A few years ago, a woman came up to me in the middle of a conference. I was sitting in the back, pretty tired from a long day. The woman asked me, “Dawna, do you remember me? You prayed for me a few years back at a Basic Sozo Training.”

Sadly, I couldn’t place her in my mind, so being as polite as possible, I said, “Sorry. I don’t remember you. Can you let me know where we met?” 

“Yes,” She said, “We met two years ago at a Sozo Training. I asked you to pray for me while Teresa was teaching up front. I was struggling with stage four cancer. You stood up, laid your hand on my shoulder, and declared, Be healed.”

“I instantly felt God’s presence surge through my entire body. Right then I knew that my health was restored. I just wanted to thank you for praying for me that day. Since then I have been completely cancer free.”  

I love testimonies like this where God steps in and heals someone in an instant. These stories give me hope that God still does miracles to this day.

Sometimes our healings have nothing to do with our own actions or decisions. God simply wants to step in and take care of our situations. By being obedient and asking for prayer or ministering to others, we invite God’s presence to invade our circumstances.

If you are facing any insurmountable obstacles this week, physical or otherwise, here is a simple prayer you can use to usher in breakthrough:

“Father God, I rest in your identity, Jehovah Rapha, the God Who Heals. I ask for Your healing touch to pour over my body, soul, and spirit. I also rest in your identity as Jehovah Jireh, the Lord Who Provides. Thank You for providing all my emotional, physical, and spiritual needs. Finally, I rest in your identity as Jehovah Shalom, the God of peace. I send back any and all attacks from the enemy and release new life into the atmosphere. In Jesus’s Name, amen.” 

At my church we live in a testimony culture. We meditate daily on the testimonies of what God has already done for us in the past. We believe this shows us the true nature of our God, and encourages us to keep believing that His good nature will come through even when we are facing difficult circumstances.

Scripture says we will face trials and tribulations in this life (see John 16:33). Testimonies are one way we can break through the discouragement and find hope.

In Joshua, the Israelites set up memorial stones to remind themselves of how God had brought them across the Jordan river (see Joshua 4:1-7). Today we get to view our testimonies as spiritual memorial stones set up by God to remind us of the victories He has already given us. As we face giants in our lives (sickness and disease, persecution, unanswered prayers), testimonies help us find peace in the midst of our circumstances and break through our discouragement.

Scripture says that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (see Revelation 19:10). When we speak out into the atmosphere what God has already done for us, we release faith into our hearts and the belief that He will do it again.

The enemy is always trying to taunt us by masquerading himself as too big for God’s goodness to overcome. When we face such times of discouragement, it is important we remember the memorial stones God has placed in our lives. As we remember these memorial stones, we must learn to trust that He will come through and deliver us once again (because His nature does not change).

Here is a prayer you can release over yourself this week:

“Thank You, Jesus, for the power of Your testimonies. I release breakthrough over my life and command every giant I am facing to fall in Jesus’s Name. Lord, dispatch heaven’s angels of warfare and remove any Goliaths trying to hinder my life. Amen.”

WHAT IS THE CATASTROPHIC SPIRIT?

The catastrophic spirit is a demonic spirit that makes us feel panicked and out of control. There are 2 primary ways this spirit attacks us.

The 1st is a very clear “over the top” feeling that makes us think everything around us is crashing down. The 2nd is a demonic “sneak attack” that uses the guise of old lies/mindsets to convince us that we are still in bondage, even after God has already set us free.

People who experience sneak attacks from the catastrophic spirit panic when they encounter old lies and unhealthy mindsets. Experiencing these resurfacing attacks, they think, Oh no! All these old sinful thoughts are coming back. I thought I was free. What do I do now?

Although the resurfacing of old lies can simply be the result of us revisiting the past, it can also be a sign of the catastrophic spirit trying to instill panic into our lives.

HOW DO YOU FIGHT THE CATASTROPHIC SPIRIT?

The easiest way to deal with the catastrophic spirit is to first discern its presence. One way to identify the spirit is to ask yourself, Is this attack making me feel panicked or out of control? Do I feel powerless and overwhelmed?

If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, then the catastrophic spirit might be trying to invade your life. If you feel you are being attacked by the catastrophic spirit, take a moment to pray. Invite the God of peace into your situation, break any agreement with panic, and renounce any lies you have been believing. Here is a sample prayer you can use:

“I see you, catastrophic spirit. I’m not going to partner with you. I break agreement to you in Jesus’s Name. I release God’s peace into my heart, home, and mind. I command my thoughts to be still in Jesus’s Name. Amen.”

I know, what a revelation! Do you also know that since you are a temple of the Holy Spirit, you can also take Him with you wherever you go (see 1 Cor. 16:19-20)? 

This is important to remember because we are meant to leak the Holy Spirit out in all our circumstances throughout our day. Matthew 5:14-16 tells us:

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

This is the basis of what I call Shifting Atmospheres. As we represent Christ to the world, we are to be continually releasing His presence, His attributes, and even His care into our situations that are very often in contrast to His nature.

At the beginning of this year, I felt like the Lord told me 2021 would be a year about the power of peace. Some of you might be thinking, Great. I can use a year of peace and rest after this last tumultuous year. Others of you may be thinking, What correlation does peace have with power? And still others might be feeling, I agree. I’m going to hide myself in God’s peace bubble. 

Peace, however, is not passive. Peace is powerful.

I found this out while doing a Sozo with a client. We were in the process of having God revealing the truth of her chaotic childhood when she asked Jesus, “If I give You this chaos, what will you give me in exchange?”

My client heard Jesus say, “peace.”

I thought this was great, but she didn’t feel it was a good enough trade. When I asked her why, she responded with, “peace just isn’t very powerful.” 

