For the past few weeks, the Lord has been bringing to my mind a vision as I’ve reflected on prayer. The scene is so unlikely to ever happen in the natural that it is almost humorous! Yet the Lord is impressing on me that this scenario happens daily in the lives of many believers, and spiritually, it can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Today I’d like to share this vision with you because I believe it identifies a particular problem we face in prayer and gives us a strategy for greater victory. This vision could be the one major reason why Christians are defeated on the battlefield, and I don’t want you to be a casualty! On the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, followers of Jesus were gathered together in Jerusalem to pray. They had no idea what to expect; they only knew what Jesus had told them: “Wait until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). That first church prayer meeting resulted in an outpouring of the Holy Spirit so great that it enabled every person present to hear, see, and experience personally the power of God! That day alone, 3,000 people were saved. Our tendency as modern-day believers is to leave the Pentecost story in the history books. After all, we think, God was just beginning to establish His church; He had to do something amazing like that! Too many years of powerful encounters and answers to prayer have convinced me: that kind of thinking is nothing more than a cop-out. God’s power is alive and well, and the only reason we don’t see more of it is that we don’t pray for it! My life has been powerfully impacted by prayer. The prayers I pray and the prayers others pray for me bear amazing fruit. There are countless stories I could share of God’s faithfulness to answer prayer, but I want to remind you, instead, of God’s stories. 
How familiar and comforting are these words from the prophet Isaiah! I have been quoting this verse all week, praying it over myself as I battled sickness that overtook my son and me. Weary and decidedly un-energetic, I knew I needed God’s strength! Then a dear friend called me and said he had been quoting that same verse this week, as he was in severe pain and could not walk. It is a wonderful promise to those who love the Lord. The Bible promises renewal, not just in our minds, but in our physical bodies! When I woke up this morning, however, it was as though the Holy Spirit were urging me to dig a little deeper. “Those words in Isaiah are not reactionary,” he said, “but preemptive.” Isaiah does not envision only a battle-weary tribe of godly people, clawing their way desperately back into God’s renewing presence! (Although historically, that is what happened.) No, in fact, Isaiah’s words also envision a victorious people, whose “waiting upon the Lord” connects them daily to a God who is “Everlasting;” who never grows faint or weary Himself (verse 28). In other words, we are not just the weary who hope to run again; we are runners with the potential to not grow weary in the first place! Why? Because we pray. Strength In the WaitingWe may begin in weakness, but our time with God enables us to persevere. Our waiting on God precedes our running and precludes our weariness. All our strength is predicated on waiting! Waiting on God may seem like a slow start to your day when you see those java-loaded, caffeine-energized sprinters heading out the gate, leaving you in the dust of their wake! But the quiet peace and renewed energy you gain from those first moments alone with God will cause you to keep running when the golden hours come, overtaking those who have long since dropped in exhaustion by the wayside. Not only that - but if you do fall - when you are wearied beyond belief and think God has forgotten you, Isaiah reminds: “His understanding is unsearchable.” (40:28) Compassion, not condemnation, is extended to you like a firm and sturdy hand, lifting you back to your feet. No matter how you look at these verses - whether preemptive or redemptive - they carry tremendous hope. Either God will sustain us as we run because we waited on Him and received our sustaining strategy; or He will come to us and assist us when we fall. There is no situation in which you could find yourself where God cannot renew or restore you. For this reason, Isaiah says, “Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over by my God? Do you not know? (Hebrew yada, to know intimately) Have you not heard? He is your EVERLASTING God!” In case you missed the irony of this verse, Jacob and Israel are the same person! (Genesis 32:27-28). Jacob represents our fallen nature, the soul that cries out in desperation to God. Israel, however, is the victor who emerges after that struggle, the one who learns to run his race successfully in the strength of the Lord. No matter how you feel today, or whom you most identify with, God is still your God! Wait a Minute!God has said that this is the year of “recompense.” (Isaiah 35:4) Do you believe He is renewing and restoring all things to you, both physically and emotionally? Do you rely on Him to help you walk - even run - through situations that made you stumble before? Are you believing Him for the prophetic strategies and insights that come from having divine perspective - the eyes of an eagle soaring above? Most importantly, is your life and are all your movements founded on the directions you receive as you wait upon the Lord? For Isaiah, prayer precedes our daily walks and runs for a reason. Waiting on the Lord is preemptive. It protects us from the burnout and weariness that others experience in their eagerness to run ahead. Prayer is also redemptive when we run ahead of Him ourselves. We could ask for no greater God than this, whose compassion never fails and whose strength towards us is undying! Teach us, Lord, to wait! 
