For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
    for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet,
till her righteousness shines out like the dawn,
    her salvation like a blazing torch.
² The nations will see your righteousness,
    and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
    that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
³ You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand,
a royal diadem in the hand of your God. (Isaiah 62:1-3)

God is in the business of shining up his bride.  Scripture says “that just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, ²⁶ that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷ that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:26-27)

And then there is this scripture in Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”  When we long for the righteousness of God the promise in scripture is that we shall be filled with it.

It is not just that we shall be filled but when we long for God there is the promise that he is with us and will make our paths straight (Matthew 6:33).   Isaiah 41:13 says, “For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”  God is your help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1).

I know what I am saying is challenging, but we are promised that if we long for righteousness we shall be set free.  The Holy Spirit is our Sanctifier and helper (Ezekiel 36:26), who comes to reside within our hearts and empowers us to walk the Holy Way.  It is true that you do not have the strength of character to keep the law, that is why when Christ died and went to the right hand of the father he sent the Holy Spirit to be our helper and guide (John 14:15-16).

When the Holy Spirit comes upon our lives it is like the hand of God coming to our aid and we are able to do what once was impossible for us to do.  No longer are we bound to the chains of sin but through the blood of Jesus and the empowering of the Holy Spirit we are set free to be righteous and true.  We become a new man renewed in our hearts by the work of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 4:16).

The Right hand of God, which is really the Son of God, Jesus Christ, sets us free to become what he was in the earth.  The same peace and expression that was upon the countenance of Christ becomes our peace and expression.  As he won hearts through right living we will too.

I am not speaking as one who knows no sin in his life.  I have sinned in every way imaginable.  The freedom from sin that is in my life now was won by the work of Christ on the cross.  It was the Lord’s right hand that set me free.

I pray that you will advance toward your destiny as one has been set free by the right hand of God.

One of the ways to secure destiny is through the realization that God’s word is not just an empty basket without substance.  The word of God is about the promises of God for a life of obedience, and you are empowered by Holy Spirit to live a life of obedience when you submit your life to Christ.

It is the grace of God working in me that empowers me to obey.  All I have to do is submit, listen, obey and remain in the vine.

But when you do remain in the word of God blessings begin to overtake your life.  The same promises that were given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and to the nation of Israel become promises for your life too.

What do you mean do you ask?

Well, let’s take a passage like Deuteronomy 28 (I suggest you follow the link and read the passage in whole), which is filled with so many promises for the obedient child of God.  When I understand in my heart that these blessings are available to me because of my obedience (which again is empowered by Holy Spirit), then I can use them as a word to fight my prayer battles.  Here is an example of how I might pray using the above passage.

“Lord Jesus, you said that I would be blessed in the city and in the country and that when I come in and go out I would be blessed, therefore my God I declare that your blessing will flow through and from my life. My God, I will be the head and not the tail in all my dealings with the enemy. Nothing can arise against me to destroy me because I am obedient to Christ and His word for my life, therefore I will be victorious in all my life.” 

When these prayers take over my heart they are answered, because I am praying according to a promise in scripture, which is God’s word for my life.

And truly I am victorious in my life even when I may face valleys and mountains of many kinds.  As long as I have God’s word in my heart I know that I will overcome.  There is no fear or circumstance, nothing negative that can hold me down.  I am more than a conqueror when I have the word of God for my life.

I pray that you will feel this security too.

God bless you all,

Pastor Darren Canning

We have all received prophetic words about our destinies.  We have all heard the things that God has in store for our lives. We have all been offered the same chance at becoming sons and daughters of God.  But not everyone seems to be able to walk into their promised lands.

But we grow frustrated in waiting, don’t we?  How do I possess the promises of God?  How do I go from having a prophetic word spoken over my life to actually possessing the promise within the word? If I can offer some insights regarding how to obtain the promises of God for your life it would be a blessing for me.

My understanding of the blessings of God is that they are for everyone.  Romans 2:11 says, “For God does not show favoritism.”  What he has done for one person he will do for another.

