Report for April/May of 2015
By Rachel Hickson and her team.
INTRODUCTION
In November 2014, as Rachel was preaching at Destiny Life Center, the Holy Spirit spoke to her and reminded her of her mandate to pray “from Washington to Washington.” For several years Rachel and various team members have gathered in WashingtonDC to pray, but now we feel there is a shift in the spirit and it is time to stir the Northwest and Washington State.
Again and again Rachel has been impacted by the number of people who were stirred to pray for a spiritual awakening in the Northwest as a result of the Northwest Intercessors conference held in Portland during the 1990’s. Many times people have said those times of prayer changed their life. So at the end of last year Rachel felt God challenge her to call the remnant of prayer warriors who love the Northwest and begin to pray specifically for this area of Americaagain. Ahead of the election year we need to cry out to God and see an awakening of the government of Jesus in the Northwest!
The purpose of our Prayer Strike was threefold:
- To reestablish right lines of government and order in the state.
- To unlock the pioneer spirit of the Northwest: we visited areas where the origins of the spiritual life of the Northwest were forged, where commerce was born, and the birthplace of the significant cities of the Northwest region.
- To awaken the right spiritual atmosphere over the Northwest.
The scripture God quickened to Rachel was from II Samuel 11:1 “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.”
OUTLINE OF PRAYER DAYS
On April 25, 2015, the Strike began as Rachel and Helen and several members of Rainier Hills Christian Center visited a monument erected to commemorate a place of injustice during the Indian War fought in 1855 at Connell’s Prairie, 6 miles west of Buckley. Rachel represented the British army officers as Gordon’s family has a strong history of military service in the British army. They prayed to cleanse the land of bloodshed and injustice, and declared a new covenant of God over this area. It was discovered that after this conflict, many of the Native American tribes moved to Alki Point and thus founded the city of Seattle, where we were planning to pray later in the week.
Monday, April 27, a team of 14 seasoned intercessors gathered in
Bellevueto strategize and plan the Prayer Strike over the Northwest region. We prayed and took communion together and we then discussed and identified the key areas that should be our prayer focus for this time. We dedicated oil, salt and wine as spiritual tools that we would use in our prayer journey to establish cleansing, represent the anointing of God and God’s covenant blood.
We felt God saying that He wanted to release a new sound in the region, and realized that the word “Bell” kept coming up. Our first meeting was in BELLvue, our second day in BELLinghamand our third day in BELLtown. As we prayed in Spokaneon the fourth day, we were gathered around the Clock/BELL tower and it began to strike the chimes for 11 AM. On our last day, as we prayed at the monument erected to commemorate the birthplace of Seattle, one of the women listed had the surname BELL. Many times as we prayed throughout the week, we heard bells or chimes ringing, almost as if God was endorsing our prayer.
Some of the key senses that we felt as a team were that Washington State is at a pivotal point in history. This area of the Northwest has been called to pioneer and be the Northwest cornerstone for the nation. We prayed that there would be a turnaround beginning in the west and moving to the east. We prayed - let them pioneer to bring the glory and establishment of God rather than the liberal ways. Many prophetic words spoken over the last two decades have spoken of God’s glory falling in the Northwest and then moving to the east of our nation. Chuck Pierce prophesied that this is a whirlwind state. JH heard the words “Appoint and Disappoint” and shared that God is looking for whistle blowers who will pay the price. RZ heard the words “tuning fork”, bringing a new sound of resonance with God, and “pruning” - a cutting back to bring a more healthy harvest.
On Tuesday, April 28, the team met at Light of the World PrayerCenter in Bellingham. We drove to the Peace Arch and had an amazing time of prayer disconnecting the old covenants of bloodshed. We began declaring the covenant of God over this strategic border. We particularly prayed for the border to be protected from every malicious spirit wanting to cause harm to America. We secured the boundaries in the spirit as we stood in the gates. JH had a stone taken from the land of the Lummi Tribe and as he held it, we anointed it with oil, wine and corn (Hosea 2:22), prayed a blessing and placed it as a representative of the true cornerstone, Jesus, to establish a new covenant in that region.
Then we split into two teams: one team went to the
Fairhaven district, where prostitution and human trafficking has been a long-standing stronghold. We prayed to break those chains. We also prayed at the location of a home held by the Masonic Lodge, which was reportedly being sold to an Islamic organization. We prayed that those ungodly contracts would be broken and that land be used for God’s purposes.
A second team went up to the Sehome tower over the WWU campus and prayed for revival to come to this generation of students. Each time we prayed to release a new sound, a train nearby would blow its whistle! AMEN!
We concluded the day at the Light of the World Centerin prayer. HA declared, in Arabic, a blessing over the US and Israel in a powerful demonstration with the Israeli flag and the USflag. Many prophetic words were released and an atmosphere of great joy was present.
