Farmers, License Plates, and Oil
Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM, says that there are more missionaries and pastors that are children of farmers than any other group of people. Why? Because the harvest fields are ripe and they know what to do when harvest is ready. Hallelujah!!!!!
Farmers!!! Since I have come to North Dakota, God has shown me so much more concerning farmers and harvest. Before I moved, I believed that God had special plans for South Dakota and North Dakota. It is significant that the geographical center of the United States is near Belle Fourche, SD and the geographical center of the North American continent is in North Dakota. I believe that many things that take place in North Dakota will help open Mexico and Canada to the gospel. And I knew that North Dakota was a farm state, but I didn’t know much more than that fact.
Monday of this week, I took a tour of the capitol building. It was very interesting. The tour guide told us that in the cornerstone of the building, they buried a copy of the constitution, a Bible, and a sheaf of wheat. Interesting. All through the capital architecture, you see corn and wheat seeds, stalks, and farmers. Those three items carry more significance than I can comprehend right now. Our God is so awesome. Nothing is ever done that does not have significance. He wants us to know His plan so much more than we realize and we overlook so much that is obvious, not realizing that it is God.
As I was praying, suddenly I was reminded that wheat is what bread is made from. Wheat is the grain that is grown in North Dakota. I began to pray and I saw many, many houses of bread begin to spring up all over the state. But, then suddenly I saw seven places where there were granaries being built next to the house of bread. Granaries are for storing grain. As I was pondering this, the Lord reminded me of Joseph and how he set up granaries to store the excess grain and then during time of famine it was distributed. DISTRIBUTED!!!! DISTRIBUTION CENTERS!!!! That is what I saw over Bismarck! The one thing that I saw about these granaries was that most of them were different. I sensed that God was telling me that these granaries were connected together, but this connection was in the spirit. They were not all united under one umbrella of authority. In other words, they did not all belong to one camp or denomination or whatever grouping man concocts. They were united because of function and need for each other. And when the grain was shipped to another place, like overseas, it first arrived from the different granaries by truck and then was placed on a shipping dock together to be shipped overseas.
This week at work I saw an article in the chamber of commerce paper that came out in February. It talked about wheat in North Dakota. First the natural, then the spiritual. There has been over the last year an increase in wheat prices by $1 a bushel. This means up to $1.1 billion dollars pumped into the North Dakota economy. At the same time, world wheat supplies have dropped to lows not seen for over 30 years. This $1 has the potential to create 10,000 new jobs in North Dakota. It has the potential to put $360 million dollars in the pockets of farmers.
Wheat production represents 41% of all farm income in North Dakota. North Dakota often leads the nation in the production of two wheat varieties hard red spring and durum. Current market conditions could force these prices even higher. Only 16% of the world’s need for wheat is being met. This is due to increased demand and crop failures. (NOTE – 2025 – An updated agricultural report for North Dakota can be found here.)
North Dakota is looking for increased exports that will keep these prices going up. Wheat is being shipped and distributed to foreign nations. Praise God. The Distribution centers that I see will be used by God to send the wheat (bread) to foreign countries where the word of God is needed and in demand, but there is little of it there.
There is going to be a demand for the word of God like never before. There is definitely a shortage of leaders who truly know how to grow wheat and make bread in the spirit. It takes time with God and getting revelation to make the word come alive. But, there are going to be crop failures all over in churches who are not responding to the call of the Lord in this hour. And that is going to put demand on the Houses of Bread that God is building. May we be ready.
Then, there is the second area that is intriguing for North Dakota. I saw there was a phrase on the North Dakota license plates. It is also on the signs as you enter into the state. It says Discover the spirit. Of course they are talking about the spirit of North Dakota, but I declare that the spirit of North Dakota is the Holy Spirit of God. I believe the people were led to put this on the license plates by God even though they didn’t know it. God is more interested in showing us His will and communicating with us, than we are interested in listening. He plastered this on signs and even on license plates to try to get the attention of His Church in North Dakota, so that He could give them understanding of what He wants to do in this great state.
This state has taken a lot of guff as being one of the least desirable, if not the least desirable state of the nation. I have even dished it out, until the Lord convicted me of the North Dakota, South Dakota jokes I had been telling. But, we need to see through God’s eyes. This place is going to become one of the most desirable states to come to because people are going to be hungry for the Spirit of God and they can come to this place and discover what they have been missing. Thus the many houses of bread and the granaries that God desires.
As I was pondering on this a few weeks ago, I saw oil (petroleum) underground in North Dakota. It was struggling to break through the surface of the ground. Where it did break through, it gushed many feet into the air. But, then people rushed to cap it and control the flow of it, by putting pumps and caps on the holes. The Spirit of God is often referred to in scripture as oil. God is just waiting for His people to discover the Holy Spirit. And He is looking for a people who will not try to control the flow of the Spirit, nor try to shut it off by capping it. He is looking for a people who will let God be God and not try to tell Him how to run things. He is looking for a people who will strike oil in other places.
When God showed me things for the Black Hills, it was always for a defined area, that of the Black Hills. I never saw what He wanted for the rest of South Dakota. But, North Dakota is different. I feel compelled to pray for all 53 counties and that there would be a house of bread in all counties. God is going to have a state, where no matter which direction you come in to it, there will be a place where the Spirit has been discovered and has free reign.
As I was praying along these lines this week, I saw refineries rise up, like I had seen the granaries being built. At first I really wondered about this, because you can not refine the Spirit of God. He is all in all, all the time. There is no improving on Him. But, then I saw that refineries convert the petroleum into different products for different types of use. Some oil is for fuel in cars, some is fuel oil for heating houses, some is for other things. And I saw that God was raising up places that would understand the giftings of the Holy Spirit and would put people in their right places. He is going to raise up places and ministries who can help people find where they fit in the body of Christ.
There are many products that come from petroleum, all for different purposes. They are all needed. Here is a partial list.
* gasoline (with different levels of octane)
* kerosine
* lubricants
* toluene © used in high explosives
* jet fuel
* high grade fuel oil
Gasoline is the waste product of the oil industry. And now it is widely used and in demand and commands a fit price. Even so, in the body of Christ there are those who seem to be worth little by man’s standards but God is going to refine them and turn them into a usable product and they will be in demand by the body of Christ and the Church will suddenly realize that these ones add value, but God knew that all the time. We need to stop looking at people after the flesh and see by the Spirit, not what a person may be now, but what God wants the finished product to be.
(Note – 2025): Even though the Bakken had been discovered in 1951, the extent was not understood and the oil was not easy to extract. In 1987 the first horizontal drilling was done. It wasn’t until 2001 when it was discovered how expansive it was and the emphasis was more on drilling in Montana. In 2006-2007 the Parshall Oil Field was discovered and the emphasis in drilling switched from Montana to North Dakota. I saw the expansion of oil in North Dakota in 1996 when I first moved to North Dakota because God wanted the state to be aware of what He wanted to do in the state. Also, the thought of what the “church” was back then, and the revelation of what the Ekklesia is, what Jesus is truly building does not nullify the word, but its meaning is seen a little differently. To understand what I am talking about, one might want to read my latest book – Establishing the Ekklesia – Advancing the Kingdom of God through Maturity)