BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR LEADERS AND AUTHORITY
This past year has been the hardest year of my life. Confronting tormenting spirits due to curses and witchcraft, I was almost taken out by the enemy this past spring. The warfare for my deliverance was not overnight, but it eventually yielded complete victory, praise be to God. The remaining battle with Tinnitus and other related health issues has been long and tedious. My faith has been sorely tested as my expectations for a quick recovery were soon replaced with calls to endure and remain steadfast in my faith for healing. The call to simply stand has been my anchor.
In my weakness, surrender was the only option. And yet, it was in the valleys I experienced some of the most powerful spiritual encounters of my life. Even as the enemy continued to harass me throughout this year and challenge my faith, I was overshadowed by a holy presence and an unexpected fire from the throne. I experienced angelic protection and ministry like never before. A baptism of fire began to sanctify my faith and purify it from my own expectations and desires. In the process I learned to wait with a God-given anticipation of what is to come.
It has also been in this process that I’ve had to assess where my confidence has been. In years past, I have been blessed with many prophetic dreams and spiritual intel to help and encourage others. But this past year has yielded few dreams and even less intel. I initially felt demoted and wondered what I had done to cause this lack. Yet, the Lord assured me there was a sovereign work taking place that I must allow if I am to receive all that He has in store. He has confirmed over and over again that great testing usually yields great blessing and reward. It’s in the standing that promises come true.
As I look at the lessons I’ve learned and see the current state of the Church – especially the prophetic movement – I believe there may be a message for all of us. People with prophetic gifts tend to find their confidence in the wrong thing. Receiving information from higher spiritual realms can certainly boost our sense of worth and value. But they should not be the core of our identity or spiritual authority. Our confidence must rest in Christ alone. It is only through the power of the cross and His gift of grace that we have anything to offer. It is only through His indwelling Spirit that we have any ability to speak life and see things change.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
The Father wants us to have the kind of confidence that does not rest on temporary gifts or talents. Our greatest confidence will come when we’ve been stripped of our gifts and forced to rely on Him alone for direction and the strength to overcome. He longs for us to know the endless power within us that comes, not from spiritual gifts or supernatural encounters, but from His abiding presence within.
This is why He tests us as prophetic vessels. This is why He allows us to feel weak and void of anything to offer. It is only in this place of surrender that He can fill the gap and demonstrate our true strength which comes from Him alone. We must be convinced that He comes with power, not because we’ve earned it or have the gifts to validate it. He empowers us because He loves us. And because we’ve been faithful to His Word. We’ve been willing to stand, regardless of the conflicts and challenges, simply because we trust Him.
I believe this is why we are seeing the prophetic movement as a whole going through a severe testing. Exposures of compromise, immorality, and even corruption in our movement are shining a light on this issue. Too much emphasis has been placed on spiritual gifts as qualifiers for ministry. Too much attention has been given to those who receive these gifts and they have become idols instead of pathways to God’s heart and ways. We must be reminded from whence our strength and power comes.
The coming demonstrations of power upon the earth will not come as a result of great prophetic activations, words of knowledge, or even angelic visitations. They will not necessarily come through great prophets or seers or those with large followings. They will come through those whose hearts have recognized the power of Christ within and have fully surrendered to the work of the cross. Idolizing prophetic gifts and ministers must be replaced with personal pursuits of holiness and revelation from His Word. Supernatural experiences cannot be the measure of one’s maturity or authority, but merely a demonstration of God’s grace for all to learn from.
Though it has been painful and uncomfortable, my own journey through the fire has produced a deeper awareness of Christ within. It has not been due to prophetic insight or spiritual gifts. My confidence has been secured in the work of the cross and rests in the power of His resurrection. Period.
For those who have felt targeted by the enemy, I believe it is because God has chosen you. He has chosen to reveal Himself to you in deep and profound ways. Regardless of how long the journey or how painful the process, He is imparting a steadfast endurance that will defy your enemies. You are not only learning to outlast them, but overwhelm them with power from on high. He is producing in all of us an unshakeable faith that does not rely on temporary gifts or strategic spiritual intel, but on the unchanging power of Christ. He is purifying our hearts unto holiness, for it is a holy people that will ultimately overpower and displace the devils and demons that assail us.
Because of His great love and desire, He will draw it out of us – one way or another. It is during these times of testing and pruning that He prepares us for the greater things. As we persevere and keep standing in hope, He is positioning us to receive a fresh outpouring of His power and presence. Though we can rejoice in the gifts He provides and delight in the encounters we experience, our ultimate confidence must come from abiding in Him. He alone will receive the glory and He alone will be our reward.
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Wanda has been in ministry for over 35 years as a worship leader, teacher, author, deliverance counselor, and speaker.
15 Responses
Great word Wanda!
Several years ago, out of nowhere, I started to get sudden, shooting pain in my hip and back. I cried out for mercy and searched the scriptures. The only scripture that resonated was Romans 11:32. “For God has bound all men over to disobedience (unbelief/futility) so that He may have mercy on them all.”
I stood on the promise that He bore my infirmities and by His stripes I am healed, but the pain did not relent for almost a year. The Lord eventually brought complete relief and restoration, but it was a year of questioning and waiting for Him to show mercy…though it felt like it would ever come!
As you say, God wants our faith to be in Christ and the mercy and grace we have through Him. It often seems and feels like God has forgotten our cause (Isaiah 40:27)—that He doesn’t care and isn’t doing enough. But Jesus is the eternal revelation of how much God cares and what He is willing to do for us.
