In a vision I saw a group of dedicated people, like the sons of the prophets, but one of them had put green gourds in the cooking pot. Immediately I knew this was a parable from 2 Kings 4 with Elisha and the sons of the prophets.

Elisha came back to Gilgal during a famine in the land. The sons of the prophets were sitting before him, and he said to his servant, Set on the big pot and cook pottage for the sons of the prophets. Then one went into the field to gather herbs and gathered from a wild vine his lap full of wild gourds, and returned and cut them up into the pot of pottage, for they were unknown to them.
So they poured it out for the men to eat. But as they ate of the pottage, they cried out, O man of God, there is death in the pot! And they could not eat it. But he said, Bring meal [as a symbol of God's healing power]. And he cast it into the pot and said, Pour it out for the people that they may eat. Then there was no harm in the pot. 2 Kings 4:38-41, Amplified

The young prophets made this pot of stew and partook of it and then cried out to Elisha "death is in the pot!" These were the next line of prophets that would carry forth the word to the people, but the enemy used this opportunity to try and kill all the young prophets at once.

A lot of people have been gathering that which they think is fruit, but in fact it's a gourd that represents a religious spirit. It looks just like a vegetable but it has death in it. Instead of gathering the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) many of the vegetables with the wrong spirit got thrown into the cooking pot. These have brought forth mixed messages and confusion that leads to death. Therefore the Body has received stew that contained bitterness, strife and jealousy instead of faith, hope and love.

Just as the young prophets cried out to Elisha (verse 40), I feel the Body is crying out to the prophets of today for the truth. The true prophets have been going through a time of cleansing and purifying to rid themselves of any poison that might be left in them. One cannot bring a pure word while they are struggling with infectious spiritual disease that will contaminate the whole Body when they release it. We need to have a more sure word of prophecy being poured out from purified vessels.

Healing Power

Elisha got meal, which is a symbol of healing power (verse 41), threw it in the pot and stirred it and said, "Now eat!" The meal neutralized the poison. The religious spirit has been operating in the Church for a very long time. But I feel the real prophets are going to come against it in such a powerful way that it will neutralize this poison and bring healing of all kinds to the Body. Our job is to take the death out of the pot.

There's a lot of false doctrines and heresy being taught right now and once the prophets start dealing with it, it's not going to be pretty. In fact it will be rather messy. But it's going to take a remnant that's dedicated to the Lord to address these false doctrines and heresies. This is not for the faint of heart but for those who have a heart after God's. These untruths are poisoning the Body of Christ and killing it.

Elisha who was chosen by God and mantled by Elijah with a double portion of his spirit (2 Kings 2:9-13), returned to Gilgal during a famine in the land. Gilgal means a place of faith (2 Kings 4:38), and I believe that is where this generation of prophets must dwell. There has been a famine of hearing the inspired word of God because many of the prophetic voices have been eating from the wrong cooking pot.

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but [a famine] for hearing the words of the Lord. Amos 8:11, Amplified

Now is the time for the tried and true prophetic voices to deliver the "real meal" that will bring healing power and deliverance to the Body and salvation to the unsaved.

Mature Remnant

The Lord is calling forth a mature remnant to promote them with new authority. They will have the ability to come together in unity because they have settled their affections on Him (Colossians 3:2). Therefore, they can agree with one another in unity. And when they do, they will have koinonia (communion) together for the common purpose of the Church. When they meet together in unity, a higher wisdom will be imparted. This remnant can be found in 1 Corinthians 2:6-10:

However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written:

"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

The Church has gone through a rather severe testing for the last six or seven years but that time has come to an end. Now is a time of closing out the old books and opening new ones. It's an end of one time and the beginning of a new one. Those who've been promoted will become the leaders of the Church and they will minister by what they hear from the Holy Spirit. In this promotion there will be an understanding of what God wants done and how to do it.
Get ready to bury the good and bad past and come into maturity where everyone hears from God in corporate meetings. Then His plans and purpose can be set in motion because the Body has come into agreement with Him. Then at the end of this time the greater works will begin. And one of the things we will do first is glorify the Father in great signs and wonders.