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. ~Mark 1:35 In a world where there are so many different kinds of prayer and meditation, what is the right way to pray? Should we pray the Lord’s Prayer? Do we pray alone, or with a priest? Do we need rosary beads, or a tallit? Can we pray effectively at home, or does prayer work better in church? What does the Bible really say about prayer? And how can we be sure that our prayers will be answered? Read Deborah's newest post, published by LivingBetter50 magazine, right here. 
"Without a vision, the people perish..." Proverbs 29:18 I don’t know if this has ever happened to you, but there was a time when I got stuck. Really stuck. A complex situation, one which had bothered me for some time, gathered its strength, reared its ugly head, and reminded me that no, I had not yet found a way to “overcome.” I did not know the answer, even after hours of searching my Bible, wondering “What would Jesus do?” I was not moving forward or making any real progress in this particular area. In fact, if anything, the situation was becoming worse. My frustration level soared. My first response to the situation, which used to be tolerance, morphed into anger. It was as if this one situation, stirred up by some malevolent demon, finally depleted me of any remaining strength or willpower I possessed and convinced me that no, this was not worth my effort any more. I simply could not resolve it, especially since other people were involved. Have you ever felt this way? 
"Sharing or exchanging intimate thoughts and feelings, especially on a mental or spiritual level." The above dictionary definition could easily describe the life of prayer. After all, prayer is the place where we develop "Life-Giving Communication with God" (our His Inscriptions mission), sharing our thoughts and listening to God's heart. Actually, the definition above is not for prayer, but for communion! Far from just a sacred sacrament, communion is one of the most powerful ways to connect with God in prayer. I often take communion as part of my personal prayer time. It is a way of remembering the Lord's sacrificial death and renewing my commitment to the New Covenant. As I meditated on His death once again this week, the Holy Spirit highlighted these words: "The Lord Jesus, on the same night He was betrayed, took bread..." 
My oldest son came home from college last weekend. For me, his mom, it felt like Christmas! I cleaned the house, bought extra food (he’s 6-foot-1, folks!), and prepared a quiet place for him to sleep near his brothers. My heart, which felt such utter loss and lack when he left for school five weeks ago, now filled with joy as I anticipated his return. I couldn't wait to talk to him, to hear how his new life was unfolding, to celebrate his growth. As the day of his arrival drew near, I became almost restless waiting for him, like a child waiting for Christmas morning. Everything was ready; I longed to spring into action, to make the drive to pick him up, to hold him in my arms again. The appointed time could not come fast enough! When at last that moment arrived and my boy was home, it was as if a hole in my heart had been filled. All was well again. Everything about him – the new growth in his beard, his manly smell, even the overstuffed bag of dirty laundry he brought with him made me happy and complete! I am mom. He’s my boy. He’s back home. Jesus is on a rescue mission to our nation and to the next generation! Beginning at 9pm tonight (Thursday September 27th, 2018) a powerful movement of prayer and intercession will be launched in ALL 50 STATES and on 100 COLLEGE CAMPUSES around America. Our goal: to bring the Presence of Jesus into every state in our nation, and to impact this generation to bring in a billion-soul harvest. I want to personally invite you to find the location nearest your home (see below), and join us for an hour, a day, or the entire weekend. Never before has our nation needed God so desperately, and never before (to my knowledge) has every state in our nation joined in unity to seek God simultaneously through prayer and praise. This is an historic moment you don't want to miss! Details:Who is invited: anyone, anywhere in the US What: 50 hours (3 days) of continuous, 24/7 worship to exalt Jesus and pray for revival in our nation, our children, our government, our churches and our homes. When: September 27th (Thursday, 9pm) through September 29th (Saturday, until 11pm) Where: Every State capital in our nation (see list of locations below) and 100 college campuses Why: 2 Chronicles 7:14 
God has issued a Divine Invitation! It’s not just an invitation to salvation, although believers begin there. It’s not just an invitation to experience healing or deliverance, although those are benefits of belonging to the Kingdom. It’s an invitation to come up higher spiritually, to experience the supernatural dimensions of the Kingdom of God. Why would we need this? Francis Frangipane says it best: “A Christian is not just a person going to heaven. Shouldn’t a Christian also be a person coming from heaven, with the goods, power and virtues of heaven?” Christianity isn’t meant to be a just a security blanket, providing comfort when we contemplate death. It’s meant to be a dynamic relationship involving supernatural power here and now. The beloved disciple, John, understood this and gives us a glimpse into God’s multi-faceted invitation. 
