Just Stand

Tags

Chuck Pierce, church, faith, maturity, Rest, Stand, Striving, Warfare, Watch and Wait

It is January and many churches have asked their congregations to fast, whether for the whole month, for a week, for a day, for whatever. Our church is no different, we are in the middle of a one week fast and for me, who has been fasting for years, this one is different. A friend of mine Leann, said to me at the beginning of this fast, that the Lord spoke to her and said, this is not a fast to ask for things, it is a fast to draw near to Me. Little did I know how true those words were going to be for me as well and maybe ringing true for you too.

This fast has brought on more spiritual warfare than I have experienced in times past, but there is a grace for this fast like I have never experienced before as well. So, last night while in worship, I was struggling to enter into worship. The songs were great, the atmosphere was heavy, but I figured it was just because people were low energy due to fasting, then I had a vision. As I was pushing, struggling, striving in worship, I felt like I was running into saran wrap, or to a screen door. I could not breakthrough, and I am not one that strives anymore. Worship comes natural to me, I love being in the presence of God and can enter there easily and quickly, but something is different tonight, so I was pushing, thinking I needed to strive a little bit. But, when I did I kept hitting this wall, and the Lord spoke to me and said, just stand! I said, what, He said, just stand!

Ephesians 6:13b-14a “…having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm…”

When I stopped pushing, striving, struggling to breakthrough, when I heeded the voice of God and just stood, in an instant, the presence of God rushed in and it was as though my bridegroom picked me up in His arms like a groom carrying His bride through the door. I saw the Lord pick me up in His arms and the door swung open and we walked through it. I did nothing, I just stood like He told me too and the door opened and we walked through it. It was different than anything I had been taught, or had experienced. It was all Him, I just had to stop striving and just stand.

As I have thought about this, I realized that we are living in a new day, the day of striving, struggling and making your own way is over. It is a day of just stand. Spirit led living is not about what we do, it is about what He does. Jesus said He did nothing, unless He saw the Father doing it. Many of us have struggled, fought, fasted, prayed, decreed, declared and we still have not seen the breakthrough. Our striving is not going to open the door we are asking the Lord to open, but our standing will. If we can learn to just stand, He will scoop us up and bring us into what He has prepared for us. He is waiting for us to stop striving and just stand.

Stand in Now Faith (Hebrews 11:1); stand in the finished work of Jesus on the cross (John 19:30); stand victorious (Romans 8:28); stand in your armor (Ephesians 6:10-18). It is a new day, there is a new way and glory is on the way, so we need to just stand. I know that when we do, He is going to carry us through and as Chuck Pierce said in his last prophetic word, “Doors are going to fall like dominos”. Just stand!

Snipers in the Kingdom

Tags

Battle, Intercession, Intercessors, Kingdom, Sniper, Warfare

Ephesians 6:12 “For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age.”

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

One of the main differences I am noticing between the kingdom of God and religion or even the church age is the simplicity in which God does things. In the church age everything is laborious, time consuming, and honestly can feel very heavy. It is as though in the church age there is a lot of being busy doing nothing. But, in the kingdom on the other hand, which is actually a place, not just a nice phrase to quote, things are highly effective, cost effective and empowering. There is a sense of moving forward, of taking ground, of actually, genuinely advancing with the Lord Himself. Jesus spoke the people in His day and invited them to a kingdom lifestyle which included a yoke (work)but it was easy and a burden but it was light.

An area that is found both in the kingdom and the church age is that of intercession. Intercessors and intercession are an integral part of the kingdom life, but the way in which intercession is viewed in the kingdom is more like a sniper, rather than a laborious, time consuming activity that gets no recognition, but does what many feel like is most of the work. When the Lord spoke to me that intercessors are snipers in the kingdom, I was eager to discover who a sniper is and what they actually do. This is what I learned.

A sniper is a qualified specialist who operates alone, in a pair or with a sniper team for the sake of maintaining close visual contact with the enemy; engaging in targets from concealed positions; and engaging in distances exceeding the detection and capabilities of enemy personnel. This alone made me shout, INTERCESSORS ARE SNIPERS IN THE KINGDOM, for this is what they do and I am so honored to know some of them. But as I kept studying, I learned even more than just solidified what the Lord spoke to me.

A sniper’s job description is to deliver discriminatory, highly accurate rifle fire against enemy targets, they are marksmen (a person who is skilled in shooting at a mark). Snipers are force multipliers (an attribute which makes a given force more effective than that same force would be without it). This factor dramatically increases the effectiveness of a group. When I read this I shouted, snipers in the kingdom, multiply the body of Christ’s effectiveness because of their precision in with which they hit the enemy target with their prayers. Snipers ensure battlefield survival for the rest of the Lord’s army.

Qualities that a sniper must have include being patient, disciplined and are able to work alone. Snipers are sharp shooters. If this was not enough, the final discovery I made about snipers is the economic effectiveness they bring to the team. Snipers use 1.3 rounds of bullets (prayer time) while other military officers (members of the body of Christ) use 50,000 bullets (prayer time). Do you see how the sniper is able to do more with less? Moving from church or religion to kingdom, increases your effectiveness in prayer from being a soldier to a sniper.

Finally, soldiers hit man-sized targets 10% of the time at a 300 meter distance, while a sniper hits the same target 90% of the time at a 600 meter difference. Snipers in the kingdom are intercessors and they are extremely accurate, they know who their enemy is, they are patient enough to wait in hiding until they can get a good shot at him and take him out immediately. They save the kingdom time and money because of their skills and they force multiply the advancing of the kingdom, so the bride is accelerated in her gathering of others to meet their King. Snipers in the kingdom don’t spend long hours in prayer, for they are trained in hearing the voice of God, recognize the enemy and position themselves to take him out with minimal prayers. We will not win this battle without the snipers in the kingdom.