Forerunners and The Spirit of Elijah Mike Bickle

SIGNS AND WONDERS CONFERENCE MIKE BICKLE
Transcript: 02/27/02
Forerunners and the Spirit of Elijah

INTRODUCTION
Turn to 1 Kings 18, if you would. I want to talk about the life of Elijah as a picture of the forerunner ministry at
the end of the age, and the spirit of Elijah, the anointing and the purpose of Elijah being released upon the
people of God in this hour.
This conference is called Signs and Wonders and the Prophetic Ministry. Now, those obviously flow together.
Some people focus on the healing, some focus on the deliverance, some focus on prophesying, but its really
one flow in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit wants to equip the Church to go into a new place of authority.
OPERATING IN THE MANIFESTATION OF SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY
Beloved, we need more than networking right now; we need authority. Im not against networking; I like
networking. I like getting a whole bunch of people together and knowing each other. So much of the energy and
emphasis in the last couple of decades has been on networking and getting more people together in a room,
whether its a conference or a church or a Bible school: networking people and getting them into containers. But
we need spiritual authority. In one sentence, we need to operate in the manifestation of spiritual authority. I
know we have authority by faith. Thats not the kind of authority Im talking about. Im talking about spiritual
authority where, when we speak on the earth, angels move, demons move, and human hearts are unlocked. We
need authority.
DOES HELL KNOW YOUR NAME?
In Acts 19:15, these men were casting out demons, and the demons spoke up and said, Who are you guys?
And they beat them up. The demons beat them up and tore off their clothes and threw them out. But heres what
the demons said: they said, Jesus we know; were absolutely terrified of Him. Paul we know, but who are you
(Acts 19:15, paraphrased)?
I remember hearing a sermon years ago by a man who deeply impacted my life, Leonard Ravenhill. Actually it
was just a paragraph or two in the sermon; it wasnt even the whole sermon, but it deeply moved me. He talked
about how he wanted to be known in hell, and he used that passage. Beloved, we need men and women who are
known in the realm of the spirit. If youre known in hell, youre known in heaven by the angels as well.
BECAUSE OF YOUR WORDS I HAVE COME
We want the kind of authority that, when we speak, angels move. In Daniel 10, the angel appeared and told
Daniel, When I heard your words, I came. Heres this Jewish boy, taken captive in Babylon, trained in the
schools for a life of devotion and abandonment to Yahweh. And this Jewish slave, in a foreign land, with no
authority of his own, spoke words on the earth and the angel said, I came when I heard your words (Dan.
10:12, paraphrased). When Elijah spoke, angels came. We want to speak words in worship, we want to speak
words in preaching, we want to speak words in ministry with one another. When we speak weak words from
our weak hearts, theres an authority and an unction that looses the angels, that drives out the demons, and
unlocks human hearts.
Were gathering in this conference because we have many things in common, but one of the things that we have
in commonand I know this is true, or you wouldnt have come to this conferenceis that were people who
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are hungry to operate in genuine spiritual authority. Not the fake stuff: not getting everyone in a line and
conditioning them to do things. Theres so much going on in the Body of Christ where we condition them so
that when they come to the ministry line they act a certain way, so we walk away thinking that we have power.
But the people have just been preconditioned to act. Im not terribly against that; I dont really pay that much
attention to it. But Im not satisfied with it. I dont want conditioned response in charismatic conferences. I want
real demons to leave, real angels to show up, and real hearts to change.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS INVITING WEAK AND BROKEN PEOPLE ON A JOURNEY IN THE SPIRIT
Were not interested in getting a big mailing list; were interested in being known in hell. We want to be known
in the spirit. This is real. Because the kind of people who do this are nobodys in the world: theyre weak, they
have nothing to offer, and heaven pays attention to them. Heaven releases the mantle and the mandate and
authority, and thats the only reason such people are ever known in history. They were nothing in and of
themselves. My point is this: you and I qualify. You and I qualify. I mean this soberly. Im not interested in
having a pep rally; Im not just cheerleading, Im not trying to get everyone to shout and scream. I dont care if
you do that here and there, but its not my point. My point is to convince you that the Holy Spirit is inviting
weak and broken people like you and me to go on a journey in the Spirit that ends with authority that makes a
difference on the planet before the second coming of Christ. Thats why were here; thats why youre here. I
dont want to get really spooky and super-mystical. I dont want to put on a charismatic show of mysticism. I
want people like you and me to have this confidence that we can do this thing because its in the heart of God.
Thats why we can do it.
ELIJAH WAS A MAN WITH PROPENSITIES AND WEAKNESSES LIKE OURS
Elijah was such a man. Now we kind of know him as the ultimate mystical man. We imagine him as being wild
and bizarre. But he started off as a young boy in a poor little village on a mountain. James the apostle in James
5:16 said, Just in case youre confused, Elijah was a man with a nature like ours (Js. 5:16, paraphrased). He
was a man with propensities and weaknesses like you and I have. God made it really clear: Elijah was a man.
He was a little boy up in a mountain village in Gilead, an obscure little village named Tish. He was a Tishbite.
This was a poor, little village out in the hill country, among the Amorites of a foreign nation, with idols and sin
everywhere. He had no Bible school, no mentors, no prophets; it was an obscure, poor little town like
Bethlehem. And King David, who began as a young shepherd, was a man with a nature like you and me. He got
depressed, he got fearful, he longed for the move of God, and it didnt come, and then it came, and then it didnt
come again, and then it came, and then it lifted, and then it came again. He was perplexed; he knew what it
meant to do warfare, and he knew what it meant to lose. He even knew what it meant to win. He was like you
and me.
