Encounter: The Journey to Pentecost

We share a prophetic invitation to live the 50 days between Resurrection and Pentecost with intentional hunger, daily encounter, and fresh consecration. Jesus did not rise and immediately depart. For forty days, He revealed Himself to His followers, restored the broken, strengthened the fearful, and prepared His people for the promise of the Holy Spirit.

This is not a season to drift back into routine.

This is a season to burn!

To join in the journey visit Hopefires.com/Encounter

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

We are now just a couple of days post Easter weekend, resurrection weekend, you know, what seems to be like a marathon moment for most churches. And we know we used to be on staff at a pretty, pretty big church. And, you know, it's a time of year where there's all of this momentum building, right? With this year, with the overlap of Passover and Easter week, we had Passover Satyrs, right? Then there's the good, you know, the Good Friday gatherings, there's Saturday family fun activities, and there's Sunday services, you know, that from the parking lot to the platform include much more elaborate presentation than usual. A whole lot more preparation, a whole lot of planning, a lot more involvement from church staff, from church members. Sometimes they add additional services. I mean, we know it well, okay, because we've been on staff with a couple of churches. And um, and my dad was a pastor as well, and you know, we helped to co-lead that church back in New York City. And so we know it well, right? It's like Easter becomes like this marathon moment for most churches, and the excitement builds, and everyone's all in, and you know, the weekend experience is wonderful with this whole like crescendo. And then people pull back, yeah. Some exhausted, right, from all of the activity, and the momentum wanes. Only to, you know, and things kind of calm down and people kind of settle back into regular routines, like, you know, we can even call them religious routines, right? Only to then pick up again, you know, momentum for passionate gatherings around Pentecost Sunday, you know, about seven weeks later, you know, or 50 days later. And um, so this is something that the Lord has really had us reflecting us on as we've just been in a season of really seeking the Lord and almost like a renewed hunger for the Lord, and like that first love fire for God, and just um reflecting on this pattern that we see within the body of Christ, and actually like almost like grieving along with the heart of God over what we have observed.

SPEAKER_05 2:36

Yeah, you know, so as I was sitting with the Lord on Easter Monday, it actually says that on the calendar. It does. Easter Monday. You know, I was just I was just sitting meditating on on what Jesus did. I I kind of make it a practice every every Easter Monday to relive kind of the the passion of the Christ, if you will, um what he did, not just leave it on Easter Sunday and then kind of go about my day. But as I was sitting with him on that Easter Monday, just um reflecting on his journey from betrayal to resurrection, you know, I was deeply struck by what happened after his time at the tomb. And it's actually something that we don't talk often about, often enough anyway. Jesus didn't simply rise and depart the earth, he initiated a season of encounters. So, you know, for 40 days, the risen Christ, he met with people in their weakness, he met with people in their confusion and in their need. Yeah, he encountered the runaway, Peter. Yeah, he met the doubter, Thomas, he came to the fearful disciples that were hiding behind closed doors, afraid of who was gonna knock on them, if they were going to be taken as well. He walked with the disoriented and skeptical on the road to Emmaus. He did it. You know, again and again, Jesus revealed himself, he spoke peace to the hearts, he restored those same hearts, and he strengthened people's faith.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Yeah. And that post-resurrection season that wasn't something random. It was very, very intentional. That's right. It was preparation. Yeah. And because Jesus was going about preparing a people for the promise that was coming at Pentecost. And they did not arrive in the upper room unaware or untouched by God. Like they were pursued by the risen Christ. They were encouraged by Jesus, they were comforted by Jesus, they were corrected by Jesus and anchored by his presence. Like he met them wherever they were and anchored them in his presence so that they would be ready to receive the helper that he had promised the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_05 5:01

That's right. Um, I just want to make this connection that Pentecost was not a separate event from the resurrection, it was not disconnected. Yeah, it was actually the continuation of Christ's victory.

SPEAKER_03 5:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 5:16

The reason Jesus, you know, he first revealed himself to his followers and then he readied them for the gift of the Holy Spirit. He prepared them. Not only did he prepare a place for them to go to the upper room, he prepared them to enter that upper room to be able to receive.

SPEAKER_04 5:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 5:32

You know, what came in Acts 2 was preceded by personal encounter, it was preceded by patient instruction and the steady ministry of the resurrected Christ. You know, Acts 1, 3 says he presented himself alive after his suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40 days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Yeah, that's in Acts chapter 1, yeah, verse 3. Yeah. And so it's, oh my goodness, it's so beautiful to reflect on how Jesus engaged with people after his resurrection. He like you said, he just did, he didn't just take off, like he took time. He invested in the lives of his beloved followers, like his disciples. Like I love that. Like Jesus, he took care of the grieving and the mourning hearts of those that were confused and conflicted. Like he took care of them. And it's he's the same as in Christ today that is walking the earth, that is, that is looking, you know, for hearts to comfort and and and and and minds to bring clarity to and and just to reveal himself to. And this is a beautiful, beautiful thing. And this is still, this is still the way of Jesus. Like before great outpouring, there's often deep encounter. Yeah. Before fresh empowerment, there is personal restoring that he does within our lives. Like he meets people in their failure, yeah, in their in their fear, in their confusion, in their disappointment. And but but not to leave them there to prepare them for what's next, right? And so Jesus, the the risen Christ, our savior, our deliverer, our healer, he is calling us today, right now, into a season of preparation through daily encounters with him. Even as he encountered all of these different individuals during that time after the resurrection, he is inviting us, calling us, wooing us, drawing us into a season of preparation through daily encounters with him, unto a great outpouring of his spirit.