Hebrews 6:12–We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
Hebrews 10:36-39–You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Thank you so much for sharing this. This has been a very painful year for me. Broken relationships and problems in my marriage have left me feeling lonely and forsaken. I have never experienced such loneliness. Thanks for the encouraging word.
Such a good word. Thank you for the encouragement. His grace is sufficient. His timing is perfect. We look at the unseen.JESUS our Savior, Deliverer, and Healer.
A powerful message to the body of Christ.
Thank you Wanda!
Thank you for sharing your amazing testimony, I currently suffer from tinnitus and visual disturbances probably brought on from the tinnitus. After reading your encouraging words, I feel restored. As I was reading it, I could feel the power of the Holy Spirit coming off of the page and entering my body for total healing and restoration. You are an amazing woman of God, thank you for giving us Hope! May God Bless you and Keep you 😊 God is Absolutely Good ALWAYS
Thank you for sharing this timely word. I felt tremendously encouraged by it. Blessings 🙏🏼🕊️💟✝️
Thank you. I, too, have been resisting ringing in the ear, and very few Words of knowledge or dreams since last spring. I have been reading books by Alicia Britt Chole on the anonymous years, quiet movement, and darkness is normal- she says the same thing about deepening the individual knowledge of God being the same in all seasons, and all circumstances as we resist evil and do good. We are human BEINGS, not human DOERS. God bless
Thank you so much, Wanda, for sharing the conclusions of your testing. Couldn’t be better stated. I endured about 21 years of a rare health syndrome that had me 100% incapacitated for, at times, one-third of my time. Invisible causes were suspect. During those years I managed to raise my two children. During the “up” times, I appeared completely fine, which led to skepticism from others. I learned among other things that sometimes our trials are testing others not just ourselves. Proof came when at one point, 14 years into the situation, when God completely, immediately and totally ceased my ailment. I was elated and rebounded with vigor. Strangely, those who doubted before, doubted even more that God had done something. Ridiculous reasons were advanced to explain for my change, all of them dodging Divine healing. Then after three months the syndrome returned, and it was amazing how quickly those who feigned faith before rallied with the mockers. Few stood fast. Meanwhile I knew exactly what was going on… God was answering my prayer for a sign that He would eventually totally heal me (which He did). But I needed to suffer another seven years. I was not notified of the timeline, but when the problem ended permanently, it coincided with a specific family member turning to God. I knew my temporary healing was a sign of encouragement for me, to help me endure, as I’d asked Him to make it clear to me whenever healing was final, what the reason for the timing was. And that is how it ended. And along the way, so many displayed were “weighed in the balance” and sadly found wanting in faith. God words in mysterious ways.
Thank you very much for this post, which I think is the most powerful one you have written.
You have been totally transparent by painfully sharing how the Lord has used mean and unexpected circumstances in your life, not from Him, to bring His holy fire to heal you and to burn out of you the “dross” that you did not know was there.
You have shared the great depth of understandings that have come to you through this extensive trial and are helping more people than you will ever know by your sharing and teaching.
God bless you and Merry Christmas!
Thank you Wanda for expressing very clearly what so many experience and feel. The Lord Bless you in All things as you continue to walk the path that He has laid before you. Numbers 6:24-26 continues to express His Heart towards His Sons and Daughters!
Spot on word!!!!
Your testing has encouraged me today because it is so real and familiar. I started following you during the pandemic along with other prophets. I attend a very prophetic church where everyone else seems to hear God so easily. I struggle to hear Him but I know that I do on occasion. My pastor was the first person I saw on Instagram taking the vax, and the church was shut down for months. It was my husband who was able to guilt the elders into opening up again. He has been diagnosed with a rare heart disease now and there is no medical help for it. Many are praying for him but we are older and I’m not sure he wants to be healed. I am at home with him and there are few times we can get out of the house. Not knowing what the future holds for us in this time of political turmoil has tested my faith and made me feel isolated because I cannot share what is going on with anyone in the family or really close friends. My husband’s heart can’t take the stress and I am the only person in my family unvaxed. First the Lord had me study the Blood of Jesus, then Deliverance by Jake Kale (thanks to you) and how to hear from the Lord by Johnny Enlow. RESIST was my word for 2022 and REST was my word for 2023. As my husband’s health deteriorates, I feel God is near and will be my strength. I too struggle with tinnitus for years. I am looking forward to the GLORY of GOD invading the church. If I did not have you and other believers/truth tellers, I would be even more isolated. Thank you for sharing so honestly and for your teaching and book writing. God is at work in all of us.
This article has the fingerprint of the Holy Spirit and someone who has been through the dealings of God. The cross is rarely mentioned in modern Christianity but it proved to be your salvation. I was blessed to meet you at the IFA conference. Your husband and you are marked by the Holy Spirit!
Good word! Made me think of Romans15:13, “May the God of hope fill You with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” May I/ we learn to rest in Hope because of who He is.
Wanda, this is exactly where I am. Thank you so much for putting words to my feelings. Through the pain I’m experiencing, I have learned so much this past year. I continue being fed His words saying “wait on the lord.”
Everywhere I turn there is a word about waiting and trusting his timing. I know He’s building my character,
But some days I’m more patient than others. Reading your post daily is certainly going to help me continue on.
His bless you.
Marcia