July 28, 2025 • 40 mins
In this stirring episode of the Elim Leaders Podcast, host Mark Pugh sat down with James Aladiran, founder of Prayer Storm, to explore the spiritual urgency facing the UK today.
James shares a prophetic call to arms for the Church - a call to awaken, contend, and reclaim the spiritual airways over Britain.
Discover more about Prayer Storm at prayerstorm.org
View the show notes on elim.org.uk
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
Hi and welcome to the latest edition of the Elim Leaders
Podcast. My name is Mark Pugh, I'm your
host, and I want to say a big thank you to all of those who've
sent in encouraging feedback andto those who've shared these
podcasts with friends and colleagues.
We really appreciate that. And also thank you to those
who've been subscribing on the various channels, whatever
(00:23):
platform you listen to podcasts on, and ensures that you're the
1st to get each new episode thatdrops.
We're working on some great episodes in the weeks and the
months ahead, and we hope that you'll find them all really
helpful in your leadership. Well, today we're looking at a
spiritual battle that's over thenation.
And I recently caught up with a leader of a prayer storm to
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discuss this and a number of other provocative issues.
James Aladaran brings insight and understanding on some very
key issues for our day, and I hope you feel stirred by the
conversation that I had with him.
So let's get straight away to this conversation.
Well, it's great to welcome goodfriend of Elim, good friend of
ours, James the ladder round, who has just been such a
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blessing to Elim over the years.James, wonderful.
Have you with us? You You're not in the UK right
now. That's right, I am in Colorado
Springs. It's actually my first time
here, but it's really nice. And you're over there because
you are preparing for something that's coming to the UK next
month in August. So we'll talk more about that in
a moment, but tell me what you're seeing and discerning in
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the spiritual temperature of theUK right now.
Oh, I am sensing like a good, a good tension.
It depends on how you look at it.
You know, some people look at the cop half full, some people
see it half empty. I am seeing God moving, but I'm
also seeing the enemy moving. And I'm seeing that there is a
building of of intensity in the spirit realm, and there is need
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for the church to be sensitive, to be intelligent spiritually
and to respond rightly. And so what's actually on my
heart right now is the church needs to wake up.
The church needs to wake up. So there's this sense of
sounding an alarm to the church and saying this is not the time
to chill, to complain or to justsit back and go, yeah, some
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great things are happening. This is the time to actually
wake up and respond in the Spirit.
So we've been here for years about the church needing to wake
up. What's an awake church look
like, James? Oh, an awake church looks like
the church in the book of Acts. Let's just take Acts 12 for
example. An awake church looks like a
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church that's praying. In fact, let's not even go to
Acts 2. Let's go to Acts 2, the day of
Pentecost. The church was born out of a
prayer meeting that that is 1 awake church looks like a church
that's contend and forgot. You know, Jesus said to the
apostles, it says wait in Jerusalem until you're endued
with power from on high. Their interpretation of wait was
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pray until. So their prayer meeting had a
start time and no end time though.
I'm going to just have a our prayer meeting.
Then we're going to pray until they saw what Jesus said.
And that was the culture that birthed the church.
So I am convinced that in the same way Jesus stopped us at the
church how he wants it, now, thechurch needs to return to how
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Jesus started it in that cultureof prayer.
So on a wake church is a church that's on fire in the place of
prayer. There's a quote by Charles
Feeney. I can't remember exactly how he
goes, but something along the lines of one of the ways to test
the spiritual temperature of a church is to go to the prayer
meeting. How the church responds in the
prayer meeting tells you how awake, how alive, how
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spiritually aware, connected to the Lord that church is.
And I do think there is a need for a ramping up of the
intensity in this hour. So of course, my life church
will need a myriad of activitiesand programs if it's going to
represent and be the hands and the feet and the voice of Christ
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in the community. And we got churches all over the
country who are doing amazing things, touching those
communities. But are you saying if we've got
all those other things in place and we don't have prayer, then
we're asleep? Absolutely.
And I say that 200%. Let me say this way, if your
church is growing in number and we examine the content and the
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culture of your church and we don't see the ancient landmarks
of fast and prayer consecration president to God that we see in
scripture and through revival history.
If we don't see that ancient landmarks in the culture of the
church and it's growing, something else is responsible
for that growth and not the HolyGhost.
Because the prescription we havein scripture is very clear, we
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will not see the church advance without it being a how to pray.
In fact, Jesus said this, I willbuild my church and the gates of
hell will not prevail. The reverse is true.
The gates of hell prevail against the church that Jesus is
not building. Now, the fact that people call
themselves church doesn't mean Jesus is building them, because
the one he's building, he said my house will be called a House
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of press. So the DNA, the litmus test,
what helps us know what he's building is the DNA, the culture
of that people. They will be, I like to say this
way, they will be afflicted, their flesh will be afflicted by
prayer to the point that their spirit starts to live in the
reality of that life is like theflesh doesn't want to pray, but
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when is that to journey with God?
Your flesh starts to be so dealtwith it becomes second nature.
A good example is coffee. You know many people, I mean
many people like coffee, but youdon't.
You weren't born liking coffee. Coffee doesn't taste that great
actually, but you acquire the taste and so over time you get
used to it and over time your body get gets so used to it when
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you don't have it, your body tells you you need it.
If I remember my mother-in-law at that times when she'll go on
the fast and because she's not had coffee, she's shaking
headaches and all this, I'm like, that's the body responding
to something that it was kind ofis on a quiet taste.
In the same way, your flesh has to be so afflicted with prayer
to the point that when you don'thave it, you start to feel the
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shift in you. You know you got to have and and
not that reality. It's real.
So the church he's building, theflesh of that church will be so
afflicted. We'll pray to the point where it
becomes their response. It's not.
We don't as we don't pray to getGod's come and bless what we're
about to do. We pray as a lifestyle and then
we see what he's doing and alignwith it.
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We don't pray because we're about to preach and asking God
to make it anointed. We live a life of prayer and
sermons or messages come out of that.
It it, it's, it's a, it's like areorientation of the way we do
life and we do ministry. And in places where I've seen
God really moved, you see that prayer is become like just a
second nature. It's just, it's just what they
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do. I don't think it was even the
Hebrides revival where, you know, people, many people are
getting saved. And one of the ways they judged
if those people were truly savedwas if they showed up in the
prayer meetings after the professor that were Christians.
I mean, it's, it's just part of who we are.
When you get on fire for God, itmanifests in your life of
prayer. Ask you more about how do we get
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to that place of as the scripture says, as the deer pans
the streams of living waters formy soul, lungs and craves after
you. We're going to come back to that
in a moment, but I can just continue on this sleep thought
because in a natural, there are people I know that struggle to
sleep and so they have to develop some sort of sleep
strategy. And it might be music I listen
to or books they read, somethingthat just helps deprogram their
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brains and their minds and helpsthem switch off to a place where
they can be able to sleep. What are the lullabies that are
keeping the church asleep? Oh yeah, there's some major
ones. And I mean, the one first thing
that comes to mind is entertainment.
I do think the church is drunk on entertainment, but not even
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in this generation, not just thechurch, this generation is drunk
on entertainment because it has a way of dulling your heart.
Entertainment is not all wrong, but a lot of entertainment these
days carries a spirit that opposes the Spirit of God.
And you'll have to be discerningto kind of pick up on it because
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if you're just in that mode, youcan get desensitized.
If you're constantly just consuming entertainment all the
time, you can, you can get desensitized.
The spirit that's behind it. And it's not necessarily because
they're using foul language, even though that's wrong.
And you know, it's sex scenes oryou know, all these violins and
you think, oh, well, if he has that, that means I shouldn't
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watch it. Well, that's true.
But I'm saying even the things that seem harmless, sometimes
there is a spirit behind it thatjust creeps in and dulls your
heart in a certain way. So entertainment is a massive 1.
And I think comfort is a big onetoo, because I look at church
history and I look at, you know,church right now across the
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world. The parts of the world where the
church is growing are often the parts of the world where the
Christians are not experiencing a great deal of comfort.
Talk about like Iran, for example.
I talk about China, for example.There is a lot of persecution
going on and a lot of difficulties that priest is
experiencing that, but yet the church is growing.
So I've come to realize that persecution and discomfort has
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never really destroyed the church.
What tends to destroy the churchis comfort and pleasure.
