Your wilderness experience says a lot about why God is correcting Christian journalists and ministry leaders who were shaped by the Charismatic Movement. They failed God when they failed to bring you into Jesus’ covenant, where God gives you a new identity in Christ and a new reality.

Maybe you’ve asked, “Why is Jesus’ covenant so important?” In Christ (in His covenant) is where God shapes our true identity. In Christ describes the reality we live—every day without fail. It’s where you meet God and He shapes the real you according to His design, His spiritual tools that He placed in Christ.

Everything changes when you enter into a covenant relationship with God.

Our discernment mirrors the reality God placed in Jesus (in Him—in His covenant) and the anointing is the living witness that confirms Jesus in His truth—every day without fail to carry God’s promises from His throne to our hearts. We learn what we live. This is why real apostles are so important. Jesus’ covenant is the divine design they teach.

All the apostles confirmed that God meets us, walks intimately with us, and works in our inner man when we are inside Jesus’ covenant. But their instruction to the saints was also with warning, “Don’t fall away by neglect, nor through Satan’s options. Don’t become a dry tree.” (Jude 1:12)

God again addresses the wilderness experience today, “Why are you a dry tree and dry root in the wilderness?”

• Believers feel victimized after years of suffering in the wilderness (the covenant void) where Satan’s substitutes replaced Jesus’ covenant.

When you said, “I feel dry,” ministry leaders responded, “We all feel that way here in the wilderness. You’re fine. It’s normal. You’ll get used to it and learn to accept it. It’s a test.”

No—that’s not true. You learn what you live. God is shining His light on the wilderness cycle He did not create for you. You’ve been trying to glean understanding from dryness, trying to give value to the covenant void, while God is calling you out of it.

Wilderness experiences are the fruit of the doctrine you were given. When you said, “I’m anxious and disappointed,” ministry leaders responded and said, “We all feel that way here in the wilderness. You’re fine. It’s normal. You’ll get used to it and learn to accept it. It’s a test.”

Again, that’s not true. You’ve learned what you lived. You can’t expect to know the life of Christ if you haven’t lived it.

Christians formed their first spiritual associations from their wilderness experiences and rely on those lived experiences to interpret meaning. But it’s becoming increasingly difficult for Satan’s deception to remain hidden when so many are awakening to the reality that they are without Christ.

It can feel confusing when your entire Christian identity is shaped around the idea that you left “rule-based religion” behind years ago when you determined to follow Jesus. You might wonder how you could still be part of the false church body when you say you love Jesus.

And because God’s corrections can feel like a target on your back, I want to repeat something that Apostle Eric vonAnderseck often clarifies:

“Instruction is not persecution. Jesus used the Pharisees and Sadducees for negative role models to bring contrast for His disciples’ discernment, not speaking in envy or for strife, but rather in His mercy of instruction for exhortation and faith. We also follow Jesus’ example, not in hate, but in warning for the victims that will cross the paths of those that are ‘deceitful workers’.”

Amen. God is not criticizing or persecuting but giving needful instruction through His real apostolic stewards. The restored government of God is His ox goad to move you along toward His covenant house. And even though all things of Christ are freely made available, believers who were mentored in the Charismatic Movement insist that they can serve God their own way. But their wandering in the wilderness has never produced the life of Christ.

For some, a cultural reflex takes over when God’s corrections are heard. An internal struggle begins: what to do with the lie once God’s spotlight has penetrated it. The cultural reflex has been to change the story, invent new language, and gather new witnesses to vindicate a calling—with one objective: to keep moving forward with the same message that God is dismantling as He defuses Satan’s lies.

Every time ministers try to self-correct, God points out that error.

God’s correction is not aimed at a mindless system of misconceptions, but at a deliberate, self‑protecting culture. Ministers built the culture, ministers maintain it, and ministers respond to God’s correction with self-correction.

The same Christian journalists and ministry leaders who invented the different Charismatic circles are now examining the flaws of the very system they created and were mentored in. They did not prepare the people for Jesus’ covenant, and over time, they grew accustomed to accepting the voice of seducing spirits as the voice of God.

The Spirit speaks expressly: The system itself cannot be fixed by correcting missteps. It cannot be fixed because it is an antichrist system. Death is in it. God is not repairing what has been built by Satan’s ministers. He is dismantling it and disarming the lies that support it. God spoke the same words of reproof to Israel.

Isaiah 28:15

Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

God marks a covenant made with death to bring to light how His people had fallen under Satan’s spell. And as He speaks to the church today, God again marks those who have come into 100% agreement with Satan’s lies and have made his counterfeit wilderness environment their home.

