Years of Prayer in a Day

from Dutch Sheets:

In a staggering expression of love, the equivalent of several thousand years of intercession and worship was lifted over America this past Sunday morning. (As always, I wrote and recorded this yesterday in order to post it early this morning.) On a Global Day of Prayer, hosted by International Prayer Connect, a 3-hour prayer meeting took place for America. The networks participating around the world comprise 110,000,000 intercessors.

If all participated, that equals 330,000,000 million hours of prayer (and worship). Let’s be very conservative - if only half of them participated (which I feel would be very low), and each one only joined for an hour, instead of 3 (which I also feel is low), that is still 55,000,000 hours of prayer and worship, which is the equivalent of 2,291,666 days, or 6,278 years.

Mind-numbing.

Other than Christ Himself, this is the greatest gift ever given to America. Could there be any greater sign that God is not finished with America?!

I was honored to offer a short prayer, but I was barely able to speak. My emotions were overwhelmed as I tried to process the value of this gift. I was also overwhelmed with grief as I pondered how far America has fallen from her destiny. It was humbling and very moving as nations, many of whom have been sent the gospel from these shores, sent back prayers for America’s reviving and recovery. I am still processing this gift from God and the nations.

The prayers were strong, compassionate, and filled with faith. The intercessors prayed for:

* Jesus to be exalted in our nation

* the church to return to our first love

* our upcoming elections

* God to restrain lawlessness

* our families and campuses

* religious freedom

 * a return to the fear of the Lord

* John 17 oneness among God’s people - only a united church can heal a divided nation

* revival and awakening in America


We ended the prayer time by praying for the salvation of lost people around the world, led by PrayForAll.com, and by partaking in communion together. After the 3-hour prayer time, dozens of on-site prayer strikes occurred throughout the earth in demonic strongholds of darkness. What a time this must have been in heaven!

I want to say thank you to the intercessors and their leaders around the world for their love and prayers. I also want to thank Jason Hubbard and Wesley Tullis of International Prayer Connect (IPCPrayer.org) for their hard work and outstanding leadership in the endeavor. And also, a big thanks to David’s Tent (DavidsTentDC.org) for hosting those of us in Washington, D.C., as well as contributing to the technical aspect of the event. All selfless, all excellent, and all Kingdom-hearted.

And to those of you here in America who joined us, thank you for doing so.

Twenty-one days of fasting and prayer now begin in America, ending on October 12 with the Million Women on the Mall event conducted by Lou Engle.

America shall be saved!


Pray with me:

Father, thank You for Your love and grace, and thank You for this gift of love from our brothers and sisters around the world. We are very moved and deeply grateful. We humbly receive the gift, and are confident the prayers offered will be part of saving America. We were cleansed through their intercession, and strongholds were doubtlessly torn down.

We pray for THEM today. Send revival to the nations, the world Christ died to save. Most of the billion or more saved in the coming wave of harvest won’t be Americans; they will be from the Psalm 2 “nations” You promised Christ as His inheritance. We love them; we pray for them. Send the blazing fires of revival around the world.

We end by asking for the complete undoing of the strongholds maintained by principalities in the Middle East. Free the people of Iran, Lebanon, and elsewhere from the deception and hold of these spirits. May the revival in Iran continue to burn, increasing in its intensity and spreading throughout the entire region. We declare the release of great signs, wonders, and miracles in order to increase this harvest. Tear down evil structures, Yahweh; build Your church and expand Your Kingdom into the hearts of millions.

In Yeshua’s name. Amen.

The Rebirth of America

 

What can we do? Pray. God is the source of America’s recovery. Apart from His intervention, nothing that occurs in Washington D.C., will save America. 

 

Iditarod Day 6

Rebuild the alter; ask for the fire (Dutch Sheets)

Iditarod Trail Race standings - Nicholas Petit and Travis Beals are ahead of the rest, and out of Cripple (see the trail map here)

Iditarod Live Blog

Gen. Patton on Prayer

"There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by praying. Any great military operation takes careful planning or thinking. Then you must have well-trained troops to carry it out: that's the working. But between the plan and the operation, there is always an unknown. That unknown spells defeat or victory, success or failure. It is the reaction of the actors to the ordeal when it actually comes. Some people call that getting the breaks; I call it God. God has His part or margin in everything; that's where prayer comes in."

