Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:3 NKJV)
When you look at the events unfolding around us in the world these days, do you ever wonder what exactly is going on? If you do, you’re in good company.
Every discerning Christian I know can see that something strange is happening. Both good and evil appear to be advancing at the same time. It seems like one day we’re celebrating a victory for righteousness and the next we’re battling on our knees against a form of wickedness that has suddenly surged forward and is threatening to take more ground.
What’s the explanation?
We are witnessing the last-days race between spiritual light and spiritual darkness.
Jeanne Wilkerson, a wonderful praying woman and minister, once likened it to a race between a white horse and a black horse. The white one represents the end time plan of God, the black one the end time plan of the Devil. In a prophetic vision of the last days, she saw them running neck and neck, each horse straining to outpace the other.
“What will keep the white horse in the lead,” Sister Jeanne said, “will be the prayers of God’s people.”
Our prayers are what will make the difference! That means we absolutely must keep praying in these days. We must lift our voices to God and not keep silent because we are rapidly approaching the second coming of the Lord, and there is much that must be done before His return.
Think about all that had to happen to prepare for Jesus’ first coming. We know from reading the Bible, He didn’t just spontaneously show up one day. His birth had to be preceded by prophecies, supernatural signs, angelic visitations, and outpourings of prayer. Anointed men and women of God had to come on the scene and do their parts to facilitate God’s plan and prepare for Jesus’ arrival.
One of those people was John the Baptist. Called by God to get people ready to receive Jesus’ ministry, John’s assignment was to “...go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17 NKJV, emphasis mine).
John the Baptist was a spiritual forerunner. He was, as the prophet Isaiah put it—
A voice of one who cries: Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord [clear away the obstacles]; make straight and smooth in the desert a highway for our God! Every valley shall be lifted and filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked and uneven shall be made straight and level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory (majesty and splendor) of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. (Isaiah 40:3–5)
In those verses, we see John’s God-ordained job description. He had to build a spiritual road for Jesus to walk on in the earth. He had to build a highway that would usher the Messiah into His ministry and cause the glory of God to be revealed.
These days, we think it’s wonderful when God’s glory manifests at times in church services (and it is). But when God sent Jesus to earth, His plan was for His glory to be revealed not just to a few congregations here and there but to all mankind. And the building of the highway upon which that glory would travel was dependent upon John the Baptist fulfilling his call.
Talk about a big assignment! John had one, for sure. But he got the job done because he was anointed to do it. He had a unique deposit from heaven. He had a specific brand of anointing on him to carry out that specific mission.
His anointing was spiritual equipment. It equipped him to do the work Isaiah described which was to prepare the way for Jesus in the realm of the spirit by clearing away obstacles, filling in valleys, leveling mountains, and smoothing out rough places.
Do you know what that sounds like to me?
It sounds like roadwork!
When I think about how vital roadwork is, I’m reminded of the challenges the Pilgrims faced. When they first arrived in America, there were no streets or highways here at all. So, if they wanted to travel anywhere or transport resources from one place to another, they first had to do the hard work of building a road. And they had to do it without the help of bulldozers and all the other machines we have today.
I can hardly picture how difficult that must have been. I do know, however, what road building and maintenance looks like here in Minnesota. In our state, we joke that we have only two seasons: winter and roadwork. Because our harsh winter weather destroys the roads, when it gets warm, we see piles of equipment everywhere and lots of construction. That can be a pesky deal for us as drivers. But we’re glad when fall comes and the roads are smooth again.
Minnesotans know a thing or two about roadwork! So, to me it’s interesting that Isaiah used it to help us picture the spiritual work that had to be done to prepare for Jesus’ first coming.
We see the same picture referenced again in Matthew 3:3. It says of John the Baptist:
This is he who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah when he said, The voice of one crying in the wilderness (shouting in the desert), Prepare the road for the Lord, make His highways straight (level, direct).
Whenever God has a plan to be carried out on the earth, He follows this pattern. He prepares the way by setting in place facilitators who are anointed to help bring His plan to pass.
What does this have to do with us as Holy Ghost baptized pray-ers in the last days?
We are facilitators of God’s plan to help get the world ready for Jesus’ second coming!
Like John the Baptist, each one of us has an anointing of God that is spiritual equipment for us. We each have a unique deposit from heaven that equips us to co-labor with God to help prepare the way of the Lord.
When we yield to the Holy Spirit in prayer, He brings through us our language from heaven and that language carries a specific anointing designed to accomplish specific things. Our prayers release divine resources to flow to their destination and make a path for them to travel. Through our prayers, we build highways for the power and the glory of God to be revealed.
In other words, when we’re praying out the plans and the purposes of God in these last days, we’re doing what Isaiah said John the Baptist was called to do. We’re doing spiritual work that looks a lot like roadwork!
Coordinated Operations
One day as I was studying about roadwork, the Lord said to me, “Roadwork is a coordinated operation.” Using the military to explain what He meant, He reminded me that in the United States, there’s the Air Force, the Marines, the Navy, and the Army. And although those forces are trained and work separately, at certain times they all work together in a coordinated operation.
“Likewise in prayer,” the Lord said, “there is a parallel.”
Sometimes we pray individually, fellowshiping with Him, receiving training, and working on our own personal prayer assignments. At other times, we have a corporate anointing and are engaging in a coordinated operation that involves believers with a variety of anointings and spiritual skills working together.
When the Lord spoke to me about this, He pointed out that in the roadwork model in Isaiah 40:3–5, first, the work that had to be done was identified. (“Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God” [NKJV].) Then, we’re told four things had to happen for that work to be completed.
The valley had to be filled in.
The mountain had to be brought down.