Do you know the difference between prayer and intercession? Prayer, according to Merriam-Webster, is “an address or petition to God in word or thought.” It is, as most people imagine, making an earnest request to God. Intercession, which many people believe to be the same thing, actually takes prayer one step further. While it may include praying to God for something, to intercede is to “intervene between parties with a view to reconciling differences; to mediate.”* In other words, intercession is prayer in action! 
As I spent time with the Lord today, I asked Him, "What is Your Kingdom priority for this moment?" The answer came quickly and powerfully: "SATURATION!" God is ready to SATURATE you with His Presence! Are you positioning yourself to receive all He has? Keep reading for the full word. 
“Therefore my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…” -Philippians 2:12, NKJV
This week, I woke up early one morning to the unmistakable musing of the Holy Spirit. As I opened my eyes and peered into the darkness of our bedroom, I heard Him saying, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling!”
This seemed a strange sort of thought at first. Until I padded my way downstairs, where I could pray and write without disturbing anyone, I wasn’t sure why this fragment of a verse from Philippians 2 was reverberating in my spirit. It was as I sat with the Lord and listened further that He began to clarify… 
Dear Readers, Why Pray? What reason do we have, in a world that depends almost exclusively on what we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell, to reach for a supernatural God? This is the question I answer in my newest book, which was just released on Amazon this week. If you've wondered what difference prayer makes, or need a faith-building resource that is easily shared with a friend, this is your book. It is short (four chapters) yet packed with stories, scriptures, prayers you can pray and questions you can answer in your quiet times. A compilation of several recent blog posts, this book provides four compelling reasons why we should pray: to know God and make Him known; for power to become effective Christians in a fallen world; to overcome a supernatural enemy; and to fulfill the Great Commission. Order your paperback copy today on Amazon.com for $7.00, or a Kindle version of the book for just $2.99. Click here for more! Deborah Have YOU signed up for the Destiny Conference? Last chance! Make plans to join us in West Boylston, MA next week, June 8th & 9th, for a powerful time in the Holy Spirit! Click Here to listen to our Radio Ad. Click photo for Registration information.
