Have You Thought About What You Like?

I walked nearly ten miles with the Lord that day, as I often do—when my heart is heavy and the weight of the world presses in, these walks seem to get longer and longer. There’s something about walking with Him—feet to the pavement, stepping away from the noise, coming above the chaos, and letting His presence be my refuge. Some days, I walk until His voice is clear, the burden is gone, and my heart is at peace.

But this day was different. As I wrestled through pain and disappointment, trying to find my way above the funk, but this time the pain seemed suffocating—but the Lord asked me, "What do you like?" 

I hesitated. I like being with You. I like Your presence. I like walking with You.

But He pressed again, gently but firmly: No, what do you enjoy?

I went quiet. I searched for an answer, but all I could think of was Him. That seemed like the right response—spiritual, even holy. But deep down, something in me was stuck. So I turned the question back on Him.

Lord, what do You like?

And He answered:

“I like when the flowers bloom and the children smile. I like the way the wind whips and your hair blows. I love the way your heart always searches for Mine. I delight in tears as an offering—because I am a specialist in healing broken hearts.”

Tears welled up in my eyes. He was describing life. He delights in life.

And suddenly, I saw the brokenness in my own heart. I realized I have often viewed life through the lens of sorrow. When you’ve been through enough storms, pain starts to shape your perspective. 

You begin to think:

The flowers are going to die. The children are going to cry. The wind will turn into a storm. But I’ll soldier through. I’ll be okay.

Many of us know how to endure the storm. We know how to push through the tears, the suffering, the losses. But do we know how to delight in the blooming? In the laughter? In the simple joy of the wind against our face—without bracing and planning for the moment it all ends?

Scripture tells us: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17, NIV)

That word glory—it doesn’t just belong to suffering. It belongs to life too. In fact, 1 Corinthians 11:7 says, “man is the glory of God.” 

The radiance of God is seen in humanity, in the breath He gives us, in the joy He created us to experience.

So, I ask you—Have you thought about what you like?

Have you let yourself enjoy the moments of life with the Lord without bracing for the next moment of death?

Have you noticed the glory in the laughter, in the wind, in the blooming of life?

Yes, we know how to endure. But do we know how to delight?

I taught this message in person recently, but I wanted to share it with you as an article today and plan to share it as a video for you soon.

Intercession is more than a spiritual duty—it is a divine calling.

Those who take up the mantle of intercession do not merely pray; they step into a sacred partnership with God. Their prayers carry weight because they come from a place of deep identification, agony, and authority.

Tears are not a sign of weakness in the Kingdom of God. Instead, they are a form of spiritual currency, a language that moves the heart of heaven. The faithful intercessor does not just speak on behalf of the people; they feel the burdens of God, weep with His sorrow, and declare His purposes into the earth.

As Rees Howells emphasized, true intercession is not born from routine prayers but from an intimate, burdened relationship with Christ. There is no "gift of intercession" listed in Scripture. Instead, Jesus Himself is the Great Intercessor, and we are invited to enter into His work. From the dust of intercession, messengers rise in authority, carrying heaven’s mandate to the earth.

1. Identification: Weeping with the Heart of God

Intercession begins with identification—entering into the burden of the Lord. When we intercede, we align our hearts with God's, allowing His grief to become our own. This is where tears become more than emotions; they become powerful expressions of faith and surrender.

Jesus Wept: The Weeping Authority of Christ (John 11:35)

Jesus’ shortest recorded verse, "Jesus wept," holds immense spiritual depth. His weeping was not mere sorrow—it was a deep groaning (embrimaomai), reflecting His righteous anger against death and suffering. Even though He knew He would raise Lazarus, He still wept, fully identifying with human pain.

Before the miracle of resurrection came, Jesus took time to grieve. His tears were not wasted; they carried the weight of divine authority. This is a crucial lesson for intercessors—before we can call forth life, we must first weep with those who mourn.

The Woman Caught in Adultery: Jesus in the Dust (John 8:6-8)

In another moment of intercession, Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust as the Pharisees condemned a woman caught in sin. Rather than responding with immediate judgment, He chose to intercede. His actions demonstrated the power of mercy over accusation.

True intercession does not rush to declare judgment; it first kneels in the dust to plead for mercy. The intercessor does not stand as an accuser but as an advocate, bridging the gap between God's righteousness and His grace.

2. Agony: The Power of Tears in the Spirit

Intercession often comes with travail—an intense, soul-deep groaning that echoes the cries of heaven. Scripture repeatedly highlights the power of weeping in the spiritual realm.

Psalm 126:5 – "Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy."

Tears in intercession are not wasted; they are seeds planted in the courts of heaven. The history of revival is often written in the tears of those who prayed for it. Breakthroughs, salvations, and transformations are birthed through the agony of intercessors willing to weep before God.

Revelation 5:4-5 – "And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll…"

John's tears preceded the revelation of the Lion of Judah. This moment in heaven reveals a spiritual principle—intercession brings about divine revelation and action.

Ecclesiastes 3:4 – "A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance."

In a world that often dismisses sorrow, heaven responds to it. The intercessor’s tears are not empty; they shake spiritual realms, dismantle strongholds, and prepare the way for God’s power to move.

Even Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, agonized in prayer until His sweat became like drops of blood. His intercession in secret was the price for His public victory.

3. Authority: Weeping Precedes Resurrection

Jesus Raised Lazarus AFTER Weeping (John 11:38-44)

Jesus did not raise Lazarus with mere words—His tears preceded His command. His grief gave Him legal authority to call forth life. The same principle applies to intercessors today. Before declaring breakthrough, we must be willing to weep for it.

The Blood of Jesus Cries Out (Hebrews 12:24)

"The blood of Jesus speaks a better word." His sacrifice remains the ultimate intercession, eternally pleading on behalf of the saints. When we intercede, we join in agreement with the greatest intercessory act in history—the cross.

Hell recognizes authority when it hears the sound of tears mixed with faith.

The Call—Weep, Declare, and Occupy

Intercession is not passive—it requires action. To step into this calling, we must:

• Identify and renounce strongholds in our lives and communities.

• Take time to weep and intercede before rushing into declarations.

• Listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit before making bold proclamations.

• Declare the Kingship of Jesus over our cities, families, and generation.

As prophetic gatekeepers, we stand and proclaim:

"Jesus reigns over this city, over this house, over this generation!"

Revelation 5:5 – "Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered!"

A weeping intercessor is a roaring lion in the spirit!

