WEBINAR TODAY! May 7, 4:00 pm EST, National Day of Prayer. Jon will be sharing a vital prophetic perspective and teaching from Washington DC. Don’t miss “The Turnaround Verdict!” Go to www.webinars777.com/turnaround

Covenant blessings to you this National Day of Prayer! As I awoke this morning, my heart and prayers were with those who endured tornadoes last night in Oklahoma and across the midwest. We are grateful that initial reports are saying nobody was killed.

In this “whirlwind year,” we want the whirlwind of God’s glory upon us. As we pray for America today, lets continue to stand together for every other wind to dissipate and lift!

Weight in the Wait—Beginning Today!
On this National Day of Prayer, we begin our 22 day “Weight in the Wait” prayer watch. A season focused on waiting before the Lord in worship and devotion. I really can’t wait to experience this time together. Most of our seasons of prayer have been very focused on partnering with the Lord for specific results. My own heart has been yearning to relate more to the Lord in intimacy beyond the crisis.

Beloved, over these 22 days the Lord is inviting you to genuinely reconnect with Him, spirit to Spirit and heart to heart. It’s time to fall in love with Jesus all over again! It’s time for our own hearts to become open and sensitive again.

And to do this, we must make Him our priority. Later today I’ll be sharing on Daniel 7, the Courts of Heaven, and God’s “Turnaround Verdict” on a special webinar. I hope to see you! For today’s posting I want to draw you into this “Daniel 7 reality” by sharing with you the primary key to experiencing it yourself.

It’s important to note that the Lord granted this prophetic experience almost ten years ago. Probably like most of you, I devoted myself to the mandate within the encounter even while forgetting His corresponding promise.

I rediscovered this prophecy while doing research for our new book, which is focused on Daniel 7:22. And it totally stunned me to realize I was now living out the very promise the Lord had given!

This same invitation is being given to you. As you will see, it has everything to do with waiting on the Lord as the top priority of your life. We can no longer afford to be casual in our approach. But beloved, the good news is there is truly weight in the wait!

THE DOOR TO DANIEL 7—August 22, 2005
“This sword can only be given in exchange for your time.”

The Lord recently gave me a prophetic experience on redeeming the time (posted on the Elijah List, January 26, 2005).  In the prophetic experience, the Lord showed me His enthusiasm to redeem the time on our behal­f–to bring back around kairos opportunities for us to fulfill our destinies in Him.

This July, the Lord gave me a prophetic experience that emphasized our responsibility in redeeming the time.  In a vision, I was walking down a cobblestone path at twilight.  The path ahead forked into two paths; one veered to the left and the other to the right. Standing at the crossroads, both paths seemed to dead-end at the face of a huge cliff.  Looking closer, I saw that there was a door embedded into the cliff at the end of each path.

Decision at the Crossroads
Holy Spirit spoke that I had come to a place of decision.  I knew intuitively that the choices made now would significantly determine direction for the future, and that u-turns were not really an option. It was as though the momentum of each path would somehow sweep me in.

The path to the right was seemingly a pathway to a life of ease and provision, a shortcut to what many perceive as the American Dream.  In my spirit I knew the personal rewards would seem great, but that the true impact for the Kingdom would be small.

The Lord showed me that the path to the left was much more difficult, but led to the fulfillment of His dream for me.  This path would have the greatest impact upon society for the Kingdom.  I somehow knew that on the other side of the door was Daniel 7.

Thinking at this time of decision, there was a magnetic pull to take the easy way.  My path in Christ so far had taken turns that I had never even thought possible. Maybe this was an invitation to life as a ‘veteran of war’ instead of remaining in the battle.  Maybe this was actually His will…

Praying at this time of decision, I felt a small tug to turn left.  In fact, my feet started walking before my mind was made up!  As I walked along the path, still struggling to know if this was God’s will for me, the Lord flashed a proverb across my mind. “There is a way that seems RIGHT to a man, but the end thereof is DEATH” (Proverbs 14:12).

The Kingdom Path
Maybe you’re at a similar point of decision—many of you are.  The Kingdom path is not the path of least resistance—far from it.  But it is the path of life.  Let me encourage you with the words of Jesus. You cannot serve both God and mammon. Those who seek to save their lives will lose it, while those who lose their lives for His sake and the gospel will find it.

The Lord also showed me that the path to the left wasn’t truly to the left—it was actually the straight path! In other words, the path wasn’t warped, but my perspective was. My unhealed, unredeemed perspective made the wrong way look right.

The leading of the Holy Spirit can often be confused with the voice of our own wounding, or even our own strength. In the same way, the voice of contemporary culture is often confused with true Christianity. Lets ask Holy Spirit to continually show us the path that we’re on, and the path He wants us to take.

The Sword of Favor
In the vision, with the door ahead of me, I saw a large sword lying on the cobblestones. The word “FAVOR” was engraved on the front of the sword, and the number “222” was on the back.

Seeing the sword, my first thought was “this vision is like a video game. Pick up the sword, tap the door, and go through.”

Though my strategy was set, the Lord was about to show that this was not a game.  As I leaned over to pick up the sword, Holy Spirit spoke “NO.”  The authority and urgency of the word literally imparted the fear of God. Then, very firmly in my spirit came the words “This sword will only be given in exchange for your time.”

Making the Great Exchange
I began to understand here what made this path so difficult. God wasn’t concerned about redeeming process on this walk, but redeeming intimacy with Him. He wanted my time.

Many who receive a word of prophecy focus so intently on the direction of the word, or its ultimate result, that we completely miss the built-in mandate of relating with Him to see the word fulfilled.  Receiving prophetic vision then becomes like a video game.  We run flippantly from word to word, enjoying the experience but never giving time for the word of His heart to penetrate our hearts and take root.

In this hour, new weapons of war are being released to the body of Christ. The Lord invites you to give your time in exchange for the sword of His Word.  To sanctify your time to Jesus, and allow Him to structure and steward it as He desires.  Be willing to change course as the Spirit leads you.  “My times are in your hands”  (Psalm 31:15).

The Door to Daniel 7
With His sword in hand, God is opening to us the door to Daniel 7.  Daniel was watching by night in Babylon when the Lord began to dramatically unveil His throne-room activities. He watched in the Spirit and literally prophesied the most significant events of the end-times.

If you’re like me, you’ve wanted to move to a corner of the earth where God is moving greatly in order to receive a Throne Room visitation.  Instead, as you choose His path, He is coming to your Babylon.  The Lord is in the midst of raising up night watches in Babylon, and releasing Throne Room visitations to His cherished ones in the most obscure places of the earth.

Wait on the Lord.  We have entered a season where there is ‘weight in the wait.’ The Lord is releasing a supernatural anointing to make known the mysteries of God in your Babylon.  God says just watch—In time you will even stand and worship in the court of heaven and see judgment passed in favor of the saints!

Let God bring you above the circumstances to see them from a new vantage point. Watch for a change and shifting out of the accuser. You will find the restoration of vision and perspective the Lord has been promising.

Ask Jesus to release the Key of David according to Isaiah 22:22, to open doors no man will shut, and shut doors that no man will open.  Prophesy that the door to Daniel 7 will open, and that governmental leaders and governmental intercessors will be visited with revelation from Jesus in the night seasons.

And may the Lord’s favor be with those of you who are making the Great Exchange!