Power Thought: When you live in Jesus, your words are as the words of a King. Every sentence you speak is an edict in the Spirit, for better or for worse! Watch that your words are doing what they are designed to do: to edify, exhort and encourage others. © Deborah Perkins / www.HisInscriptions.com The Destiny Conference, June 8-9, 2018One of the prophecies the Lord released for 2018 is that it is to be a year of acceleration and expansion. But acceleration cannot happen without activation! God is releasing fresh revelation of who He is in this hour. Believers are being called to move out of the old and into the new. We need to feast on the revelation of His Presence, and release those who are ready to be set in motion towards their destinies! (Click here to view the full word.) For this reason, I am so excited to announce the first His Inscriptions "Destiny Conference!" For over a year, this ministry has been meditating on the idea of hosting a fresh, new prophetic gathering in the New England region. The timing just never seemed right. After ministering with Brian Francis Hume at the Ascend conference in South Carolina last month, though, I realized: we need to do this here! Brian has graciously agreed to fly up from Virginia to join us at Freedom Worship Center in West Boylston, MA from June 8-9th. Pastor Lee Dematos, the regional apostolic leader for DOVE International, has also agreed to minister. I want to personally invite you to come and be part of this prophetic gathering! Destiny Conference Details:
Conference Location: Freedom Worship Center, 141 W. Boylston St (Rte 12), West Boylston, MA, 01583 (next to Walmart). Website: www.freedomworshipcenter.us/ For a list of area hotels, click here. Conference Fee: $30 Online, through June 6th: Register here. *Please note: Walk in registrations will be $35 at the door on the day of the event. Lunch is included in your fee. Friday Night 7pm: Worship & Prayer - We want to pursue God wholeheartedly and take the time to enter in to His Presence, listening for what He is saying to us individually and through His prophets. Saturday Morning, 9AM - Brian Francis Hume, speaker - Brian will touch on the theme of "Devotion" as he shares from an area he knows best: prayer and intercession. Saturday Lunch, 12pm - A catered lunch will be served to all attendees (included in your conference registration fee.) *Gluten-free options will be available. Saturday Afternoon, 2pm - Deborah Perkins, speaker - In response to the prophetic words about moving out of the old and into the new, Deborah will share on the theme of "Deliverance." Saturday Dinner, 5pm - On your own or with a friend! (a list of local area restaurants will be provided at the conference. Church will remain open for those who wish to pray.) Saturday Evening, 7pm - Lee Dematos, speaker - Lee carries an apostolic and prophetic anointing and will touch on the theme of "Destiny." This final activation session will include prophetic ministry from our team to release you into your God-given calling and destiny. Questions? Please contact me here. Let's make the most of this opportunity to come away with Jesus and prayerfully press in to all that He has for us this year! ~ Deborah 
Everyone struggles with some aspect of their life that doesn't measure up. We all feel inferior and inadequate at times. For me, the partial deafness I experienced since childhood was a "thorn in my flesh" that reminded me continually that I was less than perfect: damaged goods. And yet God turned this disability in the natural into an ability in the Spirit: I learned (from John 10:27) that everyone can hear God. Silence helped me focus better. It was my encounters with a God I could hear that changed me from being fearfully insecure to being full of "holy boldness." Isaiah had a similar transformation in God's throne room. (Read Isaiah chapter 6 for the full story.) He moved from being "undone" in God's presence to saying, "Here I am, send me!" Insecurity, weakness and sin were all removed when a coal from the altar touched his lips. 
Perhaps the #1 reason why we pray is because we need God. We come in great need to Someone who suggests that He might meet our needs for us, something no man has ever done before. We have not seen this kind of love this side of heaven. We discover God’s amazing goodness and generosity, and we are compelled to love Him more. But prayer is not meant to end at the meeting of our needs! We begin here, but soon realize that our needs are meant to be a gateway into greater experiences with God. It is always relationship that God seeks with us. He means to be Father, not just Provider! To focus on God as Jehovah-Jireh alone is to miss the myriad other aspects of His character and Names, to miss the greatness of Him. The short story that follows is meant to illustrate our passage from beggars to sons and daughters. Our story unfolds like that of a weary traveler: 
If you’ve been a Christian for even a short time, you’ve already realized that despite God’s promises of both eternal and internal peace, you’re constantly confronted with the enemy’s plans for chaos and suffering! As soon as you begin to get serious about prayer, the enemy gets equally serious about keeping you out of your “secret place” in a bid to rob you of your peace. He knows, as you do, that prayer is the difference between a defeated warrior and a powerful victor. This is one compelling reason why we pray: because we have a supernatural enemy. 
