The Festival of Hanukkah (Night 6) - Courts of Heaven Prayer - Re-Dedication Prayer Session

Shalom, friends. my name is Chadwick Harvey. You have reached Faithful Performance. Thank you so much for joining us on this special night — the Shabbat night, the festival of Hanukkah, and also the new moon festival, which begins tomorrow night. This is a triple convergence weekend, a very powerful weekend. We do not get these weekends very often on the biblical calendar. We have the anointing of the festival of Hanukkah, the Shabbat tonight, and tomorrow night the new month of Tevet. This is a very powerful time for believers who are worshiping in spirit and in truth.

As we all know, this is the festival of rededication — the feast of rededication, if you will. It is a time for us personally to rededicate our lives, no matter where we are in our walk with Yahweh — whether at our best, in the middle, or at a low point, whatever the case may be. This is a beautiful time to rededicate our temples, to rededicate ourselves to Yah. That is part of the personal understanding of the festival of Hanukkah. We really appreciate everybody being with us tonight as we go through the Courts of Heaven prayer. If you have been with us for the Courts of Heaven prayer, we normally do it on the feast days — the Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippur, Passover, Shavuot, Purim, and also the festival of Hanukkah. These are the points along the trajectory we follow with the biblical calendar.

If one is not accustomed to the biblical calendar, it all begins with the month of Tishri and the Courts of Heaven. This is not to say that we cannot pray throughout the year — of course we can, and of course God hears all prayers throughout the year. But according to the calendar, there is a time when prayer becomes especially weighty, and that is on the Feast of Trumpets, which is Yom Teruah, the seventh month on the calendar. That is when the books are opened for individuals and for nations alike.

Consider the story of Joseph — Yosef — which is the Torah portion this week. Genesis 41. What does it say? At the end of two full years, Joseph went from the prison to the palace — to Pharaoh's palace — and he was made second in command. When we understand these things on the biblical calendar, we know exactly when Joseph was released: the decree was made on the Feast of Trumpets, and he was elevated during that time. Not only was he elevated on the Feast of Trumpets, but it was also the beginning of a Shemitah cycle, a seven-year cycle. This is remarkable when you think about it.

We have to understand how the times and seasons work. That is what Paul warns us about in 1 Thessalonians 5 — to know the times and the seasons. He is speaking about the calendar and the feast days. When we understand the trajectory that the Almighty is on with the calendar and the feast days, and then we read the Torah portion about Joseph, we understand the revelation embedded in the phrase "at the end of two full years." We understand the importance of the Feast of Trumpets and the importance of decrees being made during that time, which are then manifested on the earth throughout the year.

If you were with us during the Feast of Trumpets, or Yom Teruah, throughout the ten days of awe, and on to Yom Kippur when the verdicts are sealed and sent out for delivery, so to speak — no matter whether one understands this or not, everybody is weighed in the balance. Whatever someone is praying about throughout the year, the verdict is given on the Feast of Trumpets. Those prayers are judged and either ordained or rejected on that day, for good or for ill, for the entire year ahead. Every year on the Feast of Trumpets, all are weighed in the balance — the nations and the individuals.

Think again about Joseph in Genesis 41. The Feast of Trumpets comes, the decree is made, and he goes from prison to palace. Now look at Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4. The decree was made in the reverse nature — Nebuchadnezzar was exiled, not promoted. He was exiled for seven years, also on the Feast of Trumpets. When you read Daniel 4, it says the words were still in Nebuchadnezzar's mouth — he was boasting about his kingdom — and the angel declared: "Nebuchadnezzar, you have been weighed in the balance. The decree has been made, and you are exiled for seven years." That occurred on the Feast of Trumpets, for a full seven-year Shemitah cycle.

My friends, we have to understand the times and the seasons, because once we do, the entire Bible lights up. We see the trajectory that Yah has always been on. Even though the Torah was formally given at Mount Sinai, these regulations, statutes, and ordinances were always in place. The prophet Habakkuk says that Yahweh's ways are everlasting — meaning that before the Torah was given at Mount Sinai, his ways were already his ways. When we read Genesis 41, before the Torah was given, we understand exactly what Yahweh was communicating: that on the Feast of Trumpets, Joseph was released from prison, elevated to lead Egypt, and saved the entire world — a foreshadow of Yeshua the Messiah.

