The first Saturday in January The Gate began with such joyful anticipation. We were expectant. We were so glad to be back together with the people of God to praise and worship Him. The year is opening up with glistening hope and abounding joy and we are overwhelmed by the goodness of God. It is a year where the things of the past will be turned around. The prophetic word that David Wagner brought to the region for 2010 is like fresh wind at our backs. “Turn it around.” We are seeing many areas where the turn around is happening. We see it happening in many areas as answered prayers yield testimonies of the goodness of God.

The testimonies that opened The Gate were amazing. Testimonies of the gospel of the Kingdom being presented on airplanes and malls and the lost responding and becoming believers is the Lord Jesus. Testimonies of resources being provided to take the prophetic word of the Lord and healing into the streets. Testimonies of blessings with work, finances, healing and this testimony of a market place miracle from Rebekah about a nephew, Trai. What follows is the e-mail version of this testimony in the words of Trai’s mother.

Trai slipped on some grease in the kitchen and tried to catch his fall, and his left arm landed in the hot French fry oil ( all day at 325 degrees hot to be exact) Trai's left arm was fully submerged in hot oil up past his elbow.

The ambulance was called. We were called. Jeanette & Santiago prayed. Jeff & I prayed all the way to Chick-fl-a (Jeff prayed that the EMTs would be amazed at how good Trai's arm looked!) I had a texting prayer chain going by the time we got to Chick-fil-a. Surprisingly, (even though I felt like doing a total mother freak out) a total peace was on me. Even though we had been told Trai was burned, the ambulance was on its way and I had spent the whole day worrying about Trai already!

By the time we got to Chick-fil-a, (Jeff spoke to the EMTs) who were.....GUESS WHAT? amazed at how good Trai's arm looked (like a sunburn, they said) Trai was in a great deal of pain Monday night, soaking his hand in water, using the burn cream and taking Tylenol for pain. Within hours after we got our prayer chain started, Trai was laughing and playing video games with his brothers.

The oil was hot enough to cook his arm. Yet, he has only a few 2nd degree burns and some blistering on his hand. (It is the hand he uses to make chords on his guitar) a very important hand indeed! The EMT's were amazed. We are SO GRATEFUL and praising God for his protection and provision and thanking God for answering the prayers of so many saints who were actively engaged in prayer for Trai all through the night on Monday. It truly is miraculous.

"Co-incidentally", one of the EMT's was a girl that Trai went to high school with! She was very surprised that their emergency call was for him! Trai refused to go to the hospital Monday night, trusting God for healing. And God poured out His healing in a very tangible way through the prayers of His people! Praise the Lord!

Worship flowed from thankful hearts as we rejoiced in the goodness of God.  The atmosphere was one of rejoicing and great joy and then at one point there was silence and when the musicians and the singers began to sing again there was a sound from heaven.  It came up from deep within those worshipping and it was accented by the instruments.  As everyone in the room began to express their hearts in the language of their heart or the languages of heaven and earth we could feel a shift taking place.  This was something bigger than a shift in the meeting.  It was as if a shift was taken place in the heavens.  A shift was taking place that will impact the earth.  At the close of the meeting Jill shared the prophetic vision that she had during worship.  Here is her e-mail testimony of the vision:

Here is what I saw on Saturday night during worship: As the worship in tongues and from your own heart was going on, I saw a very small hole in the middle of the room. I was looking at it from above, and I saw maybe 3 angels take hold of the edge of the circle opening. As we sang they began to move faster and pull on the opening. As we continued, the worship began to take on a very different sound and feel than I have ever felt before. The sound from the worship was going down the opening (and everyone in the room was above with the angels) and it flowed like it had form. As I the worship continued the opening enlarged and more angels came. One thing that impressed me was the difference, or the shift, in the whole atmosphere and in us as worshipers. Never have I felt this in worship before it was a feeling of something started more powerful and bigger (such as whole universe changing). It was a Godly fear that rose in me, as I have never felt this before, because this really was a major shift in everything, Russ confirmed this to me while we were driving home. He said he had felt something like this for about 3 days, but recognized it during worship.   ~ Jill

We are positioned to usher in a new season of the glorious presence of the Lord.  All over the nation the wind is blowing and the glorious intruder is breaking in on the affairs of men.  He is breaking out in the market place.  He is showing up at the gather places.  He is manifesting His presence in the city and in its gates.  The hunger we have known for more of the presence of the Lord is growing and soon to be satisfied but we will always cry out for more.  In this decade we will see more of the glory of the Lord being revealed in His Church and we will see His kingdom advancing in healing, deliverance, salvation and signs and wonders.  There has never been a better time to be alive and there has never been a better place to be than right where God has called us.  The Best is yet to Come!

David and Tracy at The Gate DC