Discerning This Time and Season: Prayer for Israel (Part 1)
By Rick Ridings Jul 29, 2021
Discerning this Time and Season
What I want to share about, I would call it discerning this time and season. The sons of Issachar were known as those who discerned the times and seasons.
They recognized, they understood.
And one of the things I’ve been praying for us is to Succat Hallel; I prayed for the prayer movement worldwide is that we would be sons of Issachar: sons and daughters of Issachar that we would discern, discern times and seasons, what God is doing, because there are many voices that could call us to this or that, and we can begin to get distracted.
Important to Focus
And it’s so important that we have focus, that we know what is God focusing on right now. Now what I’m going to share is not necessarily what God is having everyone to the whole world focus on, but I believe He’s calling us to focus upon as a community on these specific things. Some of them I’ve been sharing in public, different Zoom calls and things, and putting, getting a surprising response that God is speaking the same things in other nations very strongly.
What to Press in For
So I’d like to share some things that I feel about discerning this time and this season, what are we to be pressing in for, what are we to be believing for in this time and season? And like to start by going back to 2016, most of you are aware of this, but this lays a foundation for everything else. And those were visions of shakings, a series of visions that were given in October and November of 2016.
And in those visions that one of the first visions was a vision of shakings happening, actually in the vision, it was like the whole Temple Mount and Western wall area were in a threshing basket, I think I have a picture of this. Yeah, threshing basket, a big wide basket, and, and the Lord was throwing it in the air. And as you know, with threshing, what happens is the wind comes and it blows away that, which is not, which is not nourishing, that which is not worth keeping and that which is worth keeping the good green falls down. So the chaff is blown away, and the good green comes down.
So I think it’s really important to realize that in these shakings, God already warned in 2016 that it would be like a time of threshing. It would be a time of him as it were tossing things in the air, and of the wind of the Holy Spirit blowing away things that needed to be blown away. But that, which is eternal again, he says I will shake what all things that can be shaken, so that the things which cannot be shaken will remain.
So His shaking is not a bad thing, it’s a good thing. It’s getting rid of things that are not nourishing. It’s getting rid of things that are not good. It’s getting rid of things that are not lasting, so that the things that last will remain.
Shaking
And again, going back, He, the first one He, I saw as He began to shake it began then to go out and ripples into the nations. Very soon after that we had a big shaking on the Temple Mount. Some of you will remember where they discovered weapons and that had been hidden in the, in The Dome of the Rock, I believe it was, or one of the it may have been at one of the mosques up there.
And as a result, they were trying to put in metal detectors, there were riots. I mean, all kinds of, there was a huge shaking.
It looked like it could turn into another Intifada another bus bombing type time, but God intervened. And this is one of the things I saw in the shaking set. There would be shakings, but then there would be times where it would just settle down again, and then there’d be another shaking.
But He showed me that one of the things in the shakings, I saw this huge drop of water in the sky. I come out of the, as he was shaking everything. And I thought, Lord, you know, what is this? And I felt like He was saying, the shaking is going to shake loose things that are keeping water from coming into the very driest places.
And you’re going to start seeing water, rivers in the desert. You’re going to start seeing wells at the desert. You’re going to find in some of the very, very driest places I’m going to begin pouring out my, my spirit. I’m going to begin bringing people to myself.
I’m going to be doing things in places where people never expected it. Now, not too long ago, I was on a call with people from Saudi Arabia, and they were sharing what was going on there. And I can’t even share all of it publicly, but huge things.
Shaking in Saudi Arabia
There is a mighty move of God right now in Saudi Arabia in the last year. They said everything just almost like everything shifted in a year. And suddenly there was a boldness, even among people who never before would ever, you know, already it was very dangerous to share their, their faith privately. And they said some have even been sharing their faith publicly on the call, the Muslim radicals at the, they show, their face and former Muslims.