~ George S. Patton

"No Trespassing"

When you need Him, He is there!

Paga, Extraordinaire

From Dutch Sheets Ministries:

On Monday, we began sharing somewhat on how to pray for protection. We will continue with this theme today. One of the meanings of the Hebrew word for "intercession," paga, is "boundary" or "border,” the point at which two territories meet or connect, the extent to which a boundary reaches. In Joshua 19, paga is used repeatedly in this way. When used in the context of intercessory prayer, paga is the establishing of boundaries or walls of protection, the marking of territory as one’s own.(1) Through prayer, we can set boundaries and build walls of protection around individuals.

Isaiah 26:1 and 60:18 speak of God's protection as “walls”: "In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: 'We have a strong city; He sets up walls and ramparts for security." "Violence will not be heard again in your land, nor devastation or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls salvation, and your gates praise."

We said in yesterday‘s post that as we learn to pick up on the promptings of Holy Spirit, He will alert us to strategic times (kairos) we need to pray prayers of protection. In her book Listen, God Is Speaking to You, Quin Sherrer tells of a friend who heard the warning of the Lord for her home and prayed during a kairos(2) time:

"I was rooming with Ruthie at a Christian conference when she told me how God had protected her property. One night during the church service, she heard a voice: "Your house is being robbed." She tried to dismiss the thought. She'd lived in that house for thirty years, and there had been no burglaries in her neighborhood. But the more she thought about it, the more it seemed to her that the inner voice she had heard was the Holy Spirit warning her.

"Lord, if our house is being robbed, please send an angel— no, Lord, send a warring angel—to frighten the burglar off." Then she began to quote Scriptures, praying for protection: "No evil will come near our dwelling place.... No weapon formed against us shall prosper." (Isaiah 54:17)

"Sure enough, when she and her husband arrived home, their back patio door was smashed in, and everything inside was in disarray – drawers open and stuff scattered everywhere. The next day, when the police officer came to get a list of the things they knew were missing, all they had to report was one pillowcase. He told them that's what a burglar usually takes to stash the valuables. "As far as we can tell, nothing is missing—not even my good gold jewelry," Ruthie told him.

"He looked around at her china, silver, and gold vases. "With all these beautiful things, I don't understand why you weren't robbed blind. Something obviously frightened away the intruder. He left in a hurry," the policeman said."

Two other houses in her neighborhood were robbed that night. Ruthie is sure God sent a warring angel of protection, as she had prayed and asked Him to do

That is paga! Protective intercession. Building boundaries of protection through prayer. You, too, can be used by the Lord in this way. One of the keys is learning to be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Ruthie’s story reminds me of Psalm 27:1-4 from The Message:

“Light, space, zest - that's God! So, with Him on my side, I'm fearless, afraid of no one and nothing. When vandal hordes ride down, ready to eat me alive, those bullies and toughs fall flat on their faces. When besieged, I'm calm as a baby. When all hell breaks loose, I'm collected and cool.”

 The early church apostle Paul was a firm believer in receiving protective and deliverance prayers from others, in strategic as well as in general times of need. He frequently requested prayer from those with whom he was in a relationship. Romans 15:30-31 states:

“Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints.”

 Again, in Philippians 1:19, Paul states his confidence in "deliverance through your prayers." Also, in Philemon 1:22, he says, "I hope that through your prayers I shall be given to you." Paul was frequently persecuted and imprisoned for his preaching of the gospel. He placed his hope of deliverance from some of this in the prayers of his friends. He believed in the power of intercession not just for the furthering of the gospel, but also for protection.

The apostle Peter was protected through prayer from certain death in Acts 12. Herod had arrested James, one of the 12 disciples of Christ, and had him killed. When he saw how much this pleased the Jews, he arrested Peter also and planned to execute him, as well. This prompted fervent prayer by the church for Peter's release (see Acts 12:5).

