The Altar of Incense: The Perfume of Prayer

Posted July 20th, 2013 at 3:40 pmNo Comments Yet

FORERUNNER CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP – MIKE BICKLE
Prayer Scenes around God’s Throne Transcript: 07/08/00
Session 2 The Altar of Incense: The Perfume of Prayer
INTRODUCTION
Turn to Revelation 8. Father, we thank You in the name of Jesus for the Word of God. I ask You to bless the hearing of Your Word tonight, the speaking of it, and the hearing of it. We thank You for this awesome destiny that we have in the prayer ministry that You’re establishing across the earth, the end-time prayer ministry, and for our little portion of it here in Kansas City. You’re raising up Your will in the house of prayer all over the earth, with all different models, personalities, mandates, and measures of grace. Lord, we thank You that we have a portion of that, in Jesus’ name, amen.
THE PLACE WHERE HUMAN PRAYERS ARE RECEIVED BEFORE THE THRONE OF GOD
Revelation 8:1-6, which we looked at last week, is a very interesting passage of Scripture. It’s complicated. I’m going to read through it. Actually, I’m going to read all of Revelation 8. I’ll read from about verse 7 on, but you can follow. This is what we’re about. Revelation 8:1-6 is describing the golden altar of incense next to the throne of God. Before I even read it, I want to say that the golden altar of incense is the place where worship and prayer is received before the throne of God. It’s so critical. It’s the prayer and worship from the earth; that’s a better way of saying it. The golden altar is the place where those prayers are received before the throne of God. It’s the altar of incense. This is what we’re about.
If there are any six verses that are exactly what we’re doing, it would be Revelation 8:1-6, and of course you would have to throw in Psalm 149 as well. That’s the Old Testament version of this. Intercessors, this is a passage of Scripture that we want to know very, very well. It’s your destiny; it’s your job description in the Holy Spirit.
SILENCE IN HEAVEN FOR ABOUT HALF AN HOUR
Revelation 8:1 is describing the Lamb of God, Jesus. “When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour” (Rev. 8:1). He has a scroll in His hand, and He has seven seals. This is the final seal that’s being opened. It’s very dramatic. Then the full power of God for revival and the full power of God for His judgments against sin will be loosed when the seventh seal is opened. Therefore, there’s a silence in heaven. It’s a very dramatic, awesome, and terrifying silence. The full justice and the power of revival as well as the dreadful judgments of the Lord are about to be released.
TO THE SEVEN ANGELS WERE GIVEN SEVEN TRUMPETS
“And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets” (Rev. 8:2). It’s this special category of angels called “the seven angels who stand before God.” To them were given seven trumpets. It’s the eschatological trumpets. They’re the trumpets that belong at the end of the age. They were released into the hands of the angels at the critical time of history.
Beloved, when the seven trumpets are released to these seven angels that stand in God’s presence, there will be such power, drama, and dread upon the earth. It’s when the seven angels in the presence of God receive these seven eschatological, or end-time trumpets.
“Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar” (Rev. 8:3). This angel came, and it’s very dramatic. He’s summoned by the Lord to stand in the very presence of God. He comes at the divine

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summons. He stands before the altar. This is the golden altar of incense, which is right next to the throne of God.
This intercessory angel was given incense—incense, or perfume. This fragrant perfume was given to the angel in his golden bowl, or his golden censer. It was filled up. Why? “That he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne” (Rev. 8:3b). This golden altar, as we’re told, is before the throne. It’s a piece of heavenly furniture right before the throne of God.
THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS ASCEND BEFORE GOD
“And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand” (Rev. 8:4). It was a sign of God’s pleasure and acceptance of their prayers.
“Then the angel took the censer”—which has now been poured out (Rev. 8:5). It’s now an empty censer. The bowl is empty again. The angel fills it with fire from the altar of incense. This bowl that was emptied and had perfumed incense is now filled with coals of fire—fire from the altar of incense. Now the angel throws the fire to the earth. And the implication is that the angel does this by divine permission.