The Torah portion this week is truly amazing. I just came off a Shabbat Zoom meeting with friends, and you are more than welcome to join us on those meetings as well. Just send me an email and I will send you the link. We go through a portion of the Torah portion together and then open it up to the community for deeper fellowship — more than what is possible on YouTube. We have decided to do a weekly Shabbat series so people can join us online, and we would love to see you there. We just had a beautiful, anointed time together, and we would love to see you next week and beyond. If you are interested, please send me an email and I will send you the appropriate link.

But my friends, it does begin with the calendar to understand these things. That said, you can pray anytime, anywhere, and Yahweh hears and answers those prayers. Here at Faithful Performance, we love to go with the scriptures, praying the scriptures just as Yeshua did. And I believe, if I can be honest, that is one of the main things people are forgetting today. People are not sealing their prayers with the word of God.

Our prayers matter, yes, but the word of God is what seals them. Our Savior Yeshua demonstrated this. When he was tempted by Satan — you can read it for yourself — he did not respond with anything of his own. He said, "It is written. It is written. It is written." And Satan fled. He could not handle the Torah. He could not handle the word of God. Yeshua quoted his Father's word, and that was enough. As the book of Hebrews says in chapter 4, the word of Elohim — the Torah — is sharper than a two-edged sword, cutting to the marrow and the bones, reaching the deepest parts. That is what happened to Satan. He cannot handle the fire of Elohim's word out of Yah's mouth. I am not saying we cannot quote Jeremiah, the prophets, the Psalms, or the New Testament — of course we can. I am simply making the point that Yeshua himself quoted his Father's Torah, and Satan fled. That is how important it is to understand the scriptures and the Courts of Heaven.

We can see examples of the Courts of Heaven throughout the Bible. Job is one — that is clearly a scene from the Courts of Heaven, with Satan before Yah and that conversation involving Job. Yeshua also told Peter, "Satan has asked for you, Peter, to sift you, but I prayed for you." He was interceding in the Courts of Heaven on Peter's behalf, and Peter was saved and became one of the great pillars of the Great Commission. There are many examples in the Holy Bible of entering into these courts — entering in with true hearts, positioning our minds and spirits in the Courts of Heaven so that, first, we can fellowship with him in that dimension, and second, we can honor him, worship him, quote scripture back to him, and praise him. After that, we petition for our cases and for righteous rendered verdicts.

We do not go before him and simply begin asking for things. We must approach with reverence and honor. We must petition with the word of God, give him praise and honor, repent of our sins, and then ask for righteous verdicts for whatever we are praying about. It is a process. We come to him in reverence, honor, and glory, and we give him all the glory and all the credit. That is how we receive righteous rendered verdicts.

This is especially powerful when done with a prayer partner, live and in person. Two or three gathered as one, praying together in the Courts of Heaven — great things happen, beautiful things happen. I am sure most of you have experienced that as well. It is truly powerful to enter in with the scriptures. Tonight, all we are going to do is quote the scriptures to put ourselves into that spirit and into the righteous rendered verdicts of the Courts of Heaven.

But before we do that, we would like to light the Hanukkah candles. This is night number six of this eight-day festival. My friends, it does not get much better than this. You have the festival of Hanukkah — eight days, eight nights. You have the Shabbat tonight, and you have the new moon celebration tomorrow night. A triple convergence this weekend, which is extraordinarily powerful if one is familiar with the biblical calendar, because it does not always align this way. We do not often have the festival of Hanukkah, the Shabbat, and the new moon all occurring in the same weekend. We hope everyone is enjoying this weekend and receiving revelation from Yah and the Holy Spirit about how powerful it truly is.

As we conclude the festival of Hanukkah, the Lord is asking us to do several things at once. First, to rededicate ourselves — because that is the personal aspect of Hanukkah. Just as they rededicated the temple, he wants us to rededicate our temple. Second, to renew ourselves on the Shabbat, because that is what Shabbat is — every week we are renewed. And then, this weekend, we have a double renewal: renewed on the Shabbat tonight, and renewed again tomorrow night with the new month of Tevet.