BEHOLD, I WILL SEND YOU ELIJAH THE SPIRIT
Elijah, like Paul the apostle, has become a man whos so out of our category, so in another order of humanity,
that now hes not an encouragement to us. God put him in the Bible as an encouragement; he was a man of like
passions (Js. 5:16, KJV). Weve elevated him to the superhero status. So now his life doesnt inspire us,
because we say, That was Elijah; of course he did it. And its the spirit of Elijah; its the anointing and the
purpose; its the lifestyle of Elijah that God is going to bring back again by the anointing of the Spirit before the
second coming of the Lord.
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A SUPERNATURAL SHOWDOWN BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL IN THE LAST DAYS

1 Kings 18 is the famous chapter where Elijah confronts the religious institution of his day in power. Now it
was more than religious; they were fully demonized. It wasnt just that they were believers who had gotten a
little cold and a little political; no, no, it was way worse than that. They were demonized prophets of Baal with
real power. There were 400 of one kind and 450 of another, making 850 altogether. Most of you know the story
here. And Elijah confronted them, and God visited with power. Look at chapter 18:24. This is the verse, like a
lot of the verses here, that really grabbed me. Here Elijah is addressing the 850 false prophets. He says, Heres
what we do: I will call you to a contest (1 Kings 8:24, paraphrased).
Beloved, theres a contest that the Holy Spirits orchestrating in this hour globally. Its the same contest that
Moses had with the magicians of Egypt. With the sorcerers of Egypt, Moses had a contest. Elijah had a contest
with the false prophets of Baal that had real power. And theres going to be a contest at the end of the age
between real supernatural powers. Revelation 9:21 and about five other verses say sorcery is going to go to a
level beyond anything its ever been in history. Sorcery, demonic power, will be manifest with false signs and
wonders in this hour of history like no other time in history. The contest of 1Kings 18 is going to be relived in a
global theater with the Holy Spirit orchestrating it. And Hes going to have men and women, young and old,
with the spirit of Elijah, who will be vessels of power. It wont just be the courts of Pharaoh with Moses; it
wont be centered in one place; its going to be a global theatre in which men and women with the spirit of
Elijah will confront the powers of darkness, and there will be a clash of kingdoms with demonstrations of
power. The stadiums of the earth are going to be filled. It will be a normal thing to hear of stadiums all over the
earth filled for thirty, sixty, and ninety days at a time. I mean twenty-four hours a day for ninety days. No one
will even organize it. It will be something like this; on Monday afternoon some little eighteen-year-old student
from college is going to pray and a blind eye will open for someone on the campus. Say that happens at noon.
By about 6:00pm, there will be around 2,000 students gathering, and a few paralytics will be healed. They will
go through the night, and the next morning there will be 14,000, 15,000, 20,000 gathering. It will be a hoopla;
no one will know whats going on. And by 7:00pm on Tuesday evening, the stadium will be packed.
YOU DONT HAVE TO ADVERTISE A FIRE
You know, one of the interesting things about Jesus is that He never called a meeting. He didnt do what we do
and send out fliers. You dont have to advertise a fire. We only have to advertise because we dont have the fire
yet. But were going to get the fire. When we get the fire, we wont send out brochures. This is like the pre-fire
stage: were gathering together because we want to encourage one another because theres not a lot happening.
Im not being negative, because I appreciate what the Lord is doing in our midst. I love what Hes doing in my
midst, but its not even close to the things that Hes promised. We only have to advertise because we dont
really have the fire. Jesus never had to call a meeting; massive numbers showed up.
Well, anyway, it starts on Monday at around noon with one blind eye; by 6:00am the next morning its spread to
20,000, and by 7:00pm well be at Arrowhead Stadium. There will be 80,000 on the inside and about 40,000 on
the outside trying to get in. It wont be like the hotshots get together and rent the stadium. Im not against that;
Im the hotshot guy, you know. I like to rent these big auditoriums and do what we do. But it wont be that kind
of thing. Im not against that, but thats the old way and we want to phase out of it.
And all of a sudden the Spirit of God is going to be manifest in power in cities, and it will go for thirty, sixty,
ninety days; no one can say when its over. When its over, it will be over. And, knowing us, well probably
show up for another month even after its over. Thats not entirely bad; part of that is just hunger. And the Spirit
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will lift and well build the churches and then a year or two will pass, or however long, and Hell do it again.
And Hell gather the church back into the stadiums again. No one gets to vote on it; its not like the old man
says, I dont like that stadium thing, it hurt my church calendar.
The Lord will say, Im not asking your permission; hundreds of thousands are gathering, and Im not asking
anyones vote on it. Im the One doing it. God is going to gather the churches in the stadiums for seasons and
visit them with power for twenty-four hours a day. Then the Spirit will lift, theyll go back, and theyll build the
community of God and it will look very different than anything it looks like at the moment.
IN YOUR GRATITUDE, DONT LOSE YOUR VISION FOR THE FULLNESS OF GOD
Beloved, I love whats happening right now. Im not against whats happening right now. I want to be grateful.
