Position Yourself To See His Hazon Vision
Sunday, 10 January 2021
These are notes on the sermon, Position Yourself To See His Hazon Vision, preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on Sunday, 10 January 2021, at The Star Performing Arts Centre, Singapore. We hope these sermon notes will be an encouragement to you!
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Listening to God’s Word more and more will cause you to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ. There is no pleasure, enjoyment, or fulfillment like knowing the Lord Jesus.
VIDEO: The video of the theme of the year is screened.
“Hazon”—pronounced “ha-zone”—is the Hebrew word for God’s prophetic vision. “Hazon” is a noun but it is often used in the Old Testament in its verb form, “haza,” in instances when a prophet receives a vision from God.
Recap of last week’s sermon:
“Where there is no vision (‘hazon’), the people perish:”
— Proverbs 29:18a KJV
“Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint,”
— Proverbs 29:18a ESV
It is not for the lack of money or the lack of connections that people perish. People perish for the lack of prophetic vision from the Lord. There are many people who think they are not succeeding in various areas of their lives because of a lack of the right connections, opportunities, or resources. But the Lord says that what they lack is hazon vision. And He is going to give you this hazon vision this year.
The Lord is restoring lost visions, visions that you used to have in the past. These visions are not like company visions or mission statements, but they are prophetic visions from God.
This year, expect to receive God’s hazon vision for different areas of your life. Most importantly, look forward to receiving a fresh vision of the Lord Himself—because that’s where it all begins!
There was a time when the word of the Lord was rare and there was no frequent vision:
“And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli (My God). And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision.”
— 1 Samuel 3:1 KJV
“Eli” — “Eli” means “My God.” Under the old covenant, God was always represented as a distant God. But under the new covenant, God wants us to know Him as Father. At the cross, Jesus called God, “My God,” so that today, we can call God, “My Abba, Father!” (Gal. 4:6).
“Samuel” — Samuel is one of the new covenant ministers. When he was young, he ministered before the Lord under the priesthood of Eli (the old covenant priesthood). This is a picture of the new coming in and the old going out, and it is prophetic of the times we are living in right now. God is causing a transition to happen between the old covenant of law and the new covenant of grace.
The new covenant priesthood (represented by Samuel) is a priesthood that promotes the closeness of a relationship with the Father.
“Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.”
— 1 Samuel 3:1 ESV
“the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision” — Why was the word of the Lord rare and why was there no frequent vision? This happens when people are not right with God and they are under the curse. As believers in Christ today, we are not in this position because of Jesus’ finished work. We are able to hear the Lord all the time because the Holy Spirit lives in us. The new covenant life is a life of walking and flowing in the Spirit who lives in us (Gal. 5:16).
Unfortunately, even in the church world, there are some who are wary of receiving visions from God. While there are examples of false visions in the Old Testament, the Bible also shows us how God uses visions to encourage His people. Don’t let the fear of false visions stop you from asking God for His hazon visions.
This year, it is on God’s heart to restore His hazon vision to the church.
One of the practical ways we are to walk in the Spirit is to receive visions from God and follow them.
We see this in the life of Jesus Himself, who is the perfect example/pattern for us to follow.
During His time on earth, Jesus was fully man but He always functioned with the anointing of the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38), and one of the ways we can see this is that He moved according to the visions that God gave Him.
We see this in Jesus’ encounter with the lame man at the pool of Bethesda:
At the pool of Bethesda, there were many who were sick, blind, and lame who were waiting for the moving of the water (John 5:3). It was known that the first person to enter the water would be healed. This is a picture of how only those with strength can receive their healing. This place, the pool of Bethesda, is a picture of the old covenant laws—whereby you need to qualify yourself to receive the blessing of God. And this is the place Jesus came to—to save those who could not save themselves.
At this pool, Jesus sought out a man who had been lame for 38 years and healed him. This man is a picture of Israel (who wandered in the wilderness for 38 years), and this story is a picture of how Jesus came to heal Israel.
An interesting question to ask is: Why did Jesus heal only this one man at the pool of Bethesda when there were many others there who were sick?
“Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.”
— John 5:19–20 NKJV
“the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do” — Jesus did what He saw the Father do. Even Jesus, who was fully God, could do nothing of Himself.
“the Father . . . shows Him all things” — There were many who needed healing but the Father gave Jesus a specific vision of who to minister to, and it was the man with an infirmity for 38 years. In other words, God showed Jesus through a vision of the one He was touching/healing.
Healing is for everyone, but in certain particular situations, God has His reasons for touching certain people only. God knows who is ready for the miracle. It is not for us to always understand why. Our part is to simply follow the visions God is giving us about who He is ministering to so that we can be a channel of His power to that person(s).
“He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel” — This coming year, God is going to show you greater things that you might marvel. The visions He has placed in your heart are coming to pass this year! We’re already receiving testimonies from people who have seen God bring to pass their requests for the year.
