Zechariah 10:1 (KJV)
“Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.”
The book of Zechariah is a book of great encouragement. The prophet challenges and encourages the people not to give up and become weary, but rise up and finish the rebuilding of the temple.
Zechariah’s name means The Lord Remembers.
His father, Berachial’s name means The Lord Blesses.
His grandfather, Iddo’s name means The Appointed Time.
Weave them together and we have a prophetic message. The Lord remembers to bless us at the appointed time. God does not have a short-term memory concerning the promises for His people.
This powerful verse teaches us the Spirit in which we should pray, not the mechanics of prayer. This one verse reveals how to unlock and release the riches and glories of the Kingdom.
Why ask for rain in the time of latter rain? If He is sending rain, why ask for it? I can see asking for rain in a time of drought or famine, but why in a time of rain? Rain is already on God’s agenda!
‘Ask ye’is personal. He wants us to participate in the plans He has for the earth.
James 4:2 (KJV)
“Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.”
‘Ask ye’ represents our responsibility to ask, seek and knock in pursuit of rain. ‘Ask ye of the Lord’, we must ask the Lord, “our Source”. Crisis comes to reveal who our source is. Crisis turns man to his Source. You can’t wait for rain, you must ask for rain.
We are to ask or pray for what the heavens are impregnated with.
1) We must line up (position, posture) our lives for that which is already on the way.
2) We must discern His agenda and time – what is He doing on the earth? We cannot expect sunshine if we are asking for rain, but there will be clouds and thunder.
We are to ask/pray for what Heaven is giving. Ask God for what He is answering.
Matthew 6:8 (KJV)
“Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.”
This verse unfolds the principle of THE LAW OF RELEASE. Ask represents the pursuit, passion and aggressiveness of Spirit. It is a position of expectation, it is an urgent request, a pressing solicitation, a persevering inquiry. Such prayers are so tenacious, they will not take “no” for an answer. Our posture is knowing the answer is ready for release.
1 Corinthians 2:9 (KJV)
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”
The results of asking are:
1) Bright clouds represent The Manifest Presence of God
2) Showers of rain represent His provision and power
3) Grass in the field represent The promises of God
The Sons of God are the womb and birth canal to release the resources of Heaven. Rain is on God’s agenda. Rain comes to release the seed (promises of God). To EVERYONE grass; God will cause what you planted to grow.
Matthew 7:7 (KJV)
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
Ask – Pursues Him for what He has
Seek – Pursues Him for who He is
Knock – Pursues in expectation for release
When you knock on someone’s door, you expect them to open. Everything within us should be asking for rain, our prayers, our speech, our praise, our attitude and our walk. We cannot wait for rain in presumption, no, we must ask for rain!
The Amplified Bible gives us another perspective.
Zechariah 10:1 (AMPC)
“Ask of the Lord rain in the time of the latter or spring rain. It is the Lord Who makes lightnings which usher in the rain and give men showers, and grass to everyone in the field.”
These are thunder clouds that produce lightening. Lightening represents the invisible becoming visible; the unseen coming on the scene. Lightening is a sudden discharge of electricity; a positive and negative charge colliding, followed by a loud report. A negative charge is needed to produce lightening. Lightening in the scriptures represents suddenlies. Lighting represents the ARM of the supernatural.
Acts 16:25-27 (KJV)
“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed. 27And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.”
Every suddenly is a direct result of prayer and praise. A suddenly is Heaven imposing its will upon the planet.
Malachi 3:1 (KJV)
“Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me; and the Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger for the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.”
Suddenlies come to seekers not sleepers. This new season will be earmarked by suddenlies.
Isaiah 48:3 (KJV)
“I have declared the former things from the beginning: and they went forth out of My mouth and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.”
God has no subsequent thoughts (after-thoughts). God never changes His mind; all His thoughts are conclusive. Every thought He has towards you is premeditated and planned before the foundation of the world. Everything God is going to do, He has already done.
‘I have declared’ He speaks it first
‘I have showed’ He reveals it
‘I did them’ He manifests it
No suddenly should surprise you. Every suddenly you will ever have is premeditated by the Lord. Whatever is happening in your time space world usually contradicts what God is about to do. Before every suddenly, nothing in your environment looks like a suddenly. In fact, crisis is the environment for a suddenly. To the natural mind, circumstantial evidence says, “nothing is happening”. But to the spiritual mind, the heavens are full and alive with suddenlies. So alive, angels stand at attention ready to release your suddenlies. Suddenlies are not only coming to you but through you. You are someone’s suddenly.
Asking for rain in the time of the latter rain is a position of expectation. Expectation is the mother of all miracles. It is knowing the answer is ready for release!
The latter rains, in the Old Testament were sent down to mature the crops.
Genesis 8:22 (KJV)
“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
Seedtime is the FORMER RAIN
Harvest is the LATTER RAIN
The former rain was for planting, the latter rain matured the seed for harvesting. There are two perspectives: (1) the early church in its infancy was “seed time”, the end-time church of this age is entering harvest-time. (2) prophetic words and promises over your life in the past were the former rain or seed time, now the latter rain is the time of harvest. The former rain impacts the soil, the latter rain impacts the seed.
Deuteronomy 11:10-11 (KJV)
“For the land whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: 11But the land whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven.”
The season we are now entering is a crossing over time into our promise land. We must ask for rain, expect rain, and look for rain. Simply stated, rain represents the Presence, power and provision of God coming into the earth. What time is it? It is time to possess the land. GO IN AND GET IT! It already belongs to you!! The time of the latter rain is a new dimension. We must be delivered from a water-can mentality. Our end-time harvest will necessitate the “RAIN OF HEAVEN”!
Hosea 6:3 (KJV)
“Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.”
Joel 2:23 KJV
“Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.”
We stand in an epic-moment in Christ’s Kingdom. During the church-age, we were given the former rain moderately, but at the end of this age, coming into the Kingdom-age, we will receive the former and latter rain all in one season. All former glories, combined with the latter glory, will be poured out on one generation. Ask for rain, look for rain, and expect rain, and you will receive a deluge of rain from the gates of Heaven.
