The Sunday Mail
Threshing Floor Ministries’ 2015 Prayer Conference ended yesterday. The conference theme was: “I hear the sound of the abundance of rain.” Speakers included Pastor Shingi Munyeza, Prophets Itai Maongera and Gilbert Muguto, Dr Matthew and Pastor Priscilla Wazara. Tendai Manzvanzvike (TM) spoke to Threshing Floor founder Pastor Wazara (PW) on the significance of their conference theme taken from 1 Kings 18:41, to Zimbabwe’s situation.
TM: Threshing Floor Prayer Ministries was founded in 2012. What is it?
PW: Threshing Floor is an interdenominational but independent ministry founded by Mrs Priscilla Wazara in her home four years ago. God spoke to me and He gave me two mandates: to pray for the nation until the Cindy Jacobs prophecy given in 1998 when I was breast-feeding my 17-year-old son comes to pass.
Since then, I have realised that if we walk by sight, it’s easy to give up. It’s been 17 years and we are still waiting for Zimbabwe to become the breadbasket of Africa. But, a day to God is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. We also forget that in the Bible, when God did something profound, there was always a long wait. And, according to 2 Corinthians 1:20, God’s promises are “Yes in Christ” and “Amen” to His glory! So, the Cindy Jacobs prophecy will come to pass, and as Threshing Floor, we will not give up, until we see and partake of this prophetic word.
TM: Your theme: “I hear the sound of the abundance of rain” speaks to the current dry spell in our nation. What is the connection?
PW: We have been meeting and praying for our nation Zimbabwe. While in prayer last year, the Holy Spirit spoke to us about this word, and He spoke to me concerning 1 Kings 18:41 where prophet Elijah gave a word that shut the rains for three years: “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” (1 Kings 17:1)
This was because there was a lot of sin and idolatry that angered God. When we anger God, this is what He does. He eventually gets to a phase when He will shut up the heavens. It’s also symbolic, because shutting up the heavens has to do with the success and productivity of the work of our hands; the fruitfulness of what He declared: that if you work, I will bless the work of your hands. But if you are not in alignment with His statutes, that brings a curse on you, family and/or nation.
Because we serve a merciful God, He decided that it was now time to open the heavens and bring restoration after three years of suffering for Amos 3:7 says, “Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.”
But, nothing had changed during that time when Ahab was king. What had changed was that Elijah got a specific instruction from God, concerning the season of Israel that time. The prophetic word came through Elijah just as it has now come through Threshing Floor – the altar of prayer.
TM: What was the word?
PW: God gave us this clear word that there is a sound of the abundance of rain coming to Zimbabwe. Don’t look at the current economic situation; don’t look at your bank account; at how your business is performing, because God does not operate in the physical realm. He operates from the spiritual realm. It is already done, as we align ourselves with His word. And, how do we align with His word? By having faith and believing His word? From believing His word, we prepare our hearts and also prepare what we will do in the physical.
Right now, if I were to tell people that I am going to start a business, they will think that I’ve lost my mind. But that’s because we live in the physical realm where we are moved by our senses, feelings, emotions, by what seems like it is factual on the ground, but is impossible.
But with God, what is possible is the realm that we are operating and hearing from. We are hearing and seeing from the realm of the spirit. When Elijah gave Ahab the prophetic word from where we derive our theme, it was the first time to see the king, since he had been in hiding.
What gave him the confidence to present himself to the king, whom he knew wanted to destroy him was the fact that he had a sure understanding that when God speaks, He watches over His word to perform it.
Let’s take another scenario: Elisha in 2 Kings 7:1 told the man on whom the king was leaning on, that by this time tomorrow, the events will be different.
This man refused to believe, and Elisha said because of your disbelief, you will not see it. The next day, the situation was completely changed. This man was trampled on and he died. The reason being that he doubted the word of God!
TM: Are you then saying that the situation in Zimbabwe is going to change any time soon?
PW: Yes! I’m here to blow the trumpet to the nation that those who have ears to hear in the spirit, hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying. God is saying, don’t look at the natural. Listen to what God is telling you.
There is a sound of the abundance of rain, which is restoration, recovery, breakthrough and joy – which bring life and healing to that which was dead.
Yes, our economy has not been performing well; our circumstances have been impossible, but God is saying, “I am coming to change the situation that you have known for the longest times.”
God says, no, that’s not normal, “for I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
In other words, this is the rain of the spirit, which is God’s power, visiting our drought-stricken nation, visiting families, individuals, our economy, our businesses, our marriages. This is the time! As a nation let’s fix our gaze on Jesus from whom these words proceed. They proceed from His very throne room, and this is how our God works.
He is giving us an opportunity to prepare before making decisions, to trust Him, seek Him diligently, so that He whispers to us the strategies and what time it is in the Spirit, just like the children of Issachar in the Bible, who understood the times and the seasons and what needed to happen.
TM: In order to give appropriate advice to the king?
PW: Yes! Because God is saying the rain is surely coming, but in the physical, there are no clouds, there is not even a hint that it is going to rain. But I’m here to tell you the contrary because the King of Kings is saying the rain is coming, and I’m not talking about trickles of rain, not showers.
I’m talking about abundant rain. This rain will bring life and restoration. It is rain that brings hope, rain that brings back dignity and it realigns Zimbabwe with the purpose of her destiny as God ordained: that Zimbabwe will be the breadbasket of Africa.
It will certainly come to pass because God has said it, and no man can stand in the way. Whether you choose to believe it or not, it will certainly come to pass.
TM: How do people prepare themselves for the coming rain?
PW: We feed ourselves with the word of God. We pray. Our confession changes, our expectation changes, our attitude completely changes and we realign ourselves with the word of God.
I also believe that there are those who will hear this word, and will ignore it. But there are others, who will take this word, embrace it, stand on it, and they will believe God, and certainly, the rain will come. They will be at a better position than the ones that will be caught unprepared.
