50-Day Prayer Focus: Entering into Harvest Praying

I am excited about the following 50-Day Prayer Focus on Entering into Harvest Praying: Receiving Joy and Experiencing Release. In the Biblical Hebraic timetable, we have just entered the Pentecost season. Personally, I will be regrouping, catching up on reading some of your emails, and spending some much needed family time over the next ten days.
     This prayer focus is for all of us to shift our minds and thinking processes toward HARVEST. Remember, this is the time that we are to be watching NEW DOORS FORM. To “form” means to develop or mold the shape or outline of something or to give meaning, character or nature to something.
     Another way of looking at “a forming time” is when something is becoming what it will be in days ahead. This includes the conditioning of our mind and body in regard to its mental performance in days ahead. A forming season includes conceiving, training, and disciplining. This phase denotes the arrangement of the part of a thing that gives its distinctive appearance.
     A key scripture reference for the time of Pentecost is I Corinthians 16:8. Paul purposed to stay at Ephesus until Pentecost, because an effectual door was opened to him for his ministry. This was what the Lord showed me when He visited me in December.Many enemies are behind this forming door, but the Lord says:

UNDERSTANDING PENTECOST

The Pentecost Feast was known as the Feast of Weeks (Ex 23:16; 34:22; Lev 23:15-21; Num 28:26-31; Deut 16:9-12; and 2 Chron 8:13). This feast was observed in late May or early June, 50 days after the offering of the barley sheaf at the Feast of Unleavened Bread during Passover.
Passover is a time to remember our deliverance. Pentecost is a time to thank God for our blessings, abundance, and rejoice over harvest. Characteristics of this time include: Joy, Happiness, and Celebration. During this Feast, you enter into a time of offering concerning the Firstfruits Dedication (Lev. 23:9-14; 2 Sam. 21:9-10; Ruth 2:23). This is the Feast to thank God for His abundance which represented blessing.
In the NT there are three references to Pentecost. I Corinthians 16:8 was mentioned earlier. The most common reference is Acts 2:1. On this day, after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, the disciples were gathered in a house in Jerusalem, and were visited with signs from heaven. The Holy Spirit descended upon them, and new life, power, and blessing were evident. The 120 turned to 3,000 in one day. Ask for your 120 to turn to 3,000!

The early Christian Believers, who were gathered in Jerusalem for the observance of this feast, experienced the outpouring of God's Holy Spirit in a miraculous way. Peter explained that this was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. The tongues symbolized the antithesis of Babel's confusion of tongues, and represented the gathering of peoples under one mind and will to advance the Kingdom of God.
Jerusalem, the mount of the Lord, is the center of God's spiritual kingdom of peace and righteousness. Babel, the center of Satan's kingdom and of human rebellion, ignores God as the true bond of union. The city of Babel represented confusion. The Spirit of God, given to Believers on Pentecost, represented the fact that God had come and His people would be "keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph 4:1-16). The third New Testament reference to Pentecost is Acts 20:16.

This feast was also known as the Feast of Harvest (Ex 23:16; 34:22; Num 28:26-31; Deut 16:9-14; Lev 23:15-22). The first sheaf offered at Passover and the two leavened loaves at Pentecost marked the beginning and ending of the grain harvest, and sanctified the whole harvest season. The lesson to Israel was that the Lord had given them the best for the year ahead (Ps 147:14).
The purpose of this feast was to commemorate the completion of the grain harvest. Its distinguishing feature was the offering of “two leavened loaves” made from the new corn of the completed harvest, which, with “two lambs,” were waved before the Lord as a thank offering.
Pentecost also was the time of the giving of the law on Sinai (Ex 12:2, 19). At Pentecost the Lord wrote the law on our hearts and initiated the Church Age. This became the first Feast in which Christians participated and celebrated. This should be a time of celebration each year. I believe the understanding of this Feast is very important. The spiritual aspect of this is necessary if we are to multiply.

TIME FOR HARVEST!

Most of us do not understand harvest time. Because of our complex lives, we are far removed from the actual production of our food supplies and the origination of the source of our provision. The harvest was a very important season (Gen 8:22; 45:6). Events were reckoned from harvests (Gen 30:14; Josh 3:15; Judg 15:1; Ruth 1:22; 2:23; 1 Sam 6:13; 2 Sam 21:9; 23:13).

The Pentecost Feast represents:

A Season of Gathering (Zech. 8).
A Season of Judgment (Jer. 51:33, Joel 3:13, Rev 14:15).
A Season of Grace (Jer. 8:20).
A Time for the Good News to be Heard (Mt. 9:37-38; Jn. 4:35).
An End of a Season or Age and the Beginning of a New Season of Provision (Mt. 13:39).

