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21-Day Prayer Focus: Praying Like Daniel
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July 20, 2004
I greet you and thank God on a daily basis on your behalf.
Dutch Sheets and I are in Rhode Island finishing our 49th
State Meeting. I fly from here to Washington DC to be with Robert
Stearns at the East Coast Conference.
Prayer is moving across this nation. However,
we must shift into a different way of praying. If you will remember,
when I was in DC in May, the Lord gave a prophetic word and confirmed it with
hail falling from heaven. He said that we would have to pray
for 21 days to see changes in this land, especially in the governmental
arena.
The following prayer focus helps you to understand a new way of praying
and warring like Daniel, which opened the heavens and released future
revelation.
I am also including a pre-order offer for "Prayers
that Outwit the Enemy". This is a key, different book for this
hour. Please preorder. It will be released the 2nd week of August. We will
send it to you for $10, and we will pay the postage for US orders.
Blessings,
Chuck D. Pierce
Praying Like Daniel: A 21-Day Prayer
Focus to Help Overcome Adversaries in Babylon
We are entering into a season of Harvest praying! This is the time that we
are to be watching NEW DOORS FORM. To “form” means
to develop or mold the shape or outline of something, or to give meaning,
character or nature to something.
Another way of thinking about a season of formation
is to see something (including the conditioning of our mind and body in regard
to their mental performance) as it will be in days ahead. A forming season
includes conceiving, training, and disciplining. This phase denotes the arrangement
of the part of a thing that gives its distinctive appearance.
A key scripture reference during this Season of Pentecost, the festival
where a first-fruits offering of the Harvest was made, is 1 Corinthians
16:8. Paul purposed to stay at Ephesus until Pentecost, because an effectual
door was opened to him for his ministry.
This was what the Lord showed me when He visited me in December:
Many enemies are behind this door that is forming, but the Lord says: “Do
not focus on your enemies during this season, but watch the door form and
be ready to enter into this new opportunity. I will give
you grace over your enemies.” This is the time for a major conversion
of souls.
Ephesians 6:12 reminds us, “For we do not
wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of
wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Not only should we be praying for our cities and nations at this time, but
we are at the peak of praying for our mission to the 40/70 Window.
This is the time to pray in a way that the Spirit of God will invade nations. As
we pray, new doors form!
The person in the Bible that has affected my prayer life the most, other
than Jesus, is Daniel. I just love how he operated in victory in Babylon.
He was truly “in the world, but not of it.” He was disciplined, sensitive,
consistent, uncompromising, bold, supernatural, attentive to the past, but
always pressing toward God’s expected end for the people of Israel.
He understood how prophecy was important in
our prayer lives. He knew we had to use the prophecies spoken, to war
for our future! Take, for example, the situation when Jeremiah prophesied
that the people of Israel would go into captivity, but would be released in
70 years. Daniel uncovered the prophetic writings of Jeremiah while Israel
was still held captive in Babylon. He learned that Jerusalem must lie desolate
for 70 years, and that 70-year period had now come to an end.
Because of Jeremiah’s prophetic declaration,
Daniel knew that now was the time to act. Jeremiah’s understanding
of the future had turned into a “now” word for Daniel. So, Daniel did four
specific things to bring an end to Israel’s captivity:
1. He prayed and fasted. Jeremiah was specific in saying
that the Lord would turn a deaf ear to His people for 70 years. Now, however,
Daniel knew that the kairos time had come to beseech the Lord for an
end to captivity.
2. He repented for himself and his people. Daniel confessed
and repented not only for his own sin, but for the sins, iniquities, and failures
of the Israelites that resulted in their captivity in the first place.
3. He received an angelic visitation. God honored Daniel’s
efforts and sent His archangel, Michael. After three weeks of prayer, fasting,
and repentance, an angel appeared to Daniel to tell him what was written in
the “Book of the Future.” In other words, he told Daniel what would happen
to his people.
4. He received revelation of the future. Because of Jeremiah’s
prophecy, Daniel understood the times in which he was living. Because he
understood the times, he saw his window of opportunity and began to seek the
Lord with great fervency. When he did, he gained an understanding of the
future God had for his people, and through obedience to God’s commands, could
move them forward, out of their captivity.
When the word of God is released through prophecy, it is never forgotten.
It is stored in heaven until God is ready to release it back into the earth.
In the Body of Christ, we have received many prophetic words, both through
Scripture and through modern-day prophets, that are about to come to pass
on earth. We need to understand the times, seize our kairos opportunities,
and move into the future with victory!
Even though times ahead will change rapidly
and may be difficult, we have great confidence that God will give us the revelation
we need to move forward. When we are overwhelmed by our present circumstances
and apparent defeats, we must hear the Lord speak to us, just as He did to
Jeremiah, “Is there anything too hard for Me?”
