Possessing Arizona's Promised Lane

For several years, the Arizonian church has experienced a wilderness drought, both in the natural and in the spirit. Nevertheless, according to numerous prophetic voices including John Kilpatrick and Cindy Jacobs, the time has come for the Church of Arizona to arise and cross over from a barren wasteland to possess our promised land of revival.

The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness

The Lord has a purpose for us in the wilderness. Just like the children of Israel, the Lord uses the wilderness to humble us, to test us and mold us that we might become vessels of honor fit for His use. The wilderness is a time of preparation that once complete, equips us to be fruitful during a harvest season.

Deuteronomy 8:18 “The Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”

The wilderness is a season of repentance, where the Lord convicts and purges us of sins that would disqualify us from the rewards of our promised land. Moses, John the Baptist, and Jesus all were tested in the wilderness before they were commissioned to cross over into public ministry.

Matthew 3:1-3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord . . . ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’”

Before the King of Glory can come, preparations must be made. Those preparations are chiefly repentance in the hearts of the King’s children.

A wilderness season can be experienced on a personal level or a corporate level. About one year ago, in July of 2003, the Lord brought a powerful word of repentance to Arizona through Cindy Jacobs. It was a solemn call for the church in Arizona to cry out to God for tears of repentance over the sins of this state. However, one year later, the word of the Lord to Arizona through Cindy Jacobs and John Kilpatrick, is that all of the ingredients for revival are now here, and that it is up to the Church in Arizona to cross over from the wilderness to possess our promised land of revival.

Raising Up a Joshua Generation

Prolonged wilderness seasons can be indicative of a deeper work necessary in preparing a people for a greater work. Greater works require greater preparation. However, the wilderness is also often characterized by defeat, disappointment, discouragement and loss of vision which can create a “wilderness mentality” of pessimism, cynicism and unbelief. An extended wilderness can create a sense of hopelessness, making it very difficult to arise from the ashes and enter into a new season of fruitfulness. Such is the case with the Arizonian Church. Many who have cried out to God and labored for years to see revival here have become weary, discouraged and maybe even cynical toward what used to be a labor of love. Nevertheless, like Joshua and Caleb, the Lord is raising up a remnant, a Joshua generation, in Arizona that is willing to shake off the wilderness shackles of discouragement and dare to believe and dream again.

Those who remain in the wilderness will inevitably criticize the remnant that chooses to move on. Accusations of pride and a beckoning to remain in a wilderness of repentance are tactics the enemy uses to keep bold ones from possessing the “promised land”. As David stirred himself up to face the giant Goliath, he was accused by his oldest brother Eliab of being arrogant. Eliab was furious with David and told him to leave the battleground and return to the wilderness.

I Samuel 17:28 “Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart.”

In David’s case, the voice of experience, his oldest brother, was not the voice of the Lord. The voice of experience may come from one who has remained in the wilderness for years and has never tasted of the victories of the “promised land”.

We will never be holy, humble or worthy enough in and of ourselves to do great exploits for God. Nevertheless, we must keep in mind that the greatest act of humility is simple obedience to the Lord’s commands, whether it be blessing a homeless child or boldly confronting a demonic principality. We must forget the failures of the wilderness season and realize that the Lord is bringing us into a new season of fruitfulness, where He is transforming us from wilderness wanderers into Canaan land conquerors.

Confronting Arizona’s Giants

Fear paralyzes. Many in the Body of Christ are so beat down from a wilderness of defeat that even the thought of confronting anything formidable, triggers immediate trepidation and resignation. Ten of the twelve Israelite spies died in the wilderness because of fear and unbelief. Only Joshua and Caleb believed and later possessed the promised Canaan land forty years later.

Numbers 13:31, 32 “But the men who had gone up with him (Caleb) said, ‘We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.’ And they gave the children of Israel a bad (lit. “evil”) report of the land which they had spied out, saying, ‘The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.’”

The twelve spies in the Old Testament represent governmental prophetic leadership in the New Testament. As prophets and “gatekeepers”, our function is not merely to spy out the “promised land” to identify the fruit and the foes. Like Joshua and Caleb, our role as gatekeepers is to strategically lead the church into battle against our enemies and possess a new land flowing with milk and honey. Our enemies are demonic principalities and powers that have infiltrated and influenced the thoughts and actions of Arizonians in every arena of life. Our milk and honey is a harvest of souls for Christ and an Arizona that is transformed spiritually, governmentally, socially and economically.

Victory at Jericho

Only after we cross over and enter into our promised land, will the Commander of the army of the Lord appear to give us the strategies we need to possess the land and conquer our Jericho. The strongholds of Arizona are many, ranging from an Indian blood curse to a “new age” spirit of divination, from a “claim-staking” spirit of jealousy to an infiltrating principality of Ramadan, from a liberal, unclean spirit of perversion to an idolatrous, apathetic spirit of whoredoms.

As the Lord begins to grant us victories, we must not become presumptuous, else we will encounter defeat as Israel experienced at Ai. We must resolve as gatekeepers to hear from the Lord regarding the timing in which and tactics by which we are to confront Arizona’s giants. As the Lord communicates his strategies to His gatekeepers, we must commit to relay this information to the rest of the Body.

The twelve spies “evil” report of unbelief influenced the entire nation of Israel to disobey God and remain in the wilderness another 40 years. Similarly, our role as prophets and gatekeepers carries with it a great responsibility. Our report and corresponding actions will influence the entire Body of Christ here and throughout the nation. The church of Arizona does not have another forty years, or even another four years to possess our Jericho. If we choose to remain in this wilderness of defeat today, we will witness a gradual demonic overthrow of Arizona governmentally, economically, and spiritually over the next four years.

Arizona’s gatekeepers are at a crossroads. We must either choose to remain in a wilderness of defeat, unbelief, intimidation and indecision or cross over into our promised land of revival and transformation. On this Independence Day, let us release ourselves from the shackles of fear and boldly enter into this new season that the Lord has prepared for us.