And when we live in the West andyou know, we live fairly, most
of us are wealthier than most ofthe world.
So we live in a in a culture where, you know, there's just a
natural comfort and difficultieswe always see as bad.
And so we always veering towardsGod make me more comfortable.
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But then I've realized if you'rereally going to be a priest, an
effective priest, you actually embrace a life of discomfort
because part of the life of the priest is the priest is meant to
service an altar, and an altar is effective because of
sacrifice on the altar. The Bible tells us you are a
priest, and guess what? You are the sacrifice.
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And guess what? You are the altar, and guess
what? You are the temple.
You're a mobile shrine. So everything is here, right
here. So if you embrace comfort to the
point where it doesn't, the comfort can cause you to slip
into a spiritual dullness that does not keep you on your edge
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spiritually because you, just you, just you, you indulge your
flesh, your flesh just finds it easy.
And so things that challenge your flesh, for example,
fasting, for example, just turning off your phone for a few
days or whatever it is, you findthat your flesh is responding
because your flesh is just comfortable in that place.
So I would say to believers, oneof the ways to break that is to
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have a rhythm in your life whereyou, you just break out of the
comfort, you know, get rid of your phone for a few days or,
you know, go on a fast, don't eat.
When I say go on a fast, I don'tmean social media, don't eat.
Just let, let, let your flesh know that it's not in charge,
that the spirit is in charge. And so these things help us
break this dullness of of our spirits.
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So let me link that to the previous point then around
getting back to that scripture as the deer pants, the streams
of living waters of my soul craves and longs after year.
How does fasting and prayer helpus get to that place?
I know in my experience, there have been many times I've
fasted, I've not felt like it. I'm not.
I don't feel like I'm doing it because I'm craving after God of
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this some decision. There's as you say it, it's a
crucified of the flesh. It's stepping away from comfort,
not towards something that feelscomfortable.
So how does it help that process?
How does fasting, praying, how does it help us get further
towards that place of craving after more of God?
I think what it does, it alerts our spirit, it it wakens our
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spirit. So what fasting does, is fasting
is starving the flesh OK, to feed the spirit or to be more in
tune with the movement of the Spirit of God within your
spirit. So when you fast, it makes you
more conscious of how much you need God.
It weakens your flesh. Now the times when you fast and
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you get irritable because thingsthat are there come to the
surface, it exposes all the things that God needs to deal
with. And so it brings you to a place
where if you're doing it properly, it humbles you.
Actually, in the Old Testament, a lot of times when they humble
themselves before, before the Lord, fasting was a part of
that. So he humbles you and causes you
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to come in that place of just seeking the Lord for his
intervention. Some of the times I've fasted, I
have failed. Such a weakness in my body, such
a profound weakness that it makes me realize how really weak
I am without the Lord. And so it's like that physical
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sensation actually aligns me with that reality of without
you, I can do nothing. This is actually just a reminder
of how weak I am. But sometimes you don't realize
that because you're so strong inyourself, you're eating.
So you know, if you find someonethat talks a lot and that likes
to just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.
If they went on a 7 day fast on the 7th day, try to strike up a
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conversation with them and you find out that there will be no
strength to talk because what that fasting does it, it weakens
whatever that thing is that makes you feel you have to talk.
It's in your flesh. It weakens it so much that it's
a lot easier now for you to be silent.
And it's not easier for the Spirit of God to, to minister to
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your spirit. So I, I like to say this way,
what the Holy Spirit is to your spirit, that is what the devil
is to your flesh. So the devil works through our
flesh and the Holy Spirit works through our spirit.
And so if we're really going to be sensitive to God, we have to
have a pattern of developing ourspirit and the, the, the prayer,
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the fasting, the worship that develops our spirit.
However, you can be doing the prayer, the fasting, the worship
while you're still investing in your flesh a lot.
So you're feeding your spirit. Like many Christians.
Many sincere Christians are praying.
They're reading the Bible, they're fast, and they're doing
the things they're not to do. But the level of investment they
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have in their flesh is still a lot more than what they have in
their spirit. So what first thing does it, it
kind of re or it reorders the scale of the balance.
You say, OK, flesh, I've been giving you too much and focus
too much food, too much entertainment, too much,
whatever, whatever. OK, I'm going to shut you down
so that I can really invest in my spirit.
And the secondary consequence ofthat is a sharper discernment, a
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sense of greater connectedness to the Lord.
Let me also say this, just to behonest, at times I fast, I feel
absolutely nothing. It's not like I feel the Prince
of God. The times I feel the presence of
God nearer and at times I feel nothing, but I know that my
spirit is receiving spiritual nutrition.
I know it's good for my spirit in the long haul.
It's not every investment you make in the spirit you see
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instantly manifest. I mean if that was the case, I
guess everyone will be fasting all the time because the it's
like you invest and the times where you see the result months
later, weeks later. I went on the 40 day fast in
2007 and at that time he was so powerful.
But I look right now at that fast.
It was a daddy of fast, you know, so I wasn't, it was just
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like very light, just drinking afew things.
And I, I look back on my life now and here's why I realize
what I am doing right now in ministry actually came out of
those 40 days, but I had no ideaat the time.
But as I look, I'm like, yeah, Ican see how that works.
So when you invest in the spirit, the times where the
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results are delayed in manifestation.
But it's a powerful kind of a lifestyle to adopt, quiet the
flesh and feed the spirit. So can I just ask you about a
weakness there, because you identify that you feel weak
often when you fast and you seemto present that as a good thing.
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You concerned about the things that the church feels strong at
right now. For example, I was talking to a
church recently. I feel that they were getting
quite intoxicated by atmosphere.In fact, that atmosphere seemed
to strengthen themselves more than the Word of God, for
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example, or prayer. They gather and their faith is
built by atmosphere of the corporate sense of being
together, which is good, good togather together.
But there was a sense of like they were missing something
fundamental in understanding that faith comes by hearing the
word of God, not by experience in the atmosphere of a service.
So their strength was in something that wasn't aligned to
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the purposes and the fullness ofwhat God had for them.
Do you see that we need to delineate our understanding of
our strength from certain thingsin order to know our weakness
and our vulnerability, and that that is what we need to get us
to a place of prayer? Yes, absolutely.
I would say this way, Paul says when I am weak, then I am
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strong. The weakness he's talking about,
there is a weakness, not that he's spiritually weak, because
he then tells us in Ephesians 6 be strong in the Lord.
That's a command. So he's commanding us to be
strong. No strength.
There is no strength in the flesh.
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It's in the Lord. It's in the spirit.
When he says when I am weak, that weakness is when I am weak
in the flesh, then I am actuallystrong.
So our strength is in the spiritand not in the flesh.
And because we are gifted people, we have a lot of
resources available to us. We can end up putting our
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strength in all these external things, even our giftings, our
preaching ability, our grace, skill in music, our ability to
lead and gather crowd and we canput our strength in that and
that is dangerous. So what last thing does, it
reminds us of how weak we are inthe flesh and the spirit of God
within our spirit is where we should live from, not from the
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flesh. And so it, it's a great way for
believers to just realign themselves.
Our strength is not in the flesh.
Our strength is in the spirit. And lastly, even Jesus says
blessed are the poor in spirit. And the way I interpret that is
when I come to a place of prayer, there is an awareness of
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the poverty. There's a sense I'm made aware
of how much I need God. Prayer is one of those places.
Was it Leonard Raymond Hill saysit this way.
The pulpit can be a shop window to display our talents, but the
prayer closet allows no show enough.
So in that place of prayer, because my flesh has been so
loud, I get to realize where my spirit is AT.
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And sometimes it's like, my goodness, I really, really need
God in this time. When you're finding prayer
boring, when you're finding it hard to connect with God, that
is a manifestation of poverty that you should embrace because
it's an access to strength in God.
It's kind of like an interestingkind of thing that the poverty
helps you to access the strengthof God that comes to your
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spirit. But until you embrace it, you
don't have access to that strength because you're blinded
to the fact that you need, need him because he's so easy to just
lean into the arm of the flesh and things that you can do.
As you know, Mark, we can do good church without the Holy
Spirit these days because, you know, we've got things that we
can just make church work. But really Holy Spirit is not at
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the center and he is not moving and inspiring to the things that
are going on. Programs and agendas are driving
it. But when we begin to really
depend on the Holy Spirit to drive these things.