I dont want to despise the day of small beginnings. I want to honor our small beginnings, because its still the
Lord. I want to be grateful and I want to honor them. But in my gratitude, I dont want to lose my vision for the
fullness of God. I want to be grateful today for the little things we have: these little conferences, the littles of
the Spirit, the little swirls in the Spirit that sometimes break in. Im thankful for those, because without them,
we would die. But Im discontentedly content. Im content with gratitude, but theres this tremendous hunger in
me for more. I say, This cant be it! There must be more! And thats why were gathering. We have a cry in
our spirit for authentic authority, real authority. Thats why youre here. Were hungry to go on. We want to
move this thing to the next level.
THE BACK-AND-FORTH OF BEING WOOED AND RESPONDING TO GOD
Now we cant do it on our own; we know that God does it. But God does it through wooing us, and then we
respond, and then He responds to our response. Its the Lord who woos us, and thats what Hes doing in us in
these days. But we have to say yes to the wooing. See, He woos His people and many of His people say, No,
Im too busy. No, I dont want to bother with it until its already broken through. When it breaks through,
then Ill jump on. And the Lord is so kind, He lets them jump on, but beloved, Hes wooing people today.
Were responding, and then Hes going to respond to our response. Hes going to respond to our response. And
Hes going to release the fullness of what He has in His heart. But right now Hes wooing us: Hes giving us a
vision, all through this whole room, to live lives of prayer, to enter into spiritual authority, to have words that
release angels and drive out demons and unlock human hearts.
Were hungry; youre in this room because youre hungry. Somewhere through the Holy Spirit and the Word
youve become convinced, there must be more! Something has convinced you that there must be more. Thats
why, if you want to put a gallon of gas on a little, flickering fire, you read John G. Lake books; youll be ruined.
Through the years, Id give a stack of them to a key guy or gal and Id say, Hey, read these; theyre only a
hundred pages each.
Id come back a week later and their eyes are really big; theyre saying, Oh no, oh my goodness, Im ruined!
I say, Got ya!
You dont need to read biographies for that, but God has given biographies for that purpose. But anyway,
youre here because you want to enter into the spiritual authority. Elijah is one of the people in the Bible whom
God has given by the Holy Spirit as a picture of what operating in the anointing will look like at the end of the
age.
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THE LORD INVITES US TO A GLOBAL CONFRONTATION

Look at verse 24: Then you will call on the name of the Lord your God (1 Kings 18:24, paraphrased). The
contest is on. Beloved, theres going to be a global contest. Elijah says, You call on the name of your gods, and
I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who answers by fire, He is God (1Kings 18:24). Elijah had
this idea that he was going to build an altar and that God would answer by fire. Now, notice whats happening. I
already mentioned how the Lord told Elijah to build the altar. It starts with a divine invitation. Elijah cant just
go and build an altar on Mount Carmel one day. Elijahs out doing what hes doing in chapter 17, and the Lord
gives him an invitation. The Lord woos him; He invites him to a certain activity. Elijah now says yes, and he
responds to the divine invitation; he responds to the divine wooing, and the Lord will respond in verse 38 to
Elijahs response. In verse 38, the fire fell. The fire fell.
THE SEASON OF BUILDING THE ALTARS
Beloved, a lot of us are in 1 Kings 17; we havent got there yet. Were going to go there in a moment. Were in
the preparation stages. Some of us are in a different season. The Lord said, Go build an altar. Go build an altar
and wait on Me for fire to come. Some of you are building an altar right now, and thats what were talking
about: building an altar that can receive the fire of God. Not very many people in the world are in verse 38.
There are some revivals breaking out over in Asia, especially in China, where the fire is falling. In a few places
in South America, its falling a little. And the reason I say a little is not in any way to undermine whats
happening; its a lot more than whats happening here. But beloved, God has something in store so dynamic, so
far beyond anything weve ever seen, or anything John G. Lake ever did.
THE PEOPLE FALL DOWN ON THEIR FACES WHEN THE FIRE FALLS
So the fire fell. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces (1 Kings 18:39). Their hearts were
moved; their hearts were unlocked. Whos the man who wrote that book, Piercing the Darkness? Oh, I would
love to see Frank Perettis version of this. Between verses 38 and 39, angels and demons would be going,
Vroom, pshrrrew! We only see the human response. Id love the Lord to pull back the veil between verses 38
and verse 39.
THE INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF PRAYER IS SIMPLY AN ALTAR FOR GOD
In my life, Ive got one foot in 1 Kings 17, in preparation. Ive got the other foot in 1 Kings 18:24. Im building
an altar; its called the International House of Prayer. The International House of Prayer is simply an altar for
God. We believe that Hell answer with fire. Were building an altar for a reason: were building it because we
believe Hes going to answer with fire on the altar that were building. Now, He told us to build it. It starts by
divine invitation. God gets the credit. When its all said and done, theres only one trophy case in heaven, and
its got the name Jesus. Its not my idea to build a house of prayer. Its not your idea. God gives the invitation;
we stumble around for a few years saying, What does that mean? Well, it means just what it said; go and do
it. We do it; theres a season of labor, theres a season of resistance, theres a season of difficulty. The enemy
resists, the enemy resists, the enemy resists. Were building an altar, and when you least expect it, the
suddenly of God breaks in and the fire falls on it and the people fall down on their faces when the fire falls.
Then you can throw your mailing list away; you wont need it. Youll have to have a whole new class in crowd
control: cities will be disrupted, nations will be disrupted when this kind of stuff happens. And then all kinds of
other things happen after this happens.
