>> Hi, I'm John Benefiel. I'm the founder
and the senior pastor of Church
on the Rock in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
I'm also the founder and the leader
of the Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network
and the Global Apostolic Prayer Network.
We have a leader and a network in each of the 50 states
and in 112 nations around the world.
>> Years ago, I was introduced to a teaching by Dutch sheets
about who the strong man is.
Now, Jesus is the real strong man.
But you know that Jesus said in John 10:10,
the thief comes not but for to steal, to kill
and to destroy. I've come that you might have life
and that more abundantly.
This story today pertains to you that are watching
because you may have a drought in your life,
and you may have the enemy that has stolen from you,
either health, or family or finances, happiness or joy.
>> And there's a way to defeat that enemy, and
this story will begin to tell you that.
So who's the thief? It's not Jesus.
He came to give us life and that abundantly.
And I found out in the Bible in Matthew 12,
24 through 29 that Jesus himself says
that the strong man that we fight is Baal.
And in Ephesians 6:12, it says,
we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities and powers.
So Baal, you may not know,
but if you read that in Matthew 12,
you'll see that Baal is the enemy,
and he is introduced as the strongman,
the ruler of the demons.
So we knew we had to do something
about fighting that enemy.
So supernaturally through prophets,
particularly Chuck Pierce,
it was prophesied to me that I needed to go
and I needed to divorce Baal in all 50 states.
I was invited to San Antonio, Texas,
and which there was a severe drought
just as there was in the days of Elijah,
there was a drought. And the drought in San Antonio
was so bad that the trees were dying.
And they invited me to come because they had heard
that where we had divorced Baal and bound the strong man,
that supernatural drought cancelation,
supernatural rainstorms came and
healed the land, place after place.
It was probably the worst in San Antonio
with even the trees dying. But they gathered together
about 250 Christian leaders in the city.
>> I taught briefly on Baal being the strong man and
that we needed to divorce Baal and bind him, which we did.
Now, when I got there,
I was told that the long term forecast for San Antonio
was no rain at all. There was no rain in sight.
There was no rain, not even one percent probability of rain
in the next ten days or indeed even over the next month.
But as soon as we together divorced Baal
and bound that strong man,
God released the wealth of rains on the land,
and the drought was broken. The next day,
it started to rain the very next day,
and there was over ten inches of rain
that fell over the next couple of days.
>> God supernaturally broke that drought,
just like he did when Elijah faced down the prophets of Baal
that Jezebel had gathered. What I'm saying to you
is that this supernatural breaking of droughts,
I've seen over and over again
where they said there's no hope for rain.
There's no hope that rain will come into our land
and heal the land. Your land may need to be healed.
>> You you may need to be free
from the drought of finances in your life.
>> I'm telling you that your God
will bring a supernatural breakthrough for you.
If you will seek him, he'll show you what to do.
>> But place after place across America,
as I was invited to go,
supernaturally droughts were broken
every time we dealt with the strong man
and bound that strong man.
The strong man is your problem and Jesus is the greater one
because the Bible says greater is
he that's in us than he that's in the world.
But we really do have an enemy.
And that enemy is a supernatural being.
That enemy is a spirit.
The Bible says a principality or a power.
But Jesus said in Luke ten nineteen,
I give you authority over all the power of the enemy.
And once we took authority over all the power of
the enemy, God broke through and brought us the answers
to prayer that we'd been seeking.
>> It's important that you know also that in Proverbs
twenty six two it says a curse without a cause
will not alight. Wherever there's a
curse in your life, there's a cause,
there's a reason. And if you'll seek God,
he'll show you what the reason is,
and then you can take responsibility
take your your power,
your authority and bind that strong man.
I believe you can see supernatural breakthrough
in your finances, in your health, in your family,
just as we saw supernatural breakthrough
breaking the drought in the land so the land can be productive.
You can see the same kind of thing.
>> I'm grateful that God did not leave us alone.
I'm grateful that he gave us the Holy Spirit,
who is a supernatural, the real strong man.
But you have to use your authority.
You have to take your authority.
You have to learn how to bind that strong man.
And when you do, you will see breakthrough in your finances,
in your family, in your health.
God wants to bring these supernatural things.
So I've seen this supernatural breaking of
the drought with rain all over the land,
dozens and dozens of places across the land.
>> God is ready to do it for you just as he's done it for me.
>> So let me pray for you, if you will see this right now.
Well Father, we come to you in the name of Yeshua Hamashiach,
the Lord,
our God, and I pray right now for everyone that's watching,
I pray that you open their eyes to the real enemy,
that it's not people, it's not flesh and blood,
but it's principalities and powers
and rulers of the darkness of this world
and wicked spirits in the heavenlies.
And even though, Lord God, it may seem hopeless,
just like it seemed hopeless to us,
and they told us there was no hope for rain,
there was no hope that the drought would be broken,
yet you're the God of the breakthrough.
>> I pray now, Lord, for everyone watching
that you, the God of the breakthrough, would come.
>> We bind Baal.
We bind the strong man that has been hindering their lives
now in the name of Jesus.
We declare their sins forgiven by the blood of Jesus.
And we declare that the blessings
that you have promised to us come on them
and overtake them as a flood. Lord, I bless the people.
I loose them from spiritual darkness and blindness.
I loose them from curses.
And I declare that the mighty power of the Holy Spirit
that raised Jesus from the dead floods their lives
now, just as you flooded the land.
Flood them with blessings. Flood them with prosperity.
Let them love you, Lord God. Let them love you,
and let them receive your love for them.
>> For we bind the strong man. We plunder his house.
We declare that the angels are working for us
not only to bind the strong man, the evil strong man,
but to bring in the blessings that you have for each
and every one.
I pray that you get each one into the word of God
and that their faith would grow and that you would teach them
how to exercise your authority that you have given to them
so that they would see the breakthroughs that we've seen,
the breakthroughs of wealth, the breakthroughs of health,
the breakthroughs of blessings from heaven.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.