Beloved, in the hour when the angel of God takes the golden bowl that was filled with prayers and the incense of God, but now is filled with coals of fire, and he dumps the fire upon the earth, no one on planet earth will be bored. There will be fascination and dread. It’s the “great and dreadful day of the Lord” spoken of in Malachi 4 (v. 5). No one will be bored when the angel of God takes the prayer bowl, which now has fire in the place of prayer, and pours the fire out upon the earth. That’s what our prayers are doing. We’re in line in this divine economy where the bowl of fire is poured out upon the earth.
JESUS CAME TO SEND REDEEMING FIRE ON THE EARTH
“He threw it to the earth.” In Luke 12:49, Jesus explains why He came to the earth. Why? “I came to send fire on the earth” (Lk. 12:49). Of course, He came to die and to be raised from the dead in order to throw the fire upon the earth to cause redemption, which is the purpose of God to go forth in power.
This fire is a redeeming fire. It’s the power of God loosed upon the earth. In Luke 12:49, Jesus said, “I came to cast fire on the earth.” Here He’s doing it through the angel and the prayers of the saints. Here beside this verse, “The angel threw fire on the earth,” you want to write, “Luke 12:49 fulfilled right now.” There it is—not totally, but largely fulfilled. There’s more fire to come after this.
Then “there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake” (Rev. 8:5). There’s disturbance all over the earth. It’s the power of God in the form of fire. It’s the power of God. It’s the great and the dreadful day, says Malachi 4. It’s great to the receptive; it’s dreadful to the resistant. It’s great to the receptive and we call it revival. It’s dreadful to the resistant. The fire that judges the rebellious is the same power that heals the sick and releases signs and wonders. It’s the same fire that came on the early church in Acts 2 when they were in the house of prayer. The fire landed on every one of them. That was a token of this fire right here. Jesus came to cast fire on the earth.
THE TRUMPETS ARE A DIMENSION OF THE MERCY OF GOD
In verse 6, the seven angels from verse 2 return. This is the same group. “The seven angels who had the seven trumpets [now] prepared themselves to sound” (Rev. 8:6). I said last week that the sounding of the trumpet is in

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itself alarming, but it’s a warning. It’s like the siren that goes off in the war zones that an air raid and trouble is coming. The siren warns that trouble is on its way. For though the trumpets do release trouble, they’re an act of mercy in the Lord’s economy. It’s telling planet earth that there’s increasing danger coming if you don’t respond. The trumpets are a dimension of the mercy of God.
“The first angel sounded [the trumpet]: and hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up” (Rev. 8:7). When this angel in verse 5 poured out fire, it was a revival fire to the receptive, and a judgment fire, or a dreadful fire, to the resistant. Here it’s “hail and fire mingled with blood.” It’s literally cast to the earth.
The commentators throughout church history have done everything in their power to eliminate this and make it symbolic and spiritual. I’m very, very confident that it’s literal and real. Revelation 8 and 9 are reflective of the plagues of Egypt. What happened in Exodus 7-12 when the plagues of Egypt were released upon this wicked nation to liberate the people of God? It formed them and liberated them. What happened in Exodus was a dress rehearsal in one little nation for what will happen on a global scale at the end of the age. It isn’t figurative; it’s literal. We don’t know what all the details are; we don’t know what it means. I can’t exactly picture fire falling from heaven mingled with blood, but we know what the impact is: a third of the trees and all the grass is burned. Basically, the food supply is tremendously diminished. The diminishing of the food supply is one of the severe results of this first trumpet. When vegetation is disrupted with a third of the trees and all the grass burned, the cows don’t eat well. The meat, the milk, the fruit, the food, are diminished and disrupted. That’s the most dynamic point going on here; it’s related to the food supply.
Of course, it throws the balance off within the systems of ecology. Who knows what impact that will have? There are people in this room, and maybe a lot of people in this room, who will see verse 7 in their lifetime. I really believe this. The Church and the world certainly don’t imagine that they will. Neither was Pharaoh prepared to see it in his lifetime, but he saw it. Suddenly the Hebrew slaves were caught unawares, because these very things happened in front of their eyes.