I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father. And I will do [I Myself will grant] whatever you ask in My Name [as presenting all that I Am], so that the Father may be glorified and extolled in (through) the Son. John 14:12-13, Amplified

Father Loves Mashed Potatoes

We're coming to a forty-year timing in the Spirit. In 1974, the Father told me that He loves "mashed potatoes" and that is what He wants out of all of us. He wants all of us to come together in unity as one Body. Then when the greater works comes forth, no one person will get the credit. It will be corporate because His Body of Believers will function as one under the leadership of the Holy Spirit and in demonstration of His power. The Father wants mashed potatoes – to where love is revealed in a remnant group and the love would be revealed for Him, His Son and the Holy Spirit.

Tomato vs. Potato

The tomato and potato are of the same family. The tomato grows above ground on a vine and represents revealed love that everyone can see. Whereas the potato represents concealed love because it grows underground and remains hidden so only the Father can see it. Now, get ready for this hidden love to be revealed. There's a revealing of the Father's love in His Body and the mashed potatoes are the koinonia.

When the Body comes together in love, there's no distinction between the Believers. Like mashed potatoes, they all look the same and are mixed together for His purpose. And this love we will have for Him is greater understanding. For all things are in the hands of the Father and He does with them as He chooses. And He chose to give His sons and daughters special understanding that must come concerning the future.

Through corporate love understanding will be given. There were two hundred sons of Issachar and that was corporate understanding. When those who are of mature wisdom come together a higher wisdom is imparted. I would say that higher wisdom is understanding. The Holy Spirit has been moving for the last forty-five to fifty years in equipping and preparing for what is about to come forth in the Body of Christ.

Once meal is thrown into the cooking pot and the religious spirit dealt with, the Body will heal and come together in corporate love, koinonia. New leaders will arise and take their place and walk in demonstration power. Then we'll begin to see new things coming to the Body of Christ.

Church services like we've known in the past and present are coming to an end because there's going to be a significant change. We can't continue on the same road we've been on and expect the Holy Spirit to anoint it. The old system of doing things is coming to an end and we are in for a new beginning.
It's only a remnant that will enter into it. There's a hunger and thirst for the next step, and those who have remained steadfast through these years of testing shall advance to the next level of authority. And many shall be those who follow them because the religious spirit will be put to death. When it tries to raise it's head, the Body will quickly discern it and not allow it to take root in the Body again because Holy Fire will devour it.

Bob and Bonnie Jones
The Prophetic Ministry of Bob and Bonnie Jones

The church of Jesus Christ has far more might than it realizes

We can penetrate heaven with our prayers and see the power of God released.
Our access to God grants us enormous privileges. The church literally can tear the heavens open and summon the power of God. We can petition Him and cause heaven to react to what we pray.

God's Word says that supernatural acts are available from a supernatural God to a certain kind of people. To people who will love Him, God is willing to give unlimited favor and miracles.

Paul the apostle wrote, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:3). If the blessings of God are in the heavenly realms, how do we bring them down?
Isaiah prayed, "Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down!" (Isaiah 64:1). He was asking God to tear open the heavens and come down and manifest Himself in two very specific ways: (1) to make Himself known to the enemy in aggressive, destructive action; and (2) to come in mercy and love to His people (vv. 2, 8-9).

To rend means "to tear, to rip to pieces, to part." We can stimulate the heart of God to open the windows of heaven for blessing in our lives.

We can Touch Heaven

In every book of the Bible, we see God's power manifested in the lives of His people.
King David was a warrior trained by God to protect his people and to mete out justice to the enemies of God. In Psalm 144:5, he called upon God to part the heavens and come down because there was cause for supernatural action.

In the New Testament, we read that when Christ came out of the water, the heavens opened up. The Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove, and Jesus became empowered (Matt. 3:16-17).

Jesus began His public ministry in submission to the baptism of John the Baptist. His humble obedience burst open the heavens, and He was anointed to preach the Good News - to heal the brokenhearted, set the captives free and drive out demons (Luke 4:18).
From that day on, He was no ordinary man. He was God manifesting Himself in man under an open heaven.

Through a lifestyle of prayer and humble obedience, you can rend the heavens. Then the Holy Spirit can impart His anointing for your service unto God.
Isaiah 64:4 states that no one has ever seen, no ear perceived what God will do for the one who waits on Him. In the Upper Room, the 120 "waited" for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2).
This kind of waiting is not passive. It is serving with expectancy and patience, ministering to God in worship and prayer and knowing that He will act on your behalf.

