PREPARING FOR ‘THE MOTHER OF ALL ECONOMIC COLLAPSES’
This is the time to prepare wisely, in faith and expectancy, for economic famine – AND miracles – because they’ll be needed
By Chris Wickland
We have all heard plenty of warning prophecies regarding the days ahead.
I too have given such warnings, because over the last 30 years God has given me dreams and prophetic warnings about the time to come – and the mother of all economic collapses. A great depression is on its way, yet God has repeatedly said to me, “It will be the worst of times and the best of times.”
One doesn’t need to be prophetic anymore to see that the world is heading for a serious financial downturn, crash or depression.
We know that the days ahead will be tough, but it’s all too easy to opt out spiritually, thinking that the Church is doomed and we’ll just sit this out until Jesus returns.
I believe that God doesn’t want his Church to be unaware and unprepared. He wants his Church to be a light to the Gentiles, so we need to be prepared practically for economic famine, but also for miracles.
As a church we have bought food with a long shelf life and I have encouraged our members to start putting by several months’ worth of food for themselves and their neighbours. We were also given an acre of land to grow vegetables and reaped an abundant harvest, which seemed miraculous because the only fertiliser we used was prayer! As I sowed, I prayed repeatedly, “God, bless this seed”. (See the April/May issue of HEART for the full story and photos).
In fact, when Jesus said, “When I return will I find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8), he is not talking about the Christian faith, but about finding believers who are still believing!
So we have to ask ourselves some very important questions for the days ahead: “Do I believe in a God of miracles?” Because miracles will be needed!
“Do I believe God can and will do miracles?”
“If God is immutable (unchanging) will he no longer be the God of miracles in the days ahead?”
The calling to be a Joseph
In the days ahead we need to thrive, not just survive. Like Joseph, our storehouses must be full both spiritually and practically.
Thirty-seven years ago, before I was a Christian, I had my first ever prophetic dream which showed me how the hand of God had divinely protected me and how he was leading me to a specific purpose. The dream ended with me being a high prince of Egypt, wearing very ornate clothing denoting rank with a title hovering over my crown which read, ‘Master of Dreams.’
I knew this dream was very significant, but as I had no religious upbringing, I had no idea who the high prince of Egypt was. Many years later I realised the dream was about Joseph and how he would save Israel from a terrible drought.
For many years I have held this dream and other Joseph dreams in my heart, knowing that my primary purpose as a Christian was always to help the Church during a time of severe financial famine by raising a Joseph generation for the days ahead. Well, those days are now here and they are here to stay.
No government can help
Governments will soon fail us; they will not be able to help so many when so much will be lost. Our God is really the only source of help and refuge in a time of need. We need to be full of God’s wisdom and faith, not fear or super-spirituality. The super-spiritual claim that God will sort everything out, but don’t pray to find out what they need to do practically.
Take courage that in days of famine we shall be satisfied
During the time of Covid many people claimed the promises of Psalm 91 as a source of comfort, but in this new period Psalm 37:18-19 should be our key verse: “The Lord knoweth the days of the upright and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.”
The “Lord knows the days of the upright” has multiple meanings, but one of the primary ones is that God has known what will befall his people throughout history.
God is intimately acquainted with the ways of the righteous. He is aware of all our circumstances long before we are aware. In fact, God knew our days before they even began (Psalm 139:16).
Knowing that God already has it covered should lead us into his ‘shalom’ – the place of peace, where we experience a river of joy. But we must access this place by faith, by resting in the fact that God knows our days and has thus pre-determined all our needs before we are even aware of them. Take courage that in days of famine we shall be satisfied.
Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.”
2 Corinthians 5:7: “For we walk by faith and not by sight.”
The way of faith
Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that HE is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.”
A doubting Thomas or Peter will drown in the tidal wave that’s coming upon this land
There is a whole spiritual realm out there, and some of us would do well to open our carnal eyes to the greater spiritual realities that are around us right now. We need to be more spiritually aware, and a people of faith, not a people of fear, doubt and unbelief.