GOD WILL MAKE SUPERNATURAL PROVISION FOR THE SAINTS
Malachi says that the Lord shall come suddenly (Mal. 3:1). He always has His forerunners announcing a head of time to the very few who listen, “Planet earth will be taken unawares.” Verse 7 is literal, and again, we don’t know all the details of what it will look like. We can’t understand all the details, but we do know the impact. The impact is that a third of the trees are burned, and all of the grass is, too. Vegetation is significantly harmed, and the food supply is disrupted.
God will make supernatural provision for the saints. He fed the children of Israel out in the wilderness. They didn’t need grocery stores; water came right out of a rock. Food came straight from heaven. I’m not worried about the Church. What Jesus did with the children of Israel in the wilderness out of Egypt and what Jesus did in multiplying the food will be a common occurrence. It’s going to be our greatest day.
THE BOOK OF REVELATION IS THE FINEST HOUR FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD
I was talking to someone the other day and he said, “Are we not going to be raptured out?”

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I said, “No. To be raptured out ahead of this isn’t a biblical doctrine.” It’s a biblical doctrine to be raptured, but that’s at the time of the second coming. We will be caught up in the air. That’s biblical doctrine, but not before this. The saints are on the earth. They show up in the story of the book of Revelation all the time.
He said, “Oh no!”
I said, “No, no, no, no, wrong spots.”
He kicked into a prophetic mode and said, “Boy, the people are really going to be disappointed and disillusioned when this stuff starts happening.”
I said, “No, I think you’re zero for two right now. That’s wrong, too. We are going to be here, so you missed the first point. And you missed the second point, too, because they’re not going to be disillusioned.”
I said, “The Lord is going to progressively warn His Church and get them ready with rigor and divine excitement for what’s happening. I don’t think they’re going to be all depressed. It would be like telling a trained athlete, ‘You’ve trained your whole life. The Super Bowl is next week, but I’m going to deliver you from the Super Bowl. Why don’t you just sit on the bench so you don’t get hurt?”
The book of Revelation is the finest hour for the people of God. We’ve been trained throughout history and in our own individual lives not to be delivered from the game in the most important hour of history.
I said, “I don’t think there are too many athletes who would appreciate being protected from the struggle of the Super Bowl if they’ve spent their whole lives practicing for it.” I don’t think the saints are going to be disappointed. As things build, they’ll realign their thinking. We will be ready to go, and not because we’re so noble, but because He’s such a good leader. We’re not very good followers, but He’s an excellent leader. We’re not very good learners, but He’s a great teacher. He’s going to teach, and He will lead His people rightly. We’re going to show up on time, prepared and ready for the action.
I don’t believe the children of Israel were hoping that they would miss out on the display of power that God released through Moses. The children of Israel said, “Whoa!” We will be here; I assure you of that. That will be our finest hour.
THE PROGRESSIVE ESCALATION OF THE SEVEN TRUMPETS
In verse 7, fire is coming from heaven worldwide. We don’t know exactly what it looks like. It’s a supernatural work of God. A third of the trees will be burned, and all of the green grass. By the way, there’s an intensity that builds in the seven trumpets, just like in the seven bowls of wrath. The intensity builds and it builds in severity. Each one is a warning for the next one. It’s God’s mercy. He begins fairly intensely, but it ends up really intensely. Each one is to warn and prepare the people on the earth. He’s not just preparing unbelievers to say yes to Him; He’s also preparing the Church to get rid of all this junk, all of the props that we’re leaning on to produce false happiness in our lives. It never delivers our hearts.
I’m talking about the Body of Christ; I’m talking about us. We’re the good guys, right? We’re the ones who are going for it. In our midst there are so many who lean on props to make our hearts happy, but they don’t deliver

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our hearts into liberty. Five years, ten years, twenty years later for many of us, our hearts are still not delivered, and we’re still leaning on the same props.
The Lord says, “I like you so much. I want you to soar in liberty. I’m going to kick some of the props out little by little.” It will invigorate the Church, and it will bring in the harvest as well. The intensity builds.
In verse 8, the second angel sounds. Someone says, “Do we hear the sound on the earth?”
My guess is, yes and no. I don’t know that everyone in the earth hears a trumpet sound, but the prophetic spirit will be so developed and so widespread that, without a doubt, multitudes and multitudes of believers will have dreams and divine visitations. It’s like you’ll have this awesome experience where the Lord shows you this. You’ll say, “Guess what? The Lord showed me Revelation 8:8.”
