Letter from the Editor

Since the beginning of the month, we’ve been partaking in 40 Days of Communion leading up to Communion America. Lou Engle exhorted us to draw a boundary line of blood each day around our families and communities. Little did we know that this season of honoring the blood of Christ would be marked by the blood of martyrdom. Our hearts are broken at the tragic loss of our brother, Charlie Kirk. We continue to grieve for his family, for ourselves, and for the soul of this nation. In today’s Briefing we offer a prophetic application for the moment we are in. Below is a transcript of Bill Johnson leading us in a Communion service at the launch of these 40 days. May it serve as a blueprint as you continue to steward the body and blood of Jesus in daily intercession. Let us give thanks that His blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

- Cheryl Amabile

40 Days of Communion

By Bill Johnson

I try to take communion every day. I stand before a family portrait where I pray over every family member. I like to use these little pre-packaged communion sets because the cracker breaks. Honestly, I like to remind myself of the broken body of Jesus. I don’t know where this fits into your theology, but I like to approach this moment as though I were sitting at that table at the Last Supper with Jesus breaking off a piece of bread, giving it to His disciples, and saying, “Take this, it’s My body.”

I want to approach Communion with that kind of reverence. I don’t like falling into routine for routine’s sake. If He created a discipline for us—something to be repeated—it’s always because there’s life in it.

The broken body testifies to me of a couple of things:

His Body, Broken for Our Healing

First, His body was broken so that I could be healed. I want you to think for just a moment about all that Jesus did so you and I could be saved—not just eternally bound for heaven, but set free in the here and now.

Jesus was broken so we could be whole.
He became empty so we could be filled.
He was despised so we could be celebrated.
He was rejected so we could be accepted.
He bore affliction so we could be healed.

Jesus did all of this with you and me in mind. As we join as the body of Christ around this country, we hold in our hands a testimony that the power of disease has been broken. I want you to say this with me: “By the stripes of Jesus, I was healed.”

His Body, Breaking the Power of Division

There’s something else. Jesus bore in His body the wall of division that separated Jew and Gentile, the “haves” and the “have-nots.” He broke the power of division.

Here’s what I like to do: I pray for people who oppose me. There are a number of good people in the body of Christ who have me on their “hit list.” I won’t give you names, but I pray for them by name.

Honestly, I pray for the prosperity of their soul and their life—that God would fill them with abundance; that the dreams He has given them would come to pass; that they would leave a rich legacy of children and grandchildren who love and serve the Lord.

Everybody knows what it is to be opposed or rejected. People often ask me, “How do you handle criticism?” My answer is: Jesus faced it, and He was perfect. How can I, being imperfect, expect not to face it?

So I want you to take this moment. Pray for those who have opposed you, those who have said unkind things. Hold the broken body of Jesus before you and bless them. Lay down accusations. Declare forgiveness.

“Father, we bless them in the name of the Lord. Give them prosperity of soul. Let the fountain of life within them overflow and impact everyone around them. We bless them in the name of Jesus.”

Now, before we partake of the bread, let’s declare it again: “By the stripes of Jesus, I am healed. Father, thank You for making complete provision for divine health as our inheritance.”

We now receive the broken body of Jesus in His wonderful name. Let’s receive the bread together.

Discerning the Body

There’s an interesting passage in 1 Corinthians 11 that says some believers are sick because they do not discern the body correctly. This is not an accusation—it’s simply Scripture. So as we hold the bread, we must give proper esteem to both the broken body of Jesus and to the members of His Body, the Church. I believe the Lord is inviting us into our inheritance, which is divine health. Amen?

Pleading the Blood Over Our Families

Now to the cup. When I stand before my family photo, I plead the blood of Jesus over each member of my family. I call out my children and grandchildren by name. And then I make this confession before the Lord.