SPIRITUAL NETWORK
In prayer we are called to stand upon our watch on the wall of the Lord's frontline forces.Habakkuk 2;1 says "I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower ..".Isaiah 62;6-7 says "I have set watchmen upon thy walls O Jerusalem,which shall never hold their peace day nor night; ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence And give him no rest till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth ".
Prayer warriors (a term I will use to describe both intercessors and warfare warriors) are an army that is on call 24 hours a day alert for the slightest prompt of the Spirit like an alarm to go into combat.Sometimes we are prompted to intercede (plead with the Lord for someone or a situation) while at times we are called to engage evil forces for the Lord's will to be upheld, established or defended.Sometimes we are given a revelation or word of knowledge, vision or dream about what we are praying for. Sometimes we identify the prayer item because it is presented to us as a request especially by our local church. Although further revelation may be given by the Spirit to expound the prayer request, basically such prayer items are identified by their request.Yet with the vision of the request more or less clear we still find ourselves stuck praying the item as we ought to and according to the will of the Lord.It is even harder to be prompted by the Spirit for items we have neither vision for nor knowledge of.It is in the latter that a different annointing becomes essential.It is this annointing I will be addressing mainly on this site.
Believers form a network by which the Spirit moves. We are individual temples of the Holy Ghost.We are fearfully and wonderfully made "..as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house".1Peter 2;5 founded on Christ the Chief cornerstone .In us are built an intricate communication network with the Holy Ghost.While in times past we received transmission from the devil's network ,"according to the prince of the power of the air,"Ephesians 2;2 now we are posted in God's own network upon our individual posts and like Habakkuk ,"will watch to see what He wil say unto me [us]".As prayer warriors the most important part of our watching is to "see".Without seeing we can't receive instruction and without instruction we can't move into combat.It is pathetic to be blind watchmen.Isaiah describes a similar predicament in Israel in Isaiah 56;10 as "His watchmen are blind; they are all ignorant, they are all dump dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping,lying down, loving to slumber"....It's strong language but often God uses it to make a point and the point gets made.I only hope God will not judge us some day for being too kind with our words while individuals sleep on heavenly duty.
If we are indeed temples of the Holy Ghost with the intricate workmanship of the altar of the Lord in the midst of our lives then we are essentially expected to be sensitive to the indwelling Spirit.In us are alarm bells prompting us to respond when the Spirit moves.Some of us hear the alarm as a sensation in some part of our body while some feel pressure welling up in their bellies , a burning in our bones or apparent birth pangs. Each of us, in their particular way, should be able to identify the alarm bells if we really are watchmen upon the tower.And when the Lord has called, it is imperative that we know like Habakkuk "what I [we] shall answer when I am reproved".Unlike Cain we can't stand before God when God's purposes are broken by the enemy and say ,"I know not; Am I my brother's keeper?"Genesis 4;9.We are of the second Adam, Jesus ,who shed His blood for His brethren and we are our brothers' keepers.How shall you answer when you are reproved? Where are you when the alarm is rung?What holds you back from going into combat?
It is a sad fact that the enemy can use that which is good to distract us from God's call.There is nothing wrong in praise and worship gatherings as long as they are not an excuse to distract prayer warriors from the more demanding and painful, sweaty duty of prayer.There is nothing wrong in sitting 7 days through a revival crusade as long as that does not become an excuse for a prayer warrior quenching the Spirit of the Lord.I am addressing this to those who know for sure that they are called to prayer above everything else.Please take advice from Solomon's song 1;6b..."they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyards have I not kept".
Someone once told me that God is not an author of confusion to call someone to prayer in the middle of a believers' gathering.While I still agree with him, experience has taught me that God would not call a prayer warrior to prayer in such cases unless it was absolutely necessary .We are on this earth and God is in heaven and let us be humble enough to acknowledge that our priorities are not necessarily His priorities ."For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth ,so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts", Isaiah 55;8-9.If a doctor on call can leave a crusade for an emergency what makes the Spirit's emergencies less critical? Prayer warriors are individuals with an annointing that puts them on call 24 hours a day!
Every believer is called to pray just as much as they are called to be witnesses of the message of Jesus.Yet, though we are all called to witness there still is a distinct annointing and office of the evangelist.The office of the evangelist does not minimise or do away with the evangelism of the witness.Evangelism occupies the emergency role of the witness of Jesus.So does the annointing of the prayer warrior .By providing emergency backup to prayer it assures a completion of the Spirit's network.
I pray that God will stir many faithful believers who are involved in prayer to press towards the annointing and make their calling and election sure in this area. Urgency requires it of the bride!
Because this is one fighting unit where so many others will be required as the enemy intensifies his battle in these last days.The need for prayer warriors becomes critical and I believe God has a people reserved for this hour and prepared for the demand of the time.