Yeah, yeah, be clear on that, former Muslim background believers in other words, who showed their face and it’s an amazing thing, from Israel, we’re blessing Saudi Arabia, from Saudi Arabia they’re blessing Israel. I mean it’s God is, is moving in some very, some of the driest places in the world bringing water right now.
God in Control of Shakings
And a second thing that He would, well not a second thing, but something He said about all the shakings. He said, “Know that I’m in control of each shaking so that even when you may not feel like I am, I am.”
So He was warning us in 2016 already saying know that I’m in control of each shaking even when you may not feel like I am in control. So we need to keep in perspective the fact that all the chaos that is unleashed during a shaking is in the end, only temporary, but his kingdom is eternal.
Now I, the Lord opened the door for me to share this whole these series of visions in Hong Kong in 2019. And they were at a time of demonstrations in the streets and it looked like it was going to go out of control. It looked like there’s going to be a military blood bath there. And, and it was a group of people not only from Hong Kong, but from mainland China.
God Prepares People for Lockdown
And so there were actually other, at least, I think there were about 15,000 Chinese that were there in this gathering in Hong Kong. And when I shared it, I was with fear and trembling because I felt like the Lord said to tell them the shaking here in Hong Kong for the moment, will calm down, and later there will be another shaking.
But right after the shaking in Hong Kong begins to calm down, I will begin to shake China in a major way. And right after that was when the whole coronavirus thing came out in China within weeks, it came out and a pastor wrote to me from Wuhan and said, thank God that you gave that word. Because she said, when they were, when we were seeing, you know, bodies in the streets, when we were seeing severe, severe lockdown.
She said, I just felt like Lord, what is happening? It just felt so out of control, the Lord reminded me of that word you gave that we would be shaken, but that it, it would calm down after a while then there’ll be another shaking, but that in all the shakings, we could trust Him to be in control, even when it doesn’t feel like He’s in control.
God with Wuhan Church
And she said, it helped us in some of the most severe times in Wuhan for the church to know, okay, God is with us. He’s not forgotten us. God is shaking all things that can be shaken so that that which can not be shaken, would remain.
And she said, one of the main results was the Lord showed them all to start taking the Lord’s supper in their homes with a small group, with their family, when they were shut down to their family was many of their families were not believers. And so they took it in front of their family, and their family began asking them.
And she said, people started coming to the Lord in the homes and in small groups because of what the Lord had told them to do in the middle of the shaking. So once again it’s how God, you know, He, His ways are just higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
And a second vision that He gave was of, and this is in 2016, was a vision of tumult and confusion in the nations and an accelerated polarization of life of light and darkness. And what I saw in this was that you see the photo that I showed there. I saw that in many cities there would be riots. There would be confusion. There would be tumult. There would be chaos. This was in 2016.
Shaking Throughout World
He said, when the shakings begin there will be a moment where in many cities of the world there will be a lot of chaos and a lot of confusion, he said, but what I’m doing in it, I’m separating light from darkness. So He showed me, it was like He was on the Temple Mount above the Temple Mount on a throne.
And He had this bar in front of Him that looks like the top one here is was dark at one end, light at the other end. But most of the middle was gray. And He said, this is the way it is right now. There’s a lot of gray of compromise of of things that are not true different things that are great, but He said what I’m going to do. And He took His hands like this, and He just went and suddenly everything was either like really light or really dark.
God to Clarify Things
And He said, what I’m going to do is make much clearer to those who are genuinely seeking for light to know what is light and what is darkness. It won’t be so confusing. It won’t be so compromised.
He said, I’m going to do the same thing in My church. There was a lot of compromise that I’m going to just get to expose that it will become clear which are the true ones following me and which are ones just following me in name and living in darkness.
It’s just going to get my light is going to shine. He said, it will be this whole season of shakings will be a time of polarization of light and darkness making it clearer what is light and clearer what is the darkness.
Shaking to Follow Shaking
I won’t go into great detail on that. But number three or the third vision, He showed me in this vision that during this time of all these shakings and He showed it with be shaking after shaking. Once it began. I, I’m sorry, I hope that’s not bad news for you. It’s not, it’s good news. Cause He’s in control.
