Let’s give thanks to the Lord for Iowa. Every state has its own redemptive plan from God. Each state has a peculiar and particular redemptive plan from God, and Dutch Sheets and I have come here to find out prophetically exactly what God has for Iowa.
In the summer of 2001, I heard a word from the Lord that we, as a country, were entering into a time of war. And I wrote a book called, “Future War of the Church”, which really explains how we’re going to move forward in the days ahead. So, during that time, I was really seeking the Lord. From May through July, I went through some physical struggles over the trauma that I knew our nation was heading into, during the shifting time of Rosh Hashanah, in September of 2001.
And I gave a word from the Spirit of God on September 16th. One of the things that I try to do is, once the Spirit of God speaks, to watch after the words that HE says and one of the reasons for having gatherings like this is to raise up a “Watchman anointing” in every territory, so that you’re watching after the destiny that God has for you. That word had an interesting connotation in it when the Spirit of God began to speak through me. And HE talked about emptying the pockets of this nation… how HE was going to be bringing us into a place of humility as a nation. And then HE said, “Don’t fear the emptying of the pockets of our nation, because I have sufficient supply that I will release once the pockets are empty.” Then the Lord went on to say, “Fear not, for now is the time that MY people will take a standing a new way, and even though your feet feel like they are going to slip, they will not. And I say ‘Fear not, for I will extend calls throughout this land to rise up apostolic prophetic teams in each city of this nation. I have stored up sufficient supplies for such a time as this within the cornfields of the nation.’”
And I thought when you hear the prophetic word of the Lord come forth, you ask yourself, “Now what was that? What did that mean?” So, right then, I began to pray for the states that are known for growing our nation’s corn supply.
He went on to say, “The corn-belt states are going to rise up and learn a new way of releasing.” You know, when God speaks prophetically, it’s for a time ahead. So I knew those were the states that, at a certain point in time, HE would look to for the release of the supply that our nation needed for the future.
I believe that when God speaks prophetically, and then brings you to the place that HE’s been speaking about, that prophetic word takes action. And this is what HE said, “You will release food. You will release funds. And you will release revelation for times that are ahead.” Now look to somebody sitting next to you and say, “We who live in Iowa will be a revelatory people.”
And so, I knew that by the time we got here, this prophetic word would become significant. And it would be a changing or shifting time. So that, from this meeting, we would start seeing an economic change in our nation. There will be a shift in the economic system, but it’s a sign for this particular state. As you go into your next level of depth with the Lord and prepare to release, from this region, needed revelation will be released for the Body of Christ… and needed supply will be released for the Body of Christ. And, just as in the days of Joseph, we will probably start a seven-year season. Sometime in the future, we’ll probably look back at this moment and see that, as a nation, we began a seven-year economic season. And yet these corn-belt states entered into an anointing of creativity to take resources, multiply them, and release them into this nation in a whole new way. So I believe that it’s very important for us to be here right now.Another reason that we are touring each state is that the Lord says in Ephesians, chapter 4, some are to be called to be apostles, pastors, teachers, and evangelists, but there are gaps between these offices as they are being practiced. We’re so busy doing reconciliation in the Body, which is necessary. However, the gifs of the Spirit are not being practiced in such a way as to link one office to another. When the Lord lifted me up, in 1998, and had me look down, He said, “Look at the gaps between the gifts in MY Body.” And He showed me these great gaps between the apostles and the prophets, the prophets and the pastors, and then HE showed me that the evangelists for the future cannot rise up until we have dealt with these gaps. And one of the things that HE said is for us to connect strategic intercession with apostolic leadership. So now we look in every region for the intercessors, the watchman, and the prophetic people, and cause them not only to be liberated, but also to see and focus on the apostolic strength of a region and a territory in order to help guide, influence, father or nurture, and establish that which is necessary, and to be sure that things are moving forward in the right way. And so, it’s always important that we recognize and honor apostolic leadership in the states to which we’ve come.