It is my belief that God has destiny for each one of us.  Each person has the ability to accomplish great things with their life in Christ in God.  Just because you were born into poverty or you have endured hardship is not a reason to believe that your destiny has been destroyed.  2 Corinthians 9:8 says, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

As we learn to walk in the sound of God’s voice he will open up many realms for you that you did not expect.  He will destroy the lies that you have come into agreement with and you will begin to possess the gates of greater revelation, wealth and prosperity.

You do not have to accept less for your life than what God has for you.  You can live in abundance now and abundance forever.  But in order to possess the things that God has for your life you have to learn to hear his voice.  He will speak to you about many things.  He will tell you about what he wants you to do for a living, he will talk to you about your wife or husband, he will tell you where to live, where to go to church, how many kids he wants you to have, etc.  God will talk to you about everything in your life if you will let him.  It is when we allow God to direct the details of our lives that blessings come upon us.

This is essentially the essence of Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight.”

And here is another great scripture in Jeremiah 6:16, “This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”

We are always standing at a crossroads when we come to God in prayer.  When we humble ourselves before God he opens up a way where there seems to be no way.  This is the ancient path of prayer.  Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

I pray that you will inherit your destiny today.  I ask the Lord to bless you to hear his voice and to give you the strength to walk in it.  May you find him when you seek for him with all your heart.

God bless you all.

I have been spending much time praying about God’s next steps for my life. I have come to understand that in order to walk effectively I must hear effectively. If I move out before I hear God speak I can get into all kinds of trouble.

One night I had a vision that reminded me of when I was a child and I would sneak through backyards of houses in order to move more quickly to the streets that lay beyond. Doing this meant that we got to where we wanted to go more quickly, but it was also risky because you could get into trouble if you got caught on private property.

In this dream I saw myself doing this. I was in one backyard ready to jump the fence into the next backyard, which was on the street that I wanted to get to. I safely made my way through the first yard and over the fence, but when I got into the next yard a Doberman Pinscher was coming out the back door of that house.

Not wanting to deal with this animal I jumped back over the fence into the previous yard, but when I did the owners of that house saw me, so I started to run.

I got to the front of the house and the lady of the house was outside bringing the garbage out or checking something in her car. I ran past her and she just looked at me and kept going. She wasn’t that concerned about my presence, but I was pretty traumatized by the ordeal at this point and glad to be back in the other street.

It might seem like a good idea to take short cuts, but the problem with that is that you don’t know if that is the legal route that God wants you to take. The truth is that you may be walking into another person’s territory by trying to cheat time. By staying on the course that God wants you to take you will get to where he wants you to go in the time that he wants you to get there.

In those places outside of God’s will there are dangers that you will face. Because you are not in legal territory – territory defined for you by God – you might encounter the devil and his henchmen. You may encounter darkness and evil in your life. The best course is God’s course – the straight and narrow way.

I know just as well as anybody the desire to get ahead quickly, and I have the ability to do it, but is this what God wants of me? Yes, I could start out on my own and probably make a good go of it, but if God is not in it then why would I want to be there. The truth is the reason that I want to be somewhere else is due to ungodly emotions that I must be healed from.

Some questions that I ask myself when I am trying to take short cuts are:

What is it God that you want to deal with inside of me so that I might stay in the centre of your will?

Why do I want to move before your time?

Why do I think my timing is better than your timing?

The answers to these questions will bring healing to your life and bring you back into alignment with what God has for your destiny. If you are in alignment then be thankful and pray for those of us that aren’t. Please pray for me and ask God to heal me so that I might walk more fully in him at all times.

Psalm 63:1–You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

Luke 4:1, 14–And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil…And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.

One time I had a vision. I was walking in this great desert. The heat was pounding down on my head. Everywhere I looked I saw sand scorching under the sun’s great heat. I walked and walked for what seemed to be hours on end. I was growing weary but then I saw a turn come in the road. I praised the Lord because I thought that my walk in the desert was over. But when I made the turn it was the same thing all over again. I walked and walked in the desert. I was thirsty, sweaty, hungry and tired.