The crooked, uneven places had to be made straight.
Rough places had to be made smooth.
Different equipment is needed to accomplish each one of those things. When building a highway in the natural, the mountain blaster doesn’t have the same equipment as the guy who’s going to make it smooth. So, to get all four jobs done, various machines and power tools will be needed, as well as various people who understand how to operate them.
I remember one time during a prayer meeting in Branson, we were interrupted by the sound of construction crews blasting rocks and cliffs to make a road. It sure was a good thing that I wasn’t out there trying to do that job. If I had to take dynamite and blow up a mountain, it would be disastrous! I don’t know how to use that equipment. I’d have no idea what to do.
I think about that sometimes when I’m praying with other believers. I notice that different pray-ers have different anointings. Some people have an anointing to blast obstacles out of the way. Other people are anointed to fill in valleys or make crooked places straight. Still others are anointed to smooth the road when the other work is done.
One person doesn’t have everything it takes, but everybody has spiritual equipment that will help.
You don’t even have to know what your equipment is to be a help in prayer. You just have to know you’ve been equipped by the Holy Ghost and that, as Jesus said, out of your innermost being “shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38 KJV). You just have to pray in the Spirit and let those rivers flow out of you knowing that the anointing on your language from heaven will straighten things, make a level path, and set things in motion.
The Holy Ghost knows exactly where your anointing is needed. He is always identifying the work that needs to be done. And He can bring people from all over the globe together in coordinated operations to produce a highway on which the plans of God can travel.
He can even have different groups working in different places simultaneously on the same project. That’s the kind of coordinated operation He used years ago, for example, when He led churches around the nation to pray at the same time for the capture of the D.C. snipers. In case you don’t remember, they were the two men who roamed the Washington metro area shooting people in 2002.
In October of that year, those men shot 13 people in 23 days in cold blood, killing 10. It seemed anyone could be a target. The snipers shot one man who was just out mowing the grass. They shot another man while he was putting gas in his car. They shot a woman who was sitting on a bench reading a book, and a man who was simply out for a walk.
In 2002, shootings weren’t as common as they are now. So the situation became prominent in the national news, and fear quickly spread throughout the region. But although the authorities were doing all they could to find the snipers, they couldn’t catch them.
On the 23rd of October, while ministering in the Wednesday night service at our church, I suddenly sensed a prompting of the Holy Spirit to pray corporately about the situation. So, I said to the congregation, “Let’s pray and go after the D.C. sniper.” We didn’t know exactly what to pray, but the Lord did, so we all yielded to the Holy Spirit.
The snipers were apprehended the next day.
But here’s what’s interesting. Before the report of their capture hit the news, people from other churches started calling us and asking us if on Wednesday we had prayed about the snipers. Remember, this was before online streaming. No one knew what anybody else was doing. Yet all these people were calling us saying, “Last night during our church service, we went after the Maryland snipers in prayer.”
In other words, it wasn’t just our church that was praying! It was a coordinated operation put into effect by almighty God that involved not just one individual anointing but the multiplied anointing that comes from believers locking arms together. The Holy Ghost identified the equipment needed, alerted facilitators to get the job done, and churches prayed together by the Holy Ghost and plowed a road straight to the capture of those killers.
Step into the life-changing power of your language from heaven.
Have you ever reached the end of what you know to pray? Do you pray in tongues but wonder what is actually happening—or whether there is more available to you? Have you longed to recognize the Holy Spirit's direction with greater clarity, confidence, and spiritual sensitivity?
You were never meant to depend on your natural understanding alone. God has given you supernatural help in prayer, and there are depths of that gift you may have only begun to explore.
After decades of praying in tongues, internationally known prayer teacher Lynne Hammond was awakened by the Lord with a word that challenged what she thought she already knew. That encounter launched her into a fresh pursuit of Scripture and revelation concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit, tongues, interpretation, and Spirit-led prayer. Your Language From Heaven brings those discoveries together in a practical, Scripture-rich resource designed to help you go deeper.
In these pages, you'll discover how to:
Pray beyond the limits of your natural knowledge when you do not know what or how to pray.
Build yourself up spiritually and expand your capacity for deeper fellowship with God.
Recognize interpretation and revelation as the Holy Spirit brings mysteries into greater understanding.
Develop greater spiritual sensitivity through watching, fasting, perseverance, and fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
Understand the biblical purpose of praying in tongues and why it is a powerful devotional gift.
You do not have to remain stuck in passive, repetitive, or uncertain prayer. You are not powerless when spiritual opposition arises or when circumstances exceed your understanding. As you learn to yield more fully to the Holy Spirit, you can grow in faith, discernment, perseverance, and confidence—and become increasingly effective in the prayer assignments God entrusts to you.
Key Revelations Include:
Tongues as a devotional gift for your personal prayer life
How praying mysteries prepares the way for revelation
Why tongues and interpretation work together
How corporate prayer joins believers in Spirit-led assignments
How watching, fasting, and fellowship sharpen spiritual awareness
Why your prayer life should continue expanding rather than plateau
Perfect For:
Spirit-filled believers who know there is more to prayer
Christians seeking biblical understanding of the baptism of the Holy Spirit
Believers who pray in tongues but want greater understanding and interpretation
Intercessors, prayer leaders, and church prayer teams
Anyone longing for deeper fellowship and greater sensitivity to the Holy Spirit
If you have never prayed in tongues—or still have sincere questions about the subject—you are not asked to abandon prayer with your understanding. Scripture teaches both. This book invites you to examine the Word, discover the Holy Spirit's help in prayer, and explore the supernatural resources God has made available to you.
There is more available to you. Go deeper—and discover how your language from heaven can transform the way you pray.