SPEAKER_05 8:05

Yeah, I just want to say for those for those listening right now, um, God is such an amazing gentleman. He's so kind and he's so gracious with us. Everything that he does is by way of invitation. Yes, it's not forced, and he doesn't coerce us and he doesn't manipulate us into his will and into what he wants for us to do or what he wants to give us. Yeah, everything comes by invitation, and it's always a beautiful invitation. And he he desires for us to accept that invitation, the same way he's making an invitation to us right now, you know, that he that you would receive that so that he would be able to open that door to divine encounter on a daily basis for us.

SPEAKER_00 8:47

It's like, you know, in scripture we're told that because of Jesus' death and resurrection, we now have been given every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. It's it's available to us. It's a matter of will we access it, will we lay hold of it, right? The kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Will we lay hold of it? Will we take it in our hands? And there is an opportunity for us in this season, in this Pentecost season, these 50 days between the resurrection Sunday and Pentecost Sunday, there is opportunity for us to lay hold of the blessings that the Lord has for us, for us to encounter Jesus in profound ways, for us to receive a greater revelation of Jesus than we have up until today. For us to, if we've fallen away, if we've, if our our light has gone dim, if we've gotten, you know, a little dry, it's like this is the time, this is the time and opportunity now for encounters with Jesus, for us to meet with the resurrected Christ and receive a new or a renewed or a fresh revelation of who he is, even as all those who encountered him during that 40-day period that he was on the earth before his final ascension, the way that they encountered him. And it prepared them, it strengthened them, it filled them with hope. It gave them like with like as as you know, even as he told them to wait in the upper room, right? For the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the promised helper. It gave them hope, it gave them expectancy. They were filled with a joyful expectation for what was to come. And some of you have lost your joy in the waiting, some of you have lost that sense of expectancy, the expectation of God's goodness awaiting you. Well, the Lord is inviting you into this season of encounter leading up to Pentecost Sunday, not to wait until Pentecost for fresh encounters with the Lord, with the Spirit of God, with the person of Jesus, but He's inviting you as of now that when we get to Pentecost, we would be so filled with hope. We would have cultivated so much expectancy, we would have such a great revelation of Jesus, the risen Christ, the one who said that we will do the same works he did and even greater words. Come on, the one that says we are co-heirs with him. I think our Pentecost Sunday will be so different. So different. If instead of drifting back into lifeless religious routine after Easter weekend, right, we respond to this invitation of the Lord. Instead of just waiting for the next spiritual surge on Pentecost Sunday, it's like we begin to wait on the Lord now, every single day, in his presence, waiting on him, looking to Jesus because he promises to meet you there. Like Pentecost Sunday, that's that's not something we have to wait for. Like we can wait on the Lord now, every single day, and encounter him every day. Experience a measure of Pentecost every day.

SPEAKER_05 12:13

Yeah, I don't think it was ever God's design for us to have this high on Easter and then wait 50 days for another high on Pentecost Sunday. You know, it was it was beautiful that he mapped it out for us that he met and he encountered them for 40 days. And then after after encountering them, he told them to go and wait for 10 days in the upper room. They waited for 10, but it was it was a waiting in faith, in expectation. It wasn't waiting in unbelief or a blind faith. Right. You know, I have a few questions for you. What if this seasons what if the season was never meant to be a spiritual peak, but a divine gateway into the new thing? Wow. What if we dared to walk differently this year than we did last year? What if instead of coming down from Resurrection Sunday, we ascended? We went from, as scripture says, we went from glory to glory.

SPEAKER_03 13:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 13:12

Not going up and down the mountain at will. What if we ascended, carrying the weight of his glory, the power of the cross, and the reality of the empty tomb into every single day of the cross? Wow.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

Come on.

SPEAKER_05 13:24

What would we look like if we actually did these things, right?

SPEAKER_00 13:26

Oh, right. If we just keep proclaiming, proclaiming the power of the cross, right? The reality of the empty tomb and what that makes available to us, all the authority of Christ, his victory. My goodness, if we were to walk in that reality and have it present before us every single day, rehearsing it every single day, reminding ourselves and reminding the powers of darkness, right? Of the victory of Jesus, his conquest. He made a spectacle of them. I mean, all of it, right? And the weight of glory, right, with which Jesus ascended into heaven and which he causes to rest upon us by his Holy Spirit, that, I mean, we wouldn't have a lull. We wouldn't have, you know, momentum waning. We wouldn't have going back into religious routine. We would have a church fully on fire. If the power of the cross and the resurrection were fully before us every single day, right? Scripture declares if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. Romans 8:11. So this is what we're speaking about life to your mortal bodies, coming by the revelation day after day of the risen Christ who dwells in us. This is not a distant promise for Pentecost Sunday or the second coming of Jesus or whatever it is that maybe we've we've um we ourselves have assigned delay to. This is a present and burning reality. This is for our every single day. The risen Christ, the Spirit of the Lord dwelling in us, his resurrection power, giving life to our mortal bodies, right? Giving authority to our voices, giving clarity of thought and creative ideas to our minds, right? Him quickening us and making us fully alive with him, seated with him in heavenly places, high above, far above all other things, right? Where the enemy, as he's under Jesus' feet, as he's sitting seated on the throne, the enemy is also under our feet. Luke 24, 32 says, Do not did not our hearts burn within us while we talk while he talked with us on the road. This is speaking of the road to Emmaus, where there were followers of Jesus that were on the road, and this was after Jesus' resurrection, and he came and encountered them and started walking with them on the road. They didn't realize it was Jesus at first, right? And they're just, you know, asking, you know, he's asking them, oh, what are you so distraught about? Because they were visibly distraught, right? And and and they're like, Oh, don't you know? Like, are you not in the know on what has happened here with Jesus and the crucifixion and you know, all of these things, his missing body, like all of these things. And he just starts to preach to them the gospel, the good news. He starts to speak a life into them and encouragement and bring revelation, right? And then he has he he pretty much has um communion with them. Yeah, sits at the table, has communion when he broke the bread and gave thanks for it and all that. That's when they realize this was Jesus the risen Christ who was before them. And they're like, How could we not have known, how could we not have realized it was him? Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us on the road, and you know that our hearts burn when we hear the voice of the Lord, when we hear the words of Jesus, because his heart burns for us first. He burns for you with a relentless and passionate love. He is burning for you, for your presence, for you, for the pleasure of your company, for you to be with him day in and day out. So this is the invitation to live with a heart that burns for encounters with Jesus, a heart that burns for his words, not a heart that's going to put off burning for him until Pentecost Sunday, but a heart that every day from the realization or the revelation of his resurrection is going to burn for his presence, burn for encounter with him, burn for his life-giving words.