The devil works with similarities to create his false gospel.

Because the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to provide a new pattern for our new priesthood in Himself, Satan deliberately removed everything God placed in your priesthood and gave you the wilderness as a hollow environment that feels “biblical” but produces no fruit.

This hollow wilderness environment feels like separation because it is. And the devil takes this opportunity to “get real” and talk about those feelings of separation from God in every possible way but the way that matters—he never reveals the true reason why you feel the way you do.

Satan designed the wilderness as a substitute for Jesus’ covenant to keep you from connecting to God the way He planned. And when the environment itself is engineered to produce separation, the emotions that rise from it feel honest, even spiritual, because they match the system you were placed in.

People grapple with their separation from God every day. What helps Satan keep people convinced that the lie (counterfeit wilderness) is God’s will for them is how ministers nurse their own wilderness experience.

One minister, tackling her own wilderness experience head-on, takes a page from her new book:

“God isn’t asking for the ‘right’ words. God invites the real you. The anxious you. The disappointed you. The tired you. Start there. You’re not fine.”

But take a step back. This is not the real you—this is the wilderness you. This is you lost in the wilderness after following ministers there. Of course, you’re not fine. You were not given the covenant knowledge and tools God placed in Jesus for you to reciprocate to Him. Fruit bearing in God’s kingdom is only through covenant contact. God’s work, His wonderful, marvelous work in your heart doesn’t leave you anxious or disappointed.

Always remember: God does not start where Satan broke you. He starts at His own selected place—His covenant knowledge that He placed in Jesus, where He daily gives you a gift of Himself.

This is the moment you realize, “Oh… this isn’t God meeting me in my brokenness — this is the brokenness produced by a wilderness (covenant void) I never should have been living in.”

God shows you where He starts His healing work in you. He begins by connecting you to His apostles, who open the door to your priesthood so you can begin functioning with the Lord. God invites the real you to mirror Christ in His daily gifts.

This is where God starts, because this is how He daily empowers you to reciprocate to Him.

Satan doesn’t invent a new pattern; he simply mirrors God’s pattern and then removes Jesus’ covenant tools. This is exactly the kind of counterfeit that survives because it looks close enough to truth to pass inspection.

Even so, believers are beginning to see that the wilderness they’ve been taught to normalize is not the wilderness Jesus entered.

As God breaks the wilderness spell, the curtain lifts and you see the wilderness fully staged. It can feel as if the rug has been pulled out from under you as you realize the full extent of the lie. But the wilderness didn’t become a lie when you finally saw it. It was a lie all along. It was a lie from the beginning. God is showing you the lie as a whole, not the isolated pieces the devil offers to fix.

Many believers feel devastated when God pulls the curtain back on Satan’s lie. They entered the wilderness with an expectation—but what a massive letdown. That ache is echoed across the Christian landscape and showing up in testimonies, conversations, and books being released today.

In one way or another, the truth comes out. And when it does, you begin to recognize the abusive patterns that once felt normal. Let’s look at another quote from the same minister tackling her own wilderness experience. She further states:

“When we keep editing our prayers, we can start feeling more distant, not because God stepped away, but because we did.”

What are edited prayers?

These are the scripted prayers and “right” words the Charismatic Movement created and endorsed—and still endorses. That’s why your wilderness persists.

We have all heard versions of the Faith Movement’s reciting, claiming promises, declaring scripture, binding and loosing prayers. Add to this the Deliverance Movement’s renouncing‑the‑devil techniques, confession rituals, and scripted declarations. These are the many forms of “edited prayers” that echo along the wilderness trails.

God’s corrections have landed heavily upon these wilderness practices because they are Satan’s counterfeit and work exactly as he intended—as a distraction to keep you outside Jesus’ covenant where God actually works in you.

Every time God challenges the lies that ministers embraced as their culture, the light comes on—and a cover‑up follows. Special language is invented to defuse the situation. Instead of humbly saying, “We are responsible for providing a false journey and a false system that kept the church in bondage. We neglected Jesus’ covenant and followed Satan into the wilderness of his counterfeits,” the lie is covered up by saying, “We’ve been editing your prayers”, and “God isn’t asking for the ‘right’ words.”

The first line is a confession — “We’ve been editing your prayers.”

The second is self-correction — “God isn’t asking for the ‘right’ words.”

But neither is repentance. Both are camouflage, designed to preserve the lie while presenting the next layer of instruction as if it were fresh revelation from heaven.

