STEPPING INTO GOD'S TIMELINE: THE FAVOUR AND THE SEED - PART TWO

A teaching by Trevor Baker (based on a message given on 16 Jan 2009).

There’s something that is so key to producing our prophetic destinies - and that is having God’s favour before we receive the seed. We need to get the favour of God upon our lives, because without the favour of God, we will wrestle, strive, and struggle to bring things about.

BEING LIKE MARY

We need to be like Mary, the mother of Jesus, who received favour and then the seed. In fact, the first words that Mary hears from the angel Gabriel are “Greetings, you are highly favoured and the Lord is with you [Lk1:26].” In verse 30, she is told “Do not be afraid Mary, you have found favour with God.”

Then, she receives this incredible word “You will be with child and give birth to a Son, and you’re to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God, will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and His kingdom will never end [Lk1:31-33].”

We need to come to a place where we get hold of the favour of God upon our lives, because it will enable us to move into a place where we receive the seed that He wants to plant in us.

COMING INTO A PLACE OF FAVOUR

What God was doing was getting Mary into a place of favour. I feel that this year is going to be an incredible year of the favour of the Lord [see Isa61:2]. Just reading this article, you’re coming into the blessing of the favour that’s on Revival Fires, you’re being imparted. You see we need the favour before the seed. So often we want the seed, and then we try to bring it about but the favour enables you to come into a place where you prosper and where you move into a place of promotion. You don’t have to struggle with it, you don’t have to try to do it. Favour causes you to prosper and moves you into a place where you are promoted to a new level because of the prophetic word.

God speaks His word, and then He brings you into a new place. And in that new place, we begin to birth those things. I mean, just receive it. In Luke chapter one, 300 years have passed since God’s last word through Malachi, and the silence is broken by “You are highly favoured.”

In one sense, it’s like God’s sucker punch hitting you. It’s like “Okay, God, I’m out for the count, do whatever You need to do, while I’m in this place of rest.” And then the angel said “now, you’re going to be with child, I’m going to put a seed in you.” And that seed is going to be called the Son of the Most High.

The same word, prophetic words that God has spoken to you, carries the same weight. Not that you’re going to produce a Saviour, but what God wants to produce in you, is the ability to bring salvation to the lives of others. And what is salvation? It’s sozo – forgiveness of sins, physical healing, deliverance over evil spirits, moving out of a place of poverty into His blessing. It’s about moving into a place of prosperity, generosity where they can fulfil the call and the purpose of God on their lives. That’s what God is birthing in you to give to others.

REDEMPTIVE PLAN

For every one of us on earth, God has a redemptive plan. Why is it called a redemptive plan? That’s because He has put a word in you that you should have picked up the day you were born. That’s the word He put in you. We still carry some of those things in us as we go through life.

Some people have called it motivational gifts, why we do the things that we do, why we are motivated in certain areas. I am a pioneer at heart, deep down I want to do that which has not been done, or which I have never done. And so that just works in me. I don’t have to think about it.

I was talking recently to Sharon, my wife. I said “Sometimes I wish I didn’t see all the things I see. My life would be so much easier.” But the fact is I see so much and I just have to say “God, that’s just a gift that I embrace.” And sometimes you say, “Why do you see that?” See, there’s a grace and there’s a favour upon our lives, and when the favour is upon your life, the right people see you, and the provision of God flows to you, so that you can fulfil what He said.

RELEASING THE FAVOUR OF GOD

Right now, I’m going to release the favour of God over you and you’re also going to eat the fruit of the prophetic word. I believe it’s not waiting for another year, time or season, but it will happen if you step onto God’s timeline.

You have ears to hear and eyes to see, you too can step onto it now. And in so doing, you begin to eat the fruit, and take the seed and plant it so that it produces an even greater harvest. As Mary declared “Be it unto me according to your word [Lk1:38].” When she said this, she received the favour and the seed.

THE RESPONSE OF FAITH

What did Zechariah do when told that he would have a son called John? He told the angel, “How shall this be, since I am old?” And in another translation, it says, “How can I be sure, since I am old?” See the difference? The one did not question, responded in faith by saying – “Be it unto me.” The other said “How can I be sure?” An angel is just speaking to you. Gabriel, an archangel is there! And Zechariah is saying “Well, how can I be sure?” And do you know what happens to him? He’s struck dumb.

SILENCING UNBELIEF

Sometimes, God will silence your unbelief, so that it doesn’t destroy the seed that He’s put in you - and that’s a grace! Because if you keep talking words of unbelief, “How can I be sure? How can I be sure? How will this be? How will this be?” in the end, you talk yourself out of ever producing anything! Sometimes God will say, “Well, I’m going to stop you talking about that now, until the time comes when you’re going to hold that prophetic seed in your hand and then you’ll begin to speak.” That is a grace from God.

I want you to take hold of those seeds and I want you to get hold of the favour of God. The favour comes upon you and it begins to clothe you with what God has for your life. That’s what favour does. It puts clothing on you.

FINDING FAVOUR IN THE EYES OF THE LORD: THE STORY OF NOAH

Before Noah got the mandate to build the ark, he found favour with God. When all of the earth was so corrupt, and you had this whole angelic activity where they took the daughters of men and where there were off spring born to them, and, you have this one man and the Bible says “And Noah found favour with God [Gen6:8].” And then, God gave the word to build the ark. We need favour before we begin working or birthing that which God has given to us.

WEARING FAVOUR: THE STORY OF JOSEPH

Joseph found favour with his father, who put a coat, an ornamental coat, upon him that set him apart. Favour sets you apart, and brings you into a special alignment relationally and a special place of grace. Now, that’s for us all.

