IT IS TIME TO HUMBLE OURSELVES AND PRAY…

I have asked for twelve men to stand with me in special prayer for the Fellowship in America.  As of the date of this email, seven men have stepped forward and said, “I will be one of the Twelve…”  I believe, however, that there are members of the Fellowship who have sensed they are to be one of the twelve, but because they are not National Directors or Chapter Presidents, they don’t feel they qualify.  I want you to know that I am asking for men called by God, not men appointed by men.  If God has spoken to you, you are qualified, please email me your answer.

In last month’s newsletter, entitled “The Glory of the Latter House will be Greater Than the Former” I described for you a vision given to one of our prophetic men in September 2001. In that Vision, the Fellowship was portrayed in the form of a temple, the walls of the Fellowship had been torn down so that only the foundation remained.  The foundation that remained was the vision which God had given to Demos Shakarian in December of 1953, the vision of reaching men with the good news of Jesus Christ and releasing them in the power of the Holy Spirit.

In the 2001 vision of the Fellowship in the form of a temple, God made it clear that He would rebuild the walls with men He has prepared out in the marketplace- the men of the Joshua Generation.  Then last year a second prophet spoke the following words, “Strengthen the Foundation, for I have given you the keys of David and the Glory of the latter house shall be greater than the former house, the Best is yet to come.  “God made this same promise to Zerrubabel and the Jewish remnant, who had returned to Jerusalem from captivity in Babylon to rebuild Solomon’s Temple in 536 B.C.  You and I are the remnant of the Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship in America, and so I ask you the same question that the prophet Haggai asked the Jewish remnant… “Who is left among you who saw this Fellowship in its former glory?  And how do you see it now?  In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing?” (Haggai 2:3)

And I would exhort you with the same words that the prophet Haggai exhorted the Jewish remnant… “Yet now be strong, Bob Bignold, President of the Fellowship in America. Be strong, you Officers and Directors of the Fellowship in America; be strong, all you members of the Fellowship in America” says the Lord.  ‘And work; for I am with you’.  says the Lord of hosts,  “According to the Vision that I covenanted with you, when I birthed the Fellowship in 1952.  So My Spirit remains among you; do not fear…”

For thus says the Lord of hosts: “Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and the dry land;… and I will fill this Fellowship with My Glory”.  Says the Lord of hosts.  “The glory of this latter Fellowship shall be greater than the former,”says the Lord of hosts.  “And in this place I will give peace, says the Lord of hosts. (Haggai 3-9).
But like everything birthed in the Spirit, the Word of the Lord will not happen until someone fasts and prays fervently for its fulfillment.  There are many examples of this principle in the Scriptures, but let me cite one such example from the Book of 1 Kings, Chapter 17.

“Ahab, the son of Omri, King of Israel, married Jezebel, a woman who was a zealous participant in the worship of Baal, the god of rain.  And Ahab also built a temple for Baal in Samaria and made a wooden image of Baal, which he placed in the temple.  The Scripture proclaims that Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the Kings who were before him.”  (1 Kings 16:29-34)

One day, Elijah the Tishite, a small bald-headed man, stepped out in front of Ahab’s chariot and proclaimed, “As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before Whom I stand, there shall not be in rain these years, but according to My Word” (1 Kings 17:1).  Then he turned and disappeared into the surrounding trees and bushes.  There is no evidence that Ahab knew who Elijah was, no evidence that Ahab even took the prophet seriously.  But as rainless days turned into weeks and rainless weeks turned into months, they produced a severe famine in the land.

As we read this scripture (Kings 17:1), it would appear that the Word of the Lord spoken by Elijah the prophet came to pass without any prayer on Elijah’s part.  But here is a Bible truth that most of us overlook:  As soon as you and I hear the prophetic Word of the Lord, the devil and his demons also hear that same prophetic Word and they immediately launch a counter-attack to prevent the Word of God from coming to pass on the earth.  That is why it is so important that we fast and pray for the fulfillment of the Vision which God has given our Fellowship.

