigger than yourself. Send us out with the Gospel to the nations. Only eternity will show the full impact of your gift. Help us reap the Greater Harvest!
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IF YOU SEND US TO THE NATIONS, WE WILL GO!
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You can have a part in all of this. Perhaps you are reading this and you feel that you could never go to the places we go to. Maybe you don’t feel like your life is having an eternal impact. Friend, you can join hands with us and help us to reap this great harvest of souls!
INVEST IN THE HARVEST FIELDS! VISIT WWW.SHAKETHENATIONS.COM/GIVE TO SOW INTO THE GREATER HARVEST OF 2019.
PROPHETIC PRAISE // 08
As we travel the world, it is my privilege to meet so many believers from different nations. I love to sit down with them and talk about Jesus. But I have found that in the Western World, we often want to wait until we feel like it to praise the Lord. We want all of our circumstances to be perfect to praise. If we are going through a struggle or if we feel that the enemy is attacking us, we usually move into complaining instead of taking a posture of praise. I have learned that you don’t praise when you feel like it. You praise until you feel like it! And thank God, this is not all about upbeat songs that come before the “more spiritual” worship songs. Praise is a vibrant, vocal, expression of who God is. Don’t think of praise as something less than worship. Allow me to remind you that Psalm 100 instructs us to enter God’s presence with thanksgiving and praise. This is the protocol. By it’s very nature, praise is a prophetic act. When we stand with boldness to proclaim the nature of our God, giving Him glory and honor, we find that our circumstances have to bow to His great name. For instance, if I get a bad diagnosis from the doctor, I don’t have to worry about that. I take on a posture of praise and say, “Father, I praise You because You are the Lord my Healer!” When I feel overwhelmed, my praise might sound like this: “I give You praise because there is nothing too hard for You! Nothing is impossible for You!” When I have a need in my life, I say, “Jesus, I give You praise because You are the Lord my Provider! You have never let me down.”
09 // PROPHETIC PRAISE
BY: LY D I A S . M A R R O W
One of the things we could use to visualize what breakthrough means is the breaking of the sound barrier. For years, pilots tried to break the sound barrier and failed. They failed so many times that most people had begun to think that it was impossible to break through that barrier. They would approach the necessary 760 miles per hour, but that speed was too fast for the type vehicle they were flying in and it would break apart. Many pilots died in the process. Then Chuck Yeager came along. They put him in a vehicle run by hydraulics, and they released his little plane from a bigger one, just like his plane was a bomb. Suddenly, he accelerated to Mach 1 and the world heard the sonic boom. The sound barrier was broken and Yeager had done the impossible. Science tells us that when a vehicle is approaching 760 mph, there comes this blue wall in front of the plane. It’s called the Wall of Impossibility. It’s the barrier pushing back against the plane. But the minute that vehicle passes Mach 1, that wall shifts. It comes up behind the plane in a big cone shape. It’s called the Blue Power Cone. That Power Cone comes up behind the plane and propels it forward, and once the plane breaks that sound barrier it takes literally hundreds of miles to slow it down.
We must remember that just like Yeager’s vehicle was launched like a bomb, so praise is our weapon, and it is explosive! When you stand in the face of the impossible and give God praise, you will experience unprecedented breakthrough in your life, and nothing in hell will be able to slow you down. Come on, Church. It’s time that we take a posture of praise and watch as God brings breakthrough to every area of our lives. Give Him praise for who He is and watch Him do what only He can do.
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When I use my praise to prophesy and declare who God is, I find myself walking in extreme victory!
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Now in the Word of God, Jacob had a son named Judah, and Judah’s name means, “Praise.” I want to remind you that Judah produced a son and gave him the name “Perez,” which means “breakthrough.” Don’t miss this: just as Judah produced Perez, so praise produces breakthrough. Breakthrough is the reward of praise! When I use my praise to prophesy and declare who God is, I find myself walking in extreme victory!