I implore you not to hide behind other believers'callings. ."Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds,to hear the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart." Deborah asked in Judges 5;16-17. "Gilead abode beyond Jordan; and why did Dan remain in ships?Asher continued on the seashore, and abode in his breaches".These were tribes, so busy in their usual lifestyles, that they excused themselves, even against their conscience, to answer the call to go to battle with Deborah.Do you feel like them at times ; so busy with every duty of your tribe(organisation) that you have no time for God's emergencies ? Things did not go well with one particular group who were just as busy.They received a curse. "Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord,to the help of the Lord against the mighty".Judges 5;23.There is a curse for not fighting for the Lord .Jeremiah 48;10 says "...and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood".
Prayer warrior, if you feel you have God's call to be set apart like Samson for the battles of the Lord, I beg you to present yourself before the Lord to desire earnestly the annointing and stand at your post.It is an annointing to desire,to ask for and to receive.
Maybe you may be one of those who feel they have no recognised role in the church.You may feel noone wants to know you or fully integrate you in their programmes.Sometimes you may feel like a stone rejected by the builders of your organisation.I encourage you to come to the stone that was rejected by men which became the Chief cornerstone.Welcome to the unit of individuals who remain in the shadows of the visible army.God humbles you because He calls you off the stage of human spectacle.He calls you into the closet "..and when thou hast shut thy door ,pray to thy Father which is in secret," Matthew 6;6.Our strength as prayer warriors is in our secret battles and in"Not boasting of things without our measure, that is ,of other men's labours;.." 2Corinthians 10;15.God is ready to make a warrior out of you,to make you "quit like a man and be strong".In this unit we can't hide behind another's work...we are first and foremost accountable to God alone and to Him we have to give account of our watching.
It does not make sense to the the religion we grew up in to say that God's plans often require emergency measures. How could God Almighty's will need our intervention to be fulfilled? It's like giving ourselves self importance in matters too great for us?This is the kind of humility the devil welcomes among believers and will even put a deceiving word in the mouths of wellmeaning teachers to immobilise the flock for. At the core of it all, it actually questions why we need to pray at all and without saying so, questions why God used the emergency plan of having His own Son die on Calvary. At the other end it also questions whether it is necessary to wrestle against evil forces when Christ disarmed them and destroyed them 2000 years ago.What a teaching ! How it removes even the lighter yoke of Christ we are given to draw (Matthew 11;29-30) How it sets us free, to endlessly sit there, on that favourite seat of ours,every day, to be entertained by the preacher who speaks the words that please our ears! And then we call down a Holy Ghost rally and get drunk in the Spirit ,get slain in the might of the Holy Ghost and feel really blessed!"But to whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required"..Luke 12;48.
The Spirit is given for action to empower us for greater purposes.Much will be required of us in this generation where we literally blow in the wind of the Spirit and where His presence has been demonstrated beyond wild expectations.So much annointing has been poured on us and some gifts before unheard of are waiting to be demonstrated.Iam convinced God's mighty moves will not be restricted to that which is written of the acts of the apostles but will be built on it and completed in so far as "God having provided some better thing for us , that they without us should not be made perfect"Hebrews 11;40. I believe that the Lord will answer Paul's prayer in our generation when he prayed, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him ; The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling , and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints." We have a rich inheritance handed down from the apostles and like every inheritance it is given in trust and it should be guarded and increased.The servant who was entrusted with two talents added two more to it ; so did the one who had five who added five more(Matthew 25).Paul boldly says ..."as a wise masterbuilder I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon....Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood ,hay stubble..."1Corinthians 3;10-15.Prayer warrior, I have a secret for you .Build on your inheritance in the secrecy of the closet.Your annointing enables you to build upon the foundation works that will stand the Lord's test of fire - because when the Spirit blows and moves you to answer His emergency He takes over in you and with groanings that cannot be uttered accomplishes in you God's will. The joy of praying in the Spirit is the assurance that in His tongue you can't miss God's intended purpose! Glory be to His name!
I have dedicated my mouth to the Lord, my tongue and my jaws.Out of these jaws shall flow rivers of tongues that shall refresh the army of the Lord and fire that destroys His enemies.The Lord did it with a dead ass's jaw."And Samson said ,With the jawbone of an ass , heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men." Judges 15;15-19.And miracle followed miracle.The battle made him thirsty and "..God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw and there came water thereout ; and when he had drunk , his spirit came again and he revived..."Am I paying attention to frivolous detail? God did not think it trivial and moved men of God to write it. He used something as trivial as the jaw of an ass to arm Samson."For who hath despised the day of small things?" Zechariah 4;10.