In 1 Kings 17:1, it would appear that Elijah prophesied, “There shall not be rain these years, but according to my word” and passively waited for the prophetic word he spoke to come to pass.  But in the Book of James, the Scripture reveals an interesting Truth- “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours,

And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.” (James 5:16, 17 and 18)

After Elijah prophesied that it would not rain, he prayed earnestly that it would not rain.  We see the same pattern over and over again in the Scriptures.  Let me give you one other example of this principle.  Daniel was a Jewish man, who had become a highly respected leader in the Babylon Government under Cyrus, the King of Persia.  One day Daniel was reading the Scriptures, when he understood the prophesy of Jeremiah concerning the return of the Jews to Jerusalem.  “After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you… I will cause you to return to this place (Jerusalem) to give you a future and a hope… (Jeremiah 29:10).  The year was 536 B.C., just after Zerrubabel and 50,000 Israelites had returned to Jerusalem by command of Cyrus the King to rebuild the Temple.  Daniel began to fast and pray… He fasted and prayed for twenty-one days and God sent an angel to him.  “From the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, you words were heard, and I have come because of your words.  But the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia withstood me and behold Michael, one of the Chief Princes, came to help me…”

This passage of Scripture in the Book of Daniel reveals one of the clearest examples of demonic forces being arrayed against the prophetic Word and purpose of God.  As soon as Daniel understood God’s plan for Israel and began to pray for its fulfillment, demonic forces were dispatched to prevent it from coming to pass.  As soon as I revealed to you the Vision of the Fellowship in the form of a temple and proclaimed prophetic words concerning the fulfillment of the vision, demonic forces were dispatched to prevent God’s Word from coming to pass.  That is why it is so important that the men of the Fellowship begin to fast and pray for the fulfillment of the Vision, pray that God would once again release the power of the Holy Spirit in our Fellowship. Pray that God would bring in men prepared out in the quarry- the men of the Joshua Generation.
We in the Fellowship have been given dreams, visions and prophetic words to reveal God’s Plan for our future…  But in order for the Word of the Lord to come to pass, you and I must fast and pray- like Elijah, Daniel and a host of other men of God who have preceded us.  That is why I was so excited when I read the following quote from Morris Means book, “The Art of Seeking God”.
 
“Retired people have the opportunity to become the most valuable resource America has.  Other than people in prisons, retired people have more time to seek God and change the destiny of our Nation than any other class of people.

God has tremendous rewards waiting for retired people who will spend the rest of their days seeking Him.  They can do more to shape the future of our Nation than all our armed forces combined and in the process have far more fun and satisfaction than from any hobby or pastime they could pursue.”

I become excited when I read Morris’ exhortation, because our Fellowship has many retired men, men who have time to seek God in prayer. I must admit I had never seen these men as the great asset they are before.  I had always seen them as somewhat of a deficit, which might have prevented younger men from becoming involved.  Now I saw that, if our retired men would humble themselves and pray, that they could release a mighty move of God upon our Fellowship and our Nation.

It is time for the men of FGBMFA to take up the challenge, it is time for us to pray…

Men, this is why I have encouraged you men to order a copy of Morris Mean’s book, “The Art of Seeking God”.  I have never been moved to pray like I have, since I have read this book… in fact, I have read it four times in the last two months and each time the anointing has moved me to increase the time I spend in prayer for our Fellowship, particularly prayer in the Spirit.  And a number of our other men have also been moved to pray by this book.

One last thing… Morris says, “Motivate yourself.  Never depend on someone else to keep you motivated.  We will all stand before God in judgment, and we will stand alone.  God will not accept excuses like, “No one encouraged me to pray or taught me how.”  Jesus tells us the Queen of the South will rise up against such excuses as an example of what we could have been.  (Luke 11:31)

May I, like Morris Means, encourage you to take up the mantle of prayer; don’t be one of the foolish virgins who failed to keep oil in their lamp.

Pray for the following issues…

• Father pour out your Holy Spirit on our Fellowship…
• Father remove the prayless spirit from our men…
• Father, give us the men of the Joshua Generation…
• Father, reestablish your banner of love over our Fellowship
• Father, move us powerfully into the future…

“The Art of Seeking God” - Developing a mighty and effective prayer life- by Morris Means is available at half the published price through Kevin Rush and his wife… who, when the publisher closed his doors, purchased the remaining 1400 copies of the book.

You may obtain a single copy for $11.00, which includes shipping and handling.  Or you may obtain multiple copies of the book by simply emailing Kevin Rush at the following email address: .  Be sure to insert “Prayer Book by Morris Means” in the email subject line.

In your email, identify to Kevin the number of copies you require and your postal mailing address.  Kevin will contact you by email with the cost of the books and postage.

You may also contact Kevin Rush by US Mail at: 1512 Front Street, Lynden, WA 98264- or by telephone at: 360-354-8273.

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