God has been challenging me to walk by faith and trust in him, because a doubting Thomas or Peter will drown in the tidal wave that’s coming upon this land.
The 2007-8 financial crash was a small blip compared to what is still to come
Jesus rebukes little faith. He’s not interested in just enough faith to get you to heaven when you die. He wants and needs his people, his Church, his mystical body on the earth to do great exploits for him.
Our carnal wisdom and intellect are not going to cut it when it comes to believing in God for a miracle, especially in the way of provision. We need to dust off those old books on faith which we put away and start practising living by faith again. I know living by faith is challenging, but it’s a lot more fun than boring mediocrity.
An angel came to visit me
Maybe today, as God’s holy Church, we can start doing what it says on the tin by being ‘believers,’ and not ‘doubters.’
Fear, doubt and unbelief will cost us dearly in the days ahead. Let’s stop being worldly and start being godly and ‘imitate God as dearly beloved children.’ (Ephesians 5:1). Let’s walk by faith and not by sight. Don’t let your theology or the world steal your joy, for the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy (Romans 14:17).
In June 2007 an angel came to me in my bedroom as I was falling to sleep. He spoke to me audibly and said, “On 18 September something is going to happen which will be really bad for the UK economy.”
As the angel spoke, his words were written across my eyes like a retina burn from a bright light. This was so I wouldn’t forget what he said or the date.
Sure enough, on 18 September a series of events took place which caused a chain reaction for the near collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland, Northern Rock, the collapse of the Icelandic bank, plus Bear Stearns and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the US. Then in October 2007 the American stock market crashed by 777.77 points.
It led Britain and the rest of the world into a strong but short-lived recession in 2008. The 2007-8 financial crash was a small blip compared to what is still to come and in-deed it has now already begun in 2022, again on a worldwide scale.
The coming collapse will be of gargantuan proportions. However, the Church is called to thrive in this season. We are to be the solution to the world’s problem.
I learned some valuable lessons from the 2007 crash that God revealed to me. When everyone around me was suffering from wage cuts and job losses, I was prospering. As a self-employed musician, 2007-2008 were the best financial years I had ever had! All my musician friends were losing revenue hand over fist, but I just kept prospering.
Psalm 37:18-19 says: “The Lord knoweth the days of the upright and their inheritance shall be forever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and IN THE DAYS OF FAMINE THEY SHALL BE SATISFIED.”
Why did I keep prospering when others didn’t? Simple, I live by Kingdom economics. I tithe (give away ten per cent) all my income before tax and I give more on top of that because I know that my God supplies all my needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).
Now for a vital warning:
THE HINDRANCE TO RECEIVING FINANCIAL SUPPLY IN A TIME OF FINANCIAL FAMINE IS THAT MANY CHRISTIANS LIMIT THEIR GIVING ACCORDING TO THEIR CURRENT FINANCIAL SITUATION.
Please read that again.
Isaac sowed according to the promise God had given him
And please read Genesis 26:1 and Genesis 26:12-14. Here we see Isaac in a foreign land sowing seed in a time of famine. God blessed his crops and he got a 100-fold return.
However, there are some subtle spiritual principles at play here, because Isaac sowed precious seed which he and his family needed to eat into soil that was bone dry from famine.
This would seem insane to many – why sow good seed into soil that simply wasn’t going to grow anything? However, Isaac was living according to spiritual principles, not common sense or the wisdom of earthly-minded man.
Some Christians do not tithe or give offerings if they are in a bind financially. But Isaac didn’t sow according to the natural conditions; he sowed according to the promise God had given him.
In Genesis 26:3-4, the key word to note here is ‘seed’ (or offspring in some translations). Obviously we know that ‘seed’ here refers to offspring – but Isaac is applying it literally to his seed sown in the ground. God promised to multiply his seed and that’s exactly what happened.