The Reward of the Weeping Intercessor

Those who weep with the heart of God walk in true authority. Tears are not signs of weakness—they carry the weight of heaven’s burden, borne by those willing to align themselves with Christ.

• Jesus wept and then raised the dead.

• Jesus wept and then silenced the accuser.

• Jesus wept and then embraced the cross, securing eternal victory.

"The intercessor who has authority in the courts of heaven is the one who has wept in the dust at the feet of Jesus."

Tonight, we stand as those willing to weep so that we can call forth resurrection.

Looking for more? Discover a vibrant, spirit-filled community dedicated to igniting your passion for Christ and empowering your journey when you join the Burning Ones Membership. Whether you’re taking your first step or deepening your walk, there’s a place for you here. Click here to learn more 

About the author: Tammie Southerland is the founder and leader of Frontline Ministries International, a mobile prayer and equipping ministry dedicated to igniting passion for Jesus and equipping believers to fulfill their God-given destinies. As the apostolic leader of The Firehouse Prayer Furnaces and host of the Burning Messengers podcast, Tammie inspires a generation to burn with zeal for Christ. She is the author of Wordless Prayer and Permission to Burn and has been featured on programs like Sid Roth's It's Supernatural and CTN's Come Home with Jen Mallan. Based in Atlanta, GA, Tammie, her husband, Daymon, and their three daughters travel the globe, leading revival movements and calling people to live boldly for God. Visit her at burningmessengers.com

From the earliest days of the Church, the battle for truth has raged.

Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of the Apostle John, wrote to the believers in Tralles with a fervent warning against heresy—false teachings that masqueraded as truth but ultimately led people away from Christ. His words resonate as a clarion call even today, reminding us that deception often comes wrapped in familiarity, mingling just enough truth with error to lead the undiscerning astray.

Take A Look at the Ancient Writing by Ignatius of Antioch:

Abstain from the poison of heretics:

“I therefore, yet not I, but the love of Jesus Christ, ‘entreat you that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment.’

For there are some vain talkers and deceivers, not Christians, but Christ-betrayers, bearing about the name of Christ in deceit, and ‘corrupting the word’ of the gospel; while they intermix the poison of their deceit with their persuasive talk, as if they mingled aconite with sweet wine, that so he who drinks, being deceived in his taste by the very great sweetness of the draught, may incautiously meet with his death.

One of the ancients gives us this advice, ‘Let no man be called good who mixes good with evil.’ For they speak of Christ, not that they may preach Christ, but that they may reject Christ; and they speak of the law, not that they may establish the law, but that they may proclaim things contrary to it. For they alienate Christ from the Father, and the law from Christ. They also calumniate His being born of the Virgin; they are ashamed of His cross; they deny His passion; and they do not believe His resurrection. They introduce God as a Being unknown; they suppose Christ to be unbegotten; and as to the Spirit, they do not admit that He exists. Some of them say that the Son is a mere man, and that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are but the same person, and that the creation is the work of God, not by Christ, but by some other strange power.”

Ignatius’ warning is not just a relic of the past but a prophetic insight into the challenges we face today. In an age of diluted doctrine, progressive reinterpretations of scripture, and a culture that seeks to redefine truth, his words remind us to remain anchored in the pure full-gospel of Jesus Christ.

The call is the same: to be united in the mind of Christ and the Word as our standard for godly judgment, discerning the poison that masquerades as new knowledge & wisdom, and standing firm in the unshakable truth of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection and the power of His Spirit at work in and through those who believe.

This teaching is originally from 2023, but it is still relevant. We need Esthers and Mordacai for such a time as this...

I also have a transcript of the video below. It isn't perfect, but I hope it blesses you.

0:00:00 - Tammie Southerland
And we've got to know that, listen, we're on the target, we're on the radar, and so no longer do we get to edit the truth, no longer do we get to edit the message. It's not pretty, it's not nice, it's not, it can't be boxed up in something flowery. Hi guys, my name is Tammy Sutherland and I am here with the Burning Messengers podcast, excited today to talk to you about a dream that the Lord gave me just a week and a half ago concerning the rise of voices, certainly like Esther, that proclaim in this hour if I perish, I perish, and also the importance of the mordecai, the generation of men that would actually call women to be a voice in this hour, willing to sacrifice their platforms or the reputation, because, in truth, we really are in a time where we need to understand that if we die, we die because we need to rise up and be a voice in this hour. Thank you so much for joining me Again. I am Tammy Sutherland, I'm the host of the Burning Messengers podcast and if you're a burning messenger, you're really going to enjoy this. Maybe you don't know you are, but what we're praying for is for God to raise up a billion burning ones all across the earth that are willing to be a voice, willing to preach the message of the gospel, the truth of Jesus Christ, and live in a lifestyle of prayer, in intercession, without compromise. So again, thank you so much for joining me. 

I'm just going to start out this podcast real quick with prayer, because that's what we're about Jesus at the center. So, father, we thank you so much for the opportunity to share your word. God, I ask you that you would put me on like a coat, that you would wear me, that it just would only be my skin, that there would be nothing between me and you, that every word is your words, and if it's not your word, let it fall on deaf ears. But if it is your word, as it says in your word, that it would run swiftly and it would accomplish what you're sending it forth to accomplish. And, laura, open the hearts of all those that are listening, that are watching and that will watch later, god, that you would do a dynamic work in their souls. God, that you would overcome any wrestle with the flesh and learn that you would help them to be who you created them to be in this hour, lord, not just looking for a platform but willing to be a voice at the end of the age who will lay down their life for the truth of who you are and for those who need to know you. All right in Jesus' name, amen and amen Again. I'm so thankful for you, you guys that are joining me now, you guys that will join me later. 

We are in an hour of urgency, which we all know fully. Right, we know we're in an hour of urgency. Yesterday I went live with prayer and helping us to understand how to pray in an hour of crisis, and some of us have been sitting in a place of just groaning inwardly, mourning and not really understanding how Go back and look for that podcast or that broadcast that I went live both on Facebook and YouTube, talking about how to pray when we have no words to pray in an hour of crisis. I even use exemplify we step into the prophetic strategic intercession in that live and go into the area that there's so much tension and we pray into that area very specifically. You're going to grow in that it's so important, even as the weeks and months to come, we're going to teach more and more how to grow in that prophetic, apostolic, strategic intercession for you to really know how to move heaven and earth with your prayers. And so here we go. 