Often times it puts us in a veryawkward place, it puts us in a
place of great dependency on God, and I think that is the
space in which we create for Godto actually move and show
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himself strong. Absolutely love that.
Tell me what your thoughts are on this good news that we see
being reported around the UK of what's being termed as a quiet
revival. We're seeing lots of stories of
Gen. Z by in Bibles of unprecedented
rates and young men under the age of 25 show an intrigue in
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faith and giving their life to Christ.
We're seeing baptismal services taking place in church on a
regular basis. What do you see is happening?
And there's a real danger that we might just say, hey, we're
stronger than we thought we wereand actually take the foot off
the gas with prayer. You know, that's been my
greatest concern, even though I'm very excited about the move
of God that we're seeing amongstthe youth.
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My concern has been just this sense of, yeah, God is moving,
let's chill and let's just enjoyit.
And what we don't tend to realize is the prayer that
births revival is the prayer that sustains Revival is not a
case of we pray and then God moves and then we stop praying.
It's like you're indoctrinated, for lack of a better way, into a
lifestyle that you never recoverfrom.
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It's how you start to live from that point onwards.
And you see that when the Lord spoke to Elijah and said to
Elijah, I will send the rain, Elijah didn't just write a book
about it and publish it and shared that God has spoke when
the rain is coming. Let's just celebrate the rain is
coming. Elijah actually took that word
and wrestled with it and went into travail and he birthed that
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in prayer. And my concern for the church is
as we're seeing glimpses and signs here and there of the move
of God that we don't just rest and talk about it, right about
it, but actually we take that and go, God, there is more that
you've said you want to do. So we're not just going to lean
back and rest. We're actually going to just
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lean into this thing you're doing right now and ramp up our
fasting, ramp up our prayer. If God is truly moving, our
prayer meetings will show it. It shouldn't be the opposite.
God is moving and now we pray less and now we do this less.
No, you'll find that the hunger would increase.
In fact, someone else speaking to that was aware of these
reports made the point that amongst the under 20 fives, one
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of the things that they are mosthungry for is prayer.
To be taught how to pray, to be part of prayer ministry, prayer
movement. And so I do see that that is a
real sign that God is stirring something.
So we should see that manifest in the church responding because
here's what we need to know. When God starts to move, guess
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what? The enemy also starts to move
because God had Elijah on the scene at the same time as
Jezebel was on the scene. You see that kind of constant
kind of back and forth, even in the days of John the Baptist,
John the Baptist was preaching the Word, and then that same
spirit manifested and eventuallyJohn the Baptist lost his head.
When God is on the move, the enemy is also on the move.
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So we shouldn't be ignorant of his devices.
At the same time, we shouldn't be obsessed with demons
everywhere. And the point I'm making is
there should be an alertness andthere should be an increased
intensity in prayer. Because I can see through the
culture, even through our government and through some of
the things going on with laws being passed, that there is a
sense of a ramping up of the enemy's agenda to really hinder
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the fullness of the manifestation of what God is
releasing. And we just have to be sensitive
to that and not be ignorant of what's going on.
It's a really sobering to hear Jesus disciples say to him after
they'd observed him for years. Teach us how to pray.
I recently took group of people to visit the Bible College of
Wales that Reese Howells started.
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You could just sense the prayer that had taken place there.
For decades, that's Reese Howells taught people how to
pray. But today, we're better at
teaching people how to teach prayer.
We're very good at getting threeways to pray, but maybe not so
good at modeling. And if there's a time for
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wrestling leadership to learn how to pray, it's now.
And part of what you're carryingright now in this season, James,
is a sense of battle that you are entitled in the season
Battle for Britain. You've got a very big step of
faith that you've taken to gather the Church together in
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the UK in August. We'll talk about that in a
moment, but tell me about this contention, this battle for
Britain that you sense God is really provoking the Church to
step into right now. Yeah, I really do believe we're
in a critical time. We're in a very critical time,
and the church needs to respond.And as you said, the Battle of
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Britain, which happened in 1940,in many ways mirrors what I
sense going on right now. God is on the move, but the
enemy is on the move. The Battle of Britain, which is,
if I'm not mistaken, in the months of July to like October
thereabouts, went for several months.
The RAF, the British forces had to fight the German forces in
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the air. And the battle was all about air
supremacy because as many would know whoever as air supremacy
has advantage, the German forcesare wanting to pretty much just
dominate the Airways and by doing that they could then stand
in the ground troops to invade the land.
But we know what happened. The RAF rose almost 3000
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soldiers. And what I find fascinating
about that is the RAF evenly wasmostly British soldiers.
It was also made-up of internationals like Africans and
other Europeans and other nations joining forces with the
British making a declaration that Britain must not fall.
That resonates in my spirit so much right now, that Britain in
this hour must not fall. And the enemy may be coming in
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like a flood, but I believe the Lord is wanting to raise the
standard of intercession. And so the Church at this time
is called to rise up like the RAF.
In fact, Winston Churchill, in many ways, that speech was
really prophetic. Never in the field of human
conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.
Referring to the forces, the area of kind of fighting that
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Battle of Britain right now, I believe we're fighting the
battle for Britain, for the destiny of Britain.
This nation is an Apostolic nation.
There's so many things that God wants to do through this nation
that the enemy wants to resist. And we can see that in some of
the things, the laws and the conversations going on with our
government and some of the things that are going on there.
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Listen, if you have eyes to see,you need to see that something
is stirring there to truly resist, contaminate, kind of
effect or so now put a halt to what God's doing.
And that's why at this hour, thevoices of intercession and
prayer need to arise in the church to truly gain supremacy
against these forces of darknessthat the British hours again
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will be birthed in the revival fire, will be covered in revival
fire. I take it really, I find it
really encouraging about, you know, the reports about the
choir revival. And I am convinced, like many of
the leaders in the nation, that this thing we're calling a choir
revival is not meant to remain quiet.
It's actually meant to ramp up in momentum and engulf the whole
nation. And the enemy wants to resist
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that. So it's time for us to rise up
and prayer to fight, so to speak.
We're contending for God's promises.
Let me also say this like when we talk about contending,
sometimes people feel uncomfortable about that and
think we're striving or trying to manufacture something.
We are not contending in the flesh.
We're contending in the Spirit from the position of victory
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because we know what God has said about the nation.
There are many prophetic words that have been spoken.
It's not about me or my prophetic words.
Just look at the history from Smith Wigglesworth to the Welsh
revival days. Their specific prophetic was Jim
Darnell. I'm giving names of people who
have spoken about specific movesof God across the British owls
(28:39):
that we are yet to see manifest.So we can't just see back and
go. You know, it's acquire revival.
God's moving and just chilling. No, no, no, what those people
spoke of, we not see the full manifestation of it.
And prophecy needs intercession before there's manifestation.
Prophecy is an invitation to intercession in many ways.
And so this is the hour for us to be encouraged by the reports.
(29:00):
And then we'll ramp up the intensity of prayer to say,
Lord, move just like you said you would.
The devil will not have this nation.
And you're so convinced that this is a season of battle and
contending that you have really taken a big step of faith,
James, and hide a very large arena.
This August, the time when thosepeople are on holidays or
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festivals and camps, you've stepped out and you've taken
this big step of faith to gatherthe church around the nation to
both be inspired for the battle and inspired by the work of the
Spirit, but also to contend together for the nation.
Tell us a bit about that event that's coming up soon.
Yes, so we have this gathering we're calling the Battle for
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Britain and it's right. I'm a centre in Manchester.
It's called Manchester Central, an old train station that's
often used by various people for, you know, political parties
for also things. Well, the loss they're putting
in on the heart to, to hire thisspace.
And it was a massive kind of step of faith because the
biggest gathering we've had is maybe over 1000 people.
To go from that to hiring a 10,000 seater and doing 2
(30:06):
conferences simultaneously for adults and children was a huge
deal, but the Lord kept confirming it to us that it was
time for us to do this. There are two things that were
particularly really interesting.I was on my way to London to
speak at an event and as I was praying on the train I looked to
my phone and I realized the datewhich was 7724 Seventh of July
(30:26):
2024. Well that date is really
significant in my prophetic journey because 7 seven O 7.
