It is time to declare identity—His identity—over you and your family. After the season of silence comes the roar! Families have lost their roar!
If you have been in a battle for your marriage or family, it might be because there is an all-out war sent from the enemy to not only stop your voice, but to quiet your roar. In fact, there is a sound rising up—a sound that is about to break the silence. It is the sound of families rising up, marriages coming together, generations worshiping and declaring freedom.
We hear the sound of a roar!
We want to share with you the day the silence was broken, and a voice awakened. The day a father’s silence ended, and prophecy was fulfilled. The prophecy of John the Baptist was that He would prepare the way for Jesus. Isaiah 40:3 (NIV) says about John, “A voice of one calling: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'” Before Jesus can arrive on the scene, the roar has to happen.
Before the fulfillment of prophesy, there had to be identity declared. John 1:23 (TPT) says, “So, John answered them, “I am fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy: ‘I am an urgent, thundering voice shouting in the desert—clear the way and prepare your hearts for the coming of the Lord Yahweh!” John would become the roar!
He was the one who prepared the way. But there is a part of the story that gets lost. A part that is the key to how John the Baptist came into the world. You see, it didn’t start with a roar. It started with a silence, a muting. How many of you know that before your greatest miracle is usually your greatest test?
You need to be reminded today of the missing part of the story, the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist. Zechariah was a priest. He was married to a woman of God named Elizabeth. Their home was missing the sound of joy. They had not been able to have children. Now, they were old. They had experienced years of heartache, waiting on a miracle! One day, Zechariah was at the temple, standing next to the altar. The angel Gabriel appeared to him., and he freaked out. Luke 1:12-13 (MEV) says, ” When Zechariah saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, ‘Do not fear, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.'” The angel tells him that his son will be full of the Holy Spirit and that John is to guard him and keep him clean. Then the angel in Luke 1:16-17 quotes the prophet Malachi: “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction” (Mal. 4:5-6, NIV).
Sometimes it is hard to keep believing for the promise. Can we tell you today, “Keep believing!”? His promises are true, and the silence is about to be broken. Zachariah responds to the angel in Luke 1:18-20 (NLT): “Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.’ Then the angel said, ‘I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to bring you this good news! But now, since you didn’t believe what I said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly be fulfilled at the proper time.'”
Now, Dad went silent. Fear and lack of faith had caused him to go silent. There is a battle for the voice of dads and moms in this nation. If we fail to speak identity, it will be spoken by another voice. The only difference between the believer’s voice of today and the voices of perversion, with a radical agenda, is that we went mute when they went louder. From sitcoms to songs, culture is declaring that parents are irrelevant. It is time to roar over your family once again and speak His identity over your family so that the generations will declare.
Zechariah has gone silent. Can you imagine this home? Elizabeth is pregnant, but they can’t talk about it. They can’t dream together. Fear accepted will steal your roar!
Elizabeth is pregnant. The house is quiet. At the same time, Mary (her cousin) is also pregnant with Jesus. Mary decides to go visit her cousin Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John. Luke 1:41 (TPT) shares the moment when promise meets prophecy fulfilled, “At the moment she heard Mary’s voice, the baby within Elizabeth’s womb jumped and kicked. And suddenly, Elizabeth was filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit!”
When Jesus comes in the house, your kids will get fired up. But Dad is still quiet! Then finally, the child is born. On the eighth day they take him to be circumcised. This is when the child is given a name. Watch what happens.
Look at Luke 1:59-61 (TPT):
When the baby was eight days old, according to their custom, all the family and friends came together for the circumcision ceremony. Everyone was convinced that the parents would name the baby Zechariah, after his father. But Elizabeth spoke up and said, “No, he has to be named John!”
“What?” they exclaimed. “No one in your family line has that name!”
Be careful; just before the roar will come the negative voices. The doubters! How could he not be named after his dad? Would he not carry on the name? No, he would be called to proclaim the name of Jesus.
Mom and Dad, you have to fight for your children’s identity! It was time for the silence to be broken, identity declared and the roar released.
Luke 1:62-63 says, “So they gestured to the baby’s father to ask what to name the child. After motioning for a writing tablet, in amazement of all, he wrote, “His name is John.” Dad and Mom, step up! Join forces against the voices!
Luke 1:64, “Instantly Zechariah could speak again. And his first words were praises to the Lord.” You see, how you handle your greatest fear today will often determine how others experience God tomorrow!
Fast forward 30 years later to the voice of one crying in the wilderness. The roar comes when identity is revealed! When Zechariah declared his name to be John and identity was given, it would eventually allow John to fulfill prophesy. “The very next day John saw Jesus coming to him to be baptized, and John cried out, ‘Look! There he is—God’s Lamb! He will take away the sins of the world! I told you that a Mighty One would come who is far greater than I am, because he existed long before I was born!'” (John 1:29-30).
If you will roar, then so will your children! If we will declare identity over our kids, they will recognize the son of God when He walks up. There is a roar in the wilderness season, and God is breaking the silence—it is time to roar once again over your family.
Read more about restoring your roar in the powerful new book, Restore the Roar by Pat and Karen Schatzline. Watch Evangelists Pat and Karen share more from this message by going to their YouTube channel. Watch The Roar in the Wilderness. {eoa}
Pat Schatzline is a leading international evangelist and author. He and his wife, Karen, co-founded Remnant Ministries International.
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