This is very powerful, this dream that I had. I'm going to start out with it. About two and a half weeks ago, we did a gathering. It was really powerful the tabernacle on the table, truly outdoors, camping, worshiping and setting a table to feast. Together around this opportunity to partake of Christ, to be transformed by him, really put into action the things that we've been prophesying that the Lord is doing. Gathering us together, not around tables of transaction that have to do with rubbing elbows and ministry or seeing how we can build our own thing, but gathering together, looking each other in the eyes, consuming the body and the blood of Christ being transformed and transfigured so that we could be faithful witnesses in the age that we live in. 

And so I have this dream and it's vivid. It starts out and there is a young lady with me, a Gen Z young lady. She's a house of prayer warrior. She's been in the house of prayer for years. I'm not gonna say her name in this broadcast because I believe that she's a representation of many that are out there who are called in this hour to be strong and courageous. And so the beginning of their dream. 

It's almost like Elijah and Elisha I am going and I'm going in pain. I'm going into a place where I'm not really sure where I'm going, but I know that the way that I walk and the anointing that's on my life has come from a place of crushing. And Elijah, if you know his story, he calls down fire on the prophets of Baal. He's bold and he's courageous, and then he receives a letter from Jezebel threatening his life. He gets into fear and he goes and hides. I've talked about this, you know, taught on this reality of how to not bow to the spirit of fear and Jezebel in the hour of crisis. 

Now we're in it, right, but in the dream there's almost this Elijah, elisha reality, and so this young lady wants to be near me, she wants to put her head on my chest and in the dream I'm like you really don't know what I've been through in order to walk where I walk, and so, in a sense, I'm almost pushing her away. The way that Elijah, that Elisha, at the different places where he would go, and Elisha is asking for a double portion anointing and Elijah, I believe, has a groan within him and Elijah is saying dude, you do not understand the crushing, the experiences that I have been through to walk in what I walk in, and now you won't double. And so in the dream it has this type of feel An older lady I guess I'm older now. I'm not right, I'm a middle-aged, new, you know, 40s to new, 30, whatever, but I'm older in the spirit, with a younger girl coming with me and we begin to. There's thousands and thousands and thousands of people. We're pressing through the crowd and I began to realize that I am supposed to be next up to speak and within the crowd there is no platform, there is no elevation of me over everyone else. As a matter of fact, it's pressing and it's crushing. It feels like I cannot breathe and I wanna get everybody off of me. And suddenly I have a microphone in my hand. 

In the dream, all I can do as soon as the microphone hits my hand is groan and weep and travail, as if there are no words coming out. This young lady's, still with her head on my shoulder, her head on my chest, and I'm almost like you, don't understand the pain and the tears and the travail. I have no words for what I wanna say. And in the moment of the groan and travail. Out of my mouth comes this language of Esther. God, you must raise up a generation of Esther's who will say if I perish, I perish. And I continue to say it over and over three times. Lord, raise up a generation of Esther's. Awaken the Esther's who, out of their mouth, would proclaim if I perish, I perish. And my eyes glance over to look at the young lady near my heart and I shake my head and I begin to weep even more. And in the dream, as soon as I look at her, I realize it's not just about the esters, it's about the mordecais. God, would you raise up a generation of mordecais? Call mordecais, call the men to the forefront. That would hold us to the charge of being a voice that would say if I die, I die. Because here's the thing about mordecais. 

Mordecai in Esther chapter. Well, mordecai in the book of Esther represents a man who has fathered this young lady, who was actually orphaned, positioned her to go into a place where she can walk out her destiny. And in the beginning it's painful, in the beginning it's not what she wanted, she has to disguise herself. But mordecai is positioning her, probably not even understanding fully, for the destiny of a nation. And he begins to realize, when this edict goes out by Haman, that there's going to be destruction of the Jews, that there's one sitting inside of the palace that has a voice, and so he begins to call her up and say listen, you've got to understand that you're a Jew. You may be in disguise right now, esther, because her name was actually Hadassah. He had to help her to understand that. Either way, you are going to die. So are you going to die fighting or are you going to die hiding? 

And so we need a generation of mordecais that see the anointing on the lives of the women of this hour, that the women would begin to roar the truth of the message of the not just the gospel, but the truth of the message in fullness. If we perish, we perish. Don't mess with our kids. It's the hashtag that we've been using as we begin to talk about gathering together. I'll talk about that later in October of next year but the clarion call is that you've got to understand that your mouth needs to be opened, but at the same time, we need the men of God to rise up that see the anointing on the lives of women in this hour, those that have been shrinking back and watering down or editing the burning message of their hearts to say no, open your mouth, because they're going to mess with you, they're going to mess with your kids. 

Listen, we're seeing, even right now, this, the wildness of war in the Middle East. We're beginning to see what could possibly be the fulfillment of prophecy within Scripture, and we're in an hour. We've got to understand that there's chance, such as death to America, taking place in this, in this Hamas thing, and we've got to know that. Listen, we're on the target, we're on the radar, and so no longer do we get to edit the truth, no longer do we get to edit the message. It's not pretty, it's not nice, it's not. It can't be boxed up in something flowery. The message of the Lord that's coming forth right now needs to roar through the mouth of the mama bears. 

And, at the same time, we're looking at those that are with us, these young ladies, these young ones who have had to try to fight all of the oppression of their voice by an agenda that has called them to water down the truth or even brainwash them to an effect to believe that they need to form it and fashion it to fit in a pretty little package, that it's tolerant. And here's the thing the pressing and the crushing of the generation that has gone before you, gen Z and Gen Alpha, is looking at you and saying you got to get boldness in your bones, because we don't even know if you're going to be able to run with the horsemen. Listen, it says in Jeremiah if you can't run with the footmen, how will you run with the horsemen? And the horsemen have come that you can't run with horses if you can't run with those who are on foot. And we're looking at you as Elijah's, as those who've gone before you, and it felt the pain and the crushing as women to be silent, to have to edit the message and saying you understand that the spirit of Jezebel that has encroached upon us. 

We spent times in our younger years being violent in the spirit and declaring the truth, like Elijah did when the fire fell from heaven on the prophets of Baal, and then we got threatened by an agenda and we shrunk back. But we're coming back with vengeance. But, young ladies, do you understand that you've got a break free of the spirit of the age? Do you understand that you've got a break free of the spirit of Jezebel of all the forms and the fashions of the desires for platform. Do you understand that what you've been called to and what you're asking for, the double portion, the voice that shifts a nation, is first in intercession, but then it's boldness as a watchman on the wall? It says in Ezekiel that you actually have to prophesy in order for the blood to not be on your hands. Do you understand what that will cost you? 

