This Is A Season For Intercession And A Time For Battle

    

     I recently read an article on the Intercessors for America website in which author Brandon Smith provided some insight for prayer regarding what he called, "A Worst Case Scenario for the 2020 Election". He then proceeded to unravel what "the Deep State's" plans were for the upcoming election, and how they hoped to not only defeat President Trump, but ultimately accomplish "a contested election, civil war, martial law, economic collapse and destruction of the US from within".

     Everything he suggested presented a plausible and logical scenario -- all valuable information to understand the political and globalist agenda. I am well aware of the plans and strategy to overhaul the American "experiment", as our first President called this nation. And, yes, I see below the surface of all the media deception and the political maneuvering. I see what is happening from the worldly perspective very well.

     But I also see and hear from the Lord, and receive His perspective and how we are to react to what we comprehend in the physical. So that's why I found the comments far more interesting than the article itself. The differences in how people recommended we pray [as intercessors] was very revealing. Most people were able to see behind the curtain, and ascertain that we are in a spiritual battle for the soul of this nation. But there were different positions on how to engage in this vigorous conflict.

    There were those who believe the only way to win against Satan's agenda is to up our game in intercessory prayer; to pray more fervently and without ceasing. Some prayed, "Father, raise up Your church to be Your Ambassadors of Love and shine the Light of Love into this dark world so that darkness cannot prevail and the Kingdom is advanced through Grace." Others are taking a little bolder stance and forming prayer groups, acknowledging that we have been born for "such a time as this" and calling on people to "agree and declare that the enemy is defeated and speak words of life, declaring that our God is able to do far more than we can ask or think. Let’s start thinking as big as possible and let him make it far bigger." These intercessors are asking for signs and wonders demonstrating  the Lord's Sovereignty during these tumultuous times.

     Still others asked, "Why even print such a negative and defeatist article? As the sons and daughters of God we are COMMANDED by God to focus on things that are of a good report! We will be held accountable for every idle word we speak! We need to focus and pray for God's Will on earth, in the White House, and in America, as it is in Heaven! We do not need to focus on debates, strategies, opinions, he said she said, etc”... We need to pray for agreement and for people to OBEY GOD….
Fast and pray for those in Authority. The power of Death and Life is in our tongue. We must speak Life over our country, not Death!"

     As to be expected, there were those whose focus seemed to be on our rights as citizens of America, telling God they wanted to stand and fight for the Constitution and Bill of Rights; asking God for His perfect will to be done, and asking "our Sovereign LORD to please give us Mercy and not what we deserve." But, I respectfully ask, "What do you think God's Sovereign will is for our country? Do you think politics is at the center of it, and it can be accomplished through an election?"

     I tend to agree with one of the commenters, who said, "The current war we face is between two kingdoms.The enemy is distracting God’s people by tempting us to focus on personal and national injustices. Our gaze needs to be unequivocally upon the kingdoms. By frequently gathering in worship, prayer and supplication, to seek Holy Spirit’s direction, He will lead and guide us through each step going forward. We will need to lay down every preconceived idea, no matter how brilliant it may seem, and seek to understand what our Commander in Chief wants to accomplish."

     Now I want to take it a step further. Yes, intercessory prayer is VERY important in this time! As we are faced with wickedness and evil that is emboldened and strengthened by the rebelliousness of men, we need people of strong faith and discernment to remind the Lord of His promises until we see them fulfilled. These are men and women who walk in their identity as anointed priests of God, with holy revelation their goal. We need men and women who will plead for Justice on behalf of the righteous; who are willing to build a wall of protection with their prayers and then to stand on that wall as encouragement for others. We need intercessors who know and understand what the fear of God is all about, and who are being transformed by the power of their prayer to form a stronger bond with our great God on behalf of all of us. I submit that there is only a remnant of such powerful prayer warriors who deserve the name of Intercessors. They need the rest of us to pray that they will grow in strength and endurance for the days ahead.

     Then I want to remind all of us that our Lord is a Man of War. The Bible is full of exhortations declaring His status as a Warrior. Who He was at the Red Sea is who He is today! As Moses wrote [in Exodus 15) after Pharaoh's army was destroyed in the midst of the Sea, "The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His Name". And as King David wrote in Psalm 24, "Who is the King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty; the LORD, invincible in battle." As Charles Ellicott (1819-1905) wrote in his excellent Commentary, "In the very name, Jehovah, is implied all might, all power, and so necessarily the strength to prevail in battle. The name, meaning "the Existent One," implies that nothing else has any real existence independently of Him; and if no existence, then necessarily no strength." He is Jehovah, the Strong and Mighty One; strong in Himself, mighty in His acts of war against the wicked, and mighty, especially in battle.

     We must not forget that the Lord described in these Old Testament accounts is the same King that the Apostle John reveals in Revelation 19:11, "Then I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse. And its rider is called Faithful and True. With righteousness He judges and wages war." He is also Jehovah Nissi and He will fight for us. His Name is a strong tower, and the righteous run into it and are safe (Proverbs 18:10). But that doesn't mean we sit on the sidelines and not participate in the spiritual war. That is why we have been give spiritual armor. We are to fight alongside the Heavenly Army of God on the earth and in the Second Heaven, as the Holy Spirit trains us up, counsels us, and leads us. The intercessors' prayers will give us strength in battle, as we wage war against the forces of evil -- both the human tyrants of this earth, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Their prayers will demand that the spiritual authorities and powers of darkness submit to Jehovah, the One before whom all others who exist will fade and fall into nothingness.

     So, in summation, as we approach the 2020 Elections, we will see many secular and political articles like the one mentioned at the beginning of this post. They have credibility as far as looking at possible outcomes of the Presidential race and our future from an earthly perspective. But are in this world, not of it! We must never lose sight of who we are, and who our God is. With fervent and unceasing Intercessory Prayer, coupled with dedicated and fearless warriors in the spirit, we will unite with our Warrior King of Mercy and Justice to see His will done on earth as it is in Heaven. There is a victory coming in every realm ... and it is ours!

Psalm 37:13     The Lord laughs at him [the wicked one—the one who oppresses the righteous], For He sees that his day [of defeat] is coming.