I walked again for what seemed to be even more hours and then I got weary and angry. I cried out to God in the vision. I screamed at the top of my lungs, “How much longer my God? How much further do I have to go?”

As soon as I cried out this way I heard a voice cry back to me. He said, “five more minutes.” Well, I have to be honest with you I was not prepared for such a trite answer. I thought God was mocking me. How could he consider my time in this forsaken desert in such a flippant way.

But then I saw it. There was a break on the horizon. I saw a giant bridge that spanned across an arm of the ocean. I felt refreshed just looking at this bridge. It was my road to a new place. God had provided me with the answer as quickly as he said he would.

I really believe that the desert experience is about God purging us of the old man. He brings us there so that he can kill that old sinful and impure fellow. I have come to love the desert. Not because it is such a wonderful place to be but because of who I become when I get to the other side. I become stronger and I am able to carry more of his glory and blessing in my life. I now cry out and ask God to take me there so that I will become more like him in my ways.

Do not try to escape the desert. Stay there and let God do his work in your life. Cry out for deliverance and in due time it will come your way.

Matthew 4:4 says, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

Have you ever had the joy of eating a fresh piece of bread from the oven? When I was a boy my grandmother made the best bread. She had a big family and would make 8 loaves of bread a day. I would go over there after school or in the summer afternoon just to get a slice of that bread. I loved that bread. I would smother it with butter just to watch it melt into the texture of the slices.

That bread brought me great joy, but the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ brings me much more joy. When I receive a word from the Lord it inspires me to rest, and as I rest in the word he gives to me a certainty comes over me that it will come to pass.

Every true word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord comes to pass, and as you learn to differentiate his words from your own words or the word of the enemy great peace enters your spirit as a result.

There have been many times that I have struggled with fear regarding situations that arise in my life. When I do one of the first things I do is put my head down and I ask the Lord to speak to my heart. His assurance quickly comes like lightness in my spirit. When I sense this lightness I know he is saying “Fear not, for I am with you.” When I sense this I know no matter what I am going through it will be alright and joy quickly enters in.

When I receive the word of the Lord it is like joy to my bones. Just as bread is sustenance and nourishment to my body, his living word is sustenance and nourishment to my soul. It would be hard to live any other way now. I know that I lived without this for a long time, but I could never ever go back. I am addicted to his word for my life.

I pray that you will find rest for your soul today. I also pray that God will help you to hear his voice as you read the bible and pray. I pray that the small still voice of the Father and the joy and peace of the Holy Spirit will be close to you always. As you receive his word may joy explode in your soul and may you live in the bosom of the Lord forever.

The Promised Land was an actual location between the River of Egypt and the Euphrates River in the ancient territory of Canaan, but the symbolism of that piece of land has taken on greater meaning. Genesis 12:7 says, “The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.“ The Lord made a promise to his people in that appearance to Abram that they would possess the entire land of promise.

In the same way through Christ the Father is still making the same promise to us. He is saying that if we will seek him with all of our heart we will find him. I believe the promise land of old is both a literal place and a spiritual place. Each one of us has a spiritual territory in our hearts that God is commanding us to take. The territory of our minds and our bodies must become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. As we press toward God he fills us deeper and deeper with his presence. His glory overtakes us and we become more like him. His peace becomes our expression and His joy our everlasting strength.

Deuteronomy 1:8 says, “See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the LORD swore he would give to your fathers — to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob —and to their descendants after them.” And just like the Israelites of old who had a choice of taking the land or accepting the idolatrous ways of the Canaanites so do we have a choice of how much we will obey the Father’s will. The Israelites at first did not believe they could inhabit the entire land of Canaan. You will remember that when the 12 spies entered the land, only two believed in the possibility that it could be conquered. This disbelief led the Israelites into 40 years of wandering the desert. Only 2 of the original group of people who were older than 20 years of age, at the time of the departure from Egypt, made it into the Promised Land – Caleb and Joshua.

How many of us are wandering in the desert of unbelief when God wishes us to walk in the glorious promised land of faith. Perhaps unbelief in the promises of God has resulted in a lack of fulfillment in your life. You have an idea of what God wanted you to accomplish, but as you look at your life you don’t feel like you have accomplished anything at all.