But listen, what we need on top of that is not just Gen Z and Gen Alpha to understand. But we need you, men, we need you morticons, we need you with a backbone to get behind us and say this is what you've been called to. Who knows if you were born for such a time as this. There's a groaning in your heart. Listen, women are groaning and travailing, like Hannah. We're saying God, you've got to rescue our generation. Lord, if you would give us a priesthood, that you would give us Gen Z, gen Alpha, if you would give us children that would burn with purity, god, we'll give them back to you. 

But we're burning and we're groaning and we're longing and we need the men of God, like morticons, to come up and say listen, you've got to get out of fear. You've got to get out of trauma. You've got to get out of concern for what the liberal agenda would say to you and step up and be a voice. You've got to burn the tide, first in heaven and then on earth. Listen, ladies. We've got to be willing to release our children. God's calling us in this hour. Listen, if you will look at Israel right now, all eyes are on Israel right now and these women are having to release their children to frontline warfare. They are having to release their children to trust in Yahweh, the name of the Lord. Many Christians yes, as well that are citizens of Israel are releasing their children and understanding the cost of war is great, but if we perish, we perish. We've got to send our kids into the place that they've been called to and this is not easy. This is not easy, dude. I just really took off on that. 

So let's look at Esther 4.16. It says this is what Mordecai says Go and gather Sorry, this is what Esther says in response to Mordecai Go and gather all the Jews to be found in Sousa and hold a fast on my behalf and do not eat or drink for three days, day nor night. I am a young woman and also fast, as you do, and then I will go to the king, and it is if it is against the law. If I perish, I perish. And this was Mordecai's response. If you keep silent, mordecai says in Esther 4.14, if you keep silent, relief and deliverance will rise from the Jews from another place, and you, esther, and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether or not you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. So I actually just flipped the scriptures. I read them backwards in my notes, but before Esther's response with a fast, is Mordecai's call to lay down her life. 

You've got to understand. We cannot let the false feminist movement take over and silence the voice of the true warrior women of the earth. In this hour, we're going to stand for holiness, we're going to stand for purity, we're going to stand for protection of our kids. We're going to stand and we're going to say if I perish, I perish. We've got to begin to understand that God has given us children for war. He's given us children first of all for spiritual warfare and second of all, to be voices. 

In this hour, stop holding back. Begin to teach your kids the truth. Do you know why Israel's able to send their kids to the front lines of war. They've taught their kids the truth. They've taught their kids the identity of who they are. It's not about destroying another nation. It's about pushing back the Haman. It's about pushing back the enemy and standing in the power and the intelligence of the divine and knowing that it's written what is written in the scriptures. These kids know what is written in the scriptures that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were given a land that they would inherit. That would be a promise that would be fulfilled, that all of the earth would be blessed. They have to believe the truth of the word of God over everything else. 

Mama Bears, I'm telling you right now. This is a call to you. You're looking at your children, that's laying their head on your shoulder, your spiritual children, your children. They are those that are going to birth for something in this hour that is both for war and also to bring forth glory. It's for the fire and it's for the glory. 

Stop separating the message. Stop just focusing on the positive scriptures whenever you're teaching your kids just the scriptures that are tolerant and what you think is love it Lovely. I want you to think on lovely things. I want you to get above the warfare. But I need for you to understand. God needs for you to understand. You must teach your kids the truth. 

Listen, I want to tell you this. I was so blown away my baby girls, two nights ago, if you know what just happened? There was a slaughter of children in Israel in two nights ago. My girls were up in the middle of the night, travelling. They did not know why, but they had a spirit of mourning and groaning on them, ages 12, 15 and 18, up in this room that I'm in right now, this upper room of our house, travelling and groaning and weeping, led by the spirit. And I got the opportunity to share with them the next day that their travails and their groans were over what is taking place in Israel. 

I am telling my kids the truth. This is what is happening to your kids, to your generation. This is what the scriptures prophesy will happen at the end of the age. We're walking through the scriptures and then they're beginning to get a prayer burden. They can listen. The enemy has inundated them with all kinds of filth. We need to begin to release to them all kinds of truth, all kinds of ability to grow in the spirit and intercession. It also recognized that in the hour in which they've been born, the time in which they live, that they very likely could have to lay down their life for the cause of Christ. 

And if you're not preparing your kids, then you're standing in fear Either way. Either way, you've got to understand they're coming after our kids, they're coming after our families. They came at listen. I don't even know if I should go there on this live, but you cannot trust the government system, because you've got to understand that the governance of the Lord takes place from the heavenly realm. There's a time that is coming when a war and rumors of war, but also these things, are allowed to take place in order to be able to feel agendas. And so you've got to teach your kids the word and the truth and what takes place and how to hear the difference between what God is saying and what the internet and the news is communicating to them. If you're not equipping your kids, moms and dads, then you're not really positioning them for what they've been born for. 

0:19:42 - Speaker 2
Hey Burning Messenger, we want to interrupt today's episode to remind you of Tammy's book Permission to Burn. The book is her testimony on paper. She was on fire and never expected her life to demonstrate anything other than the zeal of God's heart for his people. Tammy was going to change the world and see millions come to know her Jesus with the same passion and desire. Until the lies and obstacles begin. 

Permission to Burn will take you on a journey of truth and release the weight of God's glory and recommission the believer in Christ to live out his or her identity as a holy messenger. Awaken the courage to reclaim the undeniable truth amid a dangerously confused generation In part, keys to living the holy, consecrated yet exhilarating, spirit-filled life. Fall forth a scriptural plumb line of reformation to the modern church and leadership structure and bind together hearts of seasoned leaders and young believers for a sustainable last day's Holy Spirit outpouring. Read Permission to Burn. Get back on the mountain God gave you and take your place in setting this world on fire for the love of Jesus. In your generation. You can find Permission to Burn, breaking the chains of compromise from a holy generation, on Amazon. 

0:21:02 - Speaker 1
Come on Jesus. 

Come on Jesus. Esther had to choose to act. She had to know that her silence would lead to her demise and her generations. So what is our take away from this? We're calling fast. We're calling a nation to fast. 

I want to tell you what my husband brought up last night Blew me away. Okay, we're laying in the bed, we're praying, we're praying, we've been discussing and we've been praying. And this is what he said At least in Esther's hour they, israel, allowed their people to be armed. When Hamans Edic took place, he said at least they were armed. And this just came in and nobody was armed. And this is the thing it hit me so strongly in my heart when he said it. I said but there was an Esther. But there was an Esther in the palace. And if there wasn't an Esther in the palace, if there wouldn't have been a mordecai at the gate, it would have looked very similar. You see, I want to know where the Esther is in the palace right now. I want to know where the mordecai is at the gate. 

