Dear Friends and Intercessors, the following is from Friday’s teaching. I felt it was important to convey this message in writing as the season we are in requires intercession, focus, and a true understanding of where we are as a nation.

I pray it blesses and encourages you to press into our Lord and Savior more than ever before.

Love, Ricci

“A Nation in Distress”

Ricci Johnson-Wilson

(From our June 16, 2023, message)

I have a scarf that I wear at every Gathering of the Eagles (GOE); it was a gift from one of our intercessors and I cherish what that gift represents. I see our flag and each time, no matter where I am, I think of the vision the Lord gave me of “The Eagle, the Flag and the Weights” back in 2020. I know when this nation is set free, the Eagle will fly strong, our Flag will fly high, and tyranny will stand down.

This GOE, I held that scarf several times a day, longing to see it free, longing to see our nation set free from the oppressive regime it is under right now.

During the first day of the Gathering, second service, while we were praying over government issues, I had a vision of our beautiful Flag…but it was upside down.

According to the US Flag Code, the proper way to fly our U.S. Flag, is to raise it to the top of the flagpole. If you keep it up at night, it must have a light shining on it, the only exceptions:

• A Presidential proclamation,

• Memorial Day

• Or if you are signaling danger or distress.

Again, as we were praying over the government, I saw the American flag upside down. The Lord showed me a season of continued prayer and told me when we’ve completed what God is assigning us to, He would turn this flag around as our nation would no longer be in danger or distress.

According to what the Lord showed spoke to Mom and what He has shown me, prayer is the key.

September 14, 2020, I had the following vision, (Darrell read this last night) I saw a man–he was unrecognizable–in a rowboat. He was rowing backward into darkness. As I prayed, he was drawn from within to row forward toward the light. When I stopped praying to try to focus on who he was, the pull forward ceased, and he began to row backward. I began to pray in the Spirit, and he shifted gears and rowed toward the light vigorously. This pattern continued. I asked the Lord who he was. He told me the man represents America, he seems unrecognizable at this time, but if My people will continue to pray, I will draw America back into My Light.

Let’s look at One who lived a life of prayer: “Jesus, the man” as He is depicted in the Gospel of Luke.

Throughout this Gospel, we see Jesus pray:

• Heart prayers

• In Secret

• With a few of His disciples

• In front of the multitudes (as He blessed the five loaves and the fish)

Why were His prayers recorded for us? To set an example for us to pattern our lives after.

Why?

Prayer strengthens & comforts us. It’s the vehicle through which faith meets the Power of the Living God and then releases action into the earth.

From the beginning of His ministry until the end, we see the life of prayer our Savior lived.

Jesus prays in secret:

Mark 1:35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he (Jesus) went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

Jesus prays with a few:

Luke 22:39-46 And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, and said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.

Three personal lessons here that have personal and national consequences:

1) Time: Jesus said, “Could you not tarry an hour?” (In Matthew 26:40)

How many of us pray at least an hour a day? We are to give 10% to God. This is our tithe, we do this through our resources, time, and talents. I have heard every excuse in the book as to why prayer seems to be the mountain people cannot seem to reach. Yet, through prayer, we can not only reach those mountains, but we will climb every mountain God destined us to climb.

2) Temptation prevention: Jesus found them sleeping for sorrow. (Luke 22:45) His response wasn’t “oh, it’s okay, I understand, here, have some wine and go back to sleep” No! He responded with: ”rise and pray lest ye enter into temptation.”

How does prayer prevent temptation?

• Our sorrow often leads us to seek fleshly comfort, distractions, busyness, or other ways of dealing with the situation including numbing ourselves.

• Jesus prayed as He was tempted of the devil (Luke 4)

• Our sorrow causes us to handle things in the flesh rather through wisdom, knowledge, discernment, & understanding. Prayer enables us to see the events through the eyes of our Lord and as such, we will respond differently.

Consider the last three years, many people stopped praying when Biden stole the presidency. When, month after month, they didn’t see Trump walk back into the Whitehouse, they fell away. What were they here for? The prophetic voice to help them make it another day or were they here to pray for the nation to remain stable in the greatest shaking we’ve seen in our lifetimes? More importantly, where are they now?

3) Prevailing power: How does prayer enable us to prevail?

• fills us with faith enabling us to stay the course set before us.

• teaches us to pursuit His will. We prevail when we pursue His will and the release of His Kingdom in the earth. Jesus taught the people many times the importance of pursuing God’s will over their own, even in the moment of His greatest agony, He still cried out, “not My will but Thine.” His disciples “a stone’s throw away” heard these prayers and followed in His footsteps after His ascension.