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WAITING FOR THE SUDDENLY OF GOD

Now God wants many of you either to be prepared to build an altar in the days to come, or to be actively
building one now. It just depends on what season youre in. Some of you are in chapter 17; youre waiting by
the brook. Were going to go there in a moment. You dont have anything to do. Elijah was waiting by the
brook for a year. He said, OK Lord, Im here; its been a year. Come on. And eventually the word of the Lord
comes. He was waiting for about three and a half years. Then God said, Now you have come for such a time as
this. Go and build an altar, for My fire will come. Beloved, this suddenly of God is coming. The Lord will
suddenly enter His temple (Mal. 3:1, paraphrased). Its the suddenly of God in fullness: He will suddenly,
suddenly, suddenly enter His temple. And in one day everything in Israel was different, in twenty-four hours
after 1 Kings 18 was over.
Were building the International House of Prayer; we have a few hundred staff members, we love God, and God
loves us. Every now and then we have an anointed prayer meeting. We have a lot of bad prayer meetings. It
doesnt matter. I mean, some of the prayer meetings Ive gone into, I was a little depressed, and I walked out
totally depressed after the prayer meeting. Thats bad. Whats worse is, Ive gone into some of our prayer
meetings happy and I left oppressed. I know about un-anointed prayer meetings; Ive led thousands of them.
But the pay is the same whether you raise the dead or take a nap; the pay is the same if you do the will of God.
It really is. I mean that. My goal isnt to make them anointed or not anointed; my goal is to keep building the
altar, keep building it, and one day the suddenly of God breaks in and what we thought was un-anointed and
what we thought was anointed will seem like almost the same thing. Because what we think is awesome will
seem so small when the fire falls.
So someone says, How was the conference?
Well, you know, I like the conferences; its good enough.
Was it awesome?
Well, it was good enough. Ill do another one. Its not what Im living for.
ELIJAH IS A PICTURE OF THE FORERUNNERS AT THE END OF THE AGE
Im in the build-the-altar stage. Beloved, I have a vision for the fire falling. God wants to bring the spirit of
Elijah. Elijah is a picture of the forerunner ministry. Hes a picture of the forerunner ministry at the end of the
age. Its a massive subject. God took one man and made him the picture of forerunners. Many of you in this
room are called to the forerunner ministry in the spirit of Elijah, and the life and the calling and the purpose and
anointing of Elijah will become a very personal thing to your life and destiny. And right now, you cant imagine
it. Youre just like Elijah was: this poor boy in this little mountain village of Tish, in Gilead, living among the
Amorites, in this foreign nation right next to Israel. I mean, it was a part of Israel, but the Amorites were
occupying at that time. The enemy camp was running it. It was an oppressed, poor, little, out-of-the-way
mountain village. He had no idea that he was Elijah. I mean, his mom said, Hey, Elijah, come here, and that
didnt mean anything to him. When his mom named him Elijah, that was meaningless. Now we name our
children Elijah, and it means a lot because of him. But when he was named Elijah, it just meant, poor boy in
Tish. Hes a picture of the forerunner ministry.
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THE KINGDOM . . . SUFFERS VIOLENCE, AND THE VIOLENT TAKE IT BY FORCE

Number two; Elijah is a picture of spiritual violence. Beloved, were going to talk about spiritual violence:
taking the kingdom by force. And when I say force, I dont mean volume. I like volume, but volume isnt
exactly what I mean by violence. Some people think violence means volume, or a worship service with a fast
beat. And it might have a fast beat, but thats not intrinsic to what spiritual violence is. I like volume; I like it
louder sometimes, I like it softer the other times. Sometimes I get in funny moods, and I dont know what I like
from one time to the next. But hes a picture of spiritual violence, and Im not talking about volume. Im talking
about a life of abandonment to prayer and fasting. Im not talking about a temperament; Im not talking about a
personality trait of being an exuberant extrovert. Im talking about an inward heart response in abandonment in
prayer and fasting to God. He was a man of violence.
John the Baptist was a man of whom the angel Gabriel said, He comes in the spirit of Elijah in Luke 1:17
(paraphrased). He had the anointing of Elijah. He was a man of spiritual violence; thats what Jesus said (Mt.
11:12). He came in fasting and prayer like Elijah did. You know why Elijah had spiritual authority? Because he
was a man of spiritual violence. Spiritual authority is related to spiritual violence. There are other factors in the
equation; its not only about spiritual violence, because there are some other things as well. Theres the
sovereignty of God; theres the mercy of God. There are a number of things. But spiritual violence is part of
spiritual authority.
SPEAKING OUT OF THE REALITY OF OUR SECRET LIFE IN GOD
Elijah and John the Baptist were voices, not echoes. When they spoke, they were speaking out of the reality of
their secret life on God. It wasnt just memorizing a text and echoing it. Something was alive when no one else
was there. They were speaking with life, with reality, from their secret life in God. When you read the Old
Testament or the New Testament, Elijah is presented primarily as a man of prayer. More than as a prophet,
more than as miracles, first and foremost, in both the Old and New Testaments, the Holy Spirit sets Elijah
before the people of God as a man of prayer. John the Baptist was set as a man of prayer above all things in the
Scriptures. When you read the life of John the Baptist, thats what strikes you first. There are a lot of people
who want spiritual authority, but they dont want to wrestle with the reality of living in spiritual violence. Hes
a picture of the forerunner, and hes also a picture of spiritual violence. He was a man of prayer and fasting.
MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL NATIONS
Beloved, God is calling the end-time church to have a core identity as the house of prayer. This will be the core
identity of the church of Jesus: I will call you the house of prayer (Isa. 56:7, paraphrased). Thats the core
identity of the church of Jesus at the end of the age. We operate in spiritual authority; were people with
anointing in prayer. When we pray and worship, it moves the heart of God. When we speak over sickness,
angels and demons move. When we speak to people, hearts turn. Were people who are moved and who move
others by spiritual authority. Were people of prayer. Call it worship, call it healing, call it evangelism; its all
prayer at the end of the day. Youre speaking and God, angels, demons, and humans are moved by your words.
The core identity of the redeemed community at the end of the age is a house of prayer.
THE CHURCH OF JESUS IS THE HOUSE OF PRAYER
Now weve got a little ministry called the house of prayer, and in some ways thats cheating, because the
house of prayer isnt a little on-the-side prayer ministry. The house of prayer is the church of Jesus at the end of
the age. Were just a little catalytic ministry trying to throw a little cup of gasoline on the church in our city. We
dont have that much to throw on, but, were doing our part. The house of prayer is really the church of Jesus.
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God is raising up people all over the earth who are awakening to this reality of prayer. I mean, its happening
rapidly. Weve gone from less than 1 percent of the Body of Christ interested in prayer, twenty years ago, to the
point where probably up to about 5 percent of the Church cares about this. Thats massive! Thats massive!
I began to give myself to prayer in the late 1970s. You couldnt find ten books in the Christian bookstore on
prayer. I used to go to them and say, Any new books on prayer? I was this young man trying to learn how to
pray, because prayer was so boring and hard, I thought I would read a new book on it.
No, no new books on prayer.
Isnt anyone writing on prayer?
Theyd say, Well, they say a new ones coming out next year. I mean, I had the standard ten books on prayer;
and most of them just told me how bad I was if I didnt pray. But I used to love to read them and feel bad. Most
of them didnt actually tell me how to pray; they just said, Youre a creep if you dont.
But Id read them and say, Oh, it feels good to feel bad!
In the last twenty years, you know whats happened? Im just making up the number; there have been maybe
500 to a thousand books on prayer. Its exploding worldwide. I said, What is happening?
The Lord says, Im waking up the Church. Weve gone from about 1 percent to about 5 percent who care
about this. Beloved, it sounds like Im being critical. Thats stunning to me. There are millions who care right
now. Millions! But beloved, were at the beginning; were at the beginning of a Holy Spirit invasion, a glorious
Holy Spirit tornado thats about to come in, in the midst of the Body of Christ, and so rearrange everything
before its over. The whole Church will love prayer before its over. The whole Church of the earth will be
called a house of prayer for all nations. The whole Church will command demons to come out; the whole
Church will command cancers to leave. The whole Church will speak and angels will come. The whole Church
will worship and the heart of God will be moved. The whole Church will operate in the anointing with one heart
and one spirit, and the heavenlies will open. Its called spiritual authority.
ON THE FRONT END OF A TIDAL WAVE OF REVIVAL
My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations (Isa. 56:7). Lets say it differently: My house shall
operate in spiritual authority. Thats what that means: They will worship under the anointing. Thats prayer.
They will pray for the sick under the anointing. Thats prayer. They will speak words to the lost and the lost
will be saved. Thats called prayer. Our very sermons will be intercession. Our very sermons will be an act of
intercession. Revival will come; were at the beginning of a tidal wave crashing in on the Church in the next ten
to twenty years; thirty years if the Lord tarries. Prayer is going to invade, and youre on the front end of this
tidal wave.
Now granted, I know that most of us in this room said yes in our spirit. We dont like it yet, but weve said yes.
But thats massive; thats massive. You dont have to like it yet, but youve said yes. The reason that youre in
this room is because its the same thing. You might have called it being a worship leader, but its all prayer. Its
the spirit of Elijah. Were going for it.
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BE A PART OF SOMETHING THAT WILL SHAKE THE WHOLE PLANET

Turn to 1 Kings 17. Beloved, I have such a passion in my life for me personally to build an altar that God
answers with fire. I cant make it happen, but Ive already been invited; Ive been given divine instructions. But
Im not happy for me alone to build an altar that God answers with fire. That, Im sure, is going to happen. I
dont want to sound cocky in foolish, prideful, human confidence. But I want to say, Im positive that God is
going to answer with fire what Im doing in my labors; that Im sure of, and the whole earth will be shaken by
the things that were doing in this city. Im not saying that to make some big statement. Im saying that because
I know this is what God is calling many of you in your cities to be a part of. And I dare you to say yes and to
throw your heart into that thing and to be a part of something in your city that shakes the whole planet together
with the whole Body of Christ.
GATHER TOGETHER WITH OTHER BELIEVERS AND BUILD AN ALTAR
I want to dare you; I want to challenge you to say, God I want to build an altar in my city. I dont know who
the people are; show me who they are, that I may build it with them. Dont worry about the who right now.
The big thing that God wants to put in your spirit is the idea that He wants you to build an altar that Hell
answer with fire. He wants you to gather together with some believers and begin to do the activities of the
kingdom in a way that Hell answer with fire at His appointed time. And when its all said and done, the fire
goes forth from your city and ours. Its not like were all going to be together in a big macho club saying, Ooh,
thats the fire that came out of Cleveland. And, Ooh, thats the Kansas City fire. It doesnt work that way,
because the fire thats coming will make the people of God meek and tender and lowly. It will produce
hiddenness. So Im not trying to have some big bravado about, Hey man, were men and women of God here.