A group is going to look at you and say, “Yeah, you’re the fifth person to say that today. It’s really old news by now. Thank you.”
The Lord will communicate this, and the Church will know where we are in the journey according to the pattern in the book of Revelation. This is just a theory and I can’t prove it, but I believe it.
“AND A THIRD OF THE LIVING CREATURES IN THE SEA DIED”
“Then the second angel sounded: and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood” (Rev. 8:8). Here’s that fire from verse 5 being cast to the earth again. It touches the sea, and a third of the sea becomes blood.
“And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed” (Rev. 8:9). This has to do with food supply again. When the vegetation in the first trumpet is disrupted, we go right to the sea for the fish industry. I don’t mean we, the Body of Christ, because the Lord will provide for His people supernaturally.
The world is going to say, “Well, it’s not working. The cows are no longer healthy; let us go to the sea.” Again, this is about food. It isn’t only about food, but it’s mostly about food. All of the fish and chips, etc., are going to be gone. A lot of it is.
THE LORD IS DIMINISHING THE LIFE SUPPORTS OF PLANET EARTH
Then, in verse 10, the third angel sounds. Here’s fire again. It’s the third time in a row. When the angel threw the fire in verse 5, it was literal. It’s a revival fire on one hand, and a destroying fire on another hand. This fire falls upon the rivers and the springs. The first trumpet has disrupted the food supply on the ground. The second trumpet has diminished the food supply in the sea. Now the fresh water supply is diminished. It isn’t entirely gone, but diminished. Twelve times in Revelation 8 and 9 the word one-third is used. It’s used twelve different times. The Lord is diminishing the life supports of planet earth. He’s trying to get the attention of the human race. He’s diminishing the life support. He will be the supply for His people; of that I am certain. He did it in the wilderness with three million Jewish ex-slaves. He did it with Elijah when he was running from the Jezebel spirit incarnate. It was Jezzie herself. The Lord fed this prophet, which is a picture of the forerunner spirit. Elijah himself was fed supernaturally by the ravens. Out in the wilderness, so to speak, the Lord fed the people many times when He was operating in signs and wonders. Water came from a rock for forty years in a

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wilderness. Everything that happened throughout redemptive history is a token of what will happen in fullness in the last hour of natural history.
IS THE DEVASTATION TO COME DIVINE OR NATURAL?
In verse 10, it fell upon the water supply. In verse 11 “many men died” (Rev. 8:11)—millions died. Millions die from the poisoned water. Is this natural or supernatural? My understanding of how the Lord works is that it’s probably a combination of both. There’s probably a supernatural dimension. The plagues of Egypt were very supernatural. They came from above, and transcended the natural order. My opinion is that there will be a supernatural dimension where the Lord will supernaturally heighten these plagues as He disrupts the natural order of life. There will be natural things, too, like the fallout of radiation. Chemical warfare will be so much more sophisticated. When it’s all said and done, our methods of warfare will probably go down in history as being slow and not especially destructive when compared to the biological and chemical warfare of the future. Radiation, which we first encountered in the 1940s, is incredibly destructive. But in comparison to what’s coming, it will probably look like nothing, because it’s so slow and doesn’t have much of an impact compared to what’s being developed right now. The biological and chemical warfare are so sophisticated. Add another ten or twenty years to this and there could be very natural means for this along with those that are supernatural. It’s a combination.