I was in Nashville, TN and the Lord put on my heart that and
this was the first time this ever came into my heart that
James you mobilize like this andwhen he said like this it was in
the stadium of 77,000 young people fasting and praying.
(30:49):
I feel the Lord said to me you mobilize like this for prayer in
the UK. That was the first time that
idea ever crossed my mind about prayer, mobilization and all
that came back to the UK. Prayer storm started in 2009
come to realize in 2013 when I met Luengle, the guy who led the
call at that event I was in in the stadium.
He he told me, James, just encourage you.
(31:10):
The coal used to be cold pressedon.
So that really kind of just shook me like wow, I had no
idea. So that further confirms that
what I heard and seven seven O 7became a key date for me because
that was the day I heard the Lord speak to me for the first
time about what I'm doing right now.
Now you Fast forward 17 years later, I'm on that train and I
saw the date. I was like, wow, it's 17 years
(31:31):
later by my mind. I'm thinking, but Lord, I think
we've seen mobilization on that level yet, but I still believe
you want to do that. Maybe it's not through US, maybe
it's through someone else. That's OK.
We don't have to be the ones doing everything.
Other people can do it too. But on the train that day, that
moment, I just realized that theLord was saying to me, you're
entering a change of seasons. What you heard 17 years ago,
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you're entering the seasonal manifestation.
And the way he confirmed that tome was that I received a call to
the latest press storm at an event called the Coal, the event
I was on my way to speak at in London on the trade.
My event was called the Send. So the coal and the Send.
And I felt a lot saying just like you received a call 17
years ago, I'm sending you now into the manifestation of that
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coal with the resources and the finances.
And so we went ahead to look up how much it will cost to hire
this space. And I was going away by the cost
just like over a half a million.And so we realized, well, we
can't just take home this to be financially responsible.
We need God to provide at least a lot of that before we start
the process, which was 250,000 in the space of a month.
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I don't think I've ever had to believe God for that amount of
money. And that's your space of time.
But as we prayed, listen, God provide.
In fact, he provided more than that.
In that space of time, the Lord provided 300,000 as a real boost
of encouragement to us that thisis something that He was really
wanting us to step out in faith for.
(33:03):
So that really kind of encouraged us.
So we went ahead and started theprocess and that's what we are
right now. So we had a place where we're
sounding an alarm to the Church in the United Kingdom and saying
the 21st of August, the 23rd of August would love you to gather
with us in Manchester for three days.
We have some of the most incredible people that carried
this same DNA for revival prayerjoining us.
(33:27):
Lou Engle from America is going to be joined as a fact.
I'm Colorado right now having a meeting with him kind of
waiting. You know, my team, a lot of
people just come in together carrying the same heart because
I believe on the back of these sort of meetings we can see the
prayer temperature rise in the church, intercessors raised in
the church, and this has a knockon effect on the spiritual
(33:49):
climate of the whole nation. It's not just about one event.
It's actually about a movement of prayer that the Lord is
building. My desire is that on the back of
this meeting, churches begin to pray in a way they've never
prayed before. Youth groups leaders would
receive an importation of vast spirit of prayer and
(34:09):
supplication because I have to believe you teach them prayer
but there's something about being in an environment where
others have been still within the heart that erupts off on you
and I've experienced like my ownwalk as well-being in that space
where you're in the environment.All the people that carry that
same heart erupts off on you andit further encourages you to
press in deeper and seek God more.
This event is not just for adults.
(34:29):
We also investing in the children and young and teenagers
from 8 year olds to 16 year old.He was one of the main speakers
with ministering in the children's venue as well.
Even Lou Angle will be doing that too.
So we really believe in that. This is going to be a family
thing where God is going to be awakening families to pray like
never before. As soon as I saw advertised, I
(34:50):
wanted to be there because I know that you carry something.
As you say, people hatch something from being in those
environments and we're looking forward to being 3rd and
stimulated to something fresh inour prayer life and in the Lord.
It's going to be a really powerful and special time.
James, one of the things I've loved about you over the years,
(35:11):
you've spoken apostolically really into our lives and into
the church in Exeter and a number of other churches we've
introduced you to of the years. And there's something that you
carry that doesn't just talk about prayer, but it does model
and stimulate it, and it's caught, not just taught.
(35:32):
And I want to thank you for that.
And I encourage all our even leaders, if you're available in
those days, find a way of getting to Manchester and being
a part of this. And if you think that you're one
of those people that are not very good at prayer, all the
more reason to get there and to be stirred and stimulated by the
hand of God. If you're really into prayer,
(35:54):
probably don't have to really sell that to you very much.
It's something that you'll want to be at anyway, I'm sure.
But James, anything finally to say to us before we conclude
with this podcast? Yeah, I often like, I think what
you said there is actually what I want to just emphasize the
wrap up. I often like to encourage people
because I know whenever we talk about prayer, people often feel
(36:15):
guilty, oh, I'm not praying enough.
Honestly, even me who talks about prayer, I want to pray
more. I don't think there's anyone
that's truly hungry for God thatfeels like, yes, I think I'm
praying enough. There's always a desire.
I wish I could give God more time.
So I want to encourage people that feel like they're not
praying enough. I feel like they're rubbish.
I pray. Listen, you can start right
where you are now. Like, Lord, I want to pray.
(36:38):
Just show me, Help me to just create more time.
Look at your diary. Just take those steps.
They're very practical and simple steps you can take.
And as you take those steps, youfind that God meets you.
He brings things around that stirs up the hunger.
I remember years ago when I started this journey, it was
like the more I fed from the things of God, the hungrier I
(37:00):
got. And that's what I found.
It's like as you push into God, he's like he enlarges your
capacity and your hunger increases, but actually your
spiritual stamina increases and your taste begins to change.
You begin to desire the things He desires.
Like the pregnant woman. The moment you get impregnated
or you catch this virus, you start to desire things that are
(37:22):
different to oftentimes the average person or the average
Christian. You desire the things of God
more. So just want to encourage you
wherever you're at on this journey, just choose to go
deeper. There is more that God has for
all of us. So we're not going to settle.
We're going to push in for deeper.
Wonderful. So this Battle for Britain
event, you're not just going to encourage people to come along
(37:44):
and fly a few airplanes for a few days.
You're going to send people awaywith a metaphorical airplane,
aren't you? That they will be a part of this
ongoing contention for the nation?
How do people get more information about this?
How do they book in? Yes, just head over to pressed
on dot org. Our website is very easy to book
in the tickets around 25 lbs. We've just made it very
(38:07):
affordable, hopefully for peopleto be part of.
We still have a lot of money to cover to raise for the event,
but we hope the ticket prices just make it easy for people to
be part of it. Go on the website, pressed on
the org, all the information is on that, even hotels and things
like that, that people often want to find out about that
traveling uniform outside of Manchester.
(38:27):
We hope you can join us for thistime because we believe it's
going to be monumental. Brilliant.
Well, thank you for stepping on faith, making it happen.
Thank you for helping guide and direct the church on contending
for this season that we're in. And we pray that this revival
will go to full term and it willbe a very, very loud revival
(38:48):
indeed. Thank you for what you're doing,
James. God bless you.
So encourage you. Visit prayerstorm.org to find
out more information about a Battle for Britain and be part
of thousands of people who are joining together in this.
God bless. You.
Know what you're doing, James. Thank you.
Well, I hope you found that conversation insightful and
stirring. As the Puritan theologian John
(39:09):
Owen once said, who a leader is on his knees is who a leader is.
If that is true, then that begs the question of all of us.
What sort of leader are we? I encourage us all to look
afresh at our prayer and fastingrhythms and to go through our
Diaries and put a practical planin place to prioritize seeking
(39:29):
the Lord. I also encourage us to get along
to the Battle for Britain. Book your place at
prayerstorm.org and I hope to see you there.
Well, a reminder that you can also sign up to our new
newsletter, open to all our leaders and church members.
You simply go to elim.org.uk/your Elim and those
(39:52):
updates will be coming out regularly.
I look forward to joining with you on our next episode, but
until then, God bless.
Hi and welcome to the latest edition of the Elim Leaders
Podcast. My name is Mark Pugh, I'm your
host, and I want to say a big thank you to all of those who've
sent in encouraging feedback andto those who've shared these
podcasts with friends and colleagues.