I started to poke around at this belief system and asked her if she had someone in her childhood memories who was peaceful. She said, “Yes. My father. He would come into our chaotic family situations and stand there peacefully unaffected by the noise and rage going on around him, but he never stopped the craziness.”

Instantly, I saw the story of Jesus on the boat with His disciples (see Mark 4:35-41). I thought about how the disciples knew that Jesus was asleep (at peace) in during the storm. They must have had a similar thought to my client because in verse 38 the disciples woke Jesus and asked Him, “Do you not care that we are perishing?” 

Jesus’ peace was allowing Him to sleep, but it wasn’t helping His disciples at all.  When Jesus got up and spoke to the storm and said, “Peace, be still,” the wind ceased. This scared the disciples even more and they said to each another “Who is this that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” 

In a single command, Jesus demonstrated the power of peace.

Another reason why I think we feel peace is not confronting or keeping your head down is because we misunderstand Matthew 5:9. During the famous sermon on the mount, Jesus declared, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”  

Our view of what we believe a peacemaker should be – probably someone who doesn’t speak up or someone who just “keeps the peace” – is why we misunderstand this verse. However, in the Helps Word Studies, when we look up peacemaker we find this description: 

“Cognate: 1518 eirēnopoiós (from 1517/eirēnopoiéō, “make peace”) – properly, a peacemaker, bravely declares God’s terms which makes someone whole (used only in Mt 5:9)  Comes from 1515 (eirēnē) (from eirō, “to join, tie together into a whole“) – properly, wholeness, i.e. when all essential parts are joined together; peace (God’s gift of wholeness).

What are you hoping for this year?

2020 was a difficult season for many people, but I want to encourage you with this truth — God is doing something new.

The only question is: what?

As you step forward into this new year, take some time to pray and ask God for His plans in 2021.

Ask Him to replenish your hope.

If you have experienced any breakthrough, see how you can reach out and impart your blessings to others.

God is not done with you yet, and the plans He has are good.

I am so excited to announce that my new book, Warring with Wisdom, is available for purchase. When I first started writing this book, I wanted to answer the question why some spiritual battles felt different than others. Some battles, for instance, seemingly targeted my body, while others seemed only to affect my soul (mind) or spirit.

These questions lead me on a journey to find out how to best engage in spiritual warfare and protect my body, soul, and spirit from demonic attacks. Through Scriptural study and personal revelation, I have discovered that there is key wisdom hidden in the Bible that shows us how to defend ourselves against this multi-dimensional strategy from the enemy.

Spiritual warfare is not always the same. Sometimes the enemy attacks our spirits and we need to partner with God to allow His power to invade our situation. Other times our bodies get the brunt of the attacks, and we need to pray for healing or take actionable steps to make sure our bodies can rejuvenate through rest. Sometimes our soul (minds) are the target, and we need to shore ourselves up with Biblical wisdom and declarations for defense.

There are so many different ways we can engage in spiritual warfare. Depending on what types of battles we are facing, we will need to partner with God and Scripture to decide which strategies work best for our situations.

I am so excited to get this book out this year, especially in the midst of everything that is going on. I know that you’ll learn a lot from it; I am delighted to have you all on this journey. God bless you, and here’s to us all being wise warriors for Christ.

When Jesus ascended into heaven, He encouraged us with these empowering words, “All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

When we engage in spiritual warfare, we must do so from the third heaven — where we are seated with Christ in the heavenlies.

“… when he [God]… seated him [Jesus] at his right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” (Ephesians 1:19-21 ESV).

The third heaven is believed to be the spiritual domain where God resides. It represents the highest level of spiritual authority and is the correct position from where we should war.

We get hints of the third heaven in 2 Corinthians. The Apostle Paul writes:

“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know–God knows.” (2 Corinthians 12:2 NIV).

One of my favorite passages from Scripture is the story about Jesus calming the storm. Found in Mark 4:35-41, the famous passage shows Jesus and His disciples crossing the sea after ministering all day.

Falling asleep in the bottom of the boat, Jesus rests completely at peace. But a storm soon comes, and the disciples, afraid of dying, rushed down and wake Him, saying, “Master, do you not care that we are drowning?”

Whereas the storm was dangerous to the disciples, Jesus lived in complete peace. He released His peace over the storm and the situation and it calmed instantly.

International speaker and pastor, Bill Johnson, has a wonderful quote. I use it often, “You will only have peace over the storms you can sleep through.”

I love this story about Jesus and the storm because it shows that Jesus truly was the Prince of Peace. Interestingly, the Bible tells us:

“It is the God of Peace who will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20).

Most of us tend to think of peace as the absence of conflict, but for Jesus, peace was an interior state that remained, whether surrounded by evil or blessing. David’s famous passage from the Psalms, “you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” speaks to this reality.

Prophetic intercession is a shift into asking God what His heart is on a matter, and then praying what He tells you. Essentially it is praying with God, and not to God.

Prophetic Intercession is a powerful form of prayer communicated as a prophetic word or act. It commands that something to be done rather than a petitioning prayer where we ask for something to be done. It is as if prophetic intercession ignites the invisible realm and spurs it into motion.

God gave Joshua a clear promise in Joshua 10:8 that he would be victorious over the Amorites.

“Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.” 

God was declaring to Joshua what He was going to do.

At daybreak, Joshua and his army took the Amorites by surprise. The Lord helped him by raining hailstones on the Amorites as they tried to run away. Joshua knew he would win the battle because of God’s promise, but he needed more daylight to fully defeat the Amorites. The sun was going down, so Joshua made this declaration before the people of Israel in the presence of the Lord.