But He showed me that when it looked like a shaking was going to spin out of control, it would come back down and it’d be like a birth pang, be like a contraction of a woman having, giving birth. And He said during those times, breathe, because another contraction will come, another shaking will come and receive my strength for the next shaking.
We don’t know what those will be. He didn’t say exactly what they would be. He just said it would be one shaking after another. He didn’t say how long in between. It might be very long in between shakings. But He said, once that’s really begun which I believe was in 2019, when I was there to Hong Kong, I felt that, and now it’s coming in the nations.
Shakings to be Blessings
And, and so, but he showed me during that time, we had these little baskets of loaves and fishes and we came when the, when a shaking would die down we would bring our little basket of loaves and fishes. And we think the loaves represented miracles, healings and the fishes represented people coming to the Lord.
And we would bring them before the Lord. And remember it said when they brought the little boy brought to the disciples the loaves and fishes prayed the blessing over that. And so He, He, He gave thanks.
The blessing is always, it’s a giving thanks. He gave thanks for it. And then it was multiplied. And so in this vision, I saw us bringing like the little boy this is all I have these little tiny basket before you, but He, we gave thanks.
And we said, Lord, I thank you for whatever I have seen of healings, whatever I have seen of miracles, whatever I seen of people coming to the Lord, it may seem so little and so small to me, but I thank you for it.
Blessings to Increase
And as we were thankful for what He’d already done then He took away the basket and He gave back a bigger basket. It had more fish and more loaves in it. And then another shaking would come.
And then when it would die down, He would, we would go, and we say, Lord, thank you for that we had more loaves and more fishes. We give it to Him. And then He gave a medium-sized basket, and then a larger basket than a larger basket.
And every time in between the shakings the basket would get larger and larger. There would be more and more fish. There would be more and more bread. In other words, more and more miracles and healings.
Concentrate on Blessings
And I believe with all my heart, because God said this in 2016, and I believe, you know, Monday in the watch we were singing house of miracles, Brandon Lake song. And this is a house of miracles.
We felt we need to proclaim this by faith over ourselves, that we are a house of miracles. We’re a house of healing, and not get stuck in disappointments, not get stuck in things that, that have been traumatic or disappointing to us.
The early church actually, we always think of it as just so, so glorious, all these tremendous, amazing miracles and things. Paul’s handkerchief being taken out, Peter passing by in the shadow. People get healed, but they also had disappointments.
They had a leader who was executed when they thought he’d be released miraculously, like Peter had been released and they had another leader who was stoned to death whether they thought, you know, where there were others like Paul was stoned and got up and walked away after being stoned to death, a huge miracle.
Key is Thanksgiving
So we don’t understand everything, but we must not allow disappointments to cut us off from what God wants to do.
And the key in that is thanksgiving saying, Lord I thank You for the healings I have seen. I thank you for the deliverance as I have seen. I thank you for the miracles I have seen. I thank you for the people I’ve seen come to the Lord.
And as we do that, then He begins to multiply and the baskets just got larger and larger and larger. But the key was thanksgiving, it was those who gave thanks for what they felt was so little.
But if they gave thanks, it, it grew and it grew and it grew, and it grew, and it grew until finally there was huge numbers of miracles and healings and signs and wonders that were happening. Some of it in the very driest places, again in some of the most difficult nations, tremendous healings and miracles were coming forth in these visions.
God Delays Blessings – Waiting for Repentance
Now I’d like to go back to number two and apply that to right now, this, that was where I saw the vision of tumult confusion in the nation’s accelerated polarization of light and darkness. And here’s what I feel the Lord has been speaking.
As I’ve been praying, Lord, help me to understand certain things that we’d been praying so much for Isaiah 28, for example, that God will drop his plumb line of righteousness and justice. And that the flood of the Lord will come and wash away the refuge of lies. And that covenants with death will be exposed.