We really appreciate that. And also thank you to those
who've been subscribing on the various channels, whatever
(00:23):
platform you listen to podcasts on, and ensures that you're the
1st to get each new episode thatdrops.
We're working on some great episodes in the weeks and the
months ahead, and we hope that you'll find them all really
helpful in your leadership. Well, today we're looking at a
spiritual battle that's over thenation.
And I recently caught up with a leader of a prayer storm to
(00:44):
discuss this and a number of other provocative issues.
James Aladaran brings insight and understanding on some very
key issues for our day, and I hope you feel stirred by the
conversation that I had with him.
So let's get straight away to this conversation.
Well, it's great to welcome goodfriend of Elim, good friend of
ours, James the ladder round, who has just been such a
(01:05):
blessing to Elim over the years.James, wonderful.
Have you with us? You You're not in the UK right
now. That's right, I am in Colorado
Springs. It's actually my first time
here, but it's really nice. And you're over there because
you are preparing for something that's coming to the UK next
month in August. So we'll talk more about that in
a moment, but tell me what you're seeing and discerning in
(01:29):
the spiritual temperature of theUK right now.
Oh, I am sensing like a good, a good tension.
It depends on how you look at it.
You know, some people look at the cop half full, some people
see it half empty. I am seeing God moving, but I'm
also seeing the enemy moving. And I'm seeing that there is a
building of of intensity in the spirit realm, and there is need
(01:51):
for the church to be sensitive, to be intelligent spiritually
and to respond rightly. And so what's actually on my
heart right now is the church needs to wake up.
The church needs to wake up. So there's this sense of
sounding an alarm to the church and saying this is not the time
to chill, to complain or to justsit back and go, yeah, some
(02:12):
great things are happening. This is the time to actually
wake up and respond in the Spirit.
So we've been here for years about the church needing to wake
up. What's an awake church look
like, James? Oh, an awake church looks like
the church in the book of Acts. Let's just take Acts 12 for
example. An awake church looks like a
(02:33):
church that's praying. In fact, let's not even go to
Acts 2. Let's go to Acts 2, the day of
Pentecost. The church was born out of a
prayer meeting that that is 1 awake church looks like a church
that's contend and forgot. You know, Jesus said to the
apostles, it says wait in Jerusalem until you're endued
with power from on high. Their interpretation of wait was
(02:57):
pray until. So their prayer meeting had a
start time and no end time though.
I'm going to just have a our prayer meeting.
Then we're going to pray until they saw what Jesus said.
And that was the culture that birthed the church.
So I am convinced that in the same way Jesus stopped us at the
church how he wants it, now, thechurch needs to return to how
(03:17):
Jesus started it in that cultureof prayer.
So on a wake church is a church that's on fire in the place of
prayer. There's a quote by Charles
Feeney. I can't remember exactly how he
goes, but something along the lines of one of the ways to test
the spiritual temperature of a church is to go to the prayer
meeting. How the church responds in the
prayer meeting tells you how awake, how alive, how
(03:40):
spiritually aware, connected to the Lord that church is.
And I do think there is a need for a ramping up of the
intensity in this hour. So of course, my life church
will need a myriad of activitiesand programs if it's going to
represent and be the hands and the feet and the voice of Christ
(04:00):
in the community. And we got churches all over the
country who are doing amazing things, touching those
communities. But are you saying if we've got
all those other things in place and we don't have prayer, then
we're asleep? Absolutely.
And I say that 200%. Let me say this way, if your
church is growing in number and we examine the content and the
(04:24):
culture of your church and we don't see the ancient landmarks
of fast and prayer consecration president to God that we see in
scripture and through revival history.
If we don't see that ancient landmarks in the culture of the
church and it's growing, something else is responsible
for that growth and not the HolyGhost.
Because the prescription we havein scripture is very clear, we
(04:49):
will not see the church advance without it being a how to pray.
In fact, Jesus said this, I willbuild my church and the gates of
hell will not prevail. The reverse is true.
The gates of hell prevail against the church that Jesus is
not building. Now, the fact that people call
themselves church doesn't mean Jesus is building them, because
the one he's building, he said my house will be called a House
(05:14):
of press. So the DNA, the litmus test,
what helps us know what he's building is the DNA, the culture
of that people. They will be, I like to say this
way, they will be afflicted, their flesh will be afflicted by
prayer to the point that their spirit starts to live in the
reality of that life is like theflesh doesn't want to pray, but
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when is that to journey with God?
Your flesh starts to be so dealtwith it becomes second nature.
A good example is coffee. You know many people, I mean
many people like coffee, but youdon't.
You weren't born liking coffee. Coffee doesn't taste that great
actually, but you acquire the taste and so over time you get
used to it and over time your body get gets so used to it when
(05:57):
you don't have it, your body tells you you need it.
If I remember my mother-in-law at that times when she'll go on
the fast and because she's not had coffee, she's shaking
headaches and all this, I'm like, that's the body responding
to something that it was kind ofis on a quiet taste.
In the same way, your flesh has to be so afflicted with prayer
to the point that when you don'thave it, you start to feel the
(06:18):
shift in you. You know you got to have and and
not that reality. It's real.
So the church he's building, theflesh of that church will be so
afflicted. We'll pray to the point where it
becomes their response. It's not.
We don't as we don't pray to getGod's come and bless what we're
about to do. We pray as a lifestyle and then
we see what he's doing and alignwith it.
(06:40):
We don't pray because we're about to preach and asking God
to make it anointed. We live a life of prayer and
sermons or messages come out of that.
It it, it's, it's a, it's like areorientation of the way we do
life and we do ministry. And in places where I've seen
God really moved, you see that prayer is become like just a
second nature. It's just, it's just what they
(07:03):
do. I don't think it was even the
Hebrides revival where, you know, people, many people are
getting saved. And one of the ways they judged
if those people were truly savedwas if they showed up in the
prayer meetings after the professor that were Christians.
I mean, it's, it's just part of who we are.
When you get on fire for God, itmanifests in your life of
prayer. Ask you more about how do we get
(07:25):
to that place of as the scripture says, as the deer pans
the streams of living waters formy soul, lungs and craves after
you. We're going to come back to that
in a moment, but I can just continue on this sleep thought
because in a natural, there are people I know that struggle to
sleep and so they have to develop some sort of sleep
strategy. And it might be music I listen
to or books they read, somethingthat just helps deprogram their
(07:50):
brains and their minds and helpsthem switch off to a place where
they can be able to sleep. What are the lullabies that are
keeping the church asleep? Oh yeah, there's some major
ones. And I mean, the one first thing
that comes to mind is entertainment.
I do think the church is drunk on entertainment, but not even
(08:12):
in this generation, not just thechurch, this generation is drunk
on entertainment because it has a way of dulling your heart.
Entertainment is not all wrong, but a lot of entertainment these
days carries a spirit that opposes the Spirit of God.
And you'll have to be discerningto kind of pick up on it because
(08:33):
if you're just in that mode, youcan get desensitized.
If you're constantly just consuming entertainment all the
time, you can, you can get desensitized.
The spirit that's behind it. And it's not necessarily because
they're using foul language, even though that's wrong.
And you know, it's sex scenes oryou know, all these violins and
you think, oh, well, if he has that, that means I shouldn't
(08:53):
watch it. Well, that's true.
But I'm saying even the things that seem harmless, sometimes
there is a spirit behind it thatjust creeps in and dulls your
heart in a certain way. So entertainment is a massive 1.
And I think comfort is a big onetoo, because I look at church
history and I look at, you know,church right now across the
(09:17):
world. The parts of the world where the
church is growing are often the parts of the world where the
Christians are not experiencing a great deal of comfort.
Talk about like Iran, for example.
I talk about China, for example.There is a lot of persecution
going on and a lot of difficulties that priest is
experiencing that, but yet the church is growing.
So I've come to realize that persecution and discomfort has
(09:41):
never really destroyed the church.
What tends to destroy the churchis comfort and pleasure.
And when we live in the West andyou know, we live fairly, most
of us are wealthier than most ofthe world.
So we live in a in a culture where, you know, there's just a
natural comfort and difficultieswe always see as bad.
And so we always veering towardsGod make me more comfortable.
