“Be faithful to your own wife, just as you drink water from your own well. Don't pour your water in the streets; don't give your love to just any woman. These things are yours alone and shouldn't be shared with strangers. Be happy with the wife you married when you were young. She gives you joy, as your fountain gives you water.” ---Proverbs 5:15-18 (NCV)

“Ignorance is not bliss; ignorance is impotence; it is fear; it is cruelty; it is all the things that make for unhappiness.”---Ingrid Holtby

Impotence: not potent; lacking power or ability; utterly unable (to do something); without force or effectiveness; lacking bodily strength or physically helpless; (of a male) unable to attain or sustain a penile erection; (esp. of a male) sterile; without restraint



“But Jeremiah said, '...Please, obey the voice of the Lord which I speak to you. So it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live. But if you refuse to surrender, this is the word that the Lord has shown me.'”---Jeremiah 38:20-21(NKJV)

OK Fellas...

This is one of those messages where I advise you get prayed up now. However, even if you don't, I believe you are going to be held accountable for what's in this message whether you read, skim or delete it. And, because it's for you specifically---whether married or single---I have asked God to make this a “concentrate” message; for me not to “water it down” with extra words that will cause you to lose focus/interest.

Ever since the “Frog Exorcism” fast that some of my spiritual sistahs and I went on in regards to men and their spirit of apathy (lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal; indifference) concerning their lives a couple of weeks ago, there has been an extreme urgency within me to intercede more on the behalf of men; to do whatever I can to support them in fulfilling their GOD-ORDAINED PURPOSE.

Today, as I was talking to one of my girlfriends about a man she loves and we are praying for, I told her that I sensed that there needed to be more prayer concerning “spiritual impotency”; how so many men are lacking in their God-intended level of power, ability, force, effectiveness...all because they are not surrendering their TOTAL WILL to God for their lives. Last year, a man who prays for me, provided me with this promise scripture on my 34th birthday:

“Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.”---Proverbs 29:11(NIV)

And thank God that he did! How fascinating this scripture is, considering one of the definitions of “impotence” is to be “without restraint”. And so, if you are a man reading this, I encourage you to ask God to reveal to you what he desires for your life. Not what you want or you think based on your flesh-filled ideologies, generational curses or current conveniences (human wisdom does not impress God-I Corinthians 2:5-NCV), but what he saw for you in the womb: before rejection, before dysfunction, before fear, prejudice and abuse...before sin. When I look to the Word (John 1:1) re: how man was created, it states the following:

*You were made in the image of God (as were we) AND God saw that you were very good. (Genesis 1:26-31)

*You were given instructions to have children and rule over the earth. (Genesis 1:28)

*God formed you first and breathed life into you. (Genesis 2:7)

*You were told very clearly what you could and could not do. (Genesis 2:15-17)

*You were given a helper that was right for you because God did not think it was good for you to be alone (Genesis 2:18) AND you were instructed to leave your parents, be united with her AS YOUR WIFE and to become one body; to be naked and not ashamed.

This was God's perfect will for your life. Take a moment to look at your world and how you are existing in it now. When you see these five “Garden of Eden” mandates, how many are you following? Do you see yourself as a “very good” man? Are you taking dominion over your responsibilities in life and are you creating children IN COVENANT? Do you acknowledge that God is the giver of every breath that you take, therefore you live as not to waste a single one? Do you abide by his laws/instructions? If you're married, are you HONORING (I Peter 3:7) the HELP that you have been given so that you may receive favor (Proverbs 18:22)? If you are single, have you gone to God to inquire if you are called to have help in the form of a covenant partner? If you are, are you preparing? If you're not, are you living a holy life without the privileges that come with being a part of a marital union (Hebrews 13:4)?

This is the revelation that God gave me, and let me just say that if you are a woman reading this---whether married or single---I would encourage you to spend less time arguing, nagging and complaining (Philippians 2:14) with/about/to these men and put more energy into striving to live a righteous life (James 5:16, I Peter 3:12) so that your prayers can be effective; so that we can be more of the help/support/assistance that we were created to be (something I think a lot of us have lost sight of as well) and less of a hindrance in their lives.