• strengthens us. In Luke 5:16, after ministering to the people all day, Jesus withdrew to the wilderness, and He prayed. Why? the ministry was done, why would He not just go to bed? Prayer refreshes and restores our soul, it prepares us for the new day, a life of prayer often demonstrates our utter dependence on God.

• provides downloads. Our spirit is always willing to receive downloads from the Father. Yet, our flesh is not always willing to stay put and receive them. In Luke 6:12, Jesus prayed all night just prior to appointing His disciples, and according to Matt 10, He also prayed to give them power to heal and deliver people of unclean spirits.

• provides comfort & restoration: In times of great need, prayer to the Father is where we gain our strength and comfort to endure even the darkest seasons of our lives. I’ve heard people say “you went through that to draw you closer to God. That’s your victory.” Is it possible we go through personal struggles and the real victory comes when we do not falter in our prayer and Word life? Jesus, in the Garden before His passion, interceded with such intensity, He sweat great drops of blood. Why? To gain the necessary strength to endure the cross. His prayer was released prior to the cross… because the flesh is weak. Our only hope is to seek the face of God for the strength to endure. We also see this when He was tempted of the devil. An angel was sent to strengthen and restore Him. The answer? An angel came and strengthened Him. Jesus, the Man, receiving strength and restoration to endure.

• brings a revelation of His glory. Luke 9:28, Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the garden to pray. It was here that they witnessed the Glory, the transfiguration of our Savior! Prayer paves the way for the outpouring as He reveals Who He is. Every great revival was born of extended time in prayer by a great number of people.

Last night Darrell shared a little about the vision I had 104 days prior to the 2020 election. Everything that the Lord showed me in that experience has come to pass.

• Prostitution (or human trafficking) has been legalized in several states across the nation.

• Several states have abortion on demand up to the moment you are in labor.

• The LGTBQ+ agenda has infiltrated education, media, entertainment (sports – consider the Dodgers fiasco), business, and finances. In many cases, you cannot get a loan for a business unless you sign an agreement to fully embrace and ensure proper representation of the 3% who identify as LGTBQ+.

• The sexualization of our youth, including books on adult/child relationships are recommended reading for children as young as 10 in public schools paving the way for legislators to take action and legalize pedophilia.

• Persecution of true Christianity is on the rise as they demand you embrace and accept a lifestyle defined in the Word of God as a sin against God. Recently, at a Baptist Convention in Germany, at an unprecedented event, an AI preached a sermon to the congregation.

• Finally, the depth of corruption that’s occurred in our government by every three-letter agency that has enabled a government, originally designed by our founding fathers to prevent government overreach, is now on full display.

Friends, we’ve been in distress much longer than we realize, President Trump simply exposed the distress. Now that the deep state is out of hiding and they feel they can run rampant across the land, shoving distracting agendas down our throat while they pour our tax-payer dollars into endless wars.

Yes, this nation is surely in distress. However, because the people of God prayed prevailing prayers, instead of taking us down the enemy unwittingly exposed himself in ways we never would’ve known. Yes, dear friends, the enemy may appear to be taking his victory lap in the streets today, but the people of God, those who’ve stayed the course and prayed, have increased in the power (Dunamis) of God! Remember, as long we persist in prayer, we will turn this nation back to God. It will come about, the Awakening is here, and we cannot let up on the call or the commission of God upon our lives. I’ve shared before the vision I had where the nation looked like it would be split in two, but the intercessors kept it from snapping through their prayers.

As I said in my June 8th message, we need to stay the course! Our nation needs greater prayer coverage than ever before, and Jesus provided the perfect example on how we pray! He gave thanks, He prayed for the people, He prayed as He chose His disciples, He prayed as He released them into ministry, He prayed to feed the 5000, and He prayed as He agonized in the garden before His passion. Through it all, God gave Him power, strength, grace, and the ability to go to the Cross and win the victory! He was so filled with the Spirit of God when the men came to get Him to take Him to the Cross according to the Gospel of John they asked if He was Jesus and when He said “I AM” that same power and force that set the captives free from the bondages of Egypt was released and threw the captors back! Jesus came to set the captives free, and that same Spirit resides in each of us we only need to tap into Him and receive our download!

We must stay the course, because God is going to take this nation in distress and turn it back around. The heart- the Church-is beating once again, and the debris is shaking off our land! What is about to rise is the sleeping giant and that giant will surely set the captives in other Nations free!

Through prevailing prayers, we will turn our Flag from a position of distress to a position where when people see that beautiful flag unfurled, they know, tyranny will not be tolerated! Our liberty will be achieved, and God, in His mercy, has set our nation free!

Press in and press on!

Blessings & love,

Ricci Johnson-Wilson