And we’ve been praying this a lot for governments. So because I, I’ve been praying that much here but I’ve also prayed it much for my home nation of America. At a certain time, it looked like things went in a very different direction than what we were praying for, for the justice for the righteousness, for truth to prevail.
But here’s what I felt. He spoke to me. He said, I could have quickly answered then if I only dealt with the fruit, but I’m going deeper. I’m going after the roots in nations in governments where people are doing second Chronicles 7:14 are, are humbling themselves, praying seeking My face, turning from their wicked ways.
I, He said, my word is still true. I will hear from heaven forgive their sin and heal their land. But He said, the only way I can do that is by going for the roots and not just the fruits. And so during a period that seems like, you know, what is going on? God wants us to know. I believe, that He is laying the axe.
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A Prophecy of the Two Winds
( I cannot recall the origin of this word but I have been carrying it around in my bible for over three decades. It rings true in my spirit and I believe that it is as valid today as it was in the moment it was given - Herschel)
The Lord would say unto you that the wind of the Holy Spirit is blowing. The Church however is incapable of fully recognizing this wind. Just as your nation has given names to hurricanes, so too have I given a name to this Wind. This Wind shall be name ‘Holiness unto the Lord’.
Because of a lack of understanding, my people shall try to find shelter from this Wind. But, in doing so, they shall miss My Work! This Wind has been sent to blow through every church that names My Name. This Wind shall blow through every institution that has been named in My Name. In those institutions that have substituted their name for My Name … they shall fall by the impact of My Wind – those institutions shall fall like cardboard shacks in a gale!
Ministries that have not walked in uprightness before Me, shall be broken and fall. For this reason, man shall be tempted to brand this Wind as a work of the adversary. DO NOT BE MISLED – IT IS MY WIND!
I do not tolerate My church in its present form – nor will I tolerate it! Ministries and organization will and shall fall before this Wind. Even though some seek to ‘hide’ from My Wind, they shall not escape. It shall blow against your lives and all around you, and it shall appear to be plumbless, and so it shall. Never forget that this is My Wind, saith the Lord which comes with tornado force and appears to leave behind destruction.
But, the word of the Lord comes and says “turn your face into this Wind and let it blow’. Only that which is not of Me shall be devastated. You must see this as necessary and not be dismayed for after this,
My Wind shall come again – have you not heard how My Wind blew on the valley of dry bones? So it shall blow upon you. This second Wind will come in equal force as the first Wind and it too shall have a name; it shall be called ‘The Kingdom of G-d’ - it shall bring My Power! The supernatural shall come with this Wind.
The world will laugh because of the devastation of the first Wind but they will laugh no more. This coming Wind will come with force and power and produce the miraculous amoung My people and the Fear of the Lord shall fall upon My People. My people will be willing in the day of My power, saith the Lord.
In the first Wind that blows upon you, I will blow away pride, lust, greed. competition and jealousy … and you will feel devastated. But, have you not read ‘Blessed are poor in spirit’, for there is the Kingdom of G-d’? And so, out of the poverty of your spirit, will I establish My Kingdom. Have you not read that the Kingdom of G-d is the Holy Ghost? So, by My Spirit alone shall the Kingdom be established and made manifest.
Notice also, that there shall be those who seek to hide from the first Wind and they shall try to ‘flow’ with the second Wind. But, thus saith the Lord, ‘they shall be blown away by it’. Only those who have turned their face into the first wind called ‘The Holiness of G-d’, shall be allowed to be propelled by the second Wind called ‘The Kingdom of G-d’.
You have longed for revival and the restoration of the miraculous and supernatural. You and your generation shall see it! But, it can only come by My processes saith the Lord.
The church in the nations cannot contain My Power in its present form, but if it turns to the Wind of the ‘Holiness of G-d’, it shall be purged and changed to contain My Glory, saith the Lord.
This judgment that has began in the House of G-d is not the end. When the second Wind has come and brought in My harvest, then shall the end come!