Where are the men that are calling, the women that have the access to be a voice that could turn the heart of the king? I can take you there in an intercession. There's a voice in the earth that you've been called to, to call to be, but many of you are in sectors of society, maybe even governments, that you're keeping your mouth closed. Some of you need to intercede specifically for those in office. Some of you know women in particular. God's calling women right now. There's an anointing on women to rise up, women in particular that have influence, and that you need to call them to the carpet and you need to say listen, you have a voice. What if this whole thing could have been turned if there was an Esther in the kings palace? Or was there an Esther who kept quiet? These are the questions we have to ask, not condemning anyone. 

I see all this biblical prophecy proportion of improvising and shaking. For years I've been prophesying and shaking. For years I've been saying you can't believe what you read and see on the media. For years you got to come up and get above it. You got to get divine intelligence. I'm just saying right now that this is what is happening and you can't trust what you see and hear on the internet. 

Where are the esters? Where are those that raise their voice Not just on platforms and intercession and groaning, and raising up a generation and raising up the next generation, not willing, like Hannah, to hold tight what God would give you but to release them back to him. Where are the men that will say God has called women to the forefront. Get rid of the spirit of religion that is silencing women, break. Listen. Some of you men know it. Some of you men know your wife's got a voice and you see, in your, in religious atmospheres that are holding her back, and you need to step up, like Mordecai, and you need to tell her that she's going to die either way, that she's going to die with the word in her bones and her kids are going to go with her, or she's going to have to use her voice. 

I want to encourage you. I'm thankful for those of you that are Mordecais. Never has there been a time where you're more important, and so this can be so many layers and so many levels. The Father, we just thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to rise up, to rise up in this moment. God, let us be willing to give up our platforms, I should say our reputations, for the greater good. 

Some of you, I feel it right now, somebody that's watching me. You have influence. You have influence in a sector that does not believe like you believe, and you've been silent. Some of you have been standing for things that you don't believe in because you're afraid. You've put it on your t-shirt, you've put it on your Facebook, but you don't believe in it, and you're posting things that you do not believe in because you're afraid to declare what you do. I want you to know they're coming for your kids too. If you perish, you perish. Get a voice and get a backbone. Some of you have just been afraid because you've been wounded and you're not in a situation. 

I recently had somebody text me and say listen, your husband's recovering. You're not in a situation where you can be a voice, or you think you're not. I want you to begin to intercede for your husband, begin to intercede for your leaders. The power you have, the influence you have in the heavenly realm is unbelievable. I have no idea how the power, intercession can literally turn the heart of a king, and all of us are called to a fast Right now. I want to invite you into a fast, whatever that looks like for you. Fasting moves the heart of the king, but it also kills our flesh. It puts things into right perspective and it causes the heart of heaven to respond. 

I know this has been somewhat of a heavy message, but God is raising up fearless voices. In this time, there's no more time to fear, there's no more time to be silent or be quiet. It's time for us to raise up sons and daughters who will be bold and courageous. And you, jen's ears, you, jen Alpha's, shake off the fear of man. Get in the word. Prepare your heart, pray in tongues, pray more than you say, so that when it comes out of your mouth it cuts like a double-edged sword. 

Mothers and fathers, I'm calling you now to teach them to pray. And if you don't know how to pray, begin to say God, teach me to pray. True disciples say teach us to pray. That's where the word of the Lord comes from, the throne ring, not from chat, gtp or Google. You can learn the word, you can use tools, but if you don't have the word in you, you're not going to prophesy truth and it's not going to cut. Get in the heavenly realms and get the word of the Lord and you will be victorious. We're in the best of the times and the worst of times. 

Haggaios says that the earth would shake and the stars would fall, and the stars represent leaders and kings. As the shaking happens, the only thing that's going to remain is the unshakable kingdom. So go. If you perish, you perish. So, father, I thank you in the name of Jesus. 

For those that are watching God, I pray that you would bring forth truth and justice in their hearts, or that you would help use your word in the burning of the spirit of God, to separate from their heart what is emotion and what is the spirit. God, as I pray so often for myself that the word of God is in them, those that know you, jesus, that the word of God is in them, so they would begin to hear your word even in their internal being, that they begin to know the word and let the word know them, they begin to pray like they've never prayed before, that they would be built up in the most holy faith. God released the baptismism of the Holy Spirit in fire, even right now. Release the fire, release the tongues, release the action, release the power of the gospel right now. Lord, you said if Jesus, if you be lifted up, you will draw all man to yourself. So, jesus, we lift you up. You were lifted up on the cross in your crucifixion. You bled and you died and you were raised and you poured out your spirit that we could be transformed and walk in the fullness of our sonship. 

God, that we would use this declaration, this proclamation that Esther said, not as some kind of fun language, but truly get it in our hearts that we're going to die either way, let's die. If we die, let us die proclaiming the truth. Let us not go down without a fight. But, lord, let us also know that the battle is not ours, but the battle is yours. So you give the strategy, you give the battle plan, and when we pray according to your will, it will be done for us by you, father, who was in heaven, that your word run swiftly and it always accomplishes what it was sent forth to accomplish. So release your word even right now to those that are watching me. Strike their hearts right now in the name of Jesus. Open the eyes of the blind. Open the ears of the deaf. Ignite the heart and the soul of that one that has been asleep. Cause the spirit of burning to be released. Speak, lord. Even right now, somebody needs to say speak, lord, for your servant is listening Some of you, mom, is God is stirring your heart. 

You're going to literally going to be flipping the table of your home and you're going to be resetting it as a house of prayer. Fathers, same thing, you're going to be setting up the altar of prayer and intercession and teach your children and teach your wives. Teach the word. Let it be washing them with the water of the word. Love your wife, as Christ gave himself up for the church for her. Raise her up as an Esther, raise her up as a bride. Trust the voice of the Lord and the groaning of her heart. I love you guys. Thank you so much again for joining me for this week's podcast. Go ahead and share it. Listen, share the podcast, but share the message. Let this message get in your bones. I love you again. We'll see you soon and always remember this is the heart of this podcast Burning messengers you don't have to burn alone. You're not alone. In Jesus' name, I'll see you soon. 