SPEAKER_05 18:06

Yeah, I just want to I want to give a little bit of a picture here, right? Because we we sometimes we we make we're really good at making excuses for ourselves as to why we don't live burning, right?

SPEAKER_01 18:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 18:19

And we we look at you know, a biblical imagery of peaks and valleys. I'm just in a valley, brother, in the cold season, and not just, you know, I'm just trying to, I'm just trying to walk by faith when that is not, yeah, that has never been his intention for us to live cold. Right. He'd rather he'd rather have us cold and lukewarm, but he really wants us burning all the time. That's right, right? Um he intends for us to go from glory to glory, but I I want you to get the picture here. Before Jesus went through what he went through and died and resurrected, he taught us about communion. He did, he invited us into communion. After he rose, the first thing scripture recounts on the road to Emmaus, and where those gent where those two gentlemen's eyes were opened to who he really was was in the place of communion. Yes, and then after, where does he send the disciples to go wait in the upper room? That was the original landing spot of communion before he died. He sends them back to the place of communion to receive the promise.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

The last supper.

SPEAKER_05 19:31

You know, what is what is he telling us? He's telling us he wants us to live in that place of communion. Yes, that ultimately is the invitation right now that we're doing, that he's inviting us into, is back into the place of communion, right? That we would never leave. Yeah, the disciples left that upper room, they left the physical place of the Last Supper, but their hearts never did.

SPEAKER_03 19:53

Right.

SPEAKER_05 19:54

Their hearts, their motive, their soul lived in the place of communion with the Father. Yeah, and that's why they were able to do what they did. They were able to go through and endure what they went through and endured, and they were able to run their race to the fullest till the end.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

Yeah, and I love when you were speaking about, you know, tending to the fire, tending to the flame, because it reminds me of um the ordinances that were given to the Levitical priests, right, within the temple, within the tabernacle, where they were to keep the fire on the altar burning at all times. They were never to let the fire go out. And that's the fire of the Holy Spirit, right? Burning within our hearts, that fire where we're always supposed to burn with passion for Jesus, where we're supposed to burn in a life of intimacy and continual prayer for Him. So the same applies today, where we are supposed to be able to look into one another's eyes, right? As brothers and sisters in Christ, as iron-sharpening iron, and say to your sister, say to your brother, ask them, Are you burning? Are you burning with the fire of God? And if we can't answer affirmatively and say, Yes, I am burning, I am burning with first love fire, I am burning with a vibrant life of prayer, I am burning with hearing his voice, I am burning in encounters with him, I am burning with revelation. Oh, then as brothers and sisters in Christ, in communion, right? Then we are to come together in that place of seeking the Lord and fan that fire into flame in one another's life so that we can be a community of burning ones. We can be, you know, like a society of burning hearts that we've talked about so many times. And, you know, for weeks, I have had a phrase echoing in my spirit. And it was this phrase 50 days of fire. And as I sat with the Lord about this and asked him questions, you know, I realized these it this was referring to. The 50 days between resurrection and Pentecost. Yeah. Right. And those 50 days are not meant to be passive. That's right. They are a prophetic doorway, gateway of great opportunity for encounter, as we just shared. And in the Acts of the Apostles, right? The book of Acts, Jesus didn't tell his disciples to scatter after the resurrection, as Anthony was emphasizing. He commanded them to wait, to tarry, to prepare until they were clothed with power from on high. And when the day of Pentecost fully came, in Acts 2, 3, it says, there appeared to them divided tongues as a fire, right? Over each of their heads. But Pentecost fire is not an event. It's not an event. Oh, we read about it in the book of Acts, chapter 2, we read about it there. It's an event. So now we come together, Pentecost Sunday, to celebrate it, to commemorate this event, right? It's not an event. It wasn't just an event back then. It wasn't just an event in our lives when we first received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and tongues of fire came upon us. Pentecost fire is a lifestyle. Pentecost fire is supposed to be burning on the altar of our hearts every single day. It's the way that we should long to live. And the good thing is that Jesus says that a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. Meaning, if the fire within your life is going dim, the Lord is not turning his back on you. He's not looking to the side. If anything, he draws near and he's whispering this invitation and he's wooing and drawing you, waiting for you to turn to him. And oh, he is as close to us as our turned attention. Like Moses, when there was the burning bush and it wasn't being consumed. And rather than Moses glance and keep walking by, what did Moses do? He paused, he turned, he gave it its full attention. And there is a burning bush in Jesus. Come on, Jesus, the fiery one, the one whose eyes are like fire, the one who he himself is a consuming fire, and he is waiting for your turned attention so that he can speak words of life to you, so that he can speak encouragement. He can bring clarity and direction, he can bring the comfort and the healing and the wholeness that you need. He can break off the slumbering spirit and cause you to be awakened with revival fire within you. Come on, we don't have to wait till Pentecost Sunday. It's a lifestyle that he's inviting us into from today as of now.

