How do you get the kind of spiritual aggressiveness, the urgency it takes to lay hold of that opportunity?

First, you must determine your focus and spend time with God. The Apostle Paul said, “[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him...” (Philippians 3:10, The Amplified Bible).

Notice Paul didn’t say, “One of my purposes is....” He said very specifically, “My determined purpose is....” I can promise you this: You won’t be spiritually aggressive unless you determine to be. You’ll let “...the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things” get in your way (Mark 4:19).

I need to warn you, that determination to spend time with God will run headlong into a busy life. To stay on course, you will have to bring your flesh under the rule of your spirit and be willing to simplify your life.

I discovered this as I was honoring a prophecy the Lord gave through Kenneth E. Hagin on the importance of communing with the Father:

Don’t take up all your time with natural things...give your spirit opportunity to feed upon the Word of God...to commune with the Father above and build yourself up on your most holy faith. It doesn’t take a lot of time, just an hour or two out of 24. Just pay a tithe of your time unto Me, saith the Lord, and all will be well. Your life will be changed. It will be empowered and you will be a mighty force for God.

I never was a great person of prayer. I’m really still not like some people I know. But some years ago I decided I’d pray at least an hour a day.

Can I tell you what you probably already know? When my alarm went off, I’d get up...sometimes. Other times, I’d think—and I know it was the devil—Look how dark it is outside. It’s so cold this morning. You don’t want to get up.

Sometimes in those first few weeks, I’d agree with the devil: “That’s right, I don’t,” and I’d go back to sleep. But I kept at it, and kept at it and kept at it. Eventually it became a habit with me. Now I don’t turn over and go back to sleep anymore.

You see, your body must be trained by your spirit. It will get up. My body never says to me anymore, “It’s so cold outside. It’s so dark....” My body is so used to getting up in the dark, it doesn’t even think about it.

The tithe of my time to the Lord changed my life because I purposed in my heart to not be lazy, draw back, hold back or sit down. I purposed not to spend my life wasting time on natural things. I set goals that I was going to do every day.

It wasn’t easy. When I started I could hardly pray for even five minutes—that was a long time for me. But I stayed with it. Seizing the kingdom isn’t easy. God doesn’t say it will be easy, but He does say it will be worth it.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

“Thou shalt be far from oppression; for
thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it
shall not come near thee.” What does the
Word say about us where fear is concerned? First
John 2:5, “But whoso keepeth his word, in him
verily is the love of God perfected,” and 1 John
4:18, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love
casteth out fear: because fear hath torment.”

“Behold, they shall surely gather together,
but not by me: whosoever shall gather together
against thee shall fall for thy sake.” There is
no question about it—oppression, fear, and
terror will gather together against you. Satan
will still try to fight you even though Jesus
has defeated him through the cross. “Behold,
they shall surely gather together, but not by me.”
The Lord your Redeemer is speaking, and He
says that oppression, fear and terror are not
from Him.

“Behold, I have created the smith that
bloweth the coals in the fire, and that
bringeth forth an instrument for his work;
and I have created the waster to destroy.”
What is the Lord saying here? God created
Satan. Ezekiel told of how Satan was created
perfect, and then iniquity was found in him.
This is where the problem lies. God has given
His Word on certain indisputable points. He
will not break or go back on His Word, even to
Satan. This put God in the position of having
to keep His Word when Satan became involved
and keep His Word where man is involved. Satan is
trying to trap God in a lie—to trap Him into going back
on His Word. God would then be subject to the
“father of liars.” So what God is saying to us
here is, “I created the one who caused your
trouble. I will be responsible for it.”

“No weapon that is formed against thee
shall prosper.” Even though God created
Satan, even though Satan committed treason
before God and led man into treason, God
has provided a way so that no weapon Satan
forms against us will prosper.

“And every tongue that shall rise against
thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This
is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and their righteousness is of me, saith the
Lord.” The battle lines are drawn. God is not
your problem. Satan is your problem—he is
your enemy. But the good news is that
God has provided your complete deliverance
through Jesus Christ.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

The following prophecy from Isaiah 54 is
no longer speaking of Jesus on the cross. It is
speaking of the Resurrected Jesus—the
Redeemer. He is no longer speaking to Israel
but to the Church of Jesus Christ.

In a little wrath I hid my face from
thee for a moment; but with everlasting
kindness will I have mercy on thee,
saith the Lord thy Redeemer...And all
thy children shall be taught of the Lord;
and great shall be the peace of thy children.
In righteousness shalt thou be
established: thou shalt be far from
oppression; for thou shalt not fear:
and from terror, for it shall not come
near thee.

Behold, they shall surely gather
together, but not by me: whosoever
shall gather together against thee shall
fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created
the smith that bloweth the coals in the
fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument
for his work; and I have created
the waster to destroy.

No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper, and every tongue that
shall rise against thee in judgment thou
shalt condemn. This is the heritage of
the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness
is of me, saith the Lord.
(Isaiah 54:8, 13-17)

Notice in verse 8, “but with everlasting
kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the
Lord thy Redeemer.” The Redeemer is talking
here. When we read this, we are reading from
the mouth of God. This is what God Himself
has said.

“And all thy children shall be taught of
the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy
children.” Who are those children? We are.
The believers—the Body of Christ, the children
of God as a result of the new birth.

“In righteousness shalt thou be established.”
This is for us right now, here on
earth. We have already been established in
righteousness. Romans 5:17 says, “For if by
one man’s offence death reigned by one; much
more they which receive abundance of grace and
of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by
one, Jesus Christ.”

Kenneth Copeland Ministries

James 1:4 tells us that, if we will let
patience have her perfect work, we will be perfect
and entire, wanting nothing. A patient
man is a stable man. He is a constant man. He
is a single-minded man. He doesn’t have to ask
himself, Who is my enemy? Is God my problem or
is Satan? Is there a shady area between the two?

This poses another question many
Christians are asking today. Does God use Satan
to discipline His family? What is the chastisement
of the Lord? Does it mean the same in the
New Testament as it does in the Old?

To answer these questions, you must know
how to rightly divide the Word of Truth.
Where do you rightly divide the Word? At the
cross and resurrection of Jesus. One side is a
promise—the other side is a fact.

Isaiah 53 is a prophecy of Jesus, the
Messiah. Isaiah is prophesying here and is
speaking of the things that are to be laid on
Jesus. Notice verse 5:

But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for
our iniquities: the chastisement of
our peace was upon him; and with
his stripes we are healed.

The English dictionary defines chastisement
as “punishment by inflicting pain.” Jesus bore
our sins so that we don’t have to bear them. He
bore our sicknesses so that we don’t have to
bear them. He bore our punishing chastisement
so that we don’t have to bear it. Praise God!

Kenneth Copeland Ministries