Ron Sawka Ministries
Sept. 18, 2024; Elul 15, 5784
“Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger” (Ps. 8:2).
“And Jesus said to them, ‘Yes. Have you never read, “Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise”?’” (Matt. 21:16).
Can We Silence the Voice of the Enemy Over a Nation?
Thank you for praying for my recent ministry trip to Burma/Myanmar , September 6–13. I was invited to minister at Full Gospel Assembly, the very first church we connected with some thirty years ago. Back then, we went to Burma as a team from Japan as part of the 10/40 Window prayer journeys organized by the late C. Peter Wagner and Global Harvest, which did so much to open the harvest fields in Asia.
From then on, we went to Burma almost yearly, teaching and training the prophetic and apostolic. That church has grown from around 100 to now more than 8,000 in Yangon, the capital. They also have over 120 churches planted around the nation. We praise and thank God for all He has done.
I am happy to report that on this trip I had no physical difficulties (other than limited movement because of my still-rehabilitating left leg-, arm-, and hand). I was able to preach four times on Sunday, as well as lead daily seminars from 9 a.m.–3 p.m.
Physical Presence Better than Just Zoom—Before our trip began, several people remarked that now was the time to actually go and be there. Zoom meetings were good, of course, but just by being there the Lord would do something special. That definitely was the case. Connected to this, and, as you will see below, it seems the Lord will now have me do more travel.
The Lord of Hosts—During the very first meeting, the Holy Spirit began impressing on me that the Lord’s most frequently used name is the “Lord of Hosts,” which is used some 250 times in scripture. The Lord is leader of the angelic armies, as well as leader of us, the army of believers. There is no doubt that He considers every believer to be a warrior and part of this army, because from the very day the Israelites were set free from Egypt, He called them armies! We read, “And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies” (Exod. 12:51).
In every meeting, I was conscious of Jesus leading us, His army, along with the angels (see Rev. 19:11–15), because there was something special He wanted to do to impact the nation. The praise time was so important, and it led to us doing many prophetic acts.
Silencing the Voice of the Enemy—We all know the devil likes to “talk to/influence” us. He doesn’t want us to follow the paths of righteousness and wisdom. He wants to lead us to sin, to rebel, to not believe, and to be depressed. He will constantly whisper in our ears to influence us to make bad decisions. One simple way of stopping this is to just praise the Lord. It doesn’t have to be skillful or sophisticated praise. The simpler the better, because Jesus said, “‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’” (Matt. 21:16).
I shared all of this, but the Holy Spirit kept nudging me further. There was something more important He wanted to show us. Finally I saw it. As we the armies of God, praise the Lord, there will be a silencing of the voice of the enemy in the ears of the leaders of the nation. Instead of them being bombarded with demonic thoughts intent on getting them to do things that bring no solutions, more confusion, and perhaps suffering, our praise would result in angelic armies silencing those voices.
I had never thought of that before, and indeed, had never even heard of it before. But I know deep in my spirit that is how the Holy Spirit led us. We praised and worshiped, and as a result I know that for an important moment/span of time the voice of the enemy in the ears of the leaders of Burma was stopped. I trust and expect that because of that some good decisions were made or will be made by Burmese leaders.
On further reflection, can’t we also do this for people and loved ones we are concerned about and praying for? As we praise, we can believe for the enemy’s voice in their ears to be silenced so the individual can hear and come to accept/believe what God wants them to hear.
Thanks for praying.
Ron and Teddy
Ron’s Travel Ministry Schedule
Sept. 22–23—Kobe Christ Glory Church, Kobe, Japan
Oct. 3–12 — CTF World Conference, Sofia, Bulgaria
Nov. 24—CTF Noda, Venue at: Saitama, Japan
Jan. 22–25—Project 173, Mexico City, Mexico
A Month for New Beginnings
Elul—The Sixth Month of the Hebrew Year 5784
September 4–October 2, 2024
I feel “New Beginnings” is an apropos title for this sixth Hebrew month, Elul. We have come through the three weeks of “dire straits” in Tammuz and Av (Tammuz 17–Av 9/July 23–August 13). Although “dire,” we are to look at them as a time of birth pangs, and therefore birthing. Also, the whole month of Av was about the Lord “roaring from Zion” (see Joel 3:16).
Recently, the idea of new beginnings was further impressed on me while reading Haggai. I hadn’t really noticed before, but Haggai gave that important prophetic word that now was time to build the temple on the first day of Elul (see Hag. 1). The returned exiles were impoverished and in disarray. Things weren’t going well in Jerusalem or in Israel as a whole. Yet it was to these very discouraged people that the prophet thundered out, “Now is time to build.” He prophesied that they were continually saying, “Now isn’t the right time,” but that directly contradicted God’s prophetic word that “Now is the time.” The prophecy explained that the reason for their hardship and poverty was because they weren’t doing what God said.
We know the rest of the story. Their hearts were stirred. They obeyed and began to rebuild. From then on, the blessing of God was poured upon them. Everything began to change for the better.
So, let this be an exciting month. Move into the new beginnings the Lord has for you. Read Here.
Praying for One Nation Every Day
Let’s keep praying, declaring, and believing every day for our own city, our own nation and one other nation in the world. Prayer strategy that comes from Apostle Karen Dey (New Zealand/Sri Lanka)
Click here to read Apostle Karen Dey’s document.
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