SPEAKER_05 25:02

I have another question. What if the fire of Pentecost wasn't something we waited for? What if it was something that we needed to actually steward daily?

SPEAKER_00 25:13

Right. Yes. Daily stewardship.

SPEAKER_05 25:17

What if instead of growing passive, we pressed in with intentionality? And I want to preface that by saying we all have these moments where it's very easy to grow passive. It happens to all of us, us included, us two included, where we find ourselves, if we're not careful, scrolling too much, uh paying less attention to the word, paying less attention to prayer, to listening, to meditation.

SPEAKER_00 25:44

In so many social interactions, right? That they're fulfilling. They bring joy and all of that, but then neglecting our social life with the Lord, right?

SPEAKER_05 25:54

Yeah, but what if we pressed in with great intentionality, right? Through prayer, through fasting, through worship, and through the word, what would our lives look like?

SPEAKER_03 26:03

Wow.

SPEAKER_05 26:03

You know, I just want to I just want to declare there's a fresh call to consecration being released right now.

SPEAKER_03 26:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 26:09

And it's to draw near to God and to draw away from other things, right? Um, there is that old song by Misty Misty Edwards that every other lover is an idol. Come on, cannot see and cannot hear. We have to have that one true living God.

SPEAKER_03 26:24

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 26:25

Everything. You know, I was as as you were speaking, I was thinking about fire. And we, you know, culturally, everyone wants fire, but they want it with ease. They don't want it with work. And when we look at when we look at fire, if someone were to make a fire back in the day, it took work. Yeah. They had to gather, they had to gather the wood, they had to look for a way to light, light the wick or to light the the timber.

SPEAKER_00 26:52

Yeah, and the timber couldn't be wet.

SPEAKER_05 26:54

The timber couldn't be wet.

SPEAKER_00 26:55

It had to be dry, it had to be the right condition.

SPEAKER_05 26:57

It had to fan the flame until it cultivated an actual fire. And then they had to tend to it to make sure it didn't go out. These days we buy we buy a starter log and we get an instant lighter and we light a fire. And but that may be good for my fireplace, but that's not good for my spiritual walk with the Lord. Yeah, it's to be tended every day, the old way, right? Scripture says to follow the ancient path, yeah, where the good way is. And this is an invitation back to the ancient path of cultivating fire and tending to it daily until our last breath.

SPEAKER_00 27:37

Yeah. And this invitation, this call from the heart of God, this is not something like out of obligation. Like it even comes with divine urgency because while heaven is inviting us up higher, the earth is shaking. And so many things are taking a downturn, right? Like our children are being discipled by distortion and confusion and fear. Our communities are fracturing under the weight, the pressure of so much toxic division, you know, and and and you know, all of these, um, all of this rhetoric that is causing division, our culture, while it's growing louder and seems so much more bold, but it definitely is not growing wiser and definitely not in the fear of the Lord. Like the reality is where we are now, right? Our nation at war, nations at war, and and potentially affecting our food, our fuel, our finances, our stability. And yet, in the middle of all this, in the midst of all this, God has not left us without a strategy for the victorious revealing of the sons and the daughters of God. The earth is groaning, but his sons and daughters have the potential for exponential growth in this prophetic window of time, our 50 days of Pentecost to prepare for a greater outpouring of the spirit that is needed in order for us to come against the spirit of this age, in order for us to rise above all of the things that are pulling at our attention and that are trying to bring in a fear and a separation from our place of intimacy with the Lord. The Lord has a strategy for the victorious revealing of his daughters and of his sons.

SPEAKER_05 29:23

That's right. So here's the invitation that we want to make to you. It's a very simple but powerful pathway to breakthrough that we want to invite you into today. So, number one, give God your first hour of the day.

SPEAKER_03 29:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:37

So before the noise of the day begins, step into the secret place.

SPEAKER_03 29:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:44

Pray in the spirit, build yourself up in your most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit by as Jude 120 says, let your spirit burn before anything else tries to consume your attention.

SPEAKER_03 29:57

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:58

You know, if an hour feels like a stretch, start with 15 minutes or 30 minutes and then build upon that, going from grace to grace, as scripture says. The key is consistency, it's not perfection. So if you can be consistent with 10 minutes a day, do that until you can build up and grow your spiritual muscles and your spiritual strength. It's about building ourselves in our inner man until we can walk with God, as scripture says, He his invitation to us in scripture is to pray without ceasing.

SPEAKER_03 30:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:32

And if it's an invitation from him, that means it's possible.