Let me leave you with this verse from 2 Corinthians 9:10: “Now may he who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness.”
GOD’S PROVISION
How God provided a church building worth over £1m and gave us our best financial year during Covid
Both as a church leader and personally, I have witnessed the importance of sowing and reaping in the area of God’s provision. I believe that some of the results have happened in order to encourage people and make them aware of the miraculous way that God will provide for his Church in the days ahead.
Last year I gave my lovely Peugeot 3008 to my son due to my health issues. However, I knew that if I sowed a car I would reap a car. Because the spiritual law states, “you reap what you sow”.
My motive, though, was not impure; I gave my car away as a gift of love to my son – I didn’t ‘give to get’!
Six months later, in March 2022, I started praying for a replacement car, simply believing that God would answer my prayer and honour the seed sown.
A week later I met a Christian friend who came up to me and said she wanted to purchase a new car for me.
New church building
Four years ago our church gave a gift to another congregation which needed money to construct their new building. We gave it to bless them, but also as a seed for our own potential building.
Two years later, while meeting another local pastor for coffee, he announced that he wanted to give me his church. Initially I thought he meant his congregation, but he actually wanted to give us their building which was valued at £1.2million!
This was an outrageous miracle of God’s grace and provision
So two weeks before the Covid lockdown, the building was transferred to Living Word Church Network. It was a literal Godsend.
Without it, I doubt we would have survived as a network at that time. Not only were we given the church building, but they also gave us tens of thousands to put in new heating and fire alarm systems.
This was an outrageous miracle of God’s grace and provision. It is also a testament to very godly Christians who entrusted us with their building. It was passed on to them many years previously and now they wanted to pass it on to the next generation.
Best financial year
As a church network we understand that giving is an essential key to our growth and blessing and tithe all our income.
The Covid lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 were a very difficult time for us as a church logistically and relationally, yet God made a way where there was no way. We held church services in an open field on a farm, where we never took an offering and never asked for money. We actually made it difficult for people to give into our network!
Moreover, we lost half of our congregation and gained the same number back.
Yet we had a financial miracle – they were two of our best years financially! What an extraordinary sign of God’s goodness!
If we live according to the Kingdom principles of Scripture, then we reap the benefits of doing it God’s way. Living a life of obedience to God’s Word is the pathway to blessing and miracles.
That’s not a great quote, it’s a fact. We serve a wonder-working, powerful, miraculous, generous God. Hallelujah, his Name be praised.
Chris Wickland is married to Tracey and they have five children. He is Senior Pastor of Living Word Church Network which has around 200 members in four churches around Fareham, Hampshire. The network is a HEART Partner Church
Who closed the churches?
Chris Wickland told the Solent Prophetic Gathering on 6 May that God had forewarned him of the Covid church closures on 28 November 2019: “He told me, ‘Something is coming that will shut down every church. It’s an attack of the enemy to shut down praise and worship’. Next day, I suffered a cardiac arrest and died.”
His wife Tracey mobilised prayer and posted the news on Facebook, which went viral. Chris said: “It went around the world – people recognised that the enemy had overreached himself.” (See HEART’s Feb/Mar 2020 issue for the story of how prayer resurrected Pastor Chris and prevented his having permanent brain damage).
Later he was one of 130 pastors who sued the government with Christian Concern over the church closures before the government backed down: “When the Church thought it was being compliant by closing, it was actually illegal.”
Nonetheless, Pastor Dennis Greenidge, leader of Worldwide Mission Fellowship told participants at the Dovetailshalom Esther fast in April: “It was God who closed the churches. He’d had enough!”
Similarly, Dave Borlase, when leader of Intercessors for Britain in 2020, wrote in this paper: “God closed the churches because he couldn’t think of a single reason to keep them open.” Lack of concern over Britain’s gruesome abortion statistics was one reason Dave cited.
What do you think? Email letters@heartpublications.co.uk