The answer to their prayers for Peter's protection is one of the most amazing stories in the Bible. Angels visited Peter in his cell, caused his chains to fall off, somehow blinded the guards from seeing him, led him out of the jail, supernaturally opened the iron gate to the city, and then departed from him. The entire ordeal was so supernatural that Peter at first thought it was only a vision.

That is paga extraordinaire!

In my book, Intercessory Prayer, I relate the following story of protection through prayer:

Perhaps the most amazing example of kairos-timed intercession in my life happened on one of my journeys to Guatemala. I was one of 40 to 45 individuals traveling to a remote village on the Passión River in the Petén Jungle. Our mission was to build a combination clinic and outreach station on the river, construct two buildings, as well as preach in nearby villages. 

Prior to leaving for the jungle, we spent our first night (Friday) in Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala. Months earlier, we had arranged for the Guatemalan airlines to fly us into the jungle the following day. Then, we were to travel to our destination by dug-out canoes. On our arrival at the airport Saturday afternoon, we were informed they had changed their plans and would fly us to our destination, not that day, but the next. 

Feeling an urgency to go as scheduled due to the limited amount of time to accomplish our mission, our leaders pressed the airlines for THREE HOURS to honor their original agreement.

“No,” the manager said in his broken English, “we take you tomorrow.” 

“But you agreed months ago to take us today,” we argued. 

“We have no pilot available,” they countered. 

“Find one,” we pleaded. 

“‘What is your hurry? Enjoy the city,” they encouraged us. 

And so it went for THREE HOURS - in and out of offices, meeting with one official, then another. Finally, in exasperation, one of them threw up his hands and said, “Okay, we take you now!” 

That night, while we were 250 miles away, an earthquake hit Guatemala City, where we had been, and killed 30,000 people in 34 seconds! Had we stayed in the city another night—as the airlines wanted us to—some of our team would have been killed and others injured. We know this for certain because, upon our return to the city, we saw the building where we had stayed the night before the earthquake—and would have been staying in again had we not left on Saturday—with huge beams lying across the beds. 

Later, we discovered that an intercessor from our home church in Ohio had received a strong urge to pray for us. For THREE HOURS, she was in intense intercession - the three hours that our leaders were negotiating with the airline officials.

We didn’t know that our lives would have been in jeopardy had we stayed another night in Guatemala City, but God did. This intercessor didn’t know it either. She only knew that, for some unknown reason, she had a strong burden to pray for us. She was alert, as Ephesians 6:18 instructs, perceived the kairos time, and her prayers created the protection and intervention we experienced.(3)

Pray with me:

Father, thank You for Your protection over us. And thank You for faithful intercessors. Your name is a strong tower; we are safe within (Proverbs 18:10). We will not allow our lives to be ruled by chance, and we certainly will not allow demonic forces or demonized individuals to rule over us. We will abide under Your shadow and wings.

We ask You for increased sensitivity to Holy Spirit, who is faithful to alert us when to pray, surrounding ourselves and loved ones with protective boundaries. You are our Shepherd; we hear Your voice, and we will follow Your leading. Just as You alerted the intercessor to pray for the team of missionaries in Guatemala, You will alert us when we need to pray.

In Christ’s name and authority, we ask and declare these things. Amen.

Our decree:

For today’s decree, I ask that you spend a moment or two and pray for your family, and/or anyone Holy Spirit brings to mind, decreeing God’s protection over them.

Today’s post was taken from my books, The Essential Guide to Prayer and Intercessory Prayer. Both are published by Baker Books.

You can find out more about Quin Sherrer and see more of the wonderful books she has written at ,QuinSherrer.com.

---

James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990), ref. no. 6293.

1. Ibid., ref no. 2540.
2. Dutch Sheets, Intercessory Prayer (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1996), p. 102-104.

Copyright © 2023 Dutch Sheets Ministries, All rights reserved.

