Understanding A Siege Season by Kirk Bennett

What an amazing summer. I can’t remember a more intense time in the warm weather months than this one. We’ve seen a dramatic shaking begin in the last 10 months. If these are not birth pangs than something unique is going on in this nation, in the government, with the church, and certainly our team. The nation has seen the presidential election, the Senate and House elections and now 2 Supreme Court seats all in a controversial struggle over one issue. Abortion! But, is it just an issue? Or, as my friend Lou Engle says “Was slavery just an issue?”  I believe that the case of the USA vs 50 million unborn children has come onto the docket of the court in heaven and that we need to take it seriously. Someone once said, “When the principles of the day run against your deepest convictions then peace becomes sin and battle becomes your calling.” There are many ways to fight this battle in the earthly natural arena but our battle is not with flesh and blood.

           I am calling for the church to battle in the only way possible to win the abortion war. We are in a time like no other in US history. Jesus said in Matt 17 that there are certain kinds of demons and some of them will only move by prayer and fasting. There is no other way to move them. This demonic power that can cause a nation to legalize killing and then kill their own children, will only be moved by prayer and fasting.

We are calling for a great commune revival where the people of God live focused lifestyles of prayer and fasting daily applying with the intent of gaining a spirit of prayer that moves heavenly powers. I’m convinced that earthly strategies will not work. We are spiritual beings and must learn to appropriate and apply a spiritual blood. It’s time for the believing communities to enter into a Culture of Life and remember their priestly calling.

For more of Kirk’s teaching order the CD series “Warring for Life” at www.7thunders.org

Denver , CO

The month of August was a month for our team to live a radical lifestyle of prayer and (no meat no sweet) fasting We are a team of about 50 people traveling across the northwest sieging various abortion clinics in cities.  Denver was the first on the various stops. As we stood in front in of the clinic 100 degree weather, there was a black couple who came out of the clinic after being in there 10 minutes. They came over to Kirk and asked what we were doing. He was able to testify to this couple about Jesus and how He wants this baby that they want to abort. The couple wasn't for sure about what we were saying, but they ended up not going in to get the abortion. They still weren't quite sure about what they wanted to do, so they were a huge prayer target for us as a team. We felt a real sense of urgency and a lot of our team was being downloaded with revelation like never before. God was meeting us, through rain or shine, hot or cold, we believe our stance is going to change things dramatically in each city.

  Spokane , WA

We are standing in front of the Thomas S. Foley United States Courthouse in Spokane . This is the first Federal Court that we, as a team, have stood at during this tour. It was a different place, but the same reality that we are standing before God appealing to Him on behalf of man and our government. We could feel when we entered into this city that there were roots of prayer in this city. John G. Lake had his healing meetings here in Spokane when he was in ministry. We felt as a team that we weren’t starting something new, but stepping into something that has been lying stagnant for a while. We’re stirring the stagnant waters of Spokane as we stand. There were lots of questions at the court rather than yelling and profanity. We as a team are realizing we are not of this world and people around us realize that too. Esther 8:17, “…Many people of other nationalities became Jews because of fear of the Jews had seized them.” This verse has gripped us and God’s saying to us, “When your hearts really enter into this, people will be gripped with the fear of God and will join the Red Warriors because they have a fear of not being one.” This is what God wants to do. He wants friends in Spokane who will dig up the old wells of revival and healing and we’re beginning to see those waters being stirred.

  Seattle , WA

We've had many words from the Cause USA and different senses from the Holy Spirit that the " Battle would begin in Seattle ." After our first day in front of the clinic in downtown Seattle , we believe this was true. We were in one of the most dangerous parts of Seattle . Day 3 of the siege was a significant sign that our insight about Seattle being a battle was very correct. A group of "radical women" showed up at the siege when we got there. There were about 6 of them and 50 of us. They held signs like,

"US stay off my uterus, " and "Reproductive rights NOW," and "Reproductive Justice for Women," and "Stop the war on women," and "Keep your laws off my body," and "Not the law, not the state, women will decide their fate." All they were trying to do was to be a distraction to our prayer meeting. At one point an African American "ordained priest" who was a woman preached at us that we weren't hearing from God and that we were acting on human will and not God's will. She said we weren't hearing from God and that the god she knows wants free will and free choice for women. This didn't distract us, but drive us into joyful prayer. Psalm 109:2-4 says, "For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful have opened against me; they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They also have surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause. In return for my love they are my accusers, but I give myself to prayer." This is what was happening as the pro-choice women shouted and the ordained priest preached. Our hearts were affirmed in the Lord all the more because of this. Also on Day 3, a car drove by the site and as one of our team members, T.J., was pacing back and forth and as he was walking, the young man driving in the car threw a chicken bone at T.J. and hit him in the stomach, gave him a "nice salute," and drove off. T.J. said, "I've never felt so validated in my whole life."  In our generation, we don't get hit with stones in persecution; we get hit with chicken bones.

