John 15:13

Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.

 

I had a dream on May 16, 2005, at 7:50 a.m. in which I was seeing the world from space as it would appear to an astronaut.  But while gaining a view from so far I could at the same time see mankind in the grips of all kinds of the gross sins.  The landscape looked hopeless and I said, “Oh LORD, the world is in utter chaos.  Who could ever turn the tide of the evil that I see – it has gone so far?”  I was interceding for the world; for mankind who was not even mindful of their creator. I then became acutely aware that a sacrifice had to be made to “cleanse and heal the land.” I asked the LORD, “What can I do?  I am just one person and the task is so overwhelming.”

 

As I looked down upon the earth in my dream, I could see a “living globe” teeming with people.  It looked and felt so hopeless and in my heart I wondered, “How LORD?  It’s too much, too big, too many, too far…”  The curse of sin had gravely affected the world and its people. 

 

Then I heard the LORD say, “But someone has to go first! 

Someone has to make the sacrifice!”

 

I knew that God was speaking to me and millions of others just like me, whom He has raised up in our time, amongst every tribe, tongue, land and people to stand in the gap for our families, churches, cities and nations.

 

As my dream continued, the LORD then showed me how all down through the history of mankind holy men and women had risen to the forefront of history and made sacrifices and repented and battled for a people that appeared to have gone too far.  They had made choices that went against the “flood tide of evil” that was present in their day and against the incredible odds of enemy force and saw great change come to lands and people.

 

The LORD showed me how they had stepped up to the battlefield of the invading darkness that was attempting to engulf the nations and the hapless souls therein.

 

They stepped out in obedience, into “the gap” before the LORD to make up the hedge of protection.

 

It is written in the Word that there was a time in history when it was not so.  God’s eyes searched, as He has many times in history, for the one who would stand up and face the difficult task of interceding for a people who were in desperate need. They had spiritually and morally declined to the point that there had to either be repentance or destruction. God was so deeply moved by His Divine nature of righteous judgment that if someone did not step up and into place in this moment, there would be great loss.  Listen to the words of the LORD:

 

Ezek 22:29-30

“The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”

 

God can find anything if it is to be found - and if He says He’s looked and didn’t find it - then it does not exist.  The absence of an intercessor leaves an area wide open to degradation- so much so that it has to be dealt with to stop it. For some, “Divine Intervention” does come and great loss is experienced.  Biblical history is evidence of that fact as is the history of people, cities and nations that have risen in only to fall into obscurity.

 

God’s eyes sees everything and everyone and misses nothing about anything, so this scripture paints a pretty startling picture to me – to think that destruction came to a land because no one was available for God to use!

 

Let that never be said of us that we were unavailable. 

It appears that a lot hinges on the availability of men and women, youth and children to be used by God.

 

God generally does not ask His people to do easy things when they are called out of obscurity and introduced to men and devils as the servants of the Most High God.

 

·     Someone has always had to cleanse, repent, prepare a sacrifice, worship and intercede on behalf of others.  

·     Someone has always had to stand in the gap when there was a need for intervention on behalf of people on their way to sudden destruction.

 

The world, as we know it, has changed so radically that our forefathers would never believe what has happened.  They would not even imagine in their worst nightmares what rampant sin looks like today.

 

This is not just about bars, nightclubs, drugs, booze, rebellion, pornography and other sins that mar the beauty of the human soul, but it is about an invading force of darkness that is prepared to go deeper and deeper into depravity if left unchecked.

 

·        Evil is never filled. 

·        Its appetite is insatiable. 

 

The “Spiral of Degradation” is an ever- downward pull and will put to death all that is good, holy, true and pure if someone doesn’t stop it.”

 

It is not just our good and nostalgic thoughts about life that is “passing away” but it is our families, youth and children.  This is a life and death struggle that involves the life of real people in a very real world.

 

In a day when “hell is literally breaking loose,” there are a multitude of places to “stand.”  It is said that every major revival began with 6 or less intercessors beseeching God for a spiritual awakening and change. 

 

If God is looking for an intercessor by the time an intercessor says “yes,” it has probably already turned into a desperate situation.

 

Intercession is a sign that something is terribly wrong.

It’s the sign of an emergency of great heavenly concern.

“God is not willing that any should perish!” John 3:16

 

There is a cry from heaven to earth to return the cry to heaven for earth!

 

If everything was good and well, then no one would pray and God would not be calling for watchmen to take their post on the wall.  The need of intercession decries the fact that there is a breach in the wall and the enemy has taken the area.