Standing Guard

From Dutch Sheets Ministries:

Yesterday, we began sharing somewhat on how to pray for protection. We will continue with this theme today. One of the meanings of the Hebrew word for "intercession," paga, is "boundary" or "border,” the point at which two territories meet or connect, the extent to which a boundary reaches. In Joshua 19, paga is used repeatedly in this way. When used in the context of intercessory prayer, paga is the establishing of boundaries or walls of protection; the marking of a territory as one’s own.(1) Through prayer, we can build walls of protection around individuals.

Isaiah 26:1 and 60:18 speak of God's protection as “walls”: "In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: 'We have a strong city; He sets up walls and ramparts for security." "Violence will not be heard again in your land, nor devastation or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls salvation, and your gates praise."

In his book Prayer That Moves Mountains, Gordon Lindsay tells a remarkable story about building walls of protection through prayer:

Unknown to a Christian Armenian, bandits followed his caravan as he transported merchandise across the desert to a town in Turkish Armenia. The bandits waited until after dark to attack, but upon approaching the caravan, they were astonished to see high walls surrounding it. The same scenario happened on the following day, with high walls again protecting the caravan at night. On the third night, however, the walls were broken in places, allowing the bandits access to the merchant. Frightened by the mystery of the walls, the leader of the bandits offered to spare the merchant and his caravan if he would just share the secret of the walls with him. Having no knowledge of the walls, the merchant replied that all he knew was that each evening he prayed, committing himself and those with him to God, but that on this particular evening, he had not prayed as usual, due to his tiredness, and that probably accounted for the breaks in the wall. This testimony so amazed the bandits that they gave their lives to Christ.(2)

Many would find this story unbelievable. Yet why should it surprise us? God simply allowed the bandits to see what existed in the spirit realm: walls of protection. They naturally assumed the walls were literal. Zechariah 2:5 speaks of protective walls of fire: "For I,' declares the Lord, 'will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.'"

Supernatural protections, as illustrated by these stories, occur through consistent prayer, but also at strategic times as intercessors are sensitive to the promptings of Holy Spirit. As they are, He alerts them to pray for others in critical times of need. These alerts from the Holy Spirit can come through a sense of foreboding, an uneasiness concerning someone, or simply by hearing Him tell them to pray for someone.

Set in the context of spiritual warfare, the Holy Spirit speaks of these alerts in Ephesians 6:18: "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints." Most readers assume this is telling us to pray all the time. However, it is not. The word "times" is the Greek word kairos, which means "strategic or opportune time."(3) God is saying that, in light of the spiritual warfare we're engaged in, we must be alert for satan's attacks against others; and, when warned of these kairos, strategically timed attacks, pray!

If we are alert, the Holy Spirit will warn us. If we pray, He’ll intervene. Hebrews 4:16 also uses this word, kairos. “Let us come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time [kairos] of need.” Of course, we are welcome at God’s throne of grace all the time, but this verse is actually referencing strategic times of need. The Amplified Translation says: “an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment.”

The Hebrew counterpart to the Greek word kairos is eth, also a word for "strategic time." Used in Psalm 9:9, God tells us He is "a stronghold in times [eths] of trouble."(4) These verses tell us we can pray in specific - kairos/eth - times of trouble or attacks and receive the immediate help we need.

Oral Roberts experienced this type of the Holy Spirit’s intervention during a kairos timed attack against his family:

After ministering at a conference over a thousand miles away from home, Oral had gone to bed in his hotel when he was suddenly awakened and heard these words, "Your wife and children in Tulsa are in serious danger. Pray." He spent time in deep intercession for his family until he finally felt the burden lift. When he returned home to Tulsa, his wife, Evelyn, told him that one night, after the children and she had gone to bed, she heard someone trying to break into their home. Paralyzed with fright, she had been unable to do anything other than to pray for God's help and for Oral to be alerted to pray for them.