Maybe we need to learn from the ass again.When the prophet Balaam almost moved in blind fury into the drawn sword of the angel of the Lord he found his intercession in his ass.The Lord gave his ass a tongue to plead with his foolish spirit, and the Spirit of the Lord moved the ass to protect her master from the angel of the Lord. The angel said ,"And the ass saw me , and turned from me these three times; unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive".Numbers 22;33. Prayer warrior,God will put a new tongue in your jaw and move you into the gap so that souls will be spared eternal death. You are needed in these last days when so many prophets descend onto the scene.There are many peoples' souls at stake and vain ambition everywhere. The times require prayer warriors with unique sensitivity to the the discerning Spirit.And if out there one of his warring servants grows thirsty on the battleground, let the Spirit of the Lord open rivers of grace from your jaws in abundance to refresh their despairing souls.For in your tongue abide issues pertaining to life and death.
I implore you as one who has also been redeemed from the vanity of that which is seen by men to seek your joy and contentment in the closet.Some in the body of Christ are called to the visible army of the Lord. They have their travail in the office they are called to and labour to teach and build the body of the Lord as the Lord gives them utterance.Like treasurers of God's secrets they are usually in the line of fire of the enemy sniper. Some of them suffer untold scourges of jealousy from other believers and wade through currents of illwill. Some are multigifted and also stand in the emergency roll; after burning on the stage, praying and pleading with the Lord to raise for them helpers to share the burden. As spiritual fathers they have begotten us through the gospel and still labour on their own in secret battles for the work of God.
The God-given vision of so many ministries is the rapid movement of the army of the Lord to claim territory for the Lord ;the focus is turning from building structures for grooming believers to launching vast faithdriven crusades to touch millions of souls.No longer are ministries satisfied with thousands but with thousands upon thousands! This is Spiritdriven urgency as the Holy Ghost, like a mighty rushing wind blows Spiritfilled men of God His way."The wind bloweth where it listeth , and thou heareth the sound thereof , but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth;so is every one that is born of the Spirit".John 3;8. We are entering the stage when God will blow away individual programmes and blow ministries where He leads.It is time that Isaiah 35;3 calls to us, "Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees", because we are getting ready to run with horses like Elijah before the sound of an abundance of revival rain!
Thank God for your offerings and alms to the ministries.Thank God for all the support you give to the work of God.God is calling you to make your life a living sacrifice on the altar of prayer. He wants to set you on a rock that is higher than you.He wants you to rise above those things you can do yourself like singing in the band before adoring crowds to things you can't do on your own.He is waiting to teach you to sing with invisible angelic choirs.He is waiting to teach you to walk in the secret places of the Lord.There is a world of prayer waiting outside the door of your programmed prayer time..God is not calling you out of the organisation you belong to ;He is calling you to branch out like a mustard tree branch reaching out vigorously for the sunlight,spreading its leaves,making more food for the tree,and reaching out to the birds of the air, offering them a nest and relief from their flight.You don't have to fight for a place in the music band or for some position that people can see.Don't grieve your leaders; reach out for a higher calling and go out to" mount Carmel " and like Elijah cast yourself down upon the earth and put your face between your knees! I promise you; revival is coming to your church! Revival is coming to the world as the waters cover the sea!
Iam afraid I am as bad as many other people who are so proud of their calling that I see my ministry in every verse of the bible I read.Ihope you will be able to put up with me as I get blown away with the word of God ever so often.In it I have found a hidden treasure and a soil so rich I am assured of harvests beyond my wildest dreams.I am grateful the Lord has saved me from the futility of building on the inheritance of my faith with wood and hay that won't stand the test of the Lord's trial by fire.I am personally assured that it is because of the vital annointing that tongues have, that the devil has made it his top priority to stifle them!
The uniqueness of the annointing I would like to share with you is its ability to equip a believer to go into combat without him knowing what he is engaging and how he should pray as he ought. It is given to the warrior to feel the contest inside him, communicating with the Spirit at the depth of his Spirit. He shares the tears of the Spirit and the violence of Him. Wrestling and mouthing muffled tongues, he reaches out with spiritual eyes and trained spiritual senses into a realm of travail where things that are not are as tangible as things that are.For many forgotten hours he strains against himself ,meeting a pervading resistance that tongues and spirit flex against and grapple with, until submission is registered by a release and praise, with rejoicing that passeth all understanding. Words fail me to describe the secret of the Lord when His Spirit goes before Him for mankind or when He goes forth and carries me in the ' bitterness of my spirit' (Ezekiel 3;14) to break asunder the defences of the enemy.But after every bitter contest my spirit testifies to me that many prayer warriors sit at ease in Zion. They need to realise that the battle is intensifying and that it is not yet the hour to sit and divide the spoils of victory.
If this week's message has stirred your heart to seek a deeper commitment to battle, glory be to the Lord.Iam just a layman unlearned in the art of stirring my brethren's hearts. All I have is what the Lord has allowed me to learn and grasp from Himself and his faithful servants.Should I by my zeal cause offence, may the Lord allow me His grace in the eyes of my brothers. Please pray for me that I may receive abundant grace as I continue with these messages every week. To Him be the glory.