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HOPE TO THE HOPELESS // 10
RAC H E L M O R R I S H O P E O F AL L NAT I O N S D I R ECTO R
11 // HOPE TO THE HOPELESS
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ur recent trip to Honduras is one that will not be easily forgotten. It never ceases to amaze me how you can go to a country where people have so little, yet they are filled with so much love. My mind is left to wonder, have they ever even left their small villages to know how little they have to survive on? Are they aware of how hard life is for them? In the Western World, is it possible that we have filled our lives with so much clutter that we have bought into a culture of selfishness and greed that blinds us from seeing beyond ourselves and noticing the needs of others? I love the wonderful people of Honduras. I have come to treasure the beautiful expressions of their culture that I am becoming more acquainted with. Everywhere you look, there are endless opportunities to do seemingly small things that can make such a significant difference in someone’s life. It was Mother Teresa who stated, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.� I think we sit on the sidelines sometimes because we feel we are unable to do great things, when God is asking us to start somewhere, even with what may seem small to us. He can do so much more than we could imagine. On our last trip, we gave out food bags in an impoverished region of Honduras. Our team went to the grocery store and put together food bags to distribute. While we were at the store, an employee heard what we were doing and purchased bubble necklaces and gave them to us to pass out to the children. When we went to pay, the store manager came and removed items from the ticket
to donate to our project. I realized that day that something which seemed insignificant to me was actually motivating others to show love. People who had little themselves wanted to give to others. It was the day we were to distribute the bags amongst the families living in the slums. We went to a home, and the man there told us that his daughter was graduating school that day. She was not going to attend the graduation because she did not have the proper attire to wear. The man shared that someone purchased a dress for his daughter to wear, and so she was with her mother at the graduation. This man had stayed back, hearing from a local pastor that we would be visiting the village. You see, he chose to stay back to receive a small food bag for his family that we would be delivering. We were able to minister to him.
HOPE TO THE HOPELESS // 12
We visited another home where a mother and her two small children had such limited possessions. As I looked around, I realized the home had no running water, no door, and it had dirt floors. There are no words to express the vulnerability these families face on a daily basis. Imagine the challenges of a mother with small children with no access to running water. This limitation leads to unbathed children and poor nutrition, which directly affects their health and well-being. This is something they have to deal with on a day to day basis.
This bag will help feed a family of four people for up to a month. These bags will be distributed to villages on our upcoming trip this May. We are already preparing to minister to these precious people, and we hope you will consider giving toward this.
I share these stories because I want to show you the power of a small food bag in the hands of a mighty God, full of great love for His people. As we visited homes that day, we witnessed more than half of the people make a personal decision to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We prayed at every single home and left that village knowing that we had imparted the message of hope that only Jesus can bring, both in word and in deed.
Anything you can give will go directly to help with these two upcoming projects.
In addition, we are continuing our Hope Day projects. At our last event in December, we fed and preached to over 2,300 children; our biggest event yet! We will be sponsoring another Hope Day on our upcoming trip.
Thank you for your prayers and continued support!
From each home we visited that day, people joined with our team to go to their neighbor’s house and see them receive food and clothing bags. They had little to nothing, but they wanted to be a part of blessing someone else. We ended up with a group of people following us around the village, eager to share this love with those around them in their own community. It filled them with such joy. What a mighty God we serve! He is so good! I want to extend this invitation for you to be a blessing to a family in need by donating $10 to buy a food bag.
FOLLOW HOPE OF ALL NATIONS ON INSTAGRAM TODAY // @HOPEOFALLNATIONS.
13 // GIVE HOPE AWAY
= $10 or £10
1 BAG
1 HOUSEHOLD
VISIT WWW.HOPEOFALLNATIONS.ORG TO PURCHASE A BAG TODAY!
THE SENDING CHURCH // 14
G R AY S O N J O N E S , PA S T O R
Here are five distinct things that enabled them and will help us to build sending churches rather than stagnant churches.
1. THEY WERE UNRESTRICTED IN THEIR THINKING (V. 20).
“WE NEED MORE ANTIOCH-TYPE, SENDING, CHURCHES.” In the book of Acts, we see two distinctly different models of church. There was the Jerusalem church, which was a large and significant church that focused mainly on one city. And then we see the Antioch church, which was a large and significant church that was focused on sending people out to reach other cities for Jesus. As we look at the birthing of the Antioch church, we can see a church that was planted not by specialist ministers, but by ordinary people who were in love with Jesus. If you read Acts 11:19-26, you will see what took place.