Looking for more? Discover a vibrant, spirit-filled community dedicated to igniting your passion for Christ and empowering your journey when you join the Burning Ones Membership. Whether you’re taking your first step or deepening your walk, there’s a place for you here. Click here to learn more 

About the author: Tammie Southerland is the founder and leader of Frontline Ministries International, a mobile prayer and equipping ministry dedicated to igniting passion for Jesus and equipping believers to fulfill their God-given destinies. As the apostolic leader of The Firehouse Prayer Furnaces and host of the Burning Messengers podcast, Tammie inspires a generation to burn with zeal for Christ. She is the author of Wordless Prayer and Permission to Burn and has been featured on programs like Sid Roth's It's Supernatural and CTN's Come Home with Jen Mallan. Based in Atlanta, GA, Tammie, her husband, Daymon, and their three daughters travel the globe, leading revival movements and calling people to live boldly for God. Visit her at burningmessengers.com

I released the Wordless Prayer Five Day Devotional in September 2024. I'm adding it here to encourage you as we enter 2025.

Watch the video for Day Two and let us ascend the hill of the Lord together.

I also have a transcript of the video below. It isn't perfect, but I hope it blesses you.

0:00:17 - Tammie Southerland

Hello, hello, welcome today to. I hope you had a powerful encounter with the Lord yesterday. I hope that that really was a blessing to you. Today we're going to jump into Psalm 24, ascending the hill of the Lord, one of my favorite portions of scripture. I mean all this is my favorite, obviously because I read a book on it. But ascending the hill of the Lord, so powerful, understanding how to go beyond just permission to burn, permission to love the Lord, permission to do the things that he's so caused our hearts to do, but to ascend, to go higher, to cause ourselves to be purified, cleansed and walk in the fullness of what he's called us to. Psalm 24 is a psalm of David, of what he's called us to. 

Psalm 24 is a Psalm of David. David wrote this Psalm specifically after he had tried to take the Ark of the Covenant and place it back in the center of the nation of Israel, but he didn't do it the right way, and so he'd experienced the death of his friend, uzzah. Because Uzzah touched the Ark and the Ark shook and Uzzah, the power of God, hit Uzzah. Because Uzzah touched the ark and the ark shook and Uzzah, the power of God, hit Uzzah, and Uzzah passed away. The Ark of the Covenant had been sitting in Obed-Edom's house for a certain amount of time while David inquired the Lord in his frustration of what is the right way to take your presence and to assimilate it into the people. How do I do this? David gets a revelation from the Lord of a blueprint in heaven that included night and day worship and prayer that took place around the throne on the mountain of the Lord. So he's writing Psalm 24 out of this place, so we're going to read it together. You're going to have there in your devotional. You're going to see Psalm 24, verses 3 to 6. 

I want you to understand the context of this scripture. And so verse 3 says hands and a pure heart. Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, who has not sworn deceitfully, he shall receive a blessing from the Lord and righteousness from God of his salvation. This is the generation who seeks him, who seek the face of God, even Jacob. And then we go on into verses seven, eight and nine and 10. And it talks about the heads being lifted up and the king of glory coming in. 

When you read the book, I talk about an entire encounter that the Lord took me into as I began to see a people ascending the hill of the Lord and entering in through the gates, the portals, the open doorways in heaven as we begin to look up at him in this pure hearted place where we just want to be with him. You'll have to get wordless prayer to read that encounter, but I literally saw the heads of the people lifted up and the gates open wide for the king of glory, Jesus, to enter in to our land, into our life, into our churches, into our realities, as we begin to lift him up. And so you are invited to ascend the hill of the Lord. So what does that mean? To ascend the hill of the Lord means that A you need to understand that, by the blood of the Lamb, the power of the gospel is that you have been renewed, you have been cleansed, you have been sanctified by his blood and now you have permission to walk holy, not listen. The grace of God is to empower you to walk in the consecration, the sanctification, the justification that God has given you through his son shedding his blood on a cross, defeating death, hell and the grave for three days, and ascending into heaven and pouring out his spirit. And so you enter his presence with clean hands and a pure heart. Your hands are clean, your heart is clean as you go in into repentance. You repent, you receive his cleansing, you ren renounce. That means you break agreement with anything that is ungodly that he brings into your heart. 

As you begin to enter in this place of prayer, it's the you go from adoration to confession, into the place of getting your heart clean before him, but also knowing this is not a physical journey. It's not about you figuring out all the things you've done right and all the things you've done wrong. It's receiving the power of the blood of the lamb coming boldly to his throne of grace, where you shall receive mercy and know that this is a spiritual journey. You're going deeper into communion with god. As you ascend the hill of the lord, you get out of the place of praying, from the dirt of worry, fear and anxiousness, into believing fully that what he has said, what he has done through the power of his blood, who he has given you in his spirit, that causes you to know your identity as sons and daughters, is enough. And so you get to go deeper into communion, and so I want to encourage you to open your Bible, to meditate on this passage to chew on it. 

When I say meditate on a passage, I'm telling you to read it and pray it, and reread it. Begin to take this passage and say I want to stand in your holy place. I want to come into you, into the mountain of the Lord. Listen, he is the mountain. I want to come into the place of your dwelling. I want you to reveal to me how my heart and my hands look right now. Cleanse my heart by the power of your blood. Meditate on the scriptures, pray the scriptures, and then I want you to enter. Prepare yourself to enter into his presence fully, come fully into his presence. You don't take too much time to dwell on what you've done right, what you've done wrong. You come boldly. It's not by might nor by power, but by spirit. 

David took a time to come before the Lord, to figure out what he'd done wrong. He began to realize that it required blood, it required sacrifice, to take the presence of God up a mountain and to establish God as the ruler, as the Lord, as the king of the nation of Israel, and that he required clean hands, pure hearts, worship and prayer to be the center of everything that they did as a nation. It's the same thing for you and I, so I want you to meditate on that, think about that, ask God how you can come into his presence more fully and then enter in. Ask God to reveal any areas of your life that need cleansing. Listen, this is how we live. We live this lifestyle of repentance and we'll live a lifestyle of glory and fullness into him as we begin to love, to come to him. Burning for the fire, burning for the ascent. Sorry, we got cut off. 

It's the second part of that prayer, lord, that we would come to you in wholeness. We would come to you not holding back anything In our minds, in our emotions. That we wouldn't hold back anything from you. That you would search us and know us and that you would take us closer and more intimate with you. That we would come higher and we would come through that open door of heaven that you have invited us into. That we would lift up our heads, we would gaze on you. That you would use us as a gateway, as a doorway for you to enter in to the world that we live in as we learn how to come into your intercession. In Jesus' name, amen. 