The world will get darker and darker but the people of God shall be kept safe and protected. Pastor Prince shares that he recently had a dream where he saw the divine protection of God upon his family and all who came to his house. In the dream, there was a devastating tsunami but he and his family were completely unaffected by the violent winds and waves outside the house. In the dream, there were others who were in the house who had been separated from their families because of the tsunami. However, as they prayed Psalm 91, the prayer of protection, the separated family members started to return. Pastor Prince believes that this is a prophetic word from God that God will restore relationships this year.
“'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.”
— Acts 2:17 NKJV
Throughout the Bible, we see that the language of the Holy Spirit is the language of visions and dreams. Both involve faith pictures and prophetic visions from God, and they transcend time and space.
In this new year, we are still experiencing the blessings of the year of time and space (the theme of the year 2020). God does not take away—He adds! That is why the hourglass illustration is still present in the theme of this year. God can give you a vision now of what will happen at the end of the year or even 3 years later. God’s visions are not confined by time or space.
“For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.”
— Habakkuk 2:3 NKJV
The manifestation of some of these visions may tarry but it will come to pass at the right time, at God’s appointed time. God makes all things beautiful for you in His perfect time (Ecc. 3:11a KJV).
Notice in Acts 2 that when the Spirit was poured out on the people, they received dreams and visions. This is the language of the Holy Spirit. It is not just praying in tongues but it is also the language of visions and dreams.
You do not have to take years to learn this language of visions and dreams. This is not a man-made language that takes a long time to learn/become fluent in. The moment you are filled with the Holy Spirit, God starts to speak to you in visions and dreams.
A hazon vision is a positive picture. It is not a negative picture.
We are not pretending that negative things or situations do not exist. We are just choosing not to focus on them and instead choosing to focus on the best God has for us. We continue to believe the best for our future. It is important that we ask God for His hazon vision because without vision, there are no miracles. It is by the Word of the Lord and by the vision of God that miracles manifest.
“do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,”
— Ephesians 1:16–20 NKJV
This is a Spirit-inspired prayer that you can pray constantly, even daily. The Holy Spirit gave Paul this prayer to pray over the Ephesian believers. If it is a Spirit-inspired prayer, it is a prayer that is not confined to that particular culture and age. It is a prayer that we can pray over ourselves right now—today!
The Holy Spirit is one divine being but He can manifest in different ways (Rev. 1:4). We see Him manifest in these 7 different ways in the book of Isaiah:
“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”
— Isaiah 11:1–2 NKJV
This is a prophecy of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The 7 different manifestations of His Spirit listed here can be seen in the form of the menorah:
The Spirit of the Lord, the center candle shaft, lights up all the other gifts of the Spirit. Let’s pray the prayer of Ephesians 1:16–19 over ourselves and our loved ones every day—that God will give us this Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ. This knowledge is not a knowledge that you acquire from reading books about Jesus; it is first-hand, personal knowledge and revelation of the Lord and His goodness.
The greatest knowledge you can have is to know the Lord.
How are the eyes of your understanding enlightened?
“the eyes of your understanding being enlightened” — The word “understanding” is the Greek word “dianoa,” which means “imagination.” In the English Standard Version, this clause is translated as “the eyes of your hearts enlightened.”
When we think about the word “understanding,” we generally think it is based on logic and deduction. But the Bible’s definition of the word “understanding” is based on imagination as we see in Luke 1:51b:
“He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.”
— Luke 1:51b NKJV
When we were children, we frequently exercised our imagination. As we grew older, we started to denigrate these visions and imaginations and we learned to lean more on logic, knowledge, and experience. But imagination is a gift from God, and it is a gift He wants to restore to us this year.
Peter found it needful to declare what Joel, the Old Testament prophet, prophesied. It is a good thing for the young man to see visions and the old to dream dreams. Today, in the times we are living in, we will see the fullness of what the prophets prophesied in the Old Testament. No longer will God’s vision be rare and lacking but we shall see more of His hazon vision in these last days.
In the Old Testament, a prophet is often also called a “seer” (1 Sam. 9:9), i.e. someone who sees. When you see what God wants you to see, you will see the fulfillment that God wants to bring about.
“ . . . the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,”
— Ephesians 1:18–20 NKJV
This particular prayer for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation will cause us to experience 3 specific blessings in our lives:
No matter the field or position you are in, you can pray for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in Christ daily. You will experience success because the Lord will cause you to see the how-tos that others—even experts—may not be able to see.
Beyond just the technical knowledge and skills you can acquire, God can teach you how to best apply them by filling you with the Spirit of wisdom.
This is what He did for the craftsman Bezalel, who built the furniture in the tabernacle.
“ . . . "See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.”
— Exodus 31:1–5 NKJV
Bezalel never had prior knowledge or experience on how to build the various elements of the ark of the covenant. He received the design and the knowledge to do it when he was filled with the Spirit of God.
This Spirit of wisdom is beneficial in every area of our lives—in our relationships, in our work, and in our parenting. It is not just for certain areas of our lives only. If you are finding it hard to parent your child accurately, ask God for this Spirit of wisdom and understanding. He can and wants to show you how to parent your child most effectively.