We must understand that Harvest has a process:

The seed is broadcast and plowed under in late winter.
The prayer for rain – the early and the latter rain (Zech. 10).
The grain was grasped and cut with the sickle (Deut. 16:9 and Mark 4:29).
The grain was gathered into sheaves (Deut 24:5).
The grain was taken to the threshing floor.
Tools were used for threshing. You have tools for harvest.
The grain was winnowed (tossed in the air). Let the wind blow away your chaff.
The remaining grain was shaken into a sieve (Amos 9:9). Some of you are in this process.
The grain was brought into the storehouse. Find your storehouse.

Now, the Harvest must be protected because Harvest has major enemies:

Drought. Ask the Lord to identify and break all your dryness.
Locust invasion. Ask the Lord to remove any devouring in your harvest.
Plant Diseases (mold, mildew). Ask the Lord to remove any mold in your life.
Hot, Scorching Winds. Ask the Lord to turn any adverse winds.
War. The enemy wanted to live off the land. Declare that any enemy that has eaten your harvest will run out of your land.

FIRSTFRUITS: A KEY TO BLESSING

This feast was called the “Day of First Fruits” (Num. 28:26) because it marked the beginning of the time in which people were to bring offerings of firstfruits. It was a feast of joy and thanksgiving for the completion of the harvest season. These offerings were then presented as a “wave offering” for the people.
The first of the fruit (such as grapes) grain, oil, wine, and the first of your (sheeps’) fleece were required as an offering (Ex. 22:29; Lev. 2:12-16; Num. 18:12; Deut. 18:4; 2 Chr. 31:5; Neh. 10:35,37,39; Prov. 3:9; Jer. 2:3; Rom. 11:16). At this time, the Lord was credited as the source of rain and fertility (Jer. 5:24).
In the New Testament the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), at the festive time when Jews from different countries were in Jerusalem to celebrate this annual feast. The interval between Pentecost and tabernacles was the time for offering firstfruits. Ask the Lord to identify your firstfruit offering.

This is a time for harvest praying. I hope the following 50-Day Prayer Focus will help you to understand and enter into this harvest season.

Blessings,

Chuck D. Pierce

(No specific dates are placed with the days since the Prayer Focus is received at a variety of times. You may begin whenever you receive it.)

50-Day Prayer Focus

Day 1: Read Hosea 6, especially v. 11. Ask the Lord to revive and raise you up. Ask Him to reveal your harvest to you. “Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you, when I return the captives of My people.”

Day 2: Read Exodus 23, especially v. 16. “And the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors which you have sown in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you have gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field.” Thank God for His leading. Be willing to follow Him. Thank Him that He has given you firstfruits.

Day 3: Read Gen 2 and 8:22. “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease." Ask the Lord to reveal your harvest season to you.

Day 4: Read John 16:7, 13. The old Jewish festival contained a new significance for the Christian Church by the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you new and fresh.

Day 5: Read John 17. Take Communion. Ask the Lord to reveal any horizontal relationships that are not right.

Day 6: Read Job 5, especially v. 5. “Because the hungry eat up his harvest, taking it even from the thorns, and a snare snatches their substance.” Ask the Lord to show you how the enemy has had access to your harvest.

Day 7: Read 1 Sam. 12, especially v. 17. “Is today not the wheat harvest? I will call to the LORD, and He will send thunder and rain, that you may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking a king for yourselves.” Ask the Lord if there are any judgments on your harvest.

Day 8: Read Prov 6:8. The harvest mentality of ants is mentioned as a lesson for the sluggard. Break any apathy that is stopping you from moving forward.

Day 9: Read Prov 20:4. “The lazy man will not plow because of winter; he will beg during harvest and have nothing.” Ask the Lord to reveal any area of laziness in your life that has stopped you from plowing.

Day 10: Read Prov 10:5. “He who gathers in summer is a wise son; he who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame.” Break a spirit of slumber. Ask the Lord if you have slept when you should have gathered.

Day 11: Read Jer 8:20. “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved!” Ask the Lord to forgive you for any missed opportunities.

Day 12: Read Joel 1. Add fasting to your praying.

Day 13: Read Joel 2. Add fasting to your praying. Make a list of anything that needs to be restored.

Day 14: Read Joel 3. Add fasting to your praying. Ask the Lord for a new joy to enter your heart and the land you are praying for.

Day 15: Read Psalm 16. Thank Him that He has an inheritance for you.

Day 16: Read Matthew 7 and 8. Let Faith arise in your heart - “the greater dimension of faith”.

Day 17: Read Matthew 9. Ask the Lord for laborers. Let Him show you where you are to labor in His Kingdom.

Day 18: Read Matthew 10. “Freely you have received, freely give.” Prepare an offering.

Day 19: Read Psalm 125. Thank Him that this is a time for new joy.

Day 20: Read Psalm 126. Sing a Song of Deliverance. Declare that all captivity is broken.

Day 21: Read Prov 25:13. “Like the cold of snow in time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him, for he refreshes the soul of his masters.” Ask the Lord to surprise you with a message.

Day 22: Read Isaiah 9. Thank God for His government. Praise Him for the abundant harvest when government is in place. Pray for the government of the church that you are connected with.