OK, but this so isn't about the ladies...not this time. What I wanted to share, in love (Ephesians 4:15), is what God shared with me when I prayed about this issue. While I was asking that men would be freed from spiritual impotence, through the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 12:12), what I was told is that God would actually bind more of you to it, physically and spiritually, unless/until you change your ways:

“'Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.'

But to the wicked God says: 'What right have you to declare My statutes, or take My covenant in your mouth, seeing you hate instruction and cast My words behind you? When you saw a thief, you consented with him,and have been a partaker with adulterers. You give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes. Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver: Whoever offers praise glorifies Me;and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.'”---Psalm 50:15-23 (NKJV)

If you are married, it's a non-negotiable that you must remain faithful to your wife; not just sexually, but in the sense of being “strict or thorough in the performance of duty”; “true to one's word, promises, vows, etc.”; “steady in allegiance or affection; loyal; constant” and “reliable, trusted, or believed”. The NKJV of the lead scripture speaks of a man drinking from his own cistern, with the wife being compared to water. In the Bible, water symbolizes the Holy Spirit (John 5:17). In Genesis, a woman is described as “help” and in John 14:26 the Holy Spirit is as well. A cistern holds water. God custom-designed a spouse for you to be a custom-made helper. That said, I believe that she has been given the ability to house the Holy Spirit, the supernatural help that you need, in a way that no one else on this earth can. Don't waste the blessings of her prayers, her insight, her own divine connection with God. And, don't share the uniqueness of your covenant with others.

If you are single, until you are married, every person around you, even in their single state, is a potential mate...for someone. Don't dishonor their human trinity or yours. The Message Version of Matthew 19 says that there is a certain a maturity, a certain “aptitude and grace” (supernatural strength) that is required for marriage; however, “...if you're capable of growing into the largeness of marriage, do it.” (Verse 12) In the meantime, one thing that God has impressed upon me to pray for all men is for them to remember that the nine character traits of the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) are not gender-sensitive. God expects men to be loving, kind and gentle and by being these things, they, along with us, will find out what is “acceptable to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:8-10)

You know, it's interesting that when I went to look up what caused physical impotency, there were many underlying factors:

*Disease

*Damaged Nerves

*Anxiety

*Guilt

*Depression

*Fear

*Fatigue

And when you think about sin, these seven things are often the consequences of partaking in it, aren't they? Fellas, we all know that God is not mocked and what we sow, we reap (Galatians 6:7-8). When the Bible tells us that we were bought with a price, that we should not be slaves of men (I Corinthians 7:23), God was speaking of being a slave to mankind. This would include ill-gotten women (Proverbs 5). This would include fleshly desires, period (I John 2:16). You don't want to be so bound by your anxiety, your guilt, your FEAR that you find yourself unable to perform with the force and effectiveness that God designed for you to have. I would imagine that impotency can be pretty embarrassing. In the spirit realm, there have been times when God has had NO PROBLEM with his children being embarrassed (“Be ashamed and embarrassed about your ways, Israel.”---Ezekiel 36:32-NCV). Truly, whom he loves, he chastens (Hebrews 12:6).

Well, I'm done. If I was writing this in my own flesh, oh, I would go on and on (trust me), but that's all I've been released to share. I pray that if you are a man, you will take this “loving warning” very seriously. Whatever vision God has for your life, please ask him to reveal it and to give you the grace to follow through.

And if you're a woman reading this, please be the APPROPRIATE and RESPONSIBLE help that these men need at this time. As God told me not too long ago, because mankind was created to worship we're gonna worship something (Romans 12:5) and because we as women were created to be helpers, either we are going to help men to heaven or to hell...husbands or not. Ladies:

“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.”---Romans 12:9-13(NKJV)

Men, my constant request for you: “Don't depend on your own wisdom. Respect the Lord and refuse to do wrong. Then your body will be healthy, and your bones will be strong.”---Proverbs 3:7-8 (NCV)

You are loved by God and by me,

SRW