April 17, 2026
Lord, we adore You. And I want to begin right there, because if you miss the posture, you will miss the message. The word this morning is victory. Not maybe victory. Not someday victory. Victory. The Lord has already given it, and our assignment is to enforce what heaven has decreed.
Too many people are staring at the chaos and giving the enemy far too much credit. But God keeps saying the same thing to His people: “My child, never forget the things that I have taught you.” That is the anchor in an hour of noise. Do not let headlines disciple you. Do not let fear evangelize you. Do not let appearances override what God has written on your heart.
The Core Word: Trust God More Than the Noise
The scripture pressing hardest into my spirit is Proverbs 3. It is simple, familiar, and absolutely loaded for this hour.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
That sounds wonderful until your eyes see something that appears to contradict what heaven has spoken. Then the real test begins. Did your prayers fail, or are you simply unable to see the bigger game being played?
This is where many believers get worn down. They pray into something, they do not see an immediate result, and then they back off. But heaven does not operate on our panic cycle. God is outside of time. He moves pieces on a board we often cannot see until after the fact.
So hear me clearly: if you go by sight, you will quit. If you go by faith, you will endure.
Victory Often Shows Up First in the Spirit
One of the great mistakes we make is expecting every spiritual breakthrough to manifest instantly in the natural. Sometimes it does. Sometimes there is a lag time.
The larger the thing, the longer the lag can be. The smaller the thing, the faster the turnaround. But that does not mean nothing is happening.
I have seen this over and over. You go after the spiritual root first, and later the natural fruit appears. That applies to personal healing, national revival, political exposure, and even global shifts. We are not wrestling flesh and blood. We are dealing with principalities, powers, and systems of darkness that operate behind the scenes.
That is why prayer is not a side activity. It is not emotional relief. It is not wishful thinking. It is warfare.
The Real War Is Not Always Where the Headlines Say It Is
There is a lot of noise right now around Iran, Israel, oil, shipping lanes, and political instability. But the deeper battle is not just regional. The staging ground may be the Middle East, but the power structures behind much of the turmoil reach far beyond it.
The point is not to become fascinated with conspiracies. The point is to recognize that many of the world’s conflicts are tied to systems of control involving finance, energy, insurance, and political manipulation. Those systems have operated in the shadows for a very long time.
And what we are witnessing now is exposure.
When oil prices swing wildly, when shipping chokepoints become geopolitical flashpoints, when financial powers begin losing their grip, it is not merely economics. It is part of a larger unraveling. We are seeing control mechanisms get hit.
That is why I keep saying: zoom out. Go to 30,000 feet. Better yet, 100,000 feet. The war is not where the noise is loudest. The war is often in the hidden architecture that has quietly shaped the noise all along.
Why We Prayed for the Prince of Persia
A couple of weeks ago, the Lord made it very clear: pray for the takedown of the prince of Persia. That language makes some people uncomfortable, but the Bible gives us that framework. There are spiritual powers influencing regions, nations, and rulers.
So when we pray into Iran, we are not praying against ordinary people. We are not praying against flesh and blood. We are going after the principality behind the oppression, the chaos, and the manipulation.
And when those spiritual strongholds begin to crack, things shift on the ground.
That is true in Iran. It is true in Canada. It is true in the United States. It is true in the United Kingdom. We are watching a battle unfold in both realms at once.
Canada: It May Look Dark, But Dawn Is Near
I know many in Canada feel the pressure right now. Tyranny appears to be tightening. Compromise seems everywhere. Political operatives are crossing lines, changing their tune, and revealing strange fractures in the process.
But let me tell you what I feel strongly in my spirit: the victory in Canada is about to look a whole lot bigger.
It is often darkest just before dawn. What looks like tightening can actually be the final strain before a break. We have spent months, even seasons, praying for whistleblowers, for righteous government, for exposure, for conviction to fall on those who have compromised.
And now I believe we are beginning to see cracks form.