Here in Iowa, in the days ahead, you are about to be broken open in a way like never before. [A cell phone rings, and Chuck Pierce checks his phone to make sure it isn’t for him, while people begin to laugh in the background.] I had to do that… You know, I have so many kids that I have to look down to see if it’s one of them wanting something.
I’ll tell you this one story before Dutch comes to speak. And it sorta goes together with what I am saying. The first lesson is the Lord taught HIS disciples after John the Baptist got his head cut off was the miracle of the bread and the fish. Since John the Baptist, who was the last prophet of the Old Covenant, and gotten his head cut off, that meant that there was going to be a new administration or a new covenant. And a new whine skin was rising up. The old way was gone and we can’t go back to it. The Lord said, “I gotta teach these guys who are gonna be leading things some key lessons.” So the first thing HE taught ‘em was how to break bread and how to multiply their resources. That’s the exact same thing that God is saying to Iowa.
A lot of times we don’t understand what we are going through until it’s time for us to understand it. And that’s going to be very significant this year with how God is going to start raising things up through us.
I was lying on the couch one day when the Lord spoke to me and said, “I want you to have another child, and I want his name to be ‘Isaac’.” And we had Isaac, because HE said, “I’ll restore your joy and laughter.” Well, at the beginning, Isaac wasn’t a real laughter type child. But, but this year, God has really done a big work in him.
Pam, my wife, took the kids on this mission trip down into the Big Ben National Park in Texas. Well, when she got back, I met them as I was coming back from somewhere. And she said, “Things just went great! This was the most incredible trip we ever had!” She had all of our kids, all of the youth group, and other people with her. She said, “We didn’t have any problems except one.”
And she said, “Isaac, you tell dad what happened.” So Isaac said, “Well, I forgot to take my wallet out of my pants when I got in the river.” Now, that wasn’t unusual… to me, except that he kept going on with his story. And he said, “Uh… And it had my “Six Flags” season pass in it. And it had $76.00 in it. And so you’re gonna have to replace that, because I think we need to go to “Six Flags” again before the summer’s out. And I know you can come up with $76.00 for me.”
And I sat there, and I said, “You know that I could do that. But I’m not gonna do that. Matter of fact, the only way you’re gonna be able to get that wallet back is for us to go pray and ask the Lord to bring it back to ya’.” Well, even when I said it, it sounded crazy. I mean, it’s Big Ben National Park, in a river somewhere. You know, and so I said, “Let’s just do our part. I’ll go, and we’ll pray together, and then mom will do whatever she can do.” Because the more I talked about it, the crazier it sounded, and the more unbelief I got into.
And so she said, “Well, I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll call the ranger down in Big Ben National Park, and I’ll get him to keep an eye out for your wallet.” Well, that even sounded crazier. You know how that sounded.
So we got down to pray, and I said to Isaac, “Well, you pray first, and then I’ll pray.” And so he got down.
And he said, “Lord, I just come to you right now, because I have lost my wallet. It’s in Big Ben National Park. And my dad will not help me in any way.” You know… And he said, “This wallet is black, and it’s got red flames on it. It’s got $76.00, and it’s got my “Six Flag” pass in it. And, Lord, I feel like I need to go to “Six Flags” again. And so, this time, it’s just me and YOU Lord because dad won’t help me. So you’re gonna have to find this wallet in the river in Big Ben National Park.” I mean, when he got through prayin’ all I could do was to say, “Amen.” When I left out of the room, I said, “I cannot believe this. I mean, Lord, what in the world are YOU gonna do with this? ‘Cause I mean he was just as confident, bold, and his typical self. You know…
So, we’re standin’ up in Minnesota’s “Fifty-State Gathering” when all of a sudden my phone rings. And Dutch has spoken a big anointing, and I’m up there speaking. And my phone rings, and it’s Isaac. And he said, “Dad, you won’t believe this. They found my wallet! The game warden called, and he found my wallet in the river, in Big Ben National Park. Can you believe that?” And I said, “Absolutely not!” And he said, “Now tell me, when are you gonna take me to “Six Flags”? All of this is going on in front of Minnesota.