Looking for more? Discover a vibrant, spirit-filled community dedicated to igniting your passion for Christ and empowering your journey when you join the Burning Ones Membership. Whether you’re taking your first step or deepening your walk, there’s a place for you here. Click here to learn more

Click here to get your copy of Wordless Prayer.

About the author: 

Tammie Southerland is the founder and leader of Frontline Ministries International, a mobile prayer and equipping ministry dedicated to igniting passion for Jesus and equipping believers to fulfill their God-given destinies. As the apostolic leader of The Firehouse Prayer Furnaces and host of the Burning Messengers podcast, Tammie inspires a generation to burn with zeal for Christ. She is the author of Wordless Prayer and Permission to Burn and has been featured on programs like Sid Roth's It's Supernatural and CTN's Come Home with Jen Mallan. Based in Atlanta, GA, Tammie, her husband, Daymon, and their three daughters travel the globe, leading revival movements and calling people to live boldly for God. Visit her at burningmessengers.com

I released the Wordless Prayer Five Day Devotional in September 2024. I'm adding it here to encourage you as we enter 2025.

Watch the video and let us enter the unspoken realm of glory together.

I also have a transcript of the video below. It isn't perfect, but I hope it blesses you.

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey through Wordless Prayer, the five-day devotional. 

I believe that this devotional is really going to radically take you into a place of encounter with the Lord and also encourage you quickly that the book Wordless Prayer is going to transform your life. I really believe that it is, and so if you've not gotten the book itself, I encourage you to do that. But go ahead with me today and jump into this first part of this five-day devotional of wordless prayer.

Day one is the unspoken realm of glory, and you're going to see in the description an encouragement to enter into this wordless prayer, this place of glory.

But in this video, I'm going to read the scriptures with you and I'm going to actually help you learn what it is to go into this place and experience the groan of the spirit and the realm of glory that God would want to take you into, and so let's open up even that right now with prayer. Father, I thank you for those that are watching. I thank you for those that are reading. God, I ask you that you would take them in to the power of your presence and grip them by your spirit, that they would no longer wander or wonder if you are there with them in the place of prayer and intercession. Be with us as we come together in this quick time of devotion to learn how to pray and to learn who we are in you, in your place of glory, in Jesus name. Okay, open up your Bible with me right now, if you will, or your phone, whatever you have to Romans 8, 26. Let's look at Romans 8. Actually, I'm going to read I put Romans 8, 26 on the devotional. 

I'm going to read Romans 8, 20, because I want you to understand that the whole earth is groaning for one thing and one thing alone, and that is what it says in verse 20. For creation was subjected willing, not subjected to futility, not willingly because of him who subjected it in hope that creation itself would be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know in Genesis that when the fall of man happened, when Adam and Eve fell, that the curse did not just come upon Adam and Eve, but it came upon creation itself. And so the answer to creation is that mankind would take the rightful place again in redemption, so that creation itself would be redeemed. We see that in verse 20, so that creation itself would be redeemed. We see that in verse 20. Yeah, verse 19. Just above 20. Go back and read that later. 

And so, in hope that creation itself would be set free from its slavery to corruption Into the glory of the children of God, verse 22. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth. Until now. Why does it say until now? Because not only this, but we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, grown within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the fullness, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we've been saved. Saved, but in hope, that is not. Hope. That is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance, we will wait eagerly for it. 

There's verse 26, my favorite. In the same way, the spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should. But the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words, and he searches the hearts and knows what the mind of the spirit is, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of god. For we know that god causes all things to work together for the good of those who love God, are called according to his purpose, for those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed into the image of his son. What are they predestined for? To be conformed into the image of his son by the power of his spirit, because they were redeemed by the power of the blood of the lamb, and the power of his spirit, because they were redeemed by the power of the blood of the lamb and the sacrifice of christ on the cross. We're predestined, because of his blood, to be conformed into his image. Why? Because we are gripped by the spirit and transformed by him into ones who would agree with him in intercession. 

What his intercession is?

To bring redemption to the earth. What? Because the earth itself, creation subjected to decay, is groaning that we would know our identity as his sons and as his daughters verse 30 and these whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called he also justified, and those who be justified he also glorified. So what shall we say to these things? If god is for us, who could be against us? All right. So I read a little bit more than we put in the uh devotion. But in our weakness. 

We need to understand that when our words fail us, the holy spirit himself is interceding with us and through us, with prayers that we do not have english language to utter.

But first of all, we have to understand who the intercessor is. Jesus is the intercessor. The scriptures say that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us. The cross of Christ itself was the greatest place of intercession that we would ever see the blood of the Lamb, jesus, christ himself, shed for us on a cross as the intersection between heaven and earth that we enter into by the power of the spirit and by the power of his blood to come boldly before the throne of grace where we are able to receive mercy, where we're able to be redeemed from our own decay, our own corruption, justified, strengthened, sanctified, in order to enter into the intercessions of Christ, which would be the redemption of the earth. 

And so this wordless language is not wordless at all.

There's language in heaven, there's language of the spirit, where we are gripped by him, by his desires, by his prayers, by his intercessions. In the gap in between what is promised in the scriptures, the the decay of the earth, and what we are experiencing. We step into that cross, we step into that place of intercession and the spirit himself will pray through us and in us, wordless prayers, actually full language in heaven, full language that we don't understand, but wordless prayers in the place of intercession, as we enter in and agree with him. 

And so remember, in these moments the spirit is at work. He is bridging the gap between the heart of God and your heart.

He's bridging the gap between the broken and the promised of wholeness and completion. You are even longing for your fullness of redemption and your adoption as sons, but he, the first fruits of the spirit, promises us even earlier in Romans, that it's by his spirit that we cry out Abba, father. So we have been adopted, we've been redeemed, but we're awaiting the fullness when the tears and the crying and the decay that we experience on this side of eternity is no more. 

But, as those who are his, the earth itself, the creation itself is groaning for us to take our rightful place and be unveiled as his sons and as his daughters in the place of prayer, in the place of redemption, because of the gospel, because of what Jesus did for us, and also to understand who we are, even in the place of frustration, that we have authority and we have power. 

And so, Lord, I'm asking you right now that you would cause those that are watching, those that are reading, those that are watching, those that are reading, to be taken up into this unspoken realm of glory, as it says in Romans 8 also that it is Romans 8, 18, for I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is revealed to us. 