REVELATION MAKES UP THE DIFFERENCE WHEN THE NATURAL MIND IS DULL
Whatever we do, we need to pull out Revelation 8. We need to dust it off and read it as though it’s really going to happen. We need to read it as if we were reading the plagues of Egypt before Moses appeared on the scene. The plagues of Egypt really, really happened. I know this isn’t realistic to the natural mindset. That’s what revelation is all about. Revelation makes up the difference when the natural mind is dull. When the natural mind can’t perceive, that’s what the spirit of revelation is about. The more I feed my spirit on the book of Revelation and these things it describes, the more real the Holy Spirit makes it to me. The more real Revelation 8 and 16 and the other places become, the more real are the first six verses on the altar of incense, which is the prayer ministry. It’s difficult to show the value of the first six verses, which is the prayer ministry at the end of the age, if you don’t know what’s on the other end of the prayer ministry. The very balance of human life and the very increase of redemption itself is established and determined by the end-time prayer ministry. Beloved, that’s what we’re about. This is amazing! It’s a bunch of slow and dull people like you and me. We found our way to the prayer ministry. How did we do that? I’m very dull and you’re very dull. I’m very slow and you’re very slow. It’s because we’re humans. Somehow it’s the year 2000 and we’re attending to the end-time prayer movement. How did that happen? How did you get in this chair tonight? I’m talking to the people who are listening through the Internet. How did they get interested in this? It wasn’t that you were smarter than most; it’s the grace of God and the spirit of revelation drawing you.
We’re at the beginning of the beginning. Beloved, it’s really around the corner, for real. What we do in the Night Watch, the afternoon watch, the evening watch, and the morning watch, has a whole new dignity and significance to it.
“A THIRD OF THE DAY DID NOT SHINE, AND LIKEWISE THE NIGHT”
“Then the fourth angel sounded: and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night” (Rev. 8:12). The first trumpet touches the food as it relates to vegetation—food being the animals, vegetables, and fruits. The second trumpet touches the food from the sea. It’s getting intense now. The world is saying, “Oh no!” They’ve

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always had the sea, for a little while there, and now it’s disrupted by a third, though not entirely. This is the mercy of God. The Lord is trying to get the attention of planet earth. When the food in the sea is diminished, then the water supply is diminished. It’s poisoned from heaven.
THE SAFEST PLACE ON EARTH AT THE END OF THE AGE IS THE HOUSE OF PRAYER
By the way, this is the Lamb of God doing this. It isn’t the devil; it’s God. The atmosphere is darkened. I can’t remember where, but it’s somewhere between Exodus 7 and 12. It says that when the darkness settled over Egypt, the deep darkness, they gnawed, they groaned, and gnashed their teeth in pain because of the darkness (cf. Ex. 10:21-23). I don’t know how that happens, but there’s a pain related to the heavy darkness that fell on Egypt. I don’t understand all of that, but I can tell you one thing: the safest place on earth at the end of the age is in the house of prayer. It absolutely is. It really, really is.
In some ways it’s dangerous, because the house of prayer, the altar of incense, the end-time worship and prayer ministry, is the piece of furniture that’s right next to the throne of God in the tabernacle. It has the highest position of honor and power in the furniture of the tabernacle. The altar of incense is right there in front of the throne. Jesus lives forever as the Intercessor. Here we’re engaged with the eternal Intercessor releasing the revival fires that bring tremendous signs, wonders, and healings.
The stadiums will be filled. They will release the destructive judgments that are knocking the props out of the lives of believers and unbelievers, so that they can be awakened to truth. “Awake, awake, O sleeper,” is what the Lord is saying through the trumpets. The Church will awaken and many will be saved, but many others will be enraged with anger against God.
THE JUSTICE WROUGHT BY NIGHT-AND-DAY PRAYER WILL INFURIATE SATAN
Again, this end-time prayer ministry that we’re a part of doesn’t make as much sense if you don’t know Revelation 8 and 9—or you can put Psalm 149 there. When Psalm 149 talks about loosing the vengeance upon nations, then just read Revelation 8 and 9. That’s the vengeance that Psalm 149 is talking about. Prayer is good in and of itself. We feel the Lord’s presence; we get transformed and sense the sweetness of it. Beloved, there’s a lot more going on than experiencing the sweetness of His presence.
People say, “I want to be in the house of prayer. I love the presence of God.”
I say, “That’s a great reason.” It’s the safest place, and in some ways it’s a very dangerous place. The night-and- day worship and intercession ministry pokes the evil one right in the eye. This is a ministry he won’t be silent about. The altar of incense is around the throne, but the earthly symbolism of it is in the tabernacle of Moses and the temple of Solomon. When the altar of incense, or the prayer ministry, is fully activated, it will bring terror to Satan’s kingdom, and he will do everything he can to intimidate those called to this.