SPEAKER_00 30:36

Yeah. So what we're starting to present to you now is like kind of a five-part strategy for how to engage in encounters with the Lord during these 50 days. And it a strategy that really is just so simple, but it's important. It it's um five really important reminders or really powerful keys for encountering the Lord on a day-to-day basis for this season of consecration, for this time of preparation, for cultivating the fire of the Holy Spirit within our lives day after day. And I love what you recommended about giving the first hour of our day to the Lord. Um, there's this scripture that I want to read to add to that. It's out of the Passion Translation. Um, in Psalm 5, verse 3, it says, At each and every sunrise, you will hear my voice as I prepare my sacrifice of prayer to you. Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on the altar and wait for your fire to fall upon my heart. Every morning there is opportunity for fresh fire. At every sunrise, God is attentively waiting to hear your voice and to receive your sacrifice in prayer. And your sacrifice in prayer can look as simple and is as acceptable as you just sitting before the Lord in silence for 30 minutes to an hour and just listening, quieting your spirit, listening, being attentive for his voice, but then also praying in the Holy Spirit, which I'll talk about more in a moment.

SPEAKER_05 32:28

Yeah, so number two.

SPEAKER_00 32:30

Um, before we move into number two, did you have anything to add on that?

SPEAKER_05 32:34

No.

SPEAKER_00 32:34

Okay. So number two is yeah, praying, praying in the Holy Spirit daily, praying in tongues. And there's there's like uh, and Anthony mentioned it already, right? When we pray in the Holy Spirit, we are building ourselves up in our most holy faith because sometimes when we are praying in with our understanding, we actually start putting our faith in other things. We start putting our faith in people, we start putting our faith in situations, we start putting our faith in timelines, we start putting our faith in paychecks in a certain provision, in whatever plan it is that we've come up for ourselves. When we pray in the Holy Spirit, we're building ourselves up in our most holy faith because we're putting our full faith in God for whatever it is that we are laying out on the altar, right? On the altar, and we're inviting him to send his fire, his purifying fire that burns away all the draws of our good intentions, you know, that maybe don't align with his will, that burns away, you know, all of the deception of, oh, what should happen, or our expectations of timelines that don't align with God's timing. When we pray in the spirit, we're building ourselves up in our most holy faith because we're putting all of our faith, it's like putting all of our eggs in the basket of the goodness of God, the faithfulness of God, the power of God, which all are limitless. So that's a really good place to put all of our faith. And when we pray in tongues, when we pray in the Holy Spirit daily, there is a mystery and a power in praying in tongues that bypasses our limitations and it aligns us with the perfect will of God. In Romans 8, verses um 25 to 27, that's where it speaks of all of us, every single one of us sharing the same weakness, which is that we don't know how to pray as we should. But the Holy Spirit helps us in that weakness by praying through us words, uh um uh unspeakable words. Come on, even uh words that are like groans, the groan of the spirit to express the heart of God, the perfect will of God through us in prayer. Occasionally we might get an understanding by revelation of the Holy Spirit of what we're praying. Most times we don't. And I love, I've loved hearing, you know, and and this is how our flame stays lit. Yeah, we're praying in the Holy Spirit, we're we're allowing the Spirit of God, that flame of God, to be cultivated within us as we pray in the Spirit, as we pray in tongues. And I have loved hearing testimonies of so many friends, and you know, in in the with in the church, um, you know, in the the body of Christ in general, I've loved hearing so many testimonies of friends, and this has been our testimony as well, in in many different scenarios, where we end up in a situation, in a scenario, you know, in a place of open doors, with favor, with provision, whatever it is. And we're like, we never asked you for this, God. We never, we never made this petition before you. We this was not even on our minds. And it's like, where did this come from? Because we didn't ask for this, and the Lord will respond, Yes, you did. You prayed this very thing when you were praying in tongues, when you allowed my spirit, the spirit of the Lord, to pray through you, my perfect will, what was on my heart, what was on my mind, my perfect plans for you. So praying in the spirit, not just during that first hour of the day, which we highly recommend, but praying all throughout the day, you know, praying in the spirit, praying as you're driving, praying as you're taking your shower, praying as you're changing your baby's diaper or folding the laundry, praying as you know you're going about in your job, and just allow the spirit of the Lord as that fire of God to keep being cultivated within you as you pray.

SPEAKER_05 36:49

Yeah, I just want to add something else there. As a practical, I highly recommend praying in the spirit that first hour of the day. Um, because you know, maybe we don't have the best rhythms in life. And so we wake up groggy, we wake up maybe not feeling the best, we wake up foggy brained. Yeah, you know, we we wake up with with worry and doubt and fears. And and by praying in the spirit, we're bypassing all that. If we're trying to figure out what to pray in English, then or whatever your language is, um, we may feel defeated before we even begin and won't even bother trying. But if we just begin to pray in the Holy Spirit, whether we feel it or not, and many times you're not gonna feel a thing. You're still gonna feel the same way externally, but internally, yeah, you're building yourself up. So I highly recommend doing that first thing in the day.

SPEAKER_00 37:42

And it takes so much of the pressure off in your prayer life because you don't have to pull up all the scriptures, you don't have to, you know, search your mind when you're so tired and so groggy, right? For the right phrases. You don't have to like you, you just yield to the spirit of the Lord and let him have full control and pray through you in tongues in that heavenly language where you're praying the perfect will of God, the perfect will of the Father. And so it is the most effective way for us to pray. We can't go wrong as we're praying in the spirit. So we encourage you, make that the main focus of your main hour, but then also pray in the spirit all throughout the day.

SPEAKER_05 38:25

So, number three is fasting with purpose.

SPEAKER_00 38:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 38:27

You know, fasting is not just abstaining from food, and it's food is fasting.

SPEAKER_00 38:33

Yes, all biblical fasts include abstaining from food. We can include media fast or habit fast or negativity fast, like in our speech, but those should be supplements, add-ons to fasting, abstaining from food. That's right.

SPEAKER_05 38:49

So it's not just abstaining from food, it is awakening.