But what happens to Joseph is that coat is physically taken off him, but once you’ve got that spiritual favour on you, you cannot remove it! You can take the outer, but you can’t take what God’s been doing on the inside. Joseph began to move in revelation and see things that were to come. He moved prophetically, speaking over his brother and parents. And so even though the coat is physically taken off him by his brothers, he still carries the favour. You see, no matter what you’ve had taken off you, you still have the favour on your life.

FAVOUR WITH POTIPHAR

And what happens is, he loses that coat, he goes into Potiphar’s house, but he still carries the robe of his tribe. Thus, he finds favour with Potiphar and is put in charge of his entire house. He then comes to a situation where Potiphar’s wife asked him to sleep with her - but you see favour has already been working in his life. Maybe like Joseph, you’ve run for your life out of righteousness - but you still carry favour. People may not understand it, and it may have gotten you into a lot of trouble. If you’re in that place where out of righteousness, you left some where, let me tell you, now is the time when God says “it’s time to come into the King’s presence.” He wants to put even more favour on you.

FAVOUR IN PRISON

So what happens to Joseph is he’s lost his special position and identity of who he was in Potiphar’s house, and he’s sent into prison. But again, there’s favour on him. It keeps working, because he’s motivated in that way. He just does things and when people see the way that he does it, they give him more. Have you ever come to a place where you see individuals getting favour and you wonder why? Why is it that they just seem to be given positions or ministries or something to do, or people open doors for them? They shut them closed in my face but they just seem to have open doors, both in the natural and spiritual. Favour. It’s just who they are, and they attract that type of response from people.

It’s like, they go into town, and people come up, wanting to talk to them. But you (who don’t have that kind of favour) go into town, and it’s like nobody wants to talk to you. You go out with Richard, a member of Revival Fires local church, and very soon people are talking to him. I can go down into Dudley and sometimes it’s like people are walking ten paces around me! There are different kinds of favour.

And yet here at Revival Fires (the ARC), we can put a conference on and a lot of people have come. That’s favour, there is just different ways that it operates. We don’t try and get speakers in here. Most of the speakers say they’d like to come. That’s favour. I’m not saying that to say “look at me,” I’m just saying, that’s how it works. We all carry different levels of favour.

FAVOUR WITH PHARAOH

And so Joseph then gets to a place where he still keeps attracting favour. There are people with dreams that want to know what they mean [see Gen40]. God gives him the interpretations, so they come to him. The next thing he is promoted into the king’s courts. Right before going in to see Pharaoh, he washes, shaves - and puts on new garments because it’s time for promotion. That which God said would happen [the dream he had as a young man], all the sheaves would bow down, now Joseph is moving more into that realm where that’s going to be a reality. It wasn’t just a nice picture for his brothers, and parents, it was a reality. God put a seed in him, that during harvest, they were all going to come and bow down to him. Now, he moves into this place and God gives him more revelation, there’s more favour. He begins to prophesy seven abundant years, seven lean years and with that he is put in control of all the wheat and barley in Egypt. And then, all the nations, come down and bow before him. Why? Favour. The word came to him, and he then births and fulfils it.

“You meant it for harm, but God meant it for good [Gen50:20].” He sent Joseph down They kept him in stocks, until the word of the Lord proved him true and then He brought him out [see Ps105:17-22]. Joseph says “God sent me down here ahead of you.” God wants us to come onto His timeline, and we do so because of the seed that He’s put in you. The seed that He’s put in you is for this season in order to birth and bring it about.

I believe God is going to cause you to take hold of seeds that what He’s going to birth in you, you’re going to take hold of and you’re going to even see them birthed in other people, even in these next twelve months. I believe it’s a time for accelerated growth and times when God brings us into all those things. Remember what happened to Aaron’s rod, when it was placed in the tabernacle of witness and within twelve hours it had budded, blossomed and yielded ripe almonds [Num17:8].

DANIEL

In Daniel chapter seven, it says that when the Ancient of Days took His stance, He made a decision in favour of the saints, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom [Dan7:22]. That’s really taking hold of the favour. It’s not a case of just speaking it out, keep looking in faith, or keep hoping for it. It’s coming to a place where you hold it in your hands.

TIME TO STEP ON THE TIMELINE

I believe it’s time for you to step onto God’s timeline, right now. There’s favour from God to do so. I believe that God wants you in the spirit to take hold of seed and fruit. The seed is for yourself and others, it’s the prophetic word that’s being birthed in you. I also want you to eat the fruit as a prophetic act declaring that the fruit is already here and it’s good.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

I want to pray first and foremost that you come into a place of the favour of God. When you get the favour on you, you’ll easily move onto God’s timeline. And when you do, you will know that you’re in the right time and place for you to birth that which God’s given you. Let me tell you after reading this article, I am prophesying that the right people are going to see you, and when they do, the provision and promotion of God is going to begin to flow to you. It will. That’s how it’s happened in my life. I believe there’s an impartation to release that into the lives of others. I believe for each one of us, our lives should be a resource for other people to touch the favour and blessing of God.

Father I ask that there would be a shift in the spirit as we come into that timeline. Father, we want to step onto that timeline. And as we step onto it, I’m asking that You would birth the prophetic word in people, that their lives would be fruitful and that they would take the seed of their fruitfulness and see it reproduced in others. I want everyone reading this article to become a resource for people to touch the favour and blessing of the Kingdom of God, in Jesus name, amen. The favour of God is coming upon you, receive it now!

In Part 2 of this teaching series find out more about favour, why you need it, and how it can transform your life and those around you.

Trevor Baker carries a Spirit of Revival. Through his preaching and prophetic gifting he equips men and women to fulfill their destiny and calling in God, so that through signs and wonders we may gather in the harvest from the nations of the world.

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