Now, I’m saying this for a reason: If God can find that kid’s wallet down in a river bank, in a park that big, there’s resources hidden here that HE can find. Look at your neighbor and say, “We’ve got resources that are about to be uncovered.” Now, to do that, you gotta get out of unbelief. That kid didn’t have any unbelief when he prayed. And so we’ve got to get this layer off us now.
There’s one more verse I want to give you before Pastor Dutch comes. And it’s out of Micah. It’s a verse God gave me, for us, as we came here. Micah, chapter 4, verse 10. I believe it’s a promise for us here. Verse 9 and 10… and I felt like it was very specific for Iowa.
Now, why do you cry aloud? Is there no king in your midst?Has your counselor perished? For pains have seized you like a woman in labor. Be in pain and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion.Like a woman in birth pangs. For now, you shall go forth from the city. You shall dwell in the field.”
And the Lord spoke to me, and said, “Now, when you go to these states, I’M going to start an anointing to release and bring forth what has been conceived that has never been fully brought forth before.” And HE said this, “You shall dwell in the field, then to Babylon, you shall go.” And the Lord also said this to me: “When you come to Iowa, you’re going to pray for Iraq. And from Iowa, there will be a shift in Iraq that will begin to come as you stand and pray.” HE said, “Once you get to the field, then from the field, go to Babylon and declare that which is still working in evil in the midst of that nation. There will be a supernatural shift. The Church will rise up. Harvest work will begin to take place. Supplies will be released from Iowa, beginning in the field, and Babylon will start changing.”
So let’s stand up and pray: “Now, Father, we thank YOU that YOU have brought us here tonight. Lord, we thank YOU that YOU have brought us here tonight not just to this state, but YOU have brought us out into the field to bring forth what has been conceived. Lord, YOU brought us out into the field to start the birth pains for our nation and for the future.”
And the Lord would way to you, “The birth pains will begin here in Iowa. I say, even the birth pains, for the course that this nation will take, will now begin. However, I say to you that you have a voice, but your voice is not resounding and being heard the way that I would have it heard. You have revelation, but you’re not communicating your revelation. You have supply, but you’re not taking advantage of your supply. So I would say that I AM starting the birth pains here in Iowa, for the future,” Saith the Lord. “I say, begin to pray for the harvesters to arise from Iowa. And as you pray for the harvesters to arise, in four months, you will see the harvest in a new way. For I AM releasing a plan in this state to cause this harvest to be seen. And it will even be traced back into this state,” saith the Lord. “And I would say that from this state, Babylon will begin to change. For I will make a supernatural connection from the cornfields, the supply from this state that will change the course of the Church in Iraq,” saith the Lord. “I say, do not look at the confusion that is going on in the land. For here in Iowa, you will have a supernatural authority to defeat Babylon in the days ahead.”
Now, Father, we pray right now for the military and for the government. We pray for a plan to arise. We ask for a birthing to occur of the plan and the order for the future. We pray it will come forth now, O Lord. And Lord, we say, let the Church arise in Iowa, and we decree that the Church will arise in Iraq, because from Iowa, which is the field, Babylon must change.
Now let’s just thank God. Just give a hand to thank the Lord for what HE’s gonna do. Yes, Lord! Yes, Lord! Yes, Lord!
Now, while you’re standing, I want you to turn and pray over someone, and I just want you to decree over them that a new strength and a new joy is rising up within them; they’re becoming strong here in Iowa, and exploits will come forth. Now pray with someone and declare that their fish will multiply and their loaves will be broken and multiplied. Declare that now is the time for new strength and release in this state.
Now, Lord, we thank YOU for the multiplication that’s beginning. We thank YOU for what’s being broken open. We thank YOU for the birth pangs that are starting. We thank YOU, Lord, that we will see the harvest in Iowa. Amen. Amen. Amen.