Daniel has also been a model for me in training my children. I know we need
to protect our children from evil. However, I also believe we need to train
our children in the release of the anointing, discerning of evil spirits,
and how to operate in receiving divine revelation from the Throne Room.
I feel this is a time to train our children in a supernatural dimension
that will give them authority in days ahead on this earth.
I do not want my children, of which I have
several, to be afraid of the supernatural. We find in the first two chapters
of Daniel that he was trained to understand the supernatural. When
the magicians and diviners could not interpret the king’s dream, Daniel knew
that he could enter into a higher dimension of divine revelation.
Therefore, instead of Daniel and all the diviners being
killed, he not only saved their lives but his also, by knowing how to receive
divine revelation. He knew how to seek the Lord in almost any situation.
The Lord is going to require us to parent our children like this in
days ahead.
In Daniel 7, we also find revelation of the Ancient of Days. I believe
this is very important and needed revelation for us to be victorious in prayer
in days ahead. In Daniel 7:9-14 we find that Daniel had a revelation
of God’s everlasting reigning power. He states:
“I watched until thrones were put (set) in place, and the Ancient
of Days was seated...One like the Son of Man came to the Ancient of Days…Then
to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations
and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion and
His kingdom shall not be destroyed.”
This name of God, “Ancient of Days,” is a phrase that describes the
Everlasting God, One advanced in days or knowledge, the Father of Years, and
One who forwards time, or rules over it. The name implies dignity, endurance,
judgment, and wisdom. “His number of years is undiscoverable”
(Job 36:26).
The Ancient of Days has a covenant with the earth. In this covenant, the
earth will be full of His purposes and He will be long-suffering until all
have heard. The heart of God is to form covenant with all peoples on the face
of earth and establish a house of prayer for each one (Is. 56:5-8)
including those in your city. That is why we must learn how to prophecy
to that which has been scattered through these thrones of iniquity.
Just as Ezekiel did in Ezekiel 37, we must
speak to the dry bones and command them to be brought back to life. This
kind of prophetic declaration not only reestablishes God’s covenant purpose
for a territory, but also brings those within the territory out of their hope
deferred, causing them to rebuild that which the enemy has destroyed.
The Ancient of Days releases ancient wisdom for present day victory.
A Scripture that has revolutionized my prayer life has been 1 Corinthians
2:6-10:
“We speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of
the age, nor the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before
the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew, for had
they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. Eye has not
seen or ear heard…the things prepared for those who love Him. But God has
revealed them to us through the Spirit.”
God gives us several keys as we pray:
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God has wisdom greater than any worldly wisdom we see.
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Powers and principalities do not have access to this wisdom.
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The authority of demonic forces is limited.
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There is wisdom that has been hidden since the beginning of time, for
His glory.
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Through the redemptive cross of Jesus Christ, you have access to this
wisdom.
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God is prepared to release this wisdom to us as we get to know Him intimately,
through prayer.
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This wisdom will overthrow high places and release captives.
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Wisdom dismantles demonic structures and dethrones thrones of iniquity.
When the Lord showed this to me, I knew any demonic force holding a territory
captive could not withstand the wisdom that God will release to His people. I
knew if the Spirit of the Lord burdened me to pray for a city, I had authority
to gain the keys for the release of its inhabitants.
This is a day when the Lord is extending a
fresh call of prayer to His people. He is going to show us our city as it
really is and say to us:
“Overcome every obstacle that is keeping these people from coming
to know Me. Open the door for My House to be built within them so they may
experience My Love throughout eternity. Through prayer, gain wisdom that will
dethrone the thrones of iniquity wherever they have been established. Then
establish My Throne that many may worship Me and gain life everlasting!”
This is how entire cities will experience conversion. This is how we will
overthrow thrones of iniquity and see God’s covenant plan for whole territories
flourish in days ahead. In Daniel 10, we find Daniel seeking God with intensity
for 21 days. At that point, the Ancient of Days sent the aid of Michael,
the Archangel. Revelation was then released into the earth realm -
revelation that we are walking in today.
To understand lawlessness and how it works in the antichrist system, we can
look at the book of Daniel. This was a man who had a revelation of the Ancient
of Days. Daniel’s vision is recorded in Daniel 7:21-22:
“I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints,
and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment
was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the
saints to possess the kingdom.”
In this passage we see that the Ancient of Days is going to favor us (the
saints) in days ahead and the time will come for the saints to possess
the Kingdom. That means we will take dominion, govern, prevail, and
dominate the world powers around us.
However, in verses 24 and 25 we find this:
“The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom.