While the disciples waited there praying, suddenly they heard a violent wind. The heavens parted, and fire came into the room.
There was a manifestation of the presence of God, and everyone was empowered. When you are in one place, in one accord, God will provide a corporate blessing that everyone will receive.
God wants an open heaven in our lives. He will rend the skies over our churches if everyone in each place is in one accord, praying to Him and seeking His glory.

The Coming of His Kingdom

Jesus said we should pray for the kingdom of God to come and for His will to be done in our lives as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10). Whenever there is something in your life that you know is not the manifestation of the heavenly will of God, then you, like David, have a cause to rend the heavens.
In heaven, there is no lack, no poverty, no sickness, no defeat, no fear, no strife, no poverty, no failure. There is no depression or backbiting or lying or treachery.

As we pray in one place under one anointing for the purpose of glorifying God, He will rip the heavens again and release His presence and His power. Every one of us will be filled with the power of God, as the disciples were in the book of Acts.
The disciples were never the same after they experienced the heavens opening. They became fearless before God and the world. Powerful miracles started to happen.

God will rend the heavens again. He is going to loose upon us His end-time power. He is preparing His church for a miraculous, dynamic visitation. Everyone who desires it will receive a latter-rain anointing.

God is going to do mighty things that we have never seen, imagined or heard. God is going to shine through us as never before. He is going to make the people of the earth jealous, and they will want our God (Rom. 11:11).
He wants a people who will love, serve and obey Him. He wants to stabilize and establish us. The church must grow up because God wants a people who are responsible under the anointing.

A New Revelation

Paul, in writing to the church of Corinth, was speaking to an audience of people who lived in a culture characterized by a passionate search for wisdom and supernatural power. Yet with all the shrines in Greece, all the men of great learning, all the creativity manifested there, Paul was able to say, "'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.' But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit" (1 Cor. 2:9-10).
Paul reiterated what the prophet Isaiah had already said (Is. 64:4), but he also explained that God was willing to reveal these things by the power of the Holy Spirit who is inside of us.

Paul was saying that the Old Testament saints experienced just a shadow of what was available, but that God was going to bring us into a place where we could receive the fullness of His blessings. We can open the windows of heaven so that the blessings of the latter-rain anointing of God will fall upon His church and His people.

We are now moving into a realm where the supernatural acts of God will no longer be seen as myths but will be experiential. The Holy Spirit is going to bring us into a new revelation. What Isaiah couldn't perceive, God is now going to reveal to us.
Paul told us that such revelation is available to a people who love God. Isaiah said it is available to people who wait on Him. This means serving Him and practicing His presence. If you are part of the church of Jesus Christ and you are not serving Him, then you are not waiting on Him.

The blessings of God are in heavenly places. How do we connect with them?

The Divine Connection

Revelation 5:8 tells us that in heaven the prayers of the saints are collected in golden bowls by angels. There is loud praise as the voices of thousands upon thousands worship the Lamb of God (vv. 11-12).

When we add our praise to that of heaven and our prayers have been collected, presented before Jesus and covered in His blood, then the saints and angels join with us. Together we see the opening of the heavens as God begins to release power, wealth, strength and miracles.
We have authority in heaven because of the blood of the Lord Jesus. If you have a need and you really mean business, you must call on the Lord in prayer and praise.

God has in store for His people more than we could ever ask or think. But as brilliant and as perceptive as we are, we cannot see into the supernatural with the natural mind. We need to know the principles of God because there are blessings prepared for us that we have not yet tapped into.
Starting right now, begin to fill up the bowls with your prayers. Angels are waiting to gather your requests. Give them something to take before the Chief Intercessor.

Jesus will look down, knowing He died for all these things, and intercede before the Father. And when you begin to praise Him, you will make a divine connection, the heavens will burst open, and angels will descend to war on your behalf.
When you know there is a cause for supernatural intervention and you begin to do down here what they are doing up there, you free the Lord's hand to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings that you cannot contain.

Pat Francis
Ministry of Dr. Pat Francis