  Portland , OR

In Portland we decided to split our group up and have 1/3 of our group siege at a place called Pioneer Square . It used to be a hotel where the 3 women abortionists lived in. Across the street is a store called, "Nordstrom’s." This building where this store is at is the actual building where the abortions were happening in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Meanwhile at the LoveJoy Surgicenter where the other 2/3 of our team was, we saw 2 major salvations happen. A couple was walking into the abortion clinic today and the girlfriend stopped and looked at one of our team members for a good few seconds. They walked into the clinic and then came back out 10 minutes later. The girlfriend once again stopped across the street and just turned back and stared. Two of the girls on our team went over and talked to her. The girlfriend had gone into the clinic with her boyfriend to make an appointment to have an abortion scheduled for the Wednesday coming up that week. Through conversation the girlfriend told our 2 girls that when she was walking into the clinic, she turned back to look at us and all she saw were the faces of babies with Life Tape over their mouths. She didn’t even see our team members, she saw babies!! This gripped her heart. The couple ended up coming to our night meeting with us and the girl got saved! She is going to keep her baby and the boyfriend is going to help. This is an amazing testimony for our team and for that baby! God is using the poor and the needy to reveal His heart to us.

   Sacramento , CA

 Over 150 people sieged with us in Sacramento . Some weird things happened at the Planned Parenthood in Sacramento . Our team has a history of seeing ravens at every siege spot we've been to. The ravens have been signs of demonic things going on in the area around the clinic. At the clinic, 2 of our team members were standing and all of a sudden a raven fell out of a tree right in front of the clinic and wobbled over to them and it flew into one of the girl's leg. She jumped out of the way and it went at her again and then turned and ran into the other girl's leg too. Then it turned around and wobbled back over to the side of the clinic and sat on the cigarette tray outside of the door. Then while that was happening the clinic employees turned on the sprinklers that were in the grass area behind us and got us all wet. They were doing it to try to get us to leave, but all we did was move and keep sieging. In every city the clinic tries everything to distract us, and all it does is drives us deeper into prayer. With all the distraction we felt like with the raven falling out of the tree that the Lord was telling us that we're gaining air supremacy over this clinic. During communion on our last day, an 11-year-old boy came up to one of our leaders and said that while he was in his front yard yesterday praying the 22-word prayer, the Lord told him, "The rock has been thrown." He asked the Lord, "What does that mean?" And the Lord reminded him of one of Kirk speaking on David and Goliath. The Lord told him that it's like the stone being thrown at Goliath.  That the stone has been thrown at this demonic stronghold of abortion. The boy said, "The stone has been thrown, it may be in flight for awhile, but it's definitely been thrown." God met us in communion everyday reminding us that this is a communion revival. God used Sacramento to give us hope for a corporate Esther coming forth to save our babies from injustice.

   Chico , CA

 At the Planned Parenthood clinic in Chico we had around 60+ people there. Because the clinic was in a strip mall with the US Post Office next door to it, we had to be careful about where we stood. We stood in the parking lot where it was marked off next to the light poles and on the sidewalk in front of the clinic. From the very beginning we had hecklers. One guy told us that we should be ashamed as the "future of our nation" and that God didn't really make us to do this. I strongly disagree, God has called His church to war with Him, and we're finally beginning to do it. We had about equal amount of Pro-Life people come by also. The town seemed in a frenzy, but our stance and silence were definitely making a difference. It was shocking to most people that we weren't yelling anything. We had a few Catholic men come up and tell us that they had part in shutting down the very clinic we're sieging here in Chico back when Operation Rescue was going on. This was awesome to be able to talk to those men and tell them that they truly are heroes and that we're running where they left off. This is totally true! God gave us fathers in the faith and fathers who ran this thing. We want those guys running with us to give us wisdom. God really wants to see babies born, and we're being gripped with this desire too! As we ended this month-long justice tour, we came back ruined. God impacted us in such a way that we will never be the same again.

  Prayer Requests

• The 7 Thunders staff  – Luke Ahrenholtz, Courtney Arrington, Katie Bennett, Andy and Bek Hickman, Rebekah Myers, Mercy Falkner, and the siege teams. That the Spirit of Grace and supplication would continue in them to pray and prophesy; especially as they have just returned from this month-long siege.
  
• Kirk - Pray that he has understanding and revelation on eschatology of a culture of life.
  
• Dee- Total and complete healing of Dee ’s thyroid. There is a growth diagnosed as a cyst. We have decided to pursue the healing hand of God for this disease after 20 years of medication. Pray Psalms 103:2-3

• Isaac – Will be married to Morgan Hennigan on Oct 15^th

• Katie – Is carrying the sound of the Life Movement in her worship leadership.
  
• Abby – Increased joy and zeal for God. Something of real power is continuing to happen with our children, and we’re asking for the Spirit to guard and disciple them in it.
  
• The I.H.O.P.s – There are houses of prayer springing up all over the world. We have had the extreme privilege to be friends with an amazing number of them. Pray for ways to keep those friendships alive, viable, and strategic.

• The Bennett’s - Pray for the health and well-being of our family, our finances, and understanding in our lives.

• Pray the 22 word Prayer 7 times daily – Jesus, I plea your blood over my sins and the sins of my nation, God end abortion and send revival to America !

 Trips - guidance and direction concerning this year.

This newsletter is written and sent by Mercy Falkner with 7 Thunders.