A BACKDOOR COMPLIMENT FROM THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS
Tonight we had prayer for the people who feel a spirit of heaviness. I’m not minimizing the pain of the darkness and heaviness that some of you are experiencing. I don’t want to minimize that. It’s a backdoor compliment from the kingdom of darkness, and he wants to intimidate you away from this thing. He has no deliverance if the prayer ministry is in place. There’s no deliverance. Satan has no way out when he sees the altar of incense being established. It’s the ministry of night-and-day prayer.

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Jesus said it in Luke 18:8. He said, “When the night-and-day prayer happens, the justice of God will touch the earth” (Lk. 18:8, paraphrased). We will see signs and wonders. There are two sides of justice. There’s the revival side for those who are seeking after God, and there’s the destructive side for the rebellious. When the justice of God breaks forth in power, Satan’s kingdom is in trouble; and that is why he wants to destroy night- and-day prayer. He wants to intimidate you right now. He wants to intimidate you and scare you away from this calling. He wants to put blinders on your eyes; he wants to put smoke and fog in your eyes. He wants you to get disoriented, to lose your way, and he will do anything to get you to quit, because he has very limited time and a very limited measure of what he can do to you.
It’s a dangerous place, with an asterisk. In other words, we’re not afraid of the devil, but we’re respectful of his authority because it’s real. His rage is real, but it can’t prevail. It can’t prevail, though it is real. He wants to intimidate the end-time prayer movement. He can’t win.
“WEEPING MAY LAST FOR A NIGHT, BUT JOY COMES IN THE MORNING”
Someone says, “OK, I’ll do the logic; I’ll just get out of that.”
Beloved, it’s the safest place at the end of the age, too. When Satan is raging against planet earth, you want to be in corporate, unified, anointed prayer, with the authority of God working through you. You don’t want to be stuck with a spirit of heaviness taking the very life out of you, and having no authority to throw it off. I know the answer: the answer is that when the intimidation comes, we endure it and press through it. We can’t go back, because to operate in powerlessness with no authority won’t deliver anyone. There’s that moment and there’s that season when he strikes and we’re still pressing. It’s called endurance.
David says, “Weeping may last for a night, but the breakthrough of joy comes in the morning” (Ps. 30:5, paraphrased). That’s a promise. A number of you are stuck in the weeping, but the weeping will only last for a season. I promise you, the weeping is only for a season.
THE CALL TO A MINISTRY THAT WILL DISRUPT SATAN’S KINGDOM
Those who are called to the night-and-day ministry are in a difficult spot. It’s the call to a ministry that will disrupt Satan’s kingdom and power. But we’re in the safest place as well. It’s interesting that the perfume in Exodus 30:34-35 is a perfumed incense; it’s this incense here in Revelation 8:3. God spoke to Moses about the incense. He said, “Let Me tell you, Moses. I want you to do this. I want you to have these five ingredients. They’re four types of spice, or incense, plus salt. Here’s the deal: you have to get these five ingredients and put them in a little bowl.”
Here’s the key: “Those five ingredients must be ground into fine powder, but the fragrance will be sure.” He said, “Grind it. Grind it into fine powder” (Ex. 30:36). Leviticus 16 tells us to beat it into fine flour or fine grain, but to beat it so that the sweetness comes out. It’s the incense.
Some of us tonight are in that place where the incense is being worked for real. You’re being ground into fine flour, so to speak, fine grains of incense. The Lord says, “The perfume will come, and it will prevail.”
Some of you are saying, “I’m at the end and I can’t take it.” I’ve heard that more than usual in the last couple of weeks. “I’m at the end and I can’t take it anymore.” I don’t mind poetry. “I’m at the end and I can’t stand it.” Just listen to their heart and let them be poetic.

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There are only two options. One option is to quit, which is to throw away all your armor and go to the front lines with no weapons. That’s not an option. There is no third option. Some people think there are three options; there are only two. They think, “I’m on the front lines for God.” Option one is this: “I can’t take it.” Option two is this: “I want to go into the safety zone where I just hang out for a year or two and get my breath.” That’s the one they’re thinking of.