So, Lord, we ask you right now that you would take them from the sufferings of this earth into the glory that will be revealed to them in the unspoken place, where you have language that is greater than any language of the earth, that is greater than any language of a demon, that is greater than any language of an evil one, and, lord, that you would take them up, that you would grip them and that you would cause them to be baptized in your spirit with fire, awakened to the revelation of intercession and your spirit itself, your spirit. 

Begin to pray through. My friends, right now, in the name of Jesus, I want to encourage you, as you go deeper into this devotional, to sit quietly with the Lord, find a place and allow yourself to silence the noise, and you're going to have noise, you're going to have distraction, your mind's going to go 100 miles an hour. But to silence the noise and allow him to come in and encounter you. I pray for the grace and the power of God to be with you as you enter into this place of the unspoken realm of glory. In Jesus name, amen and amen. I will see you tomorrow. 

Looking for more? Discover a vibrant, spirit-filled community dedicated to igniting your passion for Christ and empowering your journey when you join the Burning Ones Membership. Whether you’re taking your first step or deepening your walk, there’s a place for you here. Click here to learn more

Click here to get your copy of Wordless Prayer.

About the author: 

Tammie Southerland is the founder and leader of Frontline Ministries International, a mobile prayer and equipping ministry dedicated to igniting passion for Jesus and equipping believers to fulfill their God-given destinies. As the apostolic leader of The Firehouse Prayer Furnaces and host of the Burning Messengers podcast, Tammie inspires a generation to burn with zeal for Christ. She is the author of Wordless Prayer and Permission to Burn and has been featured on programs like Sid Roth's It's Supernatural and CTN's Come Home with Jen Mallan. Based in Atlanta, GA, Tammie, her husband, Daymon, and their three daughters travel the globe, leading revival movements and calling people to live boldly for God. Visit her at burningmessengers.com

Intercession, so much more than we think it is. It's not just people that get together and pray, it's not the five people that really like to pray, it's so much more than that.

And we talk about Jesus in this season and we remember his birth, but what we don't realize is that he actually came as an intercessor.

He came and dwelt among us so he could stand in the gap, because the Spirit of the Lord searched to and fro across the whole earth and found no one that was worthy to stand in the gap as an intercessor for us.

And so Jesus, coming through the womb, stepped into the earth as the greatest intercessor that would ever touch this dirt, and it's who he still is. Everything that we do as believers is actually, when we come in an agreement with him. It is an act of intercession, it's an act of standing in the gap and it's an act of agreeing with his, his will.

That's why the Lord's prayer is what it is his will on earth as it is in heaven. And so when we think about the advent that we're in right now, the first coming of Jesus, it was actually the first, the first fleshing out of his intercession to bridge a gap that could not be bridged otherwise.

And then the second advent of Jesus is his return.... Watch the video for the full sermon. This sermon is from December 2023, but it is as relevant today as it was then.

Looking for more? Discover a vibrant, spirit-filled community dedicated to igniting your passion for Christ and empowering your journey when you join the Burning Ones Membership. Whether you’re taking your first step or deepening your walk, there’s a place for you here. Click here to learn more.

About the author: 

Tammie Southerland is the founder and leader of Frontline Ministries International, a mobile prayer and equipping ministry dedicated to igniting passion for Jesus and equipping believers to fulfill their God-given destinies. As the apostolic leader of The Firehouse Prayer Furnaces and host of the Burning Messengers podcast, Tammie inspires a generation to burn with zeal for Christ. She is the author of Wordless Prayer and Permission to Burn and has been featured on programs like Sid Roth's It's Supernatural and CTN's Come Home with Jen Mallan. Based in Atlanta, GA, Tammie, her husband, Daymon, and their three daughters travel the globe, leading revival movements and calling people to live boldly for God. Visit her at burningmessengers.com

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” – John 15:1-2

Four years ago, the Lord spoke a promise to me that still burns in my spirit: “You are entering the best years of your life. Whatever you ask will be given to you, for I have found you faithful.” It sounded glorious, yet the reality looked like devastation. I was closing the doors to a thriving ministry, leaving behind everything familiar, and moving into a wilderness of uncertainty. It felt like death, but heaven was preparing me for resurrection.

John 15:1-2 reveals the mystery of the Kingdom: The Father is a gardener. He doesn’t just cut away the dead branches—He even prunes the fruitful ones. Why? So they can multiply. I didn’t know it then, but every cut, every loss, and every unanswered question was the skillful hand of the Gardener preparing me for greater glory.

In that season, the Lord didn’t just prune my ministry—He went after the roots of my life. He cut back distractions, burned away self-reliance, and called me to abide in Him like never before. He strengthened my marriage and my family after years of relentless busyness. In the quiet, I rediscovered the sweetness of His voice, the power of His Word, and the beauty of walking with Him in stillness. Jesus’s words in John 15:4 came alive to me: “Abide in me, and I will abide in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.”

This wasn’t just pruning—it was holy fire refining me for something eternal. The Gardener’s cuts may feel sharp, but they are never wasted. Even when the blade feels cruel, His hands are tender, His eyes are fixed on the harvest, and His heart is set on your destiny.

Now, I see the fruit. New vision. New life. New joy. This journey has become a lifelong legacy, and I am stepping into the fullness of His promise.

If you find yourself in the cutting season, don’t despise it. The Gardener is preparing you for an abundant harvest. Let the fire of pruning refine you, the promise of His Word anchor you, and the beauty of abiding restore you. This isn’t the end—it’s the preparation for glory. Trust His hands, for they only prune what He intends to multiply.

About the author: 

Tammie Southerland is the founder and leader of Frontline Ministries International, a mobile prayer and equipping ministry dedicated to igniting passion for Jesus and equipping believers to fulfill their God-given destinies. As the apostolic leader of The Firehouse Prayer Furnaces and host of the Burning Messengers podcast, Tammie inspires a generation to burn with zeal for Christ. She is the author of Wordless Prayer and Permission to Burn and has been featured on programs like Sid Roth's It's Supernatural and CTN's Come Home with Jen Mallan. Based in Atlanta, GA, Tammie, her husband, Daymon, and their three daughters travel the globe, leading revival movements and calling people to live boldly for God. Visit her at burningmessengers.com

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Looking for more? Discover a vibrant, spirit-filled community dedicated to igniting your passion for Christ and empowering your journey when you join the Burning Ones Membership. Whether you’re taking your first step or deepening your walk, there’s a place for you here. Click here to learn more.