And another shall rise after them, He shall be different from the first ones,
and shall subdue three kings. He shall speak pompous words against the Most
High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change
times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and
times and half a time.”
Notice what scripture says the enemy does. It says here that he will attempt
to change both times and law. He will attempt to redefine law and pull
us out of God’s timing. We must understand timing and God’s spiritual boundaries
He has given us through law. If not, deception will easily enter into our
lives.
There is then that famous story about Daniel and his lion’s den experience.
The thing I like about Daniel most is his consistency in praying and
seeking the Lord in the midst of adversity.
What got him in that hard and trying place
was his consistent prayer life. He prayed three times a day. When decrees
and governmental shifts occurred that forbade seeking a Higher Source, he
did not change his communion with his God, but kept his consistency in
seeking revelation.
When jealousy and devised evil came against
him, he consistently prayed. When he got in the lions’ den, I do not think
he changed his consistent praying. Therefore, God sustained him in the face
of what could have been catastrophe. Consistent praying overcomes our
adversary!
The following prayer focus has SEVEN purposes:
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First, may you understand covenant in a way you have never understood
before.
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Second, may your faith be built and connected to your experiences
from the past.
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Third, may your prayer life become more consistent.
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Fourth, may you press through in that hard situation that seems
overwhelming.
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Fifth, may you break through for revelation in the future.
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Sixth, may you gain peace in the midst of the “lions” around you.
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Seventh, may our Lord reveal to you that open door for your future!
How to Pray!
I want to suggest during these
21 Days that you
allow the Lord
to choose a fast for you and that you
pray three times a day. (We
have not assigned dates to each day. Please feel free to begin at
Day 1
whenever you receive the prayer focus.)
Day 1:
Read Jeremiah 25. Define types of captivity that seem
to burden you (individuals, ministries, cites, and nations).
Day 2: Read Jeremiah 29. Praise God for His plan for the future.
Let HOPE spring forth. Thank Him that He has an expected end.
Day 3:
Read Jeremiah 32. Notice that Jeremiah had to buy a
field as an act of faith. Ask the Lord to reveal any act of faith that He
would have you do at this time in your life. Answer the question in your life:
“Is there anything too hard for God?”
Day 4:
Read Jeremiah 33,
Romans 8. Know that God has
a plan to surprise you. Call unto Him and watch Him do things you would not
expect. Know that His covenant will stand. He can pray through you when you
do not know what to pray.
Day 5:
Read Jeremiah 31. He has many blessings for us in the
new covenant.
Day 6: Read Hebrews 8. Let Him define your priestly service
for the future.
Day 7:
Read Genesis 12. Understand the power of covenant.
As born again Believers, we are grafted into the covenant that God made with
Abraham. The war in the earth realm is over God’s covenant blessings. Covenant
involves promise, commitment, faithfulness, and loyalty, even unto death.
God is a covenant keeping God. He will war through His people to maintain
His covenant in the earth. The blood of Jesus says to the enemy,
“Hands
off! This is not your territory!” Declare the same.
Day 8:
Read Genesis 15 and Romans 9. Let faith arise and feel
God’s agreement over your life.
Understand how you are grafted into
God’s covenant purposes.
Day 9:
Read Genesis 17 and Romans 11. See how the Lord can
surprise you even when you think things seem dead. Also, know that covenant
connects you to the blessings of the generations.
Day 10:
Read Daniel 1. Daniel obeyed God and separated himself.
Ask the Lord how to separate yourself from anything that is making you common
in the world.
Day 11:
Read Daniel 2. Let the Holy Spirit train you to assist
in revealing supernatural wisdom to others.
Day 12:
Read Daniel 3. Ask the Lord about compromise in your
life. Ask for help to stand firm
.
Day 13:
Read Daniel 4. Let the Lord remind you of the power
of dreams; may He activate the gift of interpretation in you.
Day 14:
Read Daniel 5 and Psalm 37:1-5. Do not fret over evil
doers around you. God has a plan.
Day 15:
Read Daniel 6. Ask the Lord to reveal any plot
of evil devised against you. Be at peace with your lions.
Day 16:
Read Daniel 7. Bless the Ancient of Days. Let
your enemies see the court that the Lord is preparing on your behalf.
Day 17:
Read Daniel 8. Let angelic forces aid you in bringing
Divine understanding into your situations
.
Day 18:
Read Daniel 9. Understand the power of identificational
repentance and prayer. This is important for your bloodline, your city, our
nation, etc.
Day 19:
Read Daniel 10. Withstand, and embrace breakthrough.
Day 20:
Read Daniel 11. Do not be afraid to see the future
that the Lord has for you.
Day 21:
Read Daniel 12 and Revelation 4. See your future door.
Special Pre-Release Offer
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