Even though these scattered Jews were from Jerusalem, they began to speak to Gentiles about Jesus. Up until this point, the Gospel had only been preached to Jews. Yet, for some reason, these people just acted from the heart and shared with anyone who would listen. They didn’t try to work out what should or shouldn’t be done, but simply shared their experience. They were free to just go with the flow and do what was natural. It is time that the Church got back to our roots of being unrestricted in our thinking so we can find and embrace new ways of sharing the Gospel, planting churches, and reaching people. Around the world, there are some exciting things taking place. What is God saying to you?
2. GOD WAS WITH THEM (V. 21). It says in verse 21 that God was with them, and the evidence of this was that people were getting saved. When it comes to building a church, our question must not be, “What does a church look like?” or, “What style is it?” We just ask, “Are people experiencing the salvation of God in their lives?” It doesn’t matter how it happens or where it happens as long as God is there and people are getting saved.
15 // THE SENDING CHURCH
We need to make sure that we are keeping the main thing the main thing, because when we do, God will be with us and people will get saved.
get them planted in the church. Barnabas was a great encourager, but Paul brought revelation and biblical teaching also. Our churches need them all.
3. THEY WERE OPEN TO BIBLICAL LEADERSHIP (VS. 22-24).
5. THEY WALKED THE TALK (V. 26).
Due to what God began to do in Antioch, the apostles in Jerusalem sent down Barnabas to help bring some leadership to this new church. It was vital for this fledgling new group to be exposed to the correct leadership who would put the right foundations into the church. It doesn’t matter what tradition or church background we are from; if we are going to create sending churches, being open to the right leadership is crucial. This young church recognized that if it was to grow and become what God wanted it to be, it would need leadership input. Our new churches today will require the same.
4. THEY WERE GROUNDED IN APOSTOLIC TEACHING (V. 26). Due to what God was doing, Barnabas recognized that he needed help. Oh, that we would be like this in the Church today! He went to get Paul to help teach the believers. The church was grounded in apostolic teaching as Paul and Barnabas poured their hearts into them for a whole year. There are plenty of things that can help people feel connected to a church, but only the Word of God will
It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians, a term given to them because they were seen as followers of Jesus Christ. If we are going to build Antiochtype churches, we have to teach our people that what we say must align with what we do. Antioch became a great sending church because its people recognized that serving Jesus was of the utmost importance. How they lived had to align with what they believed. Our world today is in incredible need and we as followers of Jesus have an amazing opportunity to take the hope of the Gospel into hopeless situations. Our communities need vibrant sending churches. These churches cannot just look like they have always looked in the past if they are going to reach people. We have to get creative and expect God to be with us. We need to expose people to apostolic giftings and teaching that will help them live out the truth they receive. We must build Antioch-type churches reaching modern day people with modern day challenges in a modern way, all for the glory of God! The need is great, but with God and a willingness to move into what He is doing, we can see an incredible harvest reaped and sending churches established.