Day 23: Read Jer 50:16. “Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle at harvest time. For fear of the oppressing sword everyone shall turn to his own people, and everyone shall flee to his own land.” Pray for our troops in Iraq. Declare every enemy of the harvest is revealed.

Day 24: Jer 51:33. “For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor when it is time to thresh her; yet a little while and the time of her harvest will come.’” Call forth a harvest in Iraq.

Day 25: Read Luke 10, especially v. 2. “Then He said to them, ‘The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the Harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’” Ask the Lord to give you a revelation of the Lord of the Harvest.

Day 26: Read Ruth 1. Ask the Lord to reveal covenant to you.

Day 27: Read Ruth 2, especially v. 21. “Ruth the Moabitess said, ‘He also said to me, 'You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ … So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.” Ask the Lord to show you where you have been gleaning.

Day 28: Read Ruth 3. Notice how Ruth made her shift. Ask the Lord to give you a strategy to make a shift from gleaning to harvest.

Day 29: Read Ruth 4. Thank God that He has a full, redemptive plan for you life.

Day 30: Read Amos 9. Ask the Lord to reveal to you the Tabernacle of David.

Day 31: Read II Sam. 5. Ask the Lord for the Breaker Anointing and strategies for breakthrough.

Day 32: Read Acts 15. Ask the Lord to settle any disputes that are keeping you from moving into full restoration.

Day 33: Read Joshua 3, especially v. 15. “And as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest)…” Do not be afraid to take that step of faith from wilderness to harvest.

Day 34: Read 1 Sam. 8, especially v. 12. “He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.” Ask the Lord to show you your assignment and role in Harvest.

Day 35: Read Lev. 23 especially v. 22. “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the LORD your God.” Prepare a gift for someone less fortunate than you.

Day 36: Read Judges 14. Study the life of Samson. Note verse 14. Ask the Lord to reveal any root of bitterness that needs to turn sweet.

Day 37: Read Judges 15. “After a while, in the time of wheat harvest, it happened that Samson visited his wife with a young goat. And he said, ‘Let me go in to my wife, into her room.’ But her father would not permit him to go in.” See patterns that prevented victory in Samson’s life. Ask the Lord to break any similar patterns in your life.

Day 38: Read Judges 16. Ask the Lord for strength to break through. Ask Him to recoup your losses.

Day 39: Read Exodus 34:21, 22. “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. And you shall observe the Feast of Weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year's end.” Find your Sabbath.

Day 40: Read Mark 4, especially v. 29. “But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." Ask the Lord to show you when to put in your sickle for harvest.

Day 41: Read Matthew 13:1-23. Understand the process of harvest.

Day 42: Read Matthew 13:24-58. Understand the process of wheat and tares. Ask Him to reveal and release your treasures.

Day 43: Read Matthew 14. Ask the Lord to teach you to multiply and take you past the half way point.

Day 44: Read Psalm 1 and 2. Thank Him for your personal harvest. Thank Him for the harvest He has in the nations.

Day 45: Read John 4:1-34. Ask Him to show you the “woman at the well”.

Day 46: Read John 4:39-54. Declare someone you know will get to know Him as Savior.

Day 47: Read Rev 14:15. “And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, ‘Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.’” Give thanks for the One Who is able to reap the Harvest of the nations.

Day 48: Read Acts 2. Thank Him for filling you with His Spirit. Receive the wind of the Holy Spirit. Thank Him for the gift of tongues in the Church.

Day 49: Read Acts 19. Declare an awakening in your “Ephesus.”

Day 50: Read I Cor. 16. Ask Him to show you your new door.

Key Resources for this Time:

A Time of Pentecost: Entering into a Season of Harvest Praying. TEACHING CD ($6.00) Many of you like to listen rather than read. I spoke this message on Pentecost Sunday. This Teaching CD will explain and activate a new mindset in you. This message explains Pentecost and Harvest, and releases an anointing and impartation to enter into this necessary time.

The Harvest Series: Crossing Over. Music CD by Glory of Zion International Worship ($6.00). I am doing something a little different with this music CD. This is the first of our Harvest Series of songs that God is bringing this year to get us ready to cross over into the Harvest. This CD is called “Crossing Over.” I am not including as many songs but rather the songs that the Lord is birthing or using in our prophetic prayer times at Glory of Zion International this year.
This first CD in the series has three songs on it: March All Night, The Best is Yet Ahead, and Jump in the River. This CD causes our spirit to be stirred up so we are ready to move forward. We are now in the process of doing our next CD. This will be entitled I AM: Burn with Me. The next CD will have intimate worship songs that bring you into the Throne Room and exalt the Lord. Keep moving forward. Don’t stop. The best is yet ahead!

You can purchase both of these CDs for $10 and we will pay the postage (US orders only). To order you can call (888) 965-1099 and use code PENTECOST50 to order. Or you may go to our website at www.glory-of-zion.org (MC and Visa only). This offer expires June 30, 2004.