The Israelites had to destroy the strongholds of the enemy in the land of Canaan before they could possess that great land of promise. You will remember that they took Jericho by a miracle of God. When they did what God said the walls of that city came tumbling down. In the same way, God is saying just trust in me and the walls of depression, anxiety and fear are about to come tumbling down in your life.

But the tumbling of those walls is just the beginning for you. God is destroying these strongholds so that you may possess a greater portion. The crumbling of the city of Jericho was a sign to the inhabitants of the land of Canaan that the people of God were going to possess the entire Promised Land. In the same way, as God destroys the work of the enemy in your life it is a sign to the enemy that you will be granted the entire portion of God’s promises – yes, the entire land of Canaan where the milk and honey does flow. Come on now, hear what I am saying. This realization makes the enemy wild. He don’t want you to know for one minute that God intends you to be completely fulfilled in your life and calling. He runs scared when he sees a wall come down in your life.

The land that God gives us is a land of milk and honey. It is a place where the joy of the Lord is our strength and where we walk in the riches of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. You do not have to walk another day without God’s peace deep in the core of your being. God was saying to the Israelites I am going to give you the entire land of promise all you have to do is believe. As we believe the Lord uses our own feet to gain the lost lands of our lives. As we walk forward by faith and carry out the acts of God we obtain the greater portions of our inheritance. He is our great King and God. He will accomplish all that he says he will accomplish in our lives.

And so I pray for you right now. I ask God to help you believe that the walled cities of your life are coming down, that he will show you how easy that really is. I pray that as you walk toward your Jericho that God will instill the greatest peace and joy within your hearts. May he grant you revelation and knowledge of the promises he has in store. And as you walk may you see these promises come to pass quickly and in God’s time.

Matthew 16:24-25–Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

Galatians 5:24–Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

One Friday evening we had such a large ministry team that we did not have enough generic ministry badges to pass out.  I was the only person that had his name upon his shirt stating that he was Pastoral Staff.

At one point I was ministering to people at the front of the revival tent. I looked down and my name tag was turned around. You could not see my name. I was about to turn it around when I felt a check on my spirit. I believe God was saying don’t turn it around, so I left it the way it was. For the next hour I ministered with the name tag reversed, but I have to say that I was aware that it was reversed.

In a way, don’t we all want people to know who we are? Personally there are times that I have to fight my insecurity of not being known. This evening was one of them. The temptation to turn that tag around was great. After all no one would fault me for doing it right…no one that is but God, who understands my heart and the desire that I have for attention.

The hour passed and the minister began to preach. During this time I looked down and the tag was still reversed. At this point I had had enough. I decided to turn it around. I took the tag off, turned it and then reattached it to my shirt with the name exposed for all to see.

Not even a minute later the name tag fell to the floor. God’s voice began booming like a drum within my heart. He said, “Does your name really matter?” I felt conviction so strongly and had to confess back to him, “Lord forgive me, my name really does not matter.”

You see God wants to be the face and name of our revivals. He doesn’t want man to take credit for his glorious acts. I felt he said that he was going to use a nameless and faceless generation which was not concerned with its own glory. I believe he is saying that he will become the face of the revival and that his glory will resound to the ends of the earth, but we must hide beneath his shadow and become observers only of his mighty acts. We will see much if we remember that he is the one performing.

To do this we must die to our need to be recognized. We must forget our names and completely identify ourselves with Christ only. The recognition of men doesn’t amount to much anyway. It will never satisfy. We must lift our heads to God and be willing to be famous in his eyes only. This is the only way we will succeed during this time. He will call us to observe great things, but we must humble ourselves and seek his glory only.

Even now I feel the struggle of wanting to be recognized within me and therefore, my prayer becomes “Please God, help my motivations to become more pure.”

Over the past few years the Lord has been revealing to me the power there is in praise and worship. I have learned that by being a radical worshipper I can help to bring the presence of God into a meeting. And when the presence of God shows up all kinds of things happen.