There is power in prayer, but we don't want to stop at just receiving God's power for ourselves. God's power has a purpose. We can know for certain that we are praying effectively when we partner with that power! 
The first time I ever heard someone speak on prayer was when I was around 25 years old. I was helping to coordinate a large conference for Christians in New England, and I had a few minutes free between responsibilities. I slipped into a workshop on prayer with a speaker I had never met, and those few minutes changed my life. 
On 2-9-18, I had a prophetic vision of a stairway connecting earth to heaven. In the vision, I encountered the Lord, who gave me wisdom concerning what this staircase represents for every believer. Keep reading to discover a unique way of understanding your quiet times, and what happens within them! This week's blog also contains a link to an in-depth interview I did on Pray.Network, with Phil Miglioratti. Click here to listen in as Phil and I talk about Life-Giving Prayer in greater detail.
During the month of January, many Christians have been fasting and praying, seeking God for His plans for the coming year. At the same time, many of us have felt like the enemy's attacks also increased. This Facebook Live video is meant to encourage you if you feel wounded, battle-weary, or abandoned. (20 minute video replay with prayer for listeners included.) Click the link below to watch!
Like Free stuff? Enter Deborah's February Giveaway on Goodreads to win 1 of 100 FREE copies of Life-giving Prayer for Kindle/e-Readers! now through February 28th. Click below to enter! 
Sometimes the voice of the enemy is LOUD. Embarrassing. Even publicly humiliating. Sometimes the devil is uncomfortably close to home. Like a strong-willed child, he tries to draw you into a power struggle. He hopes you will cave to the factual truths of his accusations against you. Has this happened to you? It happened to King Hezekiah. And it’s happened to me. The question is, what do you do?  I am humbled by the extravagant promises the Lord is extending to His people for this coming year. I shared some of these prophetic promises last week (Click here to read them), and many other voices are echoing similar themes. 2018 promises to be a year full of expansion, growth, connection, and acceleration. But this growth is not automatic.
At the beginning of this year, the Lord whispered to me, "If you will listen diligently to Me, I will reward you with a book by the end of this year." Well, October came, and then November, and the inspiration for a book just did not appear, no matter how hard I tried! Then this month, in one of God's "suddenlies," my breakthrough came and I knew what the book was. Within days Life-Giving Prayer was edited and published, which is a real tribute to the work of the Holy Spirit! Then, I remembered a dream the Lord had given me, also near the beginning of the year, in which a shimmering gold angel handed me an equally glorious book. I now know that this is that book! Life-Giving Prayer is a 108-page collection of some of the most powerful articles I have written on prayer, along with an appendix which contains several of the resources from our online Subscriber Resource Library, in giftable form. Chapters include: "Is That You, Lord?" "How To Develop a Lifestyle of Prayer;" "Heaven's Courtroom;" and "Prayers for the End Times." Who will benefit from this book?
Life-Giving Prayer can be ordered directly from Amazon.com. Click on the photo for a preview or to order today!
Author, Speaker, and Christian Ministry leader Deborah Perkins inspires people worldwide to discover "Life-Giving Communication with God." Join her daily on social media, or visit her website for prophetic words, Bible teaching, and a free weekly blog. Need more direction in your spiritual life? Find her books on Amazon.com! 
Let me be the first to admit that sometimes, my prayers don't get answered. It happens to everyone. We're all on a journey, growing in the knowledge of who God is and how He works. No one - not even the most "spiritual" believer you know - has his prayers answered all the time! But in 30+ years of growing in the Lord, I've discovered that there are some prayers that are powerful. More powerful than others. One such prayer is asking God for what we call "Divine Appointments." |
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AuthorA severe hearing loss from childhood caused Deborah Perkins to develop what she now calls her secret weapon: tuning in to God's voice. A Wellesley College graduate and an award-winning writer, Deborah is now a wife and mother of 3 boys. Deborah has devoted over 25 years to professional and lay Christian ministry in New England and beyond. Her passion is inspiring people to cultivate greater intimacy with God. 
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