The Roar of the Lion

At Bethel at Open Heavens Conference, October 2011, I was given a prophetic word that I had “the roar of the lion”. I have an affinity for lions; like Aslan of Narnia, they represent Jesus. 

The Lion of Judah is also a symbol for Israel. I have thought about how fierce and passionate that roar is—definitely describes me and my faith in our awesome Lord of lords and King of kings.

I’ve heard the force of the roar of the lion will stir up a cloud of dust and can be heard all over the animal kingdom. My friend Christlyn lived down off Sequim-Dungeness Way near the Olympic Game Farm in our city, Sequim, Washington, and she told me that every morning at 8:30 she heard the roar of the lion when he roared for his breakfast. She said every day, no matter how many times she’d heard it, the roar of the lion made the hair on the back of her neck stand up, it was so powerful.

Thinking about lions, of course the movie Lion King  comes to mind.

One morning I was feeling overwhelmed by my circumstances and how much I had to do. I started to feel defeated, down, distracted, distressed, and discouraged—all those dreadful ‘D’ words. On Facebook someone posted a lion roaring at an alligator and wrote a one-sentence analogy to how we can roar with the authority of God and take dominion and the enemy will flee. DOMINION!

Dominion is the most awesome ‘D’ word I have ever heard.

Often in the natural realm, God communicates to us what transpires in the spiritual realm. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this realm.” (See John 18:36.) To understand “the roar of the lion” spiritually, prophetically, and in the realm of the Holy Spirit, I needed to understand “the roar of the lion” in the natural realm. I decided to Google it. I searched the Internet to answer my question: “What does the roar of the lion mean?” I found this one sentence that answered it for me, “Most of the time when lions roar, they are claiming territory.”  That sounds like expanding God’s Kingdom to me!

Here’s what else I learned about lions. The lion has wonderful strength. The muscles of his legs and neck are very large and almost as firm as iron. A lion will strike down an ox, carry him away in his mouth, and devour him. Picture an ox for a minute. That animal is huge! The lion is the most powerful animal in all the animal kingdom. (As a side note, the only animal that is stronger is the female lion. She doesn’t roar, but without a sound she can take down the male. Haha!)The lion lives upon other creatures which he kills. His teeth and claws are formidable weapons, and while the cat's tongue is only rough, the lion's is armed with strong, sharp points. The lion's roar strikes all animals with terror. It does not appear that lions are cowardly. They go after what they want!

When I read this paragraph on lions on the Internet, that last sentence was highlighted to me. LIONS GO AFTER WHAT THEY WANT. Oh! Lions have got the power! They just go after it. They just make up their minds what it is they want and they go after it. Papa God spoke to me and said, “What do you want, Jenna? GO AFTER WHAT YOU WANT.” Do you want your house fixed up? Go after it! Do you have dreams of using your gifts and talents for the Lord? Go after it! Do you want to write a book and get it published? Go after it! Do you want to do more ministry trips and go flagging around the world—GO AFTER IT! God communicated to me in that one sentence that His favor is with me, He wants to bless the work of my hands, and He has given me His power. I AM POWERFUL because I have the lion of Judah, Jesus Himself, living inside me. I simply have to go after what I want. I AM POWERFUL just like the lion, so I can go after what I want.

This affects my prayers. I want to be fierce like a lion in praying about what I want as well. The Bible says, "The fervent prayer of the righteous man avails much." (We ARE righteous because of the finished work of Christ on the cross!) Our prayers are powerful and effective. Whatever I want, I'm can GO AFTER IT in prayer!

I looked in the Bible to find places about the roar of the lion and found three verses. (As a side note, God often will give a confirmation of three. It has happened to me countless times.)

Amos 3:4, "Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?"

Amos 3:8, "The lion has roared, who will not fear?"

Isaiah 5:29, "Their roaring shall be like a lion…

They shall roar and take hold of their prey...and none shall deliver it."

Okay, I understand now, Papa God. The enemy has lies and schemes to cause me to feel  defeated, down, distracted, distressed, and discouraged, but I have the roar of the lion to take DOMINION! In the book of Peter there is a verse that says the enemy is like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. But we also know from Scripture that the enemy is defeated and de-armed--no feet and no arms! Hahaha! He is crawling on his belly! Let's just laugh at that, shall we? Hahaha! We have the all-powerful "Lion of Judah", the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, living within us WE HAVE THE ROAR OF THE LION! Say these declarations with me:

I AM AS POWERFUL AS A LION.
I WILL NOT LISTEN TO THE LIES OF THE ENEMY.
I WILL TAKE DOMINION.

I WILL GO AFTER WHAT I WANT.
I WILL GO AFTER MY DREAMS.
GOD IS FOR ME, WHO CAN BE AGAINST ME?

I HAVE THE ROAR OF THE LION!

Behold, the people shall rise up as a lion! (See Num. 23:24.)
Do you have "the roar of the Lion" ?