SPEAKER_00 38:53

Yes, awakening, and I'd say also advancing in the things of God.

SPEAKER_05 38:57

That's right. It sharpens our discernment, it humbles our soul, it breaks spiritual resistance. You know, Jesus said, when you fast, he didn't make it optional. You know, there's a story, and I don't remember where it is in scripture, but the um the Pharisees came to Jesus and they were like, We're fasting, you know, because they were so they were so pious and prideful. Um, they came to Jesus and they're like, We're fasting, but your disciples aren't fasting, they're feasting. And he said, I'm not, I'm still with them, so they don't need to fast.

SPEAKER_00 39:27

Bridegroom still with them, but when he leave, they must fast.

SPEAKER_05 39:32

Why? Because fasting is a connection point between us and the Son of God.

SPEAKER_00 39:39

Yeah, yeah, and fasting that also weakens our flesh. That's right, and strengthens our spirit man, because fasting lets our flesh know that it is our spirit man that is in charge, our spirit man, our spirit that is quickened and made one with the spirit of Jesus, made alive in Christ, that our spirit man has the authority, that our spirit man is making the decisions, that our spirit man is taking the lead, and not our flesh. Where when our flesh is taking the lead, then that's when we operate in the works of the flesh, and that's when we start to fall into sin patterns and into toxic thinking and all those things. But fasting, fasting weakens our flesh and it strengthens our spirit manner.

SPEAKER_05 40:27

I also wanted to mention in Isaiah 58, we see that true fasting loosens chains, it breaks yokes, and it releases justice. So if we're, if we're if you find yourself stuck in these vicious cycles that that you don't want to be in, but you just feel like there's no hope and no way out, begin to fast. Yeah. Begin to fast and give that time to the Lord. And as you do that, those things will become will become less and less of a hold on your life. And you will see breakthrough and you'll see freedom from those things. Yeah. And into new godly cycles and rhythms for your life.

SPEAKER_00 41:05

So good. Yes, yes. And there's so many different ways that you can fast.

SPEAKER_02 41:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:09

You know, you can fast one meal a day, you can fast um, you know, for certain hours of the day, like what they call intermittent fasting. Um, you can do the Daniel type fast, where it is you you omit certain foods, you know, what they call pleasurable foods. So people usually, you know, just limit that to just raw vegetables, you know. Um, and uh so there's so many, you can do a water fast where you're only drinking water, no solid foods. You can do a juice fast. There's so many different ways that you fast. You can pick maybe just three days in the week to fast, you know, or you can fast every day of the week somehow. So there's so many different ways that you can fast, but the important thing is that you intentionally deny your flesh the pleasures, the satisfaction, what it craves in order to cultivate greater intimacy with Jesus. That's right. Yeah, and Isaiah 58 is so key because that's where it speaks of um the fast, the type of fast that the Lord has chosen. And it lays out for us the heart posture that we should have behind our fasting, so that it's not just dieting, it's not just denying ourselves food, but that it is rooted in um a spiritual posture of heart, in a heart posture of humility and hunger for the Lord. And in humility, that includes also making ourselves available to however the Lord wants to use us to bless others. So Isaiah 58 is a definite recommendation in terms of learning the right heart posture for fasting, but also all of the blessings that come with fasting and the power that there is in fasting, like Anthony said, to lose change, to break yokes, to release justice to the oppressed. Um, and then step number four in this strategy for um experiencing encounters with Jesus after Easter, leading up to Pentecost, as part of your preparation for a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit in your life is to build in community. If you're married, contend together in prayer. If you're in prayer and fasting, if you're single, find agreement with others, with friends, people in your church, whoever it is, coworkers. There is multiplied authority in unity and agreements. We know that from Matthew 18, 19, right? Two or more, you know, who will um are gathered together in my name. I am there with them, right? Um, you should agree together, you know, and you will have what you will ask for. So share, you know, if if you come together, um, some practical ways, like that morning hour, you know, with your spouse, you know, we you pray together during that time. You know, even you're praying in tongues. It matters just pray together, be present together. Um, with you know, if you're single, with whoever else you gather with, get together. It could be on a Zoom call, you know, on a video call, it could be, you know, just a phone call, it could be getting together in person, if not every day, maybe one day a week, but where you do connect, you know, with people throughout the week so that there is accountability, so that there is, you know, encouraging one another, so that there's that iron sharpening iron, you know, holding one another accountable to the covenant that you make before the Lord to devote this time to prayer and fasting. And then after you spend that time, that 30 minutes, 45, 60 minutes, you know, an hour, however long it is that you spend praying in tongues, praying in the spirit, afterwards, you may also want to share with one another what God is speaking to you, what he revealed to you, what you sense during that time of praying in the Holy Spirit and strengthen one another in the fire. You will strengthen one another in the fire as you do that, because we all see in part and we prophesy in part. You'll get one part, your friend or your spouse gets another part, and it's just fanning that fire into flame.

SPEAKER_05 45:11

Yeah, and I just want to share real quick. Um, as you begin to do this, like as we've been doing this, um we're we're cultivating this deeper inner life with the Lord. But as we're doing this together, the Lord begins to poke and prod on things. He begins to point his finger at certain things in our hearts, certain things in in you know, that certain ways of thinking, certain ways of behaving. And so we've found ourselves over the last few days as we've been going through this ourselves, you know, God uh we found ourselves coming to the place of tears because God is is, I'd like to say, God is messing with us, you know, and He's He's He's revealing things. Yeah, He's poking at some things for our good so that we can be more whole and more in made in His image and likeness, because that is the ultimate thing. It's the process of sanctification. Yeah, and so as you're doing this with someone else, I would I would highly encourage you to be vulnerable with whoever it is, whether it be your spouse, right? You should be vulnerable with your spouse. But if you're single and you're doing it with a friend, be vulnerable, like share what God is doing, what he's poking at in your heart, what he's poking at in your soul that he wants to heal. Because what he reveals to you, he ultimately wants to heal. So be willing to go there with another person because they will link arms with you and they will help you become whole faster.

