Like most young people starting out in the ministry, Dr. Jamie Morgan had a great deal of enthusiasm. She wanted to venture out and become a world changer as quickly as possible.
But not so she could bring attention to herself. She had pure intentions—to bring glory to God and His kingdom and to help the church return to a life of repentance and prayer. The problem was, like most young ministers, she was beginning from nothing and was largely unknown in kingdom circles.
She didn’t possess much patience at the time, but God humbled her and showed her how to build a ministry that He would one day bless and build into a lasting legacy.
“One day I was complaining to God about the huge platform Minister So-and-so has,” says Morgan, the lead pastor of Life Church Assemblies of God church in Williamstown, New Jersey. “I lamented, ‘If I had a platform as big as hers, I could reach more people for You and call the church back to the place of prayer’. I didn’t expect God to answer my tale of woe, but He did.
“He asked me, ‘Who gave her that platform?’ cutting right to the chase.
“I humbly replied, ‘Well, You did, Lord.’
“God has a way of encouraging and correcting all at the same time. He poignantly asked, ‘Can I give you a platform?’
“Again, I humbly replied, ‘Yes, Lord, of course. You can do anything.’
“What seemed like a mountain was turning into a miracle. Hope was welling up inside of me.
“Then God ended His part of our discourse with two powerful words: ‘Ask Me.’
“I paused for a moment to catch my breath. If God told me to ask, I was going to ask big. Small requests are an insult to our mighty God, so I said, ‘God, I ask You for a platform as wide as the world!’
Platform and Prayer
“End of conversation and done deal as far as I am concerned,” Morgan says. “Since that day, God has given me glimpses of the platform He has in store for me. He is also teaching me how precious a God-given platform is and how to steward it well.”
Indeed, Morgan’s platform has grown exponentially. With a master’s degree in practical theology from Oral Roberts University and a doctorate of ministry from the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, she not only has pastored Life Church since 2006, she is an evangelist, a revivalist, a prophetic voice, a conference speaker, a podcaster, a television show host, an author and a mentor.
Morgan has published four books, including her most recent, Thirsty: A 31-Day Journey to Personal Revival, and writes for worldwide publications like Charisma magazine.
A member of America’s National Prayer Committee and the Assemblies of God Prayer Committee. Morgan is also the founder of the intercessory ministry United States Prays, which mobilizes the remnant of our nation to cry out to God for revival. She is also founder of the Life School of Christian Leadership, training leaders for life. In early September, she launched the by-invitation-only Trailblazing Mentoring Network, a mentoring movement for “fire-carrying” women in ministry who are part of the end-time remnant and need a mentor to help them walk in the fullness of their calling.
With all of that responsibility, Morgan’s life’s mission is to evangelize the nations, call the church back to the place of prayer, fan the flames of revival and mentor trailblazing leaders to set the world aflame for Jesus Christ. Her passion is to help Christians discover their callings, step out in faith to answer God’s call on their lives and blast through every obstacle and stronghold that gets in their way.
How’s that for a huge kingdom platform? But beware, Morgan says. Young ministers shouldn’t try to build their own platform. God will bring it to you when He sees fit, she says.
“Unless God builds the platform, the laborers labor in vain,” she says. “Let Him build it in His perfect timing. Idolatry is to look to man for that which only God can provide. We can manufacture a platform with the arm of the flesh, but it will produce fleshly results. Only God can give you a platform that will result in eternal, lasting fruit.”
Ministry and Mentorship
One thing Morgan says she sorely lacked along the way to building her platform was a mentor. While she has been in the ministry for several decades, she only recently found two mentors to guide her in her kingdom journey.
Morgan has been privileged to be mentored in recent years by Dr. Naomi Dowdy, once a pioneering female missionary who, like Morgan, is now, with her apostolic vision, helping a new generation of leaders fulfill God’s calling upon their lives. This includes church leaders, business leaders and men and women in strategic leadership positions.
Her other mentor is Cindy Panepinto, who with her husband, Gary, founded Upward Call Ministries in 1996. The Panepintos are apostolic strategists.
Because she lacked a true mentor early on, Morgan sought one out through books, conferences and other media. Morgan says she would read biographies of trailblazing women ministers like Maria Woodworth-Etter and Aimee Semple MacPherson. Marilyn Hickey’s ministry also proved to be a huge influence in Morgan’s life.
“Most of my early years in ministry, I longed for someone to pour into me,” she says. “I longed to have someone I could glean wisdom from, whose experiences I could learn from I could learn from their experiences—what they did right, what they did wrong. I sought a mentor through the covers of those books and whatever women preachers were on TV. I would watch their shows and not so much listen to their messages but see how they conducted themselves. I would watch them and how they would conduct their lives and how they even interacted with their staff.
“I would spend thousands of dollars to fly to those conferences. I remember Marilyn used to have conferences for women in ministry, and I would spend all that money to fly from New Jersey to Denver, Colorado, to position myself to be encouraged, to keep the fire burning, to answer the call in my life.”
A lack of mentorship in her own life is perhaps the biggest reason she initiated the Trailblazing Mentoring Network, knowing how important it is to have leaders constantly speak into your life and your ministry. Morgan says it’s crucial to seek out those leaders, and that God will hear you and grant your request if you bring it to Him in prayer.