(10:05):
But then I've realized if you'rereally going to be a priest, an
effective priest, you actually embrace a life of discomfort
because part of the life of the priest is the priest is meant to
service an altar, and an altar is effective because of
sacrifice on the altar. The Bible tells us you are a
priest, and guess what? You are the sacrifice.
(10:26):
And guess what? You are the altar, and guess
what? You are the temple.
You're a mobile shrine. So everything is here, right
here. So if you embrace comfort to the
point where it doesn't, the comfort can cause you to slip
into a spiritual dullness that does not keep you on your edge
(10:46):
spiritually because you, just you, just you, you indulge your
flesh, your flesh just finds it easy.
And so things that challenge your flesh, for example,
fasting, for example, just turning off your phone for a few
days or whatever it is, you findthat your flesh is responding
because your flesh is just comfortable in that place.
So I would say to believers, oneof the ways to break that is to
(11:08):
have a rhythm in your life whereyou, you just break out of the
comfort, you know, get rid of your phone for a few days or,
you know, go on a fast, don't eat.
When I say go on a fast, I don'tmean social media, don't eat.
Just let, let, let your flesh know that it's not in charge,
that the spirit is in charge. And so these things help us
break this dullness of of our spirits.
(11:31):
So let me link that to the previous point then around
getting back to that scripture as the deer pants, the streams
of living waters of my soul craves and longs after year.
How does fasting and prayer helpus get to that place?
I know in my experience, there have been many times I've
fasted, I've not felt like it. I'm not.
I don't feel like I'm doing it because I'm craving after God of
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this some decision. There's as you say it, it's a
crucified of the flesh. It's stepping away from comfort,
not towards something that feelscomfortable.
So how does it help that process?
How does fasting, praying, how does it help us get further
towards that place of craving after more of God?
I think what it does, it alerts our spirit, it it wakens our
(12:16):
spirit. So what fasting does, is fasting
is starving the flesh OK, to feed the spirit or to be more in
tune with the movement of the Spirit of God within your
spirit. So when you fast, it makes you
more conscious of how much you need God.
It weakens your flesh. Now the times when you fast and
(12:38):
you get irritable because thingsthat are there come to the
surface, it exposes all the things that God needs to deal
with. And so it brings you to a place
where if you're doing it properly, it humbles you.
Actually, in the Old Testament, a lot of times when they humble
themselves before, before the Lord, fasting was a part of
that. So he humbles you and causes you
(12:58):
to come in that place of just seeking the Lord for his
intervention. Some of the times I've fasted, I
have failed. Such a weakness in my body, such
a profound weakness that it makes me realize how really weak
I am without the Lord. And so it's like that physical
(13:19):
sensation actually aligns me with that reality of without
you, I can do nothing. This is actually just a reminder
of how weak I am. But sometimes you don't realize
that because you're so strong inyourself, you're eating.
So you know, if you find someonethat talks a lot and that likes
to just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.
If they went on a 7 day fast on the 7th day, try to strike up a
(13:43):
conversation with them and you find out that there will be no
strength to talk because what that fasting does it, it weakens
whatever that thing is that makes you feel you have to talk.
It's in your flesh. It weakens it so much that it's
a lot easier now for you to be silent.
And it's not easier for the Spirit of God to, to minister to
(14:06):
your spirit. So I, I like to say this way,
what the Holy Spirit is to your spirit, that is what the devil
is to your flesh. So the devil works through our
flesh and the Holy Spirit works through our spirit.
And so if we're really going to be sensitive to God, we have to
have a pattern of developing ourspirit and the, the, the prayer,
(14:29):
the fasting, the worship that develops our spirit.
However, you can be doing the prayer, the fasting, the worship
while you're still investing in your flesh a lot.
So you're feeding your spirit. Like many Christians.
Many sincere Christians are praying.
They're reading the Bible, they're fast, and they're doing
the things they're not to do. But the level of investment they
(14:49):
have in their flesh is still a lot more than what they have in
their spirit. So what first thing does it, it
kind of re or it reorders the scale of the balance.
You say, OK, flesh, I've been giving you too much and focus
too much food, too much entertainment, too much,
whatever, whatever. OK, I'm going to shut you down
so that I can really invest in my spirit.
And the secondary consequence ofthat is a sharper discernment, a
(15:13):
sense of greater connectedness to the Lord.
Let me also say this, just to behonest, at times I fast, I feel
absolutely nothing. It's not like I feel the Prince
of God. The times I feel the presence of
God nearer and at times I feel nothing, but I know that my
spirit is receiving spiritual nutrition.
I know it's good for my spirit in the long haul.
It's not every investment you make in the spirit you see
(15:35):
instantly manifest. I mean if that was the case, I
guess everyone will be fasting all the time because the it's
like you invest and the times where you see the result months
later, weeks later. I went on the 40 day fast in
2007 and at that time he was so powerful.
But I look right now at that fast.
It was a daddy of fast, you know, so I wasn't, it was just
(15:56):
like very light, just drinking afew things.
And I, I look back on my life now and here's why I realize
what I am doing right now in ministry actually came out of
those 40 days, but I had no ideaat the time.
But as I look, I'm like, yeah, Ican see how that works.
So when you invest in the spirit, the times where the
(16:19):
results are delayed in manifestation.
But it's a powerful kind of a lifestyle to adopt, quiet the
flesh and feed the spirit. So can I just ask you about a
weakness there, because you identify that you feel weak
often when you fast and you seemto present that as a good thing.
(16:40):
You concerned about the things that the church feels strong at
right now. For example, I was talking to a
church recently. I feel that they were getting
quite intoxicated by atmosphere.In fact, that atmosphere seemed
to strengthen themselves more than the Word of God, for
(17:01):
example, or prayer. They gather and their faith is
built by atmosphere of the corporate sense of being
together, which is good, good togather together.
But there was a sense of like they were missing something
fundamental in understanding that faith comes by hearing the
word of God, not by experience in the atmosphere of a service.
So their strength was in something that wasn't aligned to
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the purposes and the fullness ofwhat God had for them.
Do you see that we need to delineate our understanding of
our strength from certain thingsin order to know our weakness
and our vulnerability, and that that is what we need to get us
to a place of prayer? Yes, absolutely.
I would say this way, Paul says when I am weak, then I am
(17:43):
strong. The weakness he's talking about,
there is a weakness, not that he's spiritually weak, because
he then tells us in Ephesians 6 be strong in the Lord.
That's a command. So he's commanding us to be
strong. No strength.
There is no strength in the flesh.
(18:03):
It's in the Lord. It's in the spirit.
When he says when I am weak, that weakness is when I am weak
in the flesh, then I am actuallystrong.
So our strength is in the spiritand not in the flesh.
And because we are gifted people, we have a lot of
resources available to us. We can end up putting our
(18:24):
strength in all these external things, even our giftings, our
preaching ability, our grace, skill in music, our ability to
lead and gather crowd and we canput our strength in that and
that is dangerous. So what last thing does, it
reminds us of how weak we are inthe flesh and the spirit of God
within our spirit is where we should live from, not from the
(18:44):
flesh. And so it, it's a great way for
believers to just realign themselves.
Our strength is not in the flesh.
Our strength is in the spirit. And lastly, even Jesus says
blessed are the poor in spirit. And the way I interpret that is
when I come to a place of prayer, there is an awareness of
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the poverty. There's a sense I'm made aware
of how much I need God. Prayer is one of those places.
Was it Leonard Raymond Hill saysit this way.
The pulpit can be a shop window to display our talents, but the
prayer closet allows no show enough.
So in that place of prayer, because my flesh has been so
loud, I get to realize where my spirit is AT.
(19:29):
And sometimes it's like, my goodness, I really, really need
God in this time. When you're finding prayer
boring, when you're finding it hard to connect with God, that
is a manifestation of poverty that you should embrace because
it's an access to strength in God.
It's kind of like an interestingkind of thing that the poverty
helps you to access the strengthof God that comes to your
(19:51):
spirit. But until you embrace it, you
don't have access to that strength because you're blinded
to the fact that you need, need him because he's so easy to just
lean into the arm of the flesh and things that you can do.
As you know, Mark, we can do good church without the Holy
Spirit these days because, you know, we've got things that we
can just make church work. But really Holy Spirit is not at
(20:15):
the center and he is not moving and inspiring to the things that
are going on. Programs and agendas are driving
it. But when we begin to really
depend on the Holy Spirit to drive these things.