 

That is the reason for the intensity of this hour.

We have entered into one of the biggest battlefields of the ages.

 

I believe that many around the world have been faced with “God projects” that to the human eye seem to be impossible and even appear to be “getting worse.”  If you did not “know that you know” that God has spoken to you, there is enough discouragement to drive anyone “back to normal.”

 

The only thing with being “normal” is that we have to

“Vacate the Premises of the Promises.”

 

Even you now might be still working with only a handful of people in an overwhelming place where defeat seems more likely than victory – but I do know that God would have never awakened you to the place of intercession if there was no hope.  The fact you have been roused out of your sleep is proof that God intends to turn this thing around.  That is the point of the call to intercession – to turn back the tide of evil.

 

The two sisters, who started praying long before the Wales revival came to pass, probably had good days when they were greatly encouraged and despairing days that they felt like giving up.

 

Someone has to go first!

 

Intercession is about vision by faith – seeing what is not natural to see.  It is about looking from God’s viewpoint and not getting caught up in overly focusing on “what is not happening” in respect to our prayers. 

 

God is not seeing the same picture as we are.

 

·       If it’s worse than we think, then we need to see the full picture in order to pray real prayers for real situations.  God does not want us to pray through “rose colored glasses,” but through His eyes and heart. 

·       If it is better than we can see with our natural eyes, then we need to see with spiritual eyes and not get caught up in “nay saying” all the time about “how hard or bad it is.” 

 

If we see only bad and God working and things are shifting and transpiring, then we might be tempted to give up when God is just getting started.

 

A great deal of faith in God’s word to you is necessary to keep on when others are laying down their swords. 

 

We may feel our insignificance in light of the magnitude of what lies before us, but God sees something different.

 

Firstly, He sees you – one who has presented your body as a living sacrifice holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (Rom 12:1)

 

And…He sees altars – all over the world – places of deep sacrifice – places of worship and intercession – places where the fire upon the altar is burning hot and bright. 

 

He doesn’t see all the darkness we see – though he sees it, but a great light has risen upon the land and a great smell of incense of the prayer of the saints.

He sees fire – Fire upon the heads and in the hearts of a multitude of people.

 

·     He sees fire in prison camps and jails, where modern day Paul and Silas’ praise the LORD. 

·     He sees fire in jungles and on mountain tops, fields and valleys, deserts and islands. 

·     He sees fire in churches and under grass arbors and huts. 

·     He sees fire in the cities and in the small villages. 

·     He sees fire in the nations and providences, states and kingdoms. 

·     He sees fire in prayer rooms, back rooms, hidden rooms and upper rooms.

·     He sees fire in Israel and in the Mid-East. 

·     He sees fire in kitchens and behind desks. 

·     He sees fire in the marketplace, places of government and in the slums of the earth. 

·     He sees fire in the young and old. 

·     He sees fire in the pulpits and pews. 

 

God sees fire.

The World is ablaze with a Holy Fire!

 

God never misses an altar and the sacrifice that is laid to His Honor and Glory. God never misses the pure worship, intercession and warfare of people in hard places.

 

Elijah thought that he was alone in his fight against Jezebel and Ahab but God told him that there were still 7,000 prophets who had not bowed their knees to Baal.

 

I Kings 18:19

Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table.

 

The “statistical evidence” that lies before us may look like the Prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel in size and proportion - but remember the “one man” who built altars (had a prayer life) also knew the God of Fire.

 

Elijah did not have to tear down the altar of Baal before He proved his point, but built another altar - one to His God - and showed to the mockers and unbelievers who God was.

 

·     The sweet incense of pure worship, sacrificial giving and living and intercession, rises from altars all over the world. 

·     God does not miss a single one and yet sees them as the whole picture.  

 

We need to gain perspective from God’s point of view because God sees fire!

 

There is a Church that is alive and well today and is on fire for God.  There was a time in history when God looked for a man to stand in the gap and could find no one so destruction came – but today that is not the way it is.  The Intercessory move may be laboring under a great weight as we push against the massive sin doors, storming the gates of hell, but we are pushing and pressing.

 

There are millions in the gap and making up the hedge.

 

Thank God that we are a part of something that is so much bigger than we are in our little places of endeavor as we are woven into a mighty tapestry of God’s plan, like a golden thread. 

 

Weave on Master!

 

It’s My Turn Now – I will go first!

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