“The bottom line is I never want another woman in ministry or one who’s aspiring to be in the ministry to have to go through what I did,” Morgan says.
But the Trailblazing Mentoring Network is not for every woman who wants to enter the ministry. On her website, jamiemorgan.com, Morgan lists requirements to be accepted into the program-—separating the wheat from the chaff, so to speak—including those who are:
– Passionate about their call.
– Devoted followers of Jesus (the lukewarm need not apply).
– Eternity-minded (you live to see souls saved).
– Walking in holiness, love, obedience and the fear of the Lord.
– Willing to blaze trails for others to follow.
– Cheering for their sisters in ministry (the network is a “jealousy-free” zone).
– Part of the end-time remnant (loyal to the Lord and His Word to the end).
– Humble, teachable and correctable.
– Not given to complaining or gossiping.
– Steadfast at maintaining unity.
– Not the victim (a victory mentality is required).
– Honoring, respectful, prepared and punctual.
In the Trailblazing Mentoring Network, Morgan offers women apostolic-prophetic mentoring. Per her website, she shares, “wisdom, counsel and encouragement from her decades in the trenches as a woman in ministry leadership.”
Morgan helps women navigate all aspects of ministry, offering to “speak into your ministry and answer ministry-related questions and come alongside you as you follow Jesus and see the kingdom advance.” She conducts roundtable mentoring sessions via Zoom on the third Tuesday of each month. Since it is a global network, she gives students the choice of either a morning or evening session to accommodate every student.
Students are given free, unlimited access to Morgan’s e-courses, including her popular 40-Day Women in Ministry Bootcamp. Her growing library of e-courses covers a variety of ministry related topics, including “Journey to Your Purpose,” “Prayer and Intercession,” “Healing from Shame,” “How to Make Godly Decisions,” “Healing from Betrayal,” “The Jezebel Spirit,” “The Religious Spirit” and many others.
Students also participate in monthly Q&A sessions via Facebook Live where Morgan answers ministry-related questions, including those regarding her e-courses and specific struggles a student may have with her ministry.
Students also have exclusive access to Morgan’s private mentoring group and will receive ministry directly from her as well as network with other women in ministry.
The cost to join the Trailblazing Mentoring Network is minimal including partnership with Jamie Morgan Ministries. Offering open enrollment, Morgan says students can join the network at any time. Many prophetic words were spoken over her to start such a network and now those words have come to fruition, she says.
“It is my greatest honor to pour wisdom into others,” Morgan says. “God has placed within me rich treasures that I want to now pour out into others, again, from things I’ve done right and things I’ve done wrong; from the painful situations I’ve been through. God is now using those situations to help other women in ministry.
“Right now in these tumultuous times, all hands are needed on deck. Thank God we have male ministers who have the call of God on their lives. But there are so many female ministers who are ministers or aspiring to be ministers who are sitting on the sidelines. Or a door has opened for them, and they’ve tentatively walked through and not run through. I want to help them run through every door of opportunity and walk in the fullness of their calling.”
Revival, Books and Podcasts
Morgan knows from personal experience there is no greater joy than walking in a calling from God. But there is also pain in ministry, she says. And that pain and struggle prompt many to relinquish their calling.
Through the platform God has given her through her books and her podcast, Fire Starter, on the Charisma Podcast Network, she says she hopes she can help not only minsters and prospective ministers but also everyday believers navigate through pain and stay on course with Christ and the Great Commission.
Morgan’s latest book, Thirsty: A 31-Day Journey to Personal Revival, released in October, asks the bold question, “Are you courageous enough to admit you need personal revival?” An interactive prayer devotional that focuses on 31 aspects of your Christian walk, the book will help you set everything you touch ablaze for God.
“Each day as you think about a different aspect of your walk, through prayer and the God’s Word, you embrace the fire of revival for that specific area of your relationship with Jesus,” Morgan says. “It invites the All-Consuming Fire to bring that area back to life. We can be revived in nine-tenths of our Christian walk. But that other one-tenth, not so much.
“So far, it’s been received very well. People are using it for personal devotions, and churches are using it. They are ordering it for their January prayer and fasting emphasis that most churches have at the beginning of the year, which is coming up soon. It is an ideal companion to that.”
Dr. Naomi Dowdy calls Thirsty a “game-changer.”
“Gripping. Soul-searching. Lovingly challenging. Uncompromising. These are a few words to describe this devotional journey,” Dowdy says. “I don’t usually like daily devotionals because they are ‘too fluffy’ for me. But clean your desk and make room for this one! Dr. Jamie Morgan has written my kind of book! This book is a game-changer! It will change your walk with God, and that of your friends, as you journey together.”
Also through her podcast, Fire Starter, Morgan continues to hone in on igniting revival that is desperately needed in the church today. Through interviews with special guests, she reports on pockets of revival happening in America today in anticipation of another Great Awakening.
But for the church to experience this Great Awakening, Morgan says believers need a wakeup call; one she hopes she is providing through the now ever-expanding platform God has given her.
“The emphasis of my podcast is to create a desperation for revival in the hearts of God’s people,” Morgan says. “He has given me the opportunity to help do that, and I am eternally grateful to be a part of it. I teach on revival, and I’m also a revival field reporter. People need to know what’s going on around the world, and we need to keep revival in the forefront of the body of Christ.”
Shawn A. Akers is a content development editor for Charisma Media.
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