One Sunday I preached on this topic. I spoke about how pressing into praise can break strongholds in the enemy’s armour. Just like David facing Goliath with a stone, praise is the stone that can bring down the power of the enemy over our lives and churches. As we run headlong into praise we are like David who ran at Goliath swinging his sling. I can picture this scene. David filled with the Holy Spirit running as fast as he can at the giant and the giant falling under the power of a guided stone.

In praise I cry out to the Lord and he brings victory. One of the meanings of the Hebrew word for praise is to mar or to split. When I shout the name of Jesus, when I sing the name of Jesus, when I dance a dance to Jesus I cause something to stir in the spirit. There is a splitting in the atmosphere. The oppression that was on my life is broken. Oppression over churches and areas of our nation can be broken by our acts of praise.

When David hit Goliath with a stone it sent a shiver of the Holy Spirit through the armies of Israel. In that one moment the entire oppression of the enemy was destroyed. A people without possibility became a people of possibility. They saw the enemy destroyed and were empowered by the Holy Spirit to complete the task.

As I have praised God with all my heart I have seen services where people have also come under the same spirit. My prophetic act of praise has the ability to send the enemy running. When the people I am worshipping with sense this victory, then they too begin to praise with all their heart and the victory increases.

After praise people often begin to worship God. They begin to hunger for more. They sense the realm of the possible and faith arises for the presence of God to come more fully in all our lives. When the presence comes, the glory comes. Where the presence of the Lord is, there is healing, deliverance, salvations, miracles, signs and wonders. When the King comes, His Kingdom comes. It is like heaven on earth.

That Sunday as I preached I ended my sermon singing “O the Blood of Jesus.” I don’t usually sing the old hymns but it just sort of came out of my heart. As I sang something shifted in the atmosphere and the presence of God was there in a more powerful and manifest way. It was like a breeze came into the room and blew out all oppression. I had never experienced anything like that before.

Have you had a similar experience? If yes, please share with the rest of us. If not yet, just praise him and see his glory like you never have before…then share!

“Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.” (Isaiah 40:31 NASB)

It is my hope in God that keeps me steadfast on my journey of faith. While I wait for my journey to advance I have this joy within my heart, this knowledge that Almighty God loves me and has a plan for my life. (Jeremiah 29:11). And now and then he speaks about that journey, he plants a word in my spirit and that word becomes a signpost, a degree of knowledge that guides me step-by-step toward my future.

When I was young God spoke deeply to my Spirit. He told me that I would lead many people to the glory of God. I have sensed this call on my life since I was young. I have not always chosen to walk that ancient path, yet it has only been when I have walked God’s path that I have truly been satisfied in my life. Now I can honestly say that all else pales in comparison to the goal of obtaining Christ and sharing Him with the world around me.

It is this hope that I have in Christ that renews my strength like the eagles. As I have meditated and waited upon the Lord I have gained such energy in my life. The sadness that once was a signpost of my life is now gone and what remains is a deep inner peace and gladness of Spirit.

Many have come from all around to see this joy within me and many more will come to see it as well, because a man or woman who has the glory of God inside of them becomes a beacon of hope to the world.

I have not always been at peace and truly there are days that I still have to go deep in prayer to gain the peace that I desire, but each time it gets easier – I go deeper into God and He goes deeper into me. He cleanses the parts of me that need cleansing, he sweeps the dirty floors of my life as I cry Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty. He comes as I worship and he ministers to my brokenness. Alleluia to the Lamb!

In this place of worshipping the King of Kings my Spirit is renewed. I am strengthened. There have been many times when all I have done is worship God and that has broken down the wall between Him and I. Worship has a way of lifting the soul to heaven. It has a way of breaking strongholds over our lives and over the lives of those we share time with. It is not always easy to worship. Sometimes the self gets in the way. Sometimes I think too much of what my neighbor thinks, but when I forget myself, and those around me and concentrate fully on God such freedom comes, such liberty. Truly he who the son sets free is free indeed (John 8:38).

To me this is what it means to wait on God and to fly like the eagle.