Thankfully, the intruder had left without ever entering the house. As they compared their experiences, the Robertses realized that Oral had been awakened and alerted to pray at the exact time that Evelyn had heard the intruder.(5)

That is a kairos attack - and a kairos answer - to a paga prayer! Walls or boundaries of protection were established through intercession, and God's promise of protection was fulfilled. Never assume that a warning such as this is just your imagination. Engage your faith in God’s protection and pray!

Ephesians 6:18, the verse that tells us to pray at all kairos times, urges us to be “watching” for one another. This word (agrupneo) means literally to “stay awake.”(6) Just as “praying always” obviously does not mean we have to pray 24/7, this word doesn’t mean we should never sleep! It is a parabolic way of saying we must remain alert, just as an awake sentry or night watchman would do. We have all heard the phrase “don’t go to sleep on the job,” which means the same thing. This passage in Ephesians is telling us we must be alert, watching for one another. As we do so, Holy Spirit will faithfully do as He said: alert us to the kairos attacks of the enemy.

Pray with me:

Father, You told us to “fear NO evil.” Your word tells us if we are alert, Holy Spirit will warn us of attacks and strategic times when we need to pray prayers of protection. Of course, we can live in the secret place of protection daily (Psalm 91), but we can also be alerted to these specific attacks for those we are in relationships with. We ask for high levels of discernment and sensitivity, an ability to pick up these alerts for our families, friends, leaders, and others in our lives.

We refuse to live in fear, regardless of what happens around us. We have our spiritual armor for protection, including the shield of faith and the weapon of prayer (Ephesians 6). We will pray during these times, building walls - boundaries of protection - around ourselves and others. We declare that as we do, no weapon formed against us will prosper, and every tongue that rises against us in judgment, we will condemn in the name of the Lord. This is our heritage as family members of the Most High God (Isaiah 54:17).

And we continue to declare that the prince of Persia will be defeated in the Middle East; his centuries-old stronghold will be demolished. His hold on the hearts and minds of people there will be broken. He will not stop the great spiritual harvest coming to that area of the earth, nor will he succeed in generating a World War III. The great spiritual awakening has begun - there, here in America, and throughout the earth. It will not be stopped. We release the power of Holy Spirit to hover over that region, producing dreams, visions, signs and wonders, and a tremendous harvest. We release the same here in our nation; it will not be stopped. All of this we ask and release in the name of Jesus.

Our decree:

We decree that we will live in the secret place of the Most High God, protected from all evil.

Today’s post was taken from my book, The Essential Guide to Prayer, published by Baker Books.

James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990), ref. no. 6293.Gordon Lindsay, Prayer That Moves Mountains (Dallas, TX: Christ For The Nations, revised 1994), p. 39.

1. James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990), ref. no. 2540.
2. Ibid, ref. no. 853.
3. Oral Roberts, A Prayer Cover Over Your Life (Tulsa, OK: Oral Roberts, 1990), pp. 10-11.
4. James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990), ref. no. 69.

Copyright © 2023 Dutch Sheets Ministries, All rights reserved

Be A Hebrew

 From Dutch Sheets:

There is no greater example than Abraham of shifting into new seasons with God. In his first major shift, he had to change everything. God told him to leave the land of his father and relocate to the place He would show him. Abraham obeyed this monumental challenge. God was so impressed that He gave Abraham a new title: “the Hebrew” (Genesis 14:13). The root word is abar and it means “to cross over, out of or into; pass through; penetrate.” Abraham was called “the Hebrew” because he had crossed out of his homeland and into a new region, when instructed by the Lord to do so.

Holy Spirit reminded me of this word, abar, and the insights associated with it, last weekend as I ministered in Tennessee. I feel strongly He wants me to emphasize its importance in this season.

Although abar is often used in the generic sense of transitioning from one place to another, it is also used at times to denote very significant “crossings” that became landmark events in people’s lives, as was referenced in Abraham. Here are 4 examples:

• The word was involved in cutting covenant. The Lord “passed between” (abar) the pieces of the covenantal sacrifice Abram offered to God (Genesis 15:17). It is as though God was saying, “You have, in obedience, crossed over to Me, Abram; now I’m crossing over to you in covenantal alignment.”