You wait and see, I told you so. Thats not what Im doing right now. Were weak and broken people who
have received a mandate from the Lord, and we believe it. And we lose it sometimes: we lose our spirit of faith
and conviction. And when a couple of us lose it, a couple of others have it, and we strengthen one another, and
thats how its built. We give up just enough here so that when the fire does come, well all look at each other
and say, Hey, I know you quit three times. And the Lord is organizing it just that way.
ELIJAH THE TISHBITE, OF THE INHABITANTS OF GILEAD
1 Kings 17:1. Look at this: Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead (1 Kings 17:1). He came from this
little mountain village called Tish, which was part of Israel, but at that time was being occupied by the
Amorites, this idolatrous, wicked nation that hated God. There were no good churches, there was no good
worship music, there was no campus ministry; Elijah was just a young boy in this poor town.
And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab Now Ahab was a very, very wicked
king. Go to the chapter before, 1 Kings 16:30. And it says this: Ahab did more evil than every king before
him (1 Kings 16:30, paraphrased). And then again in verse 33: Ahab was the most evil king in the history of
Israel (v. 33, paraphrased). Ahabs wife, Jezebel, murdered the prophets. Ahab was in agreement with
murdering the prophets. Ahab was a demonized man who worshiped idols, who burned his children as sacrifices
to demons, who financed demonic, idolatrous sex orgies in worship of demons and killed anyone who resisted
him. Ahab was a seriously wicked man.
And Elijah confronted this man. Think of the profile of a man like Hitler or Stalin. Were talking about an evil
man. Hes an evil man who hates, who kills people if they love God. He worships demons; the whole nation
must worship demons or theyre killed if they resist him.
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AS THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL LIVES, BEFORE WHOM I STAND

Elijah stands before this very, very wicked king. Here it is, beloved; this is what gives me hope. He gives his
only credential right here. As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain
these years, except at my word (1 Kings 17:1b). His only credentials are this: I stand; I have a prayer life in
the presence of God. Elijah is standing before this very wicked, powerful man; all the nations around them
feared this man. Elijah comes out of nowhere. He hasnt written any books, he has no ministry, he has no
following, he has no rsum, he has no money, and he says, Hey most powerful king in this region of the earth,
you wicked, wicked man, I have something to say to you. I have a prayer life. And out of my prayer life, I stand
before the God of Israel. And out of my secret life in God, out of my intimacy with God, I have something to
say to you and all the kings of Israel. Beloved, this is intense.
IT DOESNT MATTER WHO WE ARE, BUT WHOM WE STAND BEFORE
Now, because we know Elijahs famous and we know the end of the storyhes taken up into the whirlwind
we say, Well, Elijahs supposed to do this. But remember, this is Elijahs first assignment.
Ahab says, Who are you anyway? Where are you from?
Gilead.
Wheres that? Gilead? Dont they have phones in Gilead?
No, we dont have phones or TVs there yet. Its a poor little mountain village.
Youre from Gilead and youre telling me that the judgment of God is going to hit my nation. Im a mighty
king. Who are you, anyway?
He says, It doesnt matter who I am; what matters is the One I stand before. What a word!
Thats the very word that John the Baptist used in John 3:29: he said, Im a friend of the Bridegroom; I stand
and hear His word. I stand and hear the words of God (Jn. 3:29). Those are the very words of Elijah. He says,
Ive got a secret life, Ive got a history in God. My confidence isnt in me; its in Him. I dont have any
confidence in my strength. Ive taken the very best of my strength and Ive invested my being into prayer and
fasting. Ive leaned into His strength.
WE DONT HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY IF I DONT RECEIVE IT FROM HIM
Beloved, God is raising up people who stand before God. Youre taking the best of your strength and youre
using it to spend your life in fasting and prayer. And what are you doing? Youre leaning into His strength. He
says, Thats how I stand; I stand before Him. I dont have anything to say if I dont receive it from Him. What
a powerful statement of the ministries at the end of the age.
He says, Heres whats going to happen, by my word: Im locking up the heavens in the natural. And beloved,
we will lock and unlock the heavens in the natural and in the spirit. We will unlock the heavens in the spirit
over geographic areas through prayer. When these gatherings take place in the stadiums, we will cause such an
impact by the grace of God that the heavens will open, and the angels will ascend and descend when the
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heavens open (Jn. 1:51. Its going to be people like you and me gathering together in little prayer meetings, and
the heavens are going to open at our word, in the natural and in the spirit. What an amazing thing.
THE WHEAT AND THE TARES WILL MATURE TOGETHER AT THE END OF THE AGE
Elijah is fearlessly confronting the most evil king in the history of Israel. He has the authority to open and shut
the heavens. One other point that I want to make right here is that in Elijahs secret life, as his life of prayer is
growing, the nation is growing more and more in sin. Beloved, in the nations, two things are happening at the
same time. The dark is getting darker, and the light is getting lighter. Two things are going to happen
simultaneously: the wheat and the tares will mature together at the end of the age. I want to say that again. The
wheat, the church of Jesus, will mature; we will have unprecedented power, purity, and unity. But while were
maturing to an unprecedented level in the Spirit, the tares will be maturing and the unrighteous will reach
heights of unrighteousness that will surpass Sodom and Gomorrah on a global dimension. What Sodom and
Gomorrah was in one region is what will be happening on planet earth around the globe. And what happened in
the book of Acts in the early church will be profoundly greater worldwide in the church of Jesus Christ. The
wheat and the tares are going to mature together.