Often times it puts us in a veryawkward place, it puts us in a
place of great dependency on God, and I think that is the
space in which we create for Godto actually move and show
(20:35):
himself strong. Absolutely love that.
Tell me what your thoughts are on this good news that we see
being reported around the UK of what's being termed as a quiet
revival. We're seeing lots of stories of
Gen. Z by in Bibles of unprecedented
rates and young men under the age of 25 show an intrigue in
(20:59):
faith and giving their life to Christ.
We're seeing baptismal services taking place in church on a
regular basis. What do you see is happening?
And there's a real danger that we might just say, hey, we're
stronger than we thought we wereand actually take the foot off
the gas with prayer. You know, that's been my
greatest concern, even though I'm very excited about the move
of God that we're seeing amongstthe youth.
(21:20):
My concern has been just this sense of, yeah, God is moving,
let's chill and let's just enjoyit.
And what we don't tend to realize is the prayer that
births revival is the prayer that sustains Revival is not a
case of we pray and then God moves and then we stop praying.
It's like you're indoctrinated, for lack of a better way, into a
lifestyle that you never recoverfrom.
(21:41):
It's how you start to live from that point onwards.
And you see that when the Lord spoke to Elijah and said to
Elijah, I will send the rain, Elijah didn't just write a book
about it and publish it and shared that God has spoke when
the rain is coming. Let's just celebrate the rain is
coming. Elijah actually took that word
and wrestled with it and went into travail and he birthed that
(22:04):
in prayer. And my concern for the church is
as we're seeing glimpses and signs here and there of the move
of God that we don't just rest and talk about it, right about
it, but actually we take that and go, God, there is more that
you've said you want to do. So we're not just going to lean
back and rest. We're actually going to just
(22:26):
lean into this thing you're doing right now and ramp up our
fasting, ramp up our prayer. If God is truly moving, our
prayer meetings will show it. It shouldn't be the opposite.
God is moving and now we pray less and now we do this less.
No, you'll find that the hunger would increase.
In fact, someone else speaking to that was aware of these
reports made the point that amongst the under 20 fives, one
(22:49):
of the things that they are mosthungry for is prayer.
To be taught how to pray, to be part of prayer ministry, prayer
movement. And so I do see that that is a
real sign that God is stirring something.
So we should see that manifest in the church responding because
here's what we need to know. When God starts to move, guess
(23:10):
what? The enemy also starts to move
because God had Elijah on the scene at the same time as
Jezebel was on the scene. You see that kind of constant
kind of back and forth, even in the days of John the Baptist,
John the Baptist was preaching the Word, and then that same
spirit manifested and eventuallyJohn the Baptist lost his head.
When God is on the move, the enemy is also on the move.
(23:33):
So we shouldn't be ignorant of his devices.
At the same time, we shouldn't be obsessed with demons
everywhere. And the point I'm making is
there should be an alertness andthere should be an increased
intensity in prayer. Because I can see through the
culture, even through our government and through some of
the things going on with laws being passed, that there is a
sense of a ramping up of the enemy's agenda to really hinder
(23:57):
the fullness of the manifestation of what God is
releasing. And we just have to be sensitive
to that and not be ignorant of what's going on.
It's a really sobering to hear Jesus disciples say to him after
they'd observed him for years. Teach us how to pray.
I recently took group of people to visit the Bible College of
Wales that Reese Howells started.
(24:18):
You could just sense the prayer that had taken place there.
For decades, that's Reese Howells taught people how to
pray. But today, we're better at
teaching people how to teach prayer.
We're very good at getting threeways to pray, but maybe not so
good at modeling. And if there's a time for
(24:39):
wrestling leadership to learn how to pray, it's now.
And part of what you're carryingright now in this season, James,
is a sense of battle that you are entitled in the season
Battle for Britain. You've got a very big step of
faith that you've taken to gather the Church together in
(25:00):
the UK in August. We'll talk about that in a
moment, but tell me about this contention, this battle for
Britain that you sense God is really provoking the Church to
step into right now. Yeah, I really do believe we're
in a critical time. We're in a very critical time,
and the church needs to respond.And as you said, the Battle of
(25:21):
Britain, which happened in 1940,in many ways mirrors what I
sense going on right now. God is on the move, but the
enemy is on the move. The Battle of Britain, which is,
if I'm not mistaken, in the months of July to like October
thereabouts, went for several months.
The RAF, the British forces had to fight the German forces in
(25:43):
the air. And the battle was all about air
supremacy because as many would know whoever as air supremacy
has advantage, the German forcesare wanting to pretty much just
dominate the Airways and by doing that they could then stand
in the ground troops to invade the land.
But we know what happened. The RAF rose almost 3000
(26:03):
soldiers. And what I find fascinating
about that is the RAF evenly wasmostly British soldiers.
It was also made-up of internationals like Africans and
other Europeans and other nations joining forces with the
British making a declaration that Britain must not fall.
That resonates in my spirit so much right now, that Britain in
this hour must not fall. And the enemy may be coming in
(26:26):
like a flood, but I believe the Lord is wanting to raise the
standard of intercession. And so the Church at this time
is called to rise up like the RAF.
In fact, Winston Churchill, in many ways, that speech was
really prophetic. Never in the field of human
conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.
Referring to the forces, the area of kind of fighting that
(26:48):
Battle of Britain right now, I believe we're fighting the
battle for Britain, for the destiny of Britain.
This nation is an Apostolic nation.
There's so many things that God wants to do through this nation
that the enemy wants to resist. And we can see that in some of
the things, the laws and the conversations going on with our
government and some of the things that are going on there.
(27:10):
Listen, if you have eyes to see,you need to see that something
is stirring there to truly resist, contaminate, kind of
effect or so now put a halt to what God's doing.
And that's why at this hour, thevoices of intercession and
prayer need to arise in the church to truly gain supremacy
against these forces of darknessthat the British hours again
(27:33):
will be birthed in the revival fire, will be covered in revival
fire. I take it really, I find it
really encouraging about, you know, the reports about the
choir revival. And I am convinced, like many of
the leaders in the nation, that this thing we're calling a choir
revival is not meant to remain quiet.
It's actually meant to ramp up in momentum and engulf the whole
nation. And the enemy wants to resist
(27:55):
that. So it's time for us to rise up
and prayer to fight, so to speak.
We're contending for God's promises.
Let me also say this like when we talk about contending,
sometimes people feel uncomfortable about that and
think we're striving or trying to manufacture something.
We are not contending in the flesh.
We're contending in the Spirit from the position of victory
(28:17):
because we know what God has said about the nation.
There are many prophetic words that have been spoken.
It's not about me or my prophetic words.
Just look at the history from Smith Wigglesworth to the Welsh
revival days. Their specific prophetic was Jim
Darnell. I'm giving names of people who
have spoken about specific movesof God across the British owls
(28:39):
that we are yet to see manifest.So we can't just see back and
go. You know, it's acquire revival.
God's moving and just chilling. No, no, no, what those people
spoke of, we not see the full manifestation of it.
And prophecy needs intercession before there's manifestation.
Prophecy is an invitation to intercession in many ways.
And so this is the hour for us to be encouraged by the reports.
(29:00):
And then we'll ramp up the intensity of prayer to say,
Lord, move just like you said you would.
The devil will not have this nation.
And you're so convinced that this is a season of battle and
contending that you have really taken a big step of faith,
James, and hide a very large arena.
This August, the time when thosepeople are on holidays or
(29:22):
festivals and camps, you've stepped out and you've taken
this big step of faith to gatherthe church around the nation to
both be inspired for the battle and inspired by the work of the
Spirit, but also to contend together for the nation.
Tell us a bit about that event that's coming up soon.
Yes, so we have this gathering we're calling the Battle for
(29:44):
Britain and it's right. I'm a centre in Manchester.
It's called Manchester Central, an old train station that's
often used by various people for, you know, political parties
for also things. Well, the loss they're putting
in on the heart to, to hire thisspace.
And it was a massive kind of step of faith because the
biggest gathering we've had is maybe over 1000 people.
To go from that to hiring a 10,000 seater and doing 2
(30:06):
conferences simultaneously for adults and children was a huge
deal, but the Lord kept confirming it to us that it was
time for us to do this. There are two things that were
particularly really interesting.I was on my way to London to
speak at an event and as I was praying on the train I looked to
my phone and I realized the datewhich was 7724 Seventh of July
(30:26):
2024. Well that date is really
significant in my prophetic journey because 7 seven O 7.