On Wednesday, April 29, the team gathered in Belltown and walked up to the Gates Foundation. On our way, we had a significant prayer time at the Memorial Stadium, where in 1951 and 1962 Billy Graham held great crusades. Rachel saw the names of some servicemen who had been lost in war written on the wall, and just saw them representing the names of many who would get saved in this generation. NC led us to a Board Room at the Gates Foundation and we were privileged to hear about the work being done to feed and bring healthcare to needy nations and people groups. Then, once again, we split up into smaller groups to strike various locations in the city.
One group went to the
Columbia Towerobservatory, 73 stories up, which is the highest place in the city. From there we were able to see many strategic communities and landmarks and pray for revival, declare the covenant of God, and call in God’s heart for the city.
Another team went to the waterfront and prayed for the cleansing of the waters, removal of the atmosphere of suicide and depression from downtown Seattle and for the godly influence of Seattleto the nations from the city. They also went up to the top of the Space Needle. Rachel had had a word as she prayed earlier in the day that God was leading us back to the same point but at a different level of influence and authority; that although we may feel we are going round and round in circles we are shifting and changing our geography. As we walked up the Space needle suddenly this word had a perfect illustration, as each time we walked around the entrance of the Space Needle we came back to the same point and same view of the city but at a higher elevation and the perspective changed. God spoke to us that even though it seems we have come around to the same place as we have prayed before, we need to have a new perspective because we are at a higher level.
A third team went to the City Hall and prayed at the Mayor’s office, even as the city council was meeting.
We concluded the day with a divine appointment at St Luke’s Episcopal Church in Ballard. This is where the charismatic movement really began with Dennis Bennett in the 1960’s. We met with their current priest, Canon Brit Olson, who had just 2 months earlier taken this parish in a “Big Yes” response to God who asked her to move there. She shared how she has been prayer walking the community, how desperate the need is to help restore this sanctuary and how they feed over 1,000 meals every month to the homeless. Brit took us to the old historic chapel and as we sang in the Spirit, we soaked in God’s presence there. We were able to bless Brit with some cash and know that this was a divine appointment from God.
On Thursday, April 30, Rachel, Helen and Glenda flew to
Spokane to prayer strike on the east side of the state. Rachel shared the prophetic and biblical significance of the east gate. Pastors Barry and Kay Hill met us with several other pastors from the area. We walked the university district, where there are now 6 universities all sharing this area. Even the flags were declaring to “think big” and so we declared all over that campus that God would make Himself known to the students. We had a particularly powerful prayer time in a gazebo that had blades on top of it that whirled in the wind. As we prayed for the wind of God, the wind in the natural began to blow.
We then went to pray at the birthplace of Spokane, also the site of the 1974 World’s Fair. As we prayed, the clock tower began to strike the hour of 11 AM with loud chimes. The bells rang for 12 minutes, as least three different bells in the city each after one another and the time was not on the hour – it was 11:16 when the last bell started chiming! Rachel shared how it may seem we are at the same location as we have prayed before, but God has elevated us to a new position for better perspective. We then walked to the City Hall, where we were given opportunity to pray in the council chambers for the government and governing officials of the city. Helen shared a word she had prepared regarding the 6 cities of refuge in Israel and how the original meaning of each city’s name had significance for Spokaneas a city of refuge.
Thursday evening we concluded the day with a powerful service at Victory Faith Fellowship with Pastors Craig and Moni Lotze. The worship was powerful and there was electricity in the air as Rachel shared a message of giving a “Big Yes” to God and “Bold No” to those things that are not giving Him glory. Many people came forward for prayer and it was a glorious time in the presence of God. We know that sovereign Kingdom connections were made in this strategic time.
Friday, May 1, we flew back to Seattleand stopped at the Birthplace of Seattle monument on Alki Beach. There were 5 women on our team and, significantly, 5 women listed on this monument; one of them was called Sarah BELL. Again the new sound of bells was ringing!
Then a team of 9 women met on the Interstate 90 bridge. This is the only highway that stretches from the west coast to the east coast, so it is a significant roadway. We prayed for God’s glory to go from
Washington, to
Washington DC to
Jerusalem! The team concluded at the Jewish synagogue on
Mercer Island, calling God’s people back to salvation and to the knowledge of their heritage. We broke any assignments to attack the Jewish people and blessed
Israel and those of Jewish heritage.
The glorious conclusion of the day was our first Northwest Regional Prayer Meeting held at SonriseChristian Centerin Everett. There was a full house and you could sense the excitement as intercessors came together from all over the region to pray. It was like a reunion as many greeted each other after long absences. Rachel again preached a powerful message, calling the intercessors back to a life of prayer (you can listen to the message here). The altars were completely filled with men and women crying out to God, recommitting themselves to pray.
TESTIMONIES
Heard from some inside sources (key believer who works at the border) that a few days after we prayed they discovered and shut down an Isis training cell in Canada just eight miles from the border.
So that is an overview of the time of prayer we had for the Northwest part of this amazing nation called America. During this time the UK elections were held and everyone expected these elections to have no clear outcome and lead to a time of compromised government for Britain. But God did a miracle and against all the odds we have a clear leader and secure government. All the media called it a miracle TURNAROUND – I believe that as we enter 2016 we need to see a turnaround for the American people too.
Let it be, God – establish your Kingdom!