Option three is that they stand defenseless before the rage of Satan. They say, “I don’t want that one. Standing defenseless is way worse than where I am today. This is hard.” They’re imagining this other option of “time out.” A lot of people imagine a “time out.”
“I can’t stand it.”
I don’t mind poetry, I really don’t, but sometimes I’m in that funny mood and I say, “What are you thinking? What do you think is the other option?”
“I’m not taking it.”
“Then what? Are you thinking there’s a little ‘time-out’ place? You don’t really think there’s a little safety zone to get a couple of breaths and then come back to the battle, do you? You don’t really think that exists, do you?”
“Well, no, I guess there really isn’t a ‘time out.”
“Satan doesn’t respect any holidays. Seriously, there’s no leave of absence in his rage. There’s none.”
“Well, I guess there’s not a ‘time out,’ huh?”
“Then what’s your option, being defenseless before his rage?”
“I guess I’m back to option one. I can’t take it, but I’m just being poetic.”
God has promised that as He makes this perfumed incense, He will make a way of escape. He won’t allow us to be tested beyond what we can bear (1 Cor. 10:13).
God Himself says, “I promise you, I won’t let you be tested above the strength that I have given you in the grace of God. I won’t let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, I promise you.”
The Lord doesn’t mind poetry. You can say, “I can’t take it,” but before you let that lodge in your heart, really think of what it means.
There’s no “time out.” The only other option is being defenseless before rage at the end of the age. Rather, live in endurance, knowing that perfume is being formed in you. The spices are being ground. The perfume is coming. The perfume is coming! The perfume is coming! How did you men get here tonight? I don’t mean, “What car did you drive?” I’m going back to ten minutes ago. How did someone as slow and dull as you in the last twenty years end up interested in the end-time prayer movement? Seriously, how did that happen? The

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same is true of me. The same is true of the most anointed man or women in the earth. We’re slow and dull by nature. How did you end up invigorated with the prayer movement? Was it the devil that tricked you into the prayer movement?
“Well, no, it wasn’t the devil.”
“I know. It was fleshly desires calling you to night-and-day prayer and fasting.” “No, no, that wasn’t it.”
If it wasn’t the devil and it wasn’t the flesh, then how did you wake up to this? It was by the spirit of revelation. If God brought you here and promised you that He would never allow anything beyond your strength, then guess what? Perfume is coming! You will be a carrier of the perfume. You will.
JESUS OF NAZARETH WAS CRUSHED FOR THE SAKE OF LOVE
“I can’t take it!”
That isn’t exactly true. More accurately, “It hurts really bad!” That’s actually more accurate.
I don’t mind, “I can’t take it.” I don’t mind that as long as you really know that there’s not a “time out,” and that the only other option is being defenseless at the end of the age against the raging devil and a jealous God. You don’t want to go there.
“OK, I can take it. It just hurts a lot.”
I understand. The good news is that the Man who is loosing the seals is a man. He’s human. He was bruised. He was crushed into fine powder to be perfume. Jesus from Nazareth is a man who is tender and sympathetic. He says, “I was crushed.”
“I was crushed!”
“I know, and I feel for you. I promise you I will deliver you. I promise you that I’ll deliver you.” Not only are you going to be delivered, but also, it’s this incense in verse 3. It’s this much incense. It’s perfumed incense. You have to go to Exodus 30:34 or Leviticus 16:12. It’s perfumed incense that He’s making you, but it’s more than His making you a sweet perfume to God. It’s more than that. He’s making you an instrument of destruction for Satan’s kingdom, and Satan hates you. He wants to intimidate you. He wants to shut you down. He wants to put smoke in your eyes and get you dizzy and disoriented.
DELIVERERS ARE BORN IN THE FIRES OF ADVERSITY
Do you know what? We’re in this thing together. Together we can make it. Together we can press through this thing. The Lord is going to use the prayer movement to bring deliverance to planet earth. You’re part of it. Kings can be appointed in a day; presidents can be voted on in one hour. Deliverers are formed over a lifetime. Deliverers are not made in a day; they’re baked in the oven for a while. There’s no one who is going to carry the deliverance ministry like the end-time prayer warriors. Worshipers and prayer warriors, you’re deliverers in the

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making. Deliverers are not born in a day. They’re born over a lifetime in the fires of adversity, but the perfume comes forth. Beloved, it’s the very balance of the power of the grace of God touching humans.