• When God “crosses over” or comes to us, facets of His nature and character are revealed: God “passed by” (abar) Moses in Exodus 33:19-22, showing him His goodness and glory.

• Each generation must have its own “crossing over.” The Israelites were not true Hebrews just because their forefathers were - and neither are we: A new generation “crossed” (abar) into their inheritance in Joshua chapters 1-4. In Joshua 3:4, the Lord instructed Israel to watch or follow the ark of the covenant “for you have not passed [abar] this way before.”

• Crossing over or “passing through” pictures the release of God’s breath: The air passing through the jubilee trumpet was described as abar.

Let’s apply these 4 meanings to America. God needs for us as a nation to “cross” back into a meaningful and covenantal relationship with Him. When we do, we receive the benefit of Him honoring covenant with us. Like Israel, we cannot rely only on what our forefathers have done to dedicate this nation to God; we must have our own crossing over in our day. As we do, Christ will breathe on us again, bringing true freedom and restoration.

Finally, there is one other usage of abar that is significant and needs highlighting. Ezekiel chapter 47 describes a vision of the increasing levels of God’s river of life flowing out of the temple. The passage is filled with symbolism - the river flows into desert regions and brings life; everything it touches is healed; it generates many fish (souls).

But another interesting point of the vision is that, the prophet had to pass through/cross over (abar) each new level of the river. Many have speculated as to why this was required. One interesting explanation relates to the fact that between each level there were 1000 cubits, then came the next level and another crossing. The number 1000, being a multiple of ten, is the biblical number of divine order and government. This would suggest that for every new level of God’s river of life, healing, and restoration to occur, there must be an acceptance of God’s order and government. In other words, His plan and rule must be followed.

In America, this has not yet occurred. We have not yet been able to experience spiritual recovery and restoration back into the fullness of God’s blessing, though many have asked Him for it. This is because we must do more than ask; there is an order and pattern that must be followed. As this occurs, humbling ourselves, praying, seeking His face, repenting ( 2 Chronicles 7:14), we are then positioned (katartizo) for more of God’s healing river to flow.

It is clear that God is realigning and repositioning America so we can “cross over” into a new era of revival and blessing. He is adjusting us, bringing healing to our broken places and dislocations. America is about to “cross over” into another great awakening, which will result in many salvations and the turning of a nation back to its God and its destiny. Curses will be broken, blessings released, and our God-given voice restored.

What a privilege to partner with Him.

Be a Hebrew! God is calling us, just as He did Abraham, to partner with Him for the salvation of the world. Obviously, our role is different from his - the flesh and blood Messiah will not come through our lineage; that appearance has already occurred. But He WILL come to earth spiritually through us. We are commissioned to carry Christ to the ends of the earth, planting His spiritual seed - the gospel - in people all over the world. Become His shofar! Allow His breath to pass through you (abar) and fill the earth with His presence. You’re a carrier of His Spirit, now release His Spirit.

Be a Hebrew! Adapt! Change! Cross over!

Be a Hebrew! Shift into the new season - it’s time!

Pray with us:

Father, we are spiritual descendants of Abraham. We have inherited his faith and his Hebrew nature: We are those who cross over. We are those who go out and come in. Like him, we are blessed in both directions - going out and coming in.

When You say, “shift,” we do so. When You say, “it is a new season,” we move into it. When You say, “change,” we change. You have told us there is a significant merging of angelic and Ekklesia activity, energized with Your glory. You have said, we are shifting into a season of fulfilled promises and prophecies. You have said, “it is time,” and we are listening.

As we now become Your shofars, releasing Your covenant breath into the earth, we ask You to fill it with unprecedented power and resurrection life. As we trumpet Your gospel, we are releasing Your jubilee life. We are announcing the good news that people can go free, have all of their debts forgiven, and receive back their lost inheritance. Fill us once more with Your river and send us into the earth to release abundant life! In the name of Yeshua, we ask this. Amen.

Our decree:

We declare that we are Hebrews, crossing over, going in, partnering with Yahweh in His great cause of redeeming the human race.