SEASONS OF SHOWING AND SEASONS OF HIDING
In 1 Kings 17:3, the word of the Lord comes to Elijah and says, Get away from here and turn away eastward,
and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan (1 Kings 17:3). He says, Get away and hide
yourself. Then three and a half years later, in 1 Kings 18:1, He says, Go show yourself (1 Kings 18:1,
paraphrased). The word of the Lord comes in 1 Kings 17:3: Go hide yourself for one season. Three and a half
years later, the word of the Lord appears and tells him, Go and show yourself. Beloved, there are seasons
when you hide yourself and there are seasons where youll show yourself. Both of them are critical. For three
and a half years of hiding in chapter 17, he was preparing himself to build the altar when he showed himself in
chapter 18.
Some of you are in a Go and hide yourself season. Others are in a Go built an altar and show yourself
season. And the seasons change. Ive been in both of those seasons a few times: four, five, ten years at a time.
The Lord says, Go hide yourself. The Lord spoke to me in 1976, in my first profound prophetic experience.
He said, Go hide yourself. Go develop a history in God. Go get a prayer life. Go hear My voice. Go and
encounter Me. I dont want to go into the details of that right now, because thats not important. Whats
important is, those seasons come. And there are seasons when the Lord says, Now, go show yourself. Then
He says, Go hide yourself again.
Look at what he does in verse 4; he goes down to the brook and God commands the ravens to feed him. Now,
its kind of a neat thing that God gives supernatural provision. I mean, we use this verse really romantically:
Well, God provided supernaturally! He commanded the ravens to feed him! But what do you think the ravens
are bringing? Double cheeseburgers with fries? I mean, eww!
Elijah sits at this brook for twelve months. Im here Lord, hello, hello! One month, two months, three months,
four months, five months go by. Lord, I thought a few years ago You told me that I was going to do something
really, really important. The raven comes every day, morning and evening. Hes sitting on a rock. I mean, its
OK to sit on a rock from noon to 2:00pm in the afternoon, but were talking all day, every day. This is a time of
a fasted lifestyle. Hes living a life of fasting and prayer. I mean, his diet is pretty intense in the negative sense.
Its possible that John the Baptist had an upgrade, eating locusts and honey. Who knows?
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Verse 4 is an intense season of fasting and prayer. No ministry; no ones knocking on his door. No healing, no
miracles, no sermons. Hes hiding himself and it goes on after this happens. Do you know what happens in
verse 7? The brook dries up! Hes down there and Elijah says, Lord theres no more water, theres a drought.
Im getting thirsty. And hes down in the south part of Israel.
God says, Now go to the north part (1 Kings 17:9, paraphrased). So he goes up to the north and spends a few
years there, doing the same thing: living a very simple life of waiting on God. Hes still hiding himself.
DONT TRY TO SHOW YOURSELF IN THE SEASON OF HIDING
A bunch of people have joined our IHOP-KC staff; there are a few hundred of us who do it full time. Theyve
raised their own support, like missionaries. We call them intercessory missionaries. Some of them came here
to start their ministry. They said, Im coming because I want to get into this conference thing. I hear they have
some pretty neat conferences. I want to get launched into conferences.
And the Holy Spirit is saying, No, I told you to go there to hide yourself. I didnt tell you to go show yourself;
I told you to go hide yourself. And when youre trying to show yourself but youre in the season when God
said, Hide yourself, it really gets ugly. How many of you have ever tried to show yourself when youre in the
season of hiding? At the same time, it gets really ugly the other way, too: when its time to show yourself, but
you try and hide, like Jonah. This is what happens in Song of Solomon 2: the Lord says, Arise and come to the
mountains!
And we say, No! I dont want to go!
The Lord says, Youre going to wish you had said yes.
Beloved, regardless of whether you take a nap or raise the dead, the pays the same. It really is: doing the will of
God.
DONT JUST DO THE PROPHETIC, BECOME THE PROPHETIC
There are all kinds of dynamics at work in chapter 17. I dont want to go into all this. Ill say this, and then
well close. The prophetic ministry is pictured by the spirit of Elijah at the end of the age. Elijah was a picture in
the Old Testament of the forerunner ministry of spiritual violence and prophetic ministry at the end of the age.
Let me tell you this: we can do the prophetic ministry. We can do it. Doing it is what a lot of people are focused
on: speaking prophetic words and doing prophetic acts. Doing and speaking. They want to do the prophetic
ministry. The Lord has something higher on His heart: He wants you to be it, not just do it. Hes interested in
you becoming prophetic, not doing the prophetic. And Hes going to call you into the lifestyle, not 100 percent,
but in the same principles as Elijah. He wants us to embody the values of the kingdom. He wants us to be
something, not just do something. And its easy to come to a conference, and were going to teach you
principles. Principles are important. Were going to teach you some really practical models of healing. We want
to demystify the mystical to the degree that we can. We want to equip the saints to demystify, to identify some
of the lies and dismantle them, and show you that everyone can do the stuff of the kingdom.
But than what happens is that people become focused on doing the prophetic ministry, or doing the healing
ministry. And God wants us to be the prophetic ministry. He wants us to embody it. Now this may throw some
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of you off, but I say it in a measured way; I say it and I stand my ground. I wont be moved on this statement, I
know it will be disruptive to some of you; but I believe that Im speaking from the heart of God. The very
essence of the prophetic spirit of Elijah is a life of prayer and fasting. You study the life of Elijah, you study the
life of the man who followed him, John the Baptist, and you study the lifestyle of the forerunners at the end of
the age throughout Scripture, and you find that theyre supremely men and women of prayer and fasting. You
can do the prophetic without prayer and fasting, but youll never be the prophetic in the way that God intended
without embracing the grace of prayer and fasting.