• It is easier to reinvent a mistake by telling more lies.

Saying that you’ve been editing your prayers is simply another form of the same lie. This is the hidden falsehood ministers claim as their refuge. Each minister experiments with methods—dabbling at the problem—reflecting the Charismatic tinkering and trial‑and‑error “revelation” culture. But this is not the Holy Spirit speaking; it is a seducing spirit.

Outwardly, they want to appear compliant with God’s corrections, even as they protect the lie that sustains their system. They acknowledge that correction is necessary but work to retain the lie. This is not repentance—it’s camouflage.”

This takes us back to God’s reproof in Isaiah 28:15, “Because ye have said, we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:”

God addressed the religious leaders of Isaiah’s time who said in their hearts, “We have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves.” They wouldn’t have said that out loud. They said it in their hearts. In other words, God rebuked their rebellious heart. And He’s doing the same thing today.

This choice to accept the wilderness experience and make it look as if it is God’s covenant environment was not hidden from the Lord. Ministers didn’t just encounter the lie—they absorbed it, normalized it, and built their culture around it.

And while ministers are now willing to admit they’ve edited your prayers with deliverance declarations and scripture confessions, they have no intention of letting you go. They only want to run a commentary about it—offering just enough information to encourage a false “restart.”

• They’ll say, “Start there. You’re not fine.” But that’s a wilderness restart.

As I said earlier, that’s not where God starts. God starts to reason with us from His covenant knowledge that frees us to Him. He designed Jesus’ covenant with our participation in mind. He uses all of Jesus’ spiritual tools to effect transformation His way. And that’s why God says that Jesus is our new reality.

Christian journalists and ministry leaders stamped your wilderness passport the moment you stepped into the counterfeit environment they built to replace everything God intended to supply through covenant contact.

Let’s go back to the admission of guilt: that ministers have been editing your prayers. The false minister said, “When we keep editing our prayers, we can start feeling more distant, not because God stepped away, but because we did.”

Can you see the wilderness experience defined and the coverup that follows?

The wilderness experience: “I feel distant from God.”

The coverup: “You’ve been editing your prayers. You stepped away from God.”

No. You didn’t step away from God. That’s not on you. It’s on them. Christian journalists and authors led you into the wilderness where God does not connect with you. That’s why He feels distant—because He’s not there in the wilderness Satan built.

• God built all His connections with you inside His new covenant in Jesus. That’s where He wants you because that’s where He communes with you.

When we are inside the covenant environment God designed in Jesus, the administration of the Spirit changes our story from flesh bound witnesses to Spirit bound witnesses. These are two different kingdoms, and God highlights the contrast to protect believers from Satan’s wilderness mindset.

The ministration of the Spirit is life. God provides us tokens for the strength of our faith.

Philippians 4:19

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Apostle Eric draws out God’s instruction through Apostle Paul: “My God shall supply all your need, meaning the things that are necessary for your faith to be made perfect. According to His riches. And where are these riches? They’re the treasures of His throne, which He calls the riches of His glory. Everything that Christ has provided for us—in Himself—is available for our needs.”

Amen. The power of the Spirit is lived in Jesus’ covenant—the God-given designed environment for us to partake of all that He placed for us in Him. It begins with apostolic stewardship (Jesus’ foundation knowledge) and priesthood (our function in Him).

Now ,if you don’t have a God-designed priesthood—you’re not partaking of Jesus—you’re not really following Him. You’ll look outside the covenant for your provision. And that’s why you’ve learned to speak the language of your wilderness experience—trying to keep it real—talking about your experience with dryness, anxiety, and disappointments.

That’s not Jesus’ provision—that’s Satan’s designed wilderness—that’s Satan’s provision.

The Prophet Isaiah took note of those who wandered into Satan’s wilderness. Isaiah spoke by the word of the Lord about their exhausting experiences there saying,

Isaiah 29:8

It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.

This wilderness experience is not the reality of Christ God has called you to. Like a hungry man dreams of eating and awakens to find out he’s still hungry, believers awaken to find their soul has no substance. Your soul has an appetite that only God can fill.

Satan’s call to the wilderness is not the same as God’s call to His covenant, where He cares for you and grooms the likeness of Christ within.

Satan’s call sounds like this: “Navigate the wilderness within.”

God’s call sounds like this: “Navigate my covenant within.”

God is not asking us to navigate the wilderness. His call to the church is to accept the stewardship that helps them navigate Jesus’ covenant.