As Was His Custom

Tim Franklin
Freedom Christian Center
July 7, 2010


Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. NKJV

Oh, that the church in America would learn from Daniel! “AS WAS HIS CUSTOM…” (that sounds like Jesus.) A new law was written—No man shall bow to any other god or man except the king. It was endorsed by the King. It would be enforced by the authorities of the land. Daniel was not moved by this law. Daniel was not moved by the threat of death or imprisonment, or discomfort—Daniel was moved by his habit of prayer! Imagine that? A habit of prayer, established by years of the ‘custom of prayer’—THREE TIMES A DAY!

We are living in a time when the average American pastor is spending as little as 5-30 minutes a day in prayer depending on which source you read. It’s a day in which men’s knees are tender and their hearts are calloused. God is looking for a people so dependent on Him that their hearts are tender and their knees are calloused. Prayer is a powerful tool in the hands of a church that will embrace and use it. Yet, in the west, we have become soft and stopped praying when we have a ‘hang nail’ let alone a law like Daniel faced, that said you could not bow to another but the king. This is still the land of the free and the brave. Our president may not bow to our God or honor the National Day of Prayer, but that has nothing to do with our freedom to have a custom of prayer.

Ask yourself: “What will it take to stop me from praying?” To busy? To offended? To lazy? To afraid? To relaxed? To doubtful? Come on Brevard! We are better than this. The price of freedom has been paid. Jesus is His name! Let it be written of us in years to come… “They prayed as was their custom.”

Voice of the Lord

Pastor Tim Franklin - Freedom Christian Center

April 29, 2010

Ps. 29:9 “The voice of the Lord causes the deer to give birth…”

Awesome is the voice of the Lord! It strikes terror in the heart, like the roar of the lion. It soothes and comforts like a mother over her child. It creates, it destroys, it raises up and brings down. Awesome is the voice of the Lord! Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice and listen and follow.”

In Psalm 29, ‘the voice of the Lord’ expression is used eight different times. The Voice of the Lord is over the waters, is full of majesty, breaks cedars, divides flames of fire, shakes the wilderness and makes deer give birth. Awesome is the voice of the Lord!

I heard the voice of the Lord say today, “there is a slowing down of spiritual birthings.” Upon hearing that, I immediately thought of Ps. 29:9 “that it is the voice of the Lord that causes the deer to give birth.” It is amazing, the things that have come forth in the earth because people have heard the voice of the Lord. Churches get started, ministries come forth, governments shift, people are born again, healed and delivered ― all because of the voice of the Lord.

So when I hear God whispering that there is a slowing down of spiritual birthings, my spirit man immediately begins contending for the hearing of God’s voice in our region. We must hear His voice! He has plans for us! There are blessings and prophetic words hanging over our region. We must hear His voice and bring forth those visions with strength.

Forward movement stops, village life ceases, spiritual climates digress, and corruption of culture, family, and society begins to take place when God’s voice is not heard. When His voice is not heard we lose sight of His vision for us, our community and our nation. Amos said strongly in 8:11 "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord God, "That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the Lord. (NKJV) That was not good for Israel and it is not good for us.

Would the deer give birth without the hearing of the voice of the Lord? Would the wilderness shake? I want the things of God to accelerate in our region not slow down. I am contending for breakthrough! I am contending for revival! I am contending for ‘God activity’ all over our county. I am contending that His voice be heard in our land! Rise up intercessors! PUSH! Rise up church! PUSH! Rise up and PUSH! Bring forth what God has put inside of you.

Do not back down, let up, turn aside or quit! Rise up and PUSH!