I was in Nashville, TN and the Lord put on my heart that and
this was the first time this ever came into my heart that
James you mobilize like this andwhen he said like this it was in
the stadium of 77,000 young people fasting and praying.
(30:49):
I feel the Lord said to me you mobilize like this for prayer in
the UK. That was the first time that
idea ever crossed my mind about prayer, mobilization and all
that came back to the UK. Prayer storm started in 2009
come to realize in 2013 when I met Luengle, the guy who led the
call at that event I was in in the stadium.
He he told me, James, just encourage you.
(31:10):
The coal used to be cold pressedon.
So that really kind of just shook me like wow, I had no
idea. So that further confirms that
what I heard and seven seven O 7became a key date for me because
that was the day I heard the Lord speak to me for the first
time about what I'm doing right now.
Now you Fast forward 17 years later, I'm on that train and I
saw the date. I was like, wow, it's 17 years
(31:31):
later by my mind. I'm thinking, but Lord, I think
we've seen mobilization on that level yet, but I still believe
you want to do that. Maybe it's not through US, maybe
it's through someone else. That's OK.
We don't have to be the ones doing everything.
Other people can do it too. But on the train that day, that
moment, I just realized that theLord was saying to me, you're
entering a change of seasons. What you heard 17 years ago,
(31:56):
you're entering the seasonal manifestation.
And the way he confirmed that tome was that I received a call to
the latest press storm at an event called the Coal, the event
I was on my way to speak at in London on the trade.
My event was called the Send. So the coal and the Send.
And I felt a lot saying just like you received a call 17
years ago, I'm sending you now into the manifestation of that
(32:20):
coal with the resources and the finances.
And so we went ahead to look up how much it will cost to hire
this space. And I was going away by the cost
just like over a half a million.And so we realized, well, we
can't just take home this to be financially responsible.
We need God to provide at least a lot of that before we start
the process, which was 250,000 in the space of a month.
(32:41):
I don't think I've ever had to believe God for that amount of
money. And that's your space of time.
But as we prayed, listen, God provide.
In fact, he provided more than that.
In that space of time, the Lord provided 300,000 as a real boost
of encouragement to us that thisis something that He was really
wanting us to step out in faith for.
(33:03):
So that really kind of encouraged us.
So we went ahead and started theprocess and that's what we are
right now. So we had a place where we're
sounding an alarm to the Church in the United Kingdom and saying
the 21st of August, the 23rd of August would love you to gather
with us in Manchester for three days.
We have some of the most incredible people that carried
this same DNA for revival prayerjoining us.
(33:27):
Lou Engle from America is going to be joined as a fact.
I'm Colorado right now having a meeting with him kind of
waiting. You know, my team, a lot of
people just come in together carrying the same heart because
I believe on the back of these sort of meetings we can see the
prayer temperature rise in the church, intercessors raised in
the church, and this has a knockon effect on the spiritual
(33:49):
climate of the whole nation. It's not just about one event.
It's actually about a movement of prayer that the Lord is
building. My desire is that on the back of
this meeting, churches begin to pray in a way they've never
prayed before. Youth groups leaders would
receive an importation of vast spirit of prayer and
(34:09):
supplication because I have to believe you teach them prayer
but there's something about being in an environment where
others have been still within the heart that erupts off on you
and I've experienced like my ownwalk as well-being in that space
where you're in the environment.All the people that carry that
same heart erupts off on you andit further encourages you to
press in deeper and seek God more.
This event is not just for adults.
(34:29):
We also investing in the children and young and teenagers
from 8 year olds to 16 year old.He was one of the main speakers
with ministering in the children's venue as well.
Even Lou Angle will be doing that too.
So we really believe in that. This is going to be a family
thing where God is going to be awakening families to pray like
never before. As soon as I saw advertised, I
(34:50):
wanted to be there because I know that you carry something.
As you say, people hatch something from being in those
environments and we're looking forward to being 3rd and
stimulated to something fresh inour prayer life and in the Lord.
It's going to be a really powerful and special time.
James, one of the things I've loved about you over the years,
(35:11):
you've spoken apostolically really into our lives and into
the church in Exeter and a number of other churches we've
introduced you to of the years. And there's something that you
carry that doesn't just talk about prayer, but it does model
and stimulate it, and it's caught, not just taught.
(35:32):
And I want to thank you for that.
And I encourage all our even leaders, if you're available in
those days, find a way of getting to Manchester and being
a part of this. And if you think that you're one
of those people that are not very good at prayer, all the
more reason to get there and to be stirred and stimulated by the
hand of God. If you're really into prayer,
(35:54):
probably don't have to really sell that to you very much.
It's something that you'll want to be at anyway, I'm sure.
But James, anything finally to say to us before we conclude
with this podcast? Yeah, I often like, I think what
you said there is actually what I want to just emphasize the
wrap up. I often like to encourage people
because I know whenever we talk about prayer, people often feel
(36:15):
guilty, oh, I'm not praying enough.
Honestly, even me who talks about prayer, I want to pray
more. I don't think there's anyone
that's truly hungry for God thatfeels like, yes, I think I'm
praying enough. There's always a desire.
I wish I could give God more time.
So I want to encourage people that feel like they're not
praying enough. I feel like they're rubbish.
I pray. Listen, you can start right
where you are now. Like, Lord, I want to pray.
(36:38):
Just show me, Help me to just create more time.
Look at your diary. Just take those steps.
They're very practical and simple steps you can take.
And as you take those steps, youfind that God meets you.
He brings things around that stirs up the hunger.
I remember years ago when I started this journey, it was
like the more I fed from the things of God, the hungrier I
(37:00):
got. And that's what I found.
It's like as you push into God, he's like he enlarges your
capacity and your hunger increases, but actually your
spiritual stamina increases and your taste begins to change.
You begin to desire the things He desires.
Like the pregnant woman. The moment you get impregnated
or you catch this virus, you start to desire things that are
(37:22):
different to oftentimes the average person or the average
Christian. You desire the things of God
more. So just want to encourage you
wherever you're at on this journey, just choose to go
deeper. There is more that God has for
all of us. So we're not going to settle.
We're going to push in for deeper.
Wonderful. So this Battle for Britain
event, you're not just going to encourage people to come along
(37:44):
and fly a few airplanes for a few days.
You're going to send people awaywith a metaphorical airplane,
aren't you? That they will be a part of this
ongoing contention for the nation?
How do people get more information about this?
How do they book in? Yes, just head over to pressed
on dot org. Our website is very easy to book
in the tickets around 25 lbs. We've just made it very
(38:07):
affordable, hopefully for peopleto be part of.
We still have a lot of money to cover to raise for the event,
but we hope the ticket prices just make it easy for people to
be part of it. Go on the website, pressed on
the org, all the information is on that, even hotels and things
like that, that people often want to find out about that
traveling uniform outside of Manchester.
(38:27):
We hope you can join us for thistime because we believe it's
going to be monumental. Brilliant.
Well, thank you for stepping on faith, making it happen.
Thank you for helping guide and direct the church on contending
for this season that we're in. And we pray that this revival
will go to full term and it willbe a very, very loud revival
(38:48):
indeed. Thank you for what you're doing,
James. God bless you.
So encourage you. Visit prayerstorm.org to find
out more information about a Battle for Britain and be part
of thousands of people who are joining together in this.
God bless. You.
Know what you're doing, James. Thank you.
Well, I hope you found that conversation insightful and
stirring. As the Puritan theologian John
(39:09):
Owen once said, who a leader is on his knees is who a leader is.
If that is true, then that begs the question of all of us.
What sort of leader are we? I encourage us all to look
afresh at our prayer and fastingrhythms and to go through our
Diaries and put a practical planin place to prioritize seeking
(39:29):
the Lord. I also encourage us to get along
to the Battle for Britain. Book your place at
prayerstorm.org and I hope to see you there.
Well, a reminder that you can also sign up to our new
newsletter, open to all our leaders and church members.
You simply go to elim.org.uk/your Elim and those
(39:52):
updates will be coming out regularly.
I look forward to joining with you on our next episode, but
until then, God bless.
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