Natural history is culminating. It’s in the hands of the great Intercessor Himself, Jesus. He’s partnering with millions of intercessors. Right now He’s doing Esther 2:12, He’s bathing us in myrrh, spices, and beauty perfumes. Those beauty perfumes were bitter spices. He’s bathing you in spices, frankincense, and myrrh. They’re bitter spices, but they’re very, very fragrant. That is where you are right now. Esther rose up to deliver a nation. You’re deliverers with the great Intercessor, and He’s bathing you in oil. They call it beauty preparations.
“Esther, how do you like beauty preparation?”
“I don’t like it. It hurts sometimes.”
“You’re going to marry the King. You’re going to rule in the kingdom. You’re going to deliver the people.” “Oh, OK, good. That’s good.”
Amen. Let’s stand.
MINISTRY TIME
Revelation 8: this is what makes sense of your life. It’s the “much incense.” It’s being formed in you on the earth, and it’s going to be poured out in heaven on our prayers. When that incense in heaven meets our prayers, there will be unity. Our prayers will be in the same spirit as the incense that comes from God in heaven.
There will be unity. It’s of the same spirit. Again, I’m going to call people who are feeling really beaten down. You’re being intimidated by the evil one. I’ve been intimidated, and it’s not the last time. I’m not prophesying negative things over myself. The enemy intimidates, and I’m human and you’re human. It hurts, but together we can get through this thing in time. We need endurance. He will not give us anything we can’t endure.
Instead of saying, “I can’t take it,” say, “It hurts a lot.” That’s the real truth. The Lord doesn’t mind the poetry. You can say, “I can’t take it,” if that’s how it comes out, but know in your mind that there are no options. Come stand up here if you want. If you feel stuck, and I mean your heart is in pain, I want you to come and stand here. We’re going to pray for you again.
Don’t be ashamed; it’s a backdoor compliment. Satan doesn’t want the prayer movement to take root. He’s lying. He’s trying to shut you down.
We love You, Jesus. We want perfume and the north and south winds of Song 4:16. Why? So that the perfume will be in our garden. Some of you have been praying for the north winds for years. The Lord says, “I’m sending them because of the perfume.”
We get in the middle of it and we say, “We don’t want the north wind.”
He says, “You have to. The perfume won’t come unless the north winds come as well.”

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Beloved, He’s going to shake the earth through our prayers. Revelation 8: He’s going to shake the earth. Come. For such a time as this you have been called to the kingdom. God is doing beauty preparations. It’s beauty preparations that are happening in your life. It’s Esther 2:12. The Lord is making you a deliverer. He’s building deliverers. He’s forming them. Don’t be ashamed. He’s wearing you down. Don’t be ashamed. That’s very normal, but we can stand together.
Come, north winds! Come north winds! We want the spice of God. We want the fragrance of God. Come, north winds! Come and deliver us! Come and deliver us! We will not draw back from You, Jesus. We will not draw back. We’re Yours. We’re Yours, Jesus!
I’m going to have the worship team turn to 1 Corinthians 10:13. It’s this thing about God being faithful. He will make a way of escape.
I’m going to ask others to come up. Some of you are saying, “I’m really not doing that well.” That’s OK. Your hands and the sympathy in your heart in the name of Jesus will bring deliverance to some people. Maybe you’re not that strong right now, but you have a heart of compassion. You’re sympathizing with these people. Come and take your hand out of your pocket and lay it on them. The prayers of the saints are powerful. We sympathize with our brothers and sisters, because they’re here today and we’re there tomorrow. They’re there the day after, and we help each other. We deliver one another in the prayers in the faithfulness of God.
I’m going to read this passage and have Carol sing it: 1 Corinthians 10:13. Then we’re going to look at a few phrases and pray it over you. There’s no calamity and no pressure, but He’s faithful to you. God is faithful. These are songs of deliverance. Psalm 32 talks about songs of deliverance. In the ministry time when we gather, these are songs of deliverance, and they do matter. God is faithful. He is faithful. He understands your pain.
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