Sometimes people cross the floor thinking they are gaining power, only to discover they have walked into unbearable conviction of the Spirit. These floor crossers are going to crack. Sometimes the very strategy used to hijack a nation becomes the strategy of its undoing. The pressure builds, the fissures deepen, and eventually someone cracks.
"Crack Marilyn Gladue, Crack. Crack Gladue Crack!"
Do not despise the cracks. Drive the wedge into them in prayer.
Loyalty, Kindness, and Strength Under Pressure
There is another part of Proverbs 3 that matters deeply right now:
Never let loyalty and kindness leave you. Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.
That is not soft language. That is militant wisdom.
In times of betrayal, exposure, and political shaking, it is easy to become harsh. Easy to become cynical. Easy to think anger is strength. But the Lord says loyalty and kindness must remain tied around your neck.
Not compromise. Not cowardice. Kindness. Loyalty. Mercy. Conviction. Truth. All together.
And then comes the warning many intelligent people need to hear most: do not be impressed with your own wisdom.
Your greatest gift can become your greatest liability. If you are resourceful, resilient, strategic, clever, or highly capable, wonderful. Thank God for it. But do not let your gifting become the thing that keeps you from leaning on Him.
Human strength is useful. It is just not ultimate. If you can figure everything out, you will be tempted not to yield. And that is where gifted people get stuck.
Healing Is Not Just Personal. It Can Be National.
When Jesus said heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out demons, we often hear that only in an individual sense. And yes, it applies there. But it also applies nationally.
You can pray healing into a sick nation.
You can speak life into dead systems.
You can call cleansing over rot and decay that has spread through culture, politics, and institutions.
Leprosy is a picture of decay. Rot. Corruption. Deterioration from within. That image applies disturbingly well to what has happened in many nations. So we speak against it. We call for cleansing. We call for healing. We call for resurrection life where things have gone numb, cold, or dead.
That means praying for:
- Canada to be healed
- America to be healed
- The United Kingdom to be healed
- Iran to be healed and liberated
- The Church to be awakened and revived
Raise a Hallelujah in the Middle of the Storm
There comes a point where explanation must become praise. War music in the spirit matters. A hallelujah in the presence of your enemies matters.
Why? Because praise is not denial. Praise is defiance.
It is standing in the middle of the storm and declaring that the King is alive, that darkness does not have the final word, and that the enemies you see today you shall see no more.
That is not hype. That is covenant confidence.
The enemies may come in one direction, but they scatter in seven.
And if they came at us from seven directions, then let them scatter in forty-nine.
Communion Is Not Ritual. It Is Re-Membering
One of the most powerful truths to recover is what communion actually means. When Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me,” He was not merely saying, “Think fondly about Me from time to time.”
He was calling us to remember what He did and why He did it.
Even more than that, I believe there is a deeper spiritual picture here. To be dismembered is to be cut off. To be remembered is to be joined back properly. Communion is a holy act of being remembered back into the Vine.
He is the Vine. We are the branches.
That means your strength is not in how strong you feel. Your strength is in the One to whom you are joined. If you feel weak, exhausted, discouraged, or battle-worn, that does not cancel covenant. It is precisely why you must remember Him.
His body was broken. His blood was poured out. Not only for your forgiveness, but so that you could walk in authority, intimacy, healing, and power now.
Do Not Quit Before the Breakthrough Appears
The enemy’s strategy is very clear. He wants to wear down the saints. He wants to exhaust you until you stop praying, stop believing, and stop standing.
Do not do it.
Write the commands of God on your heart. Tie mercy and kindness around your neck. Refuse to lean on your own understanding. Keep praying into the cracks. Keep declaring victory. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ.
I believe we have already won much more in the spirit than many realize. Now we are beginning to see the natural catch up.
The time lag is shrinking. The pressure is building. The house of cards is shaking. The head of the snake is being targeted. And nations long bound by control, fear, and hidden manipulation are about to see far more than they thought possible.
So take heart. Canada is not forgotten. America is not finished. Britain still has a calling. Iran is not beyond redemption. And the Church is not done.
God is not suffering defeat. Ever.
So declare the victory.
Blessings, Howard Olsen
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