SPEAKER_00 46:34

Yes. And then the fifth point is to soak in the scriptures. Um, a lot of people struggle with reading the Bible because you feel like you don't understand it. Yeah, you feel like you can't grasp what it's saying to you. Like maybe, oh, these are um illustrations that are not relevant for today, or you know what have you. But I promise you, if you spend time praying in tongues, praying in the Holy Spirit, both before and after you read any portion of the Bible, it will open up your understanding because you are making room for the spirit of truth, Holy Spirit, and the spirit of wisdom, Holy Spirit, and the spirit of revelation, and the spirit of understanding, and the spirit of counsel in mind to rest upon you and give you uh under an understanding of the scriptures that you otherwise would not have. The Bible is not any book. Yeah, the Bible is Jesus, the word made flesh. It is a living, breathing document, it is a living, breathing love letter to us from the heart of God. And you can memorize the whole Bible and you can read all the scriptures, and it's still not have life for you unless the Spirit of the Lord brings life into what you are reading. So I encourage you to spend time praying in the spirit as you read your Bible. And and don't during this time, I I would say don't focus on reading long passages of scripture. Take small bite-sized pieces. One verse, one phrase, meditate on it, ask the Lord questions, pray in the spirit before, pray in the spirit after, and it will open up your understanding in such a beautiful and a powerful way. So soaking in the scriptures is the fifth part of this strategy for experiencing encounters with God in this season.

SPEAKER_05 48:54

Yeah, to add to that, you know, a very well-known verse, Psalm 119, verse 105, it says, Your word, oh God, is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. What is he telling? What is a psalmist telling us there? That scripture is the thing that guides us. It shows us where to walk, it shows us what if there are any hazards before us, because it's a light to our feet, you know, a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. It illuminates the way forward for us, you know, and it keeps us on this on the narrow path. You know, so if we soak in it, we'll know which way to walk, we'll know which way not to walk, we'll know what hazards to look for and to be mindful of because we're seeing them in advance, because the word is lighting the way and making the way for us, right? S preachers will say that the word of God is the guidebook for life. And I firmly believe that it will guide us in all things related to Christ, related to living, related to family, related to relationships and community. It will guide us in all of those things and how to do it well, on how to do it with purity and righteousness and with honor for other people. So uh it is imperative that we soak in the word and we allow it to soak us and to remove any impurities out of us.

SPEAKER_03 50:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 50:17

So, friends, this is not a time to coast. No, this is a time to contend. That's right. The kingdom of God suffers violence, and the violent take it by force, scripture says. So that is intentionally, not passively, intentionally asking, seeking, and knocking. This is also not a time to scatter, to go and hide, as the disciples did after Jesus was crucified. It is a time to gather oil. Yes, right, like the wise virgins in Matthew virgins in Matthew 25. They prepared their lamps and they were ready to meet the bride, the bridegroom when he came knocking on the door.

SPEAKER_00 50:54

Yeah, and this is this is not a time to be um passive or to be distracted, like, but for us to be really precise in our devotion, like setting a specific time of the day to meet with God. And and and deciding on a minimum length of time that we're committing to be there. Because if we set a time of day and we're like, okay, every day I'm gonna wake up at six in the morning and spend an hour with the Lord, but we don't, you know, we we have to hold to our commitment with the Lord and not give up after 15 minutes, you know, if we say we're gonna spend an hour with the Lord. Now, as we said earlier, if that's a big stretch for you, right? You can start with 10 or 15 minutes, but make your goal to continuously increase, right? Incremental increase, you know, day after day, week after week. But not only don't just set a time of day to meet with God, set the minimum length of time you're committing to be there and set a specific place to encounter him. That could be a room in your house, it could be a particular chair in a room, it could be somewhere out in nature, it could be in your car, it could be anywhere, but a place with the least amount of distractions that will facilitate the greatest amount of focus and freedom for you in that time with God. And then also set reminders to help you follow through. If this is not something that you're used to doing on a daily basis, you may not remember to do it. You have to set an alarm clock in the morning for that first hour. You have to set reminders all throughout the day for you to be praying throughout the day and not just go back into religious routine, but for you to add in these new spiritual disciplines that are really going to cultivate the fire of God in your life and help in this process of preparation unto that Pentecost outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which, like we said, it doesn't have to be, you know, six weeks from now. It can be today, it can be tomorrow, it can be this weekend that you are experiencing powerful encounters with God and fresh outpourings with the Holy Spirit because you're intentionally seeking daily encounters with Him. Because, you know, something is something is is beautiful, um, is building, right? There, there's this this beautiful momentum, like building in the spirit. Um, because and and and building toward this powerful outpouring of God's spirit, even in the midst of the shakings. Yeah, but the preparation begins now. The call to consecration has been made. And and those who carry the fire will not be caught unprepared. Those who are who are buying oil, the oil of the Holy Spirit, day after day, you will not be caught unprepared for whatever it is that's coming. All of the good, all of the beautiful, all of the amazing things that are coming, but also the shakings that are coming as well. You will be prepared in the fires of intimacy through these day-to-day encounters, so that you will be ready for all that the Lord has ahead.