Pastor Prince encourages us to find time to be with the Lord and to develop a practice of writing down what God is showing us and speaking to us about. This is a practice that Pastor Prince himself has adopted over the years and it is inspired from this particular Scripture:
“I will stand my watch
And set myself on the rampart,
And watch to see what He will say to me,
And what I will answer when I am corrected.
Then the Lord answered me and said:
"Write the vision (‘hazon’)
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.”
— Habakkuk 2:1 NKJV
“stand my watch and set myself on the rampart” — It is important that you position yourself for God to speak to you. You cannot be watching television shows all the time and expect God to speak to you or show you a vision about your marriage, your parenting, your work, etc. Find time to draw away and be with the Lord uninterrupted; allow Him to show you His visions.
“watch to see what He will say to me” — It is interesting to note that Habakkuk specifically said to “watch,” not to hear or to read. If you are watching to see, it means that God’s Word comes to you in a vision.
Pastor Prince shares how for every theme of the year, He takes time to watch to see what the Lord has for the church in the coming year—and not just for the theme itself but also for the visual design.
The key to receiving hazon visions is to ask God for them. Last week, we talked about Peter and Cornelius. In both cases, they received visions from God while they were praying (Acts 11:5, 10:30).
This is also what happened to Saul before he became the apostle Paul.
“Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." So the Lord said to him, "Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight."”
— Acts 9:10–12 NKJV
“Ananias” — In the Hebrew, “Ananias” means “the grace of God.”
“behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen . . . ” — While Saul was praying, he received a vision. Physically, his eyes were blinded but spiritually, the eyes of his heart saw. And what did Saul see with the eyes of his heart? He saw the grace of God (Ananias). God’s hazon vision is not about seeing physically but seeing spiritually—and what you see spiritually will come to pass physically.
“Then the Lord answered me and said:
"Write the vision (‘hazon’)
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.”
— Habakkuk 2:2 NKJV
“Write the vision and make it plain on tablets” — As you seek the Lord, have a physical or digital notebook ready. God can give you a picture, a verse, or a statement. Be ready to write it down or even draw it out. There is great encouragement to be found when you revisit these visions and words from the Lord. Learn to write these things down because they are very precious. Because they are precious, Satan tries to steal them (Mark 4:15). Many times, we forget the very words or revelations that God gave us to encourage us. Don’t have confidence in the flesh that you will remember what God showed you. Write it all down!
“that he may run who reads it” — When you write the vision down, you will be able to run with it. Not just walk but run. Write it down, and when you read it again, it will be clear to you once more, and you will run with it.
Habakkuk 2:2 is actually God’s answer to Habakkuk after his complaints in chapter 1:
“ . . . O Lord, how long shall I cry,
And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, "Violence!"
And You will not save.
Why do You show me iniquity,
And cause me to see trouble?
For plundering and violence are before me;
There is strife, and contention arises.
Therefore the law is powerless,
And justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.”
— Habakkuk 1:1–4 NKJV
“the law is powerless, and justice never goes forth” — Habakkuk’s complaint is what we are hearing in the world today. Even for the world, the answer lies in God’s vision. It is the lack of God’s vision that results in these problems that we’re seeing today.
In the weeks to come, we will be talking about how God’s provision is found in the vision that He gives us.
When you live in the realm of hazon vision, you are living outside the realm of natural time and space. You will be able to enjoy what you see the Lord showing you for the future. You will be able to enjoy it even now because you are seeing it happen already.
“for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.”
— Genesis 13:15 NKJV
Just like God showed Abraham the blessing that he would possess before he even took a step into it, God is also showing you visions of His blessings in store for you this year.
When we look at this verse in the interlinear, we see “aleph-tav”—Jesus’ signature.
Here, God is saying that before we inherit the promise physically, we need to see Jesus.
To see Jesus is to see life.
See your disease or ailment upon Jesus on the cross. The moment you see that sickness in His body, it starts to die in yours. Like the fig tree that Jesus cursed in Mark 11, the roots died first and it was only a day later that Jesus’ disciples saw the manifestation of the curse.
If you are experiencing sickness or a condition in your body, God is giving you a hazon vision of the cross. Say, “Lord Jesus, I thank You. I see my sickness/condition upon Your body on the cross.”
Pastor Prince prays for people with:
Every healing can stand the test of medical science. Please go back to your doctor to verify your healing. Only stop taking your medicine when your healing has been confirmed by medical reports. Then write in to share your testimony!
“This coming week, the Lord bless you and the Lord keep you. The Lord keep you from every harm and danger. The Lord keep you from the COVID-19 virus. Amen. And if it mutates, God keep you from the new mutation as well. The Lord smile on you, be favorable to you and your loved ones, and grant to you and your loved ones His wonderful favor and great shalom peace. In Jesus' name, Amen.”
We hope these sermon notes blessed you! If they did, we encourage you to get the sermon and allow the Lord to speak to you personally as you watch or listen to it.
© Copyright JosephPrince.com 2021
These sermon notes were taken by volunteers during the service. They are not a verbatim representation of the sermon.
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