Its a radical paradigm shift in the Western world. People will go anywhere to learn how to do it so they can get
the stuff going. And God says, Ill let you do it, even before you become it. But My heart is that you would be
it. And theres an anointing on the Word; you can live a superficial life in the Spirit, because theres an
anointing on the Word, and theres an anointing on compassion that if you speak the Word and you have
compassion, things are going to happen even if you live superficially your whole life in the Spirit. You can do
the healing, you can do the prophetic, but God says, I want you to do that, because theres an anointing on
compassion; theres an anointing on the Word. But Ive got something more than you doing it. Id rather you be
it.
But its going to take everything that you are to be it. You go to the high places; you enter into the grace of
Elijah. I dont fully know what that means, but I know that at the very center of the kingdom of God is the grace
to pray and fast. Its the norm of the people of God to be people of prayer and fasting. Thats such an odd
statement in this hour for the church in the Western world. Its the biblical norm for the leaders to live lives of
prayer and fasting. Its absolutely normal in the biblical paradigm of the kingdom of God. Its so odd today that
when one group does it, people say, Well they think theyre this, that, and the other. No, beloved, its normal
prophetic ministry in the kingdom of Godthe spirit of Elijah.
THE MOST NEGLECTED REVELATION IN THE BODY OF CHRIST
The core identity of the Church is people who operate, again, in spiritual authority, who live in this reality. The
most neglected revelation in the Body of Christ is the revelation that God releases strength and power through
prayer and fasting. Its clearly the most neglected revelation in the kingdom. You read right through the book of
Acts: Acts, 1, Acts 2, Acts 3, Acts 4, Acts 5, right through to the end. Its prayer and fasting, prayer and fasting,
prayer and fasting. Jeremiah, Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha, Moses, Daniel, were all men of prayer and fasting, prayer
and fasting, prayer and fasting, prayer and fasting. Peter, James, John, John G. Lake, Bernard of Clairvaux, John
Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, were all men of prayer and fasting, prayer and fasting, prayer and fasting. And then
you get to the twenty-first century church and people say, Now, whats the deal? Why do we do that?
I believe before its over the primary leaders in the body of Christ will all be men and women with the grace of
prayer and fasting. Right now very few of the leaders have that grace. Before its over, theyll either get it or it
will be entirely reversed. Ill prophesy this, and it doesnt take a whole lot to prophesy this, because its so
biblical. It doesnt take a special revelation to prophesy this. The leaders who are leading the Body of Christ
when the Lord appears, whether theyre twenty or eighty, the vast majority, with possibly a few exceptions, will
be men and women with the grace of prayer and fasting. Right now in Asia thats become a very normal thing,
but in the Western world only a very small percentage have that grace, and theyre odd. And the theologians
have got all these arguments as to why thats this, and why thats that, and why thats whatever. It doesnt
matter, because all that matters is what heaven thinks about it, and theres going to be a great change, and
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before the Lord appears, with a few exceptionsIm certain of this because its just the Lords waythe vast
majority of the people in leadership will live this lifestyle. Its going to be a great turn around.
THE GREATEST TRAGEDY IN AMERICA TODAY
And the Lord is whispering to you right now; Hes wooing you. Hes saying, Why not jump in now? Why wait
ten, twenty, thirty, forty years? Why wait until youre replaced? Why wait until I give your place to another?
Why not just listen now and jump in? Its the most neglected revelation of the kingdom of God, that Gods
way of strength is released not only, but profoundly, through prayer and fasting. And the fact that this grace
doesnt rest upon the church of America is the greatest crisis were facing. The greatest crisis in America isnt
9/11 and the significantly worse things that are coming. Thus says the Lord, Significantly worse things are
coming in America. Tragedies in far greater numbers. But those are not the greatest tragedy. The greatest
tragedy in America is that the church of Jesus Christ is being led by men and women where the vast majority
have no grace for prayer and fasting. And thats a disaster for the church and for America. Thats a very sober,
very heavy word.
When you get, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, 100,000 men and women in this nation leading multitudes
who have this grace, beloved, were going to enter into the glory of God and the promise of God, and were
safe. This is the spirit of Elijah. This is what God is calling His Church to become. God is raising up men and
women in the spirit of Elijah. We care about spiritual authority! We want angels to move, demons to move,
hearts to turn! We dont care about religious alliances. The amount of time spent in developing religious
alliances takes the best of our strength, because we need strength to keep moving around, keeping the religious
network going. It has no power. No cancer will leave, no angels appear, no demons tremble by these alliances.
Theyre not in and of themselves the problem, I believe; Im in some networks, and Im not against networks.
But we give the best of our time and strength to networking at one level or another! There are many ways to
define what networking is. We spend the best of our strength cultivating one anothers favor. We spend the best
of our strength cultivating one anothers favor instead of the favor of God. Were pampering one anothers
fears. I dont want Brother So-and-So to get disrupted; Ill make him feel this. We pamper one anothers
fears. We keep one another happy.
Beloved, we need to be preoccupied with being men and women of authority who live in spiritual violence. I
love relationships in the kingdom of God, but I want to give the best of my strength to having my spirit anointed
by God so that I can bring the deliverance, so that I can bring the blessing of God to broken people and love
them by bringing blessing and deliverance to them from heaven.
The spirit of Elijah. Amen. Well just end with that. Lets stand.
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Forerunners and The Spirit of Elijah Mike Bickle

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