SPEAKER_05 54:08

Yeah, these 50 days of fire, they began Resurrection Sunday. Yeah, but the beautiful thing is that heaven is not bound by calendars. Um, God is not looking down and saying, Well, you know what, you missed, you missed the time. You can you can step into that fire today. Yeah, you can step into this invitation from heaven right now. So, you know, the question is uh it's not whether the fire is available. The question is, will you actually tend the flame?

SPEAKER_03 54:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 54:39

Will you will you fan into flame the fire of God that's on the inside of you? Are you content with a smoldering wick, or even worse?

SPEAKER_00 54:47

Yes. So some might be saying to themselves right now, like, I don't know where to start, I don't know where to begin. You know, it seems simple, but you're asked actually inviting me into a whole lot that I'm just not used to. Or maybe for you, it's just been a while since you've had a consistent devotional life in Christ. Maybe your mornings don't start with the Lord, with you laying out the pieces of your life on the altar and inviting his fire, right? Or some of you may be thinking, you know, I'm I'm not in the habit of praying in tongues every single day. That's just not something that I do. Or even the idea of fasting fills you with anxiety. Well, friends, to help you along this journey, we have developed a very simple PDF document. It's a booklet called Encounters that not only summarizes the prophetic invitation and five-part strategy that we've laid out here for you today, but it also provides very, very brief daily prayer prompts to encourage you, to help, um, to help you focus and to help guide you through experiencing these daily encounters with God. Now, I say very brief daily prayer prompts, just one scripture, one sentence, you know, one focus, because this is the invitation really is for you to devote the majority of your prayer time to praying in tongues, praying in the Holy Spirit. So we don't want to give you all of this language, we don't want to give you all of these prayer points or all of these prophetic decrees for you to lean into, where it's just a very, very simple prompt for every day for you to bring before the Lord, ready your heart, at least have something in your mind as you go into that time of prayer. But then you're giving full liberality and freedom and space for the Holy Spirit to move and pray through you however it is that he desires according to the perfect will of our good heavenly father.

SPEAKER_05 56:48

Yeah, so we've made it very simple to uh for you to find this free resource and to join in on this journey of encounter. If you go to hopeffires.com forward slash encounter, a sign-up page will come up. Simply sign up there and you'll receive that free PDF resource. Yeah, and if you've been blessed also by this prophetic message, um, and find the free resource helpful also, I encourage you to share it with others in your relational circle. Actually, it would be it would be amazing if you invite a group of people in to do this together. Even if you're married, invite other married couples in, invite singles in, whatever it may be. I I encourage you to do this as a community, within community, because you will strengthen yourself as the Society of Burning Hearts did, right with John and Charles Wesley back in the day.

SPEAKER_00 57:37

Yeah, so whether it's 50 days of fire, 40 days of fire, 30 days of fire, you can jump in at any point and just pick up on this teaching, on this strategy, and on the free resource that we make available to you for you to experience encounters with Jesus preparing you for Pentecost outpouring of his spirit.

SPEAKER_05 57:57

Yeah, and I'd love for you to give this broadcast a like and a share if you've not already done so. And also follow us on social media. After you sign up for that free resource, at the bottom of that PDF, you'll find you'll find all our all our social media handles and ways to follow us there as well.

SPEAKER_00 58:14

Yeah, so we um I just want to bless our audience before we go, um, because it seems so simple, and yet there will be several that bypass this invitation. Um, so I just pray first that hearts are awakened, yeah, that the eyes of your heart are opened to see Jesus, the risen Christ, that's right, as the God of encounter that is inviting you into encounter with him, that you would see Jesus the risen Christ as the one walking among his followers, walking among his disciples, walking among us, his bride, his church, and saying, Will you meet with me? Will you receive my words of life? Will you receive my breath of life? Will you receive my spirit of life, my resurrection life? So that you will be brought from a place of spiritual slumber into revival awakening. Father, I pray that every single one would have ears to hear your voice from heaven, gently wooing them, drawing them, inviting them into moments of encounter with you, not just once, but every day and all throughout the day, recognizing that you are as close as our turned attention, recognizing that you're available to us every moment of every day, not just when we gather in church services, not just when we gather on Pentecost Sunday. There is a Pentecost outpouring that is available for you every day. So, Father, I bless every heart with the hunger to ask and to seek and to knock, that they would receive the answers, that they would find, that they would receive, that doors would be open to them, God, as they go about responding to this invitation. And Father, I pray that the resource that we've provided would just be kindled to their fire, that it would help set them ablaze, that it would serve as a roadmap, as a compass, as a guide, as direction for them in this journey of encounter unto Pentecost. Thank you, Lord, for everyone that has connected to this broadcast. And we just bless them, God, with your refiners fire and with your revival fire, God. Father, that Pentecost again would not just be an event for them, but that Pentecost truly would be a way to live, fully set aflame, like a John the Baptist, a burning, shining lamp, preparing the way of the Lord, preparing the way of God for your own heart, for your household, for your workplace, in your church, in your community, in your nation. Father, I decree that every single one that is listening to the sound of my voice, that you are pathways to Pentecost, pathways to Pentecost, not just for your own life, but for all of the spheres that God has given you influence in. You are a pathway to Pentecost outpouring for all of the people that God allows you to connect with. So, Father, I bless them with a joyful, exciting expectancy of all the goodness that awaits them, of all the blessings that they will come into through this time of fasting and prayer and worship and the word in Jesus' name. Amen.