PRAYER THAT BRINGS REVIVAL // 16
17 // PRAYER THAT BRINGS REVIVAL
Everyone knows that we need to pray more, but not many believers are willing to embrace a lifestyle of prayer. Many people approach God with a kind of grocery list mentality, checking off the things they need, but never entering into a place of intimacy with God that brings the kingdom to Earth. We know that the Word of God says, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” We know that Jesus Himself told us to pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” That means that when we turn to God in humility and repentance in prayer, Heaven responds. We see that when God’s people seek Him through prayer, His kingdom and His will begin to manifest on the earth. Charles Spurgeon said, “Prayer itself is an art which only the Holy Ghost can teach us. He is the giver of all prayer. Pray for prayer - pray till you can pray.” We must meet God in the secret place if we expect to build the kind of history with Him that causes great prayers to be birthed. We do not have to be eloquent or wordy, but we do have to show up. Oh, if we would become motivated to pray, both the heavens and the earth would shake! When we call upon the name of the Lord, His reputation is enforced upon our circumstances. Things have to shift when we pray! In 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat found himself involved in a military conflict that he had not asked for. Three different nations were coming against him, and he cried out to God. The Lord told him, “You need not fight in this battle;
station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you.” Jehoshaphat sent out the praise team first. The Word declares that as they praised God for His goodness, God set up ambushes against the armies of the enemy. This means that the angels were commissioned to fight for God’s people as a direct result of their prayer and praise. These are the last days, and spiritual warfare has been on the rise. In this climate, can we afford to not have the angels fighting for us? Pastor Tracy Stewart of South Carolina says this, “The tragedy of a prayerless life is the unemployment of angelic forces.” Could it be that we have fought with much difficulty, when we could have had assistance from Heaven if we had just taken the time to pray? Lila Terhune served the Brownsville Revival as the Director of Intercessory Prayer. Keep in mind, the Brownsville Revival has gone down in history as the longest running move of God to ever hit the USA, lasting from 1995 until 2000. When Lila asked the Lord about what prayer strategy He would like her to set in place, God spoke to her and said, “Get out of the second heaven (where there are principalities and demonic forces) and target My throne room.” Lila understood that God was wanting her and the intercessors to approach Him through worship, and once they had come into His presence, He would specify what was on His heart. Night after night in the revival, they would worship the Lord and pray what He directed them to pray. Lila says, “We learned to make declaration of revelation. We learned to
PRAYER THAT BRINGS REVIVAL // 18
hear His voice and shut out everything except His voice.” The results? As the intercessors prayed those God-inspired prayers, they would go out into the service only to find that what they had prayed was exactly what would be sung or preached that night. The results of the Brownsville Revival and the prayers that sustained it are still being felt all over the world, as God used that outpouring to raise up ministers, missionaries, worship leaders, evangelists, and prophets that went to the nations with the Gospel. Could it be that we need to press in to prayer right now?
of intentional emphasis on prayer, but also is being sustained by the same. Sustainable revival doesn’t just come; it’s cultivated through consistent, intentional prayer.”
Currently, there is a powerful move of God taking place at Fresh Start Church in Peoria, Arizona. This church, led by Pastors Paul and Kim Owens, is a place where hunger for God is considered normal. They have an extraordinary passion for prayer, and they have seen numerous souls coming to salvation. Pastor Kim said, “Building a culture of prayer is the main element to sustained revival. A prayer culture is more than a prayer meeting, prayer team, or prayer ministry; it is the pervading environment of your church. We believe that revival at our church was not only birthed because
John Wesley said, “God does nothing except in response to believing prayer.” We must become people of prayer. We must allow our lives to become His dwelling place. We have to know Him in the Secret Place, and then He will demonstrate His power in the public place.
We believe that God wants to pour out His Spirit in these last days. We cannot even reference the name of this ministry without talking about the fact that God is going to shake the nations of the world! We know that He wants to move in a mighty way, but we also know that He is looking for a people who will lay down their lives in prayer.
There is no other path to the awakening that we so desperately need. There is no short cut available, and there is certainly no time to delay. We pray for you today, that God will make you a man or a woman of prayer. Only then will we see the fulness of what God wants to pour out by His Spirit.
of antidepressants. Robin told her mother, “Mom, you were right. I’m going to be on these pills for the rest of my life.” Robin started attending STN meetings and Gospel Campaigns as a part of the prayer team. She saw God move in great power. As she would lay hands on people, they were being healed. When she came to Malaysia, she had what she described as a “Kairos” moment. She said, “I’m seeing other people get healed. Why can’t I be healed?” The rest of the team prayed for her, and she felt a change. She began to thank God every day for her healing.
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obin never met her biological father, a man who had battled depression for years. When she was growing up, her mother used to tell her, “You’re going to be crazy just like your Daddy was.” She bought into that lie, and she ended up on several different kinds
Now, under the supervision of her doctor, Robin is no longer on antidepressants and she is coming off of her final anxiety medication. She is free and experiencing life in a whole new way. We praise God for Robin! Jesus Christ is the healer, and there is no condition that He cannot heal!
19 // LATEST FROM SHAKE THE NATIONS