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SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #180 ---- 6/25/01

#1 · June 24, 2001, 10:56 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on June 24, 2001, 10:56 pm
Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>

Standing Shoulder to Shoulder Together As We
Fight the Good Fight of Faith

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SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #180 ---- 6/25/01

TITLE: "History Making Praying"

My Dear Friend and Partner in Kingdom Ventures:

I greet you today with the joy and excitement of the Lord flowing again in my bones, much refreshed, and more clearly understanding much of what went on during this most recent trip. I trust you are rejoicing in His goodness. Yesterday as we returned to visit the church where I had previously served for 20 months as interim pastor, I was reminded again that "the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness, O Lord."

I hope you have sensed that same faithfulness of God in your own life and ministry this past week. He has promised to be all that you need, no matter what.

You'll never know the interesting things that have taken place in regard to writing this letter to you. As you remember, one week ago I sent a brief note deferring my letter, and explaining why. By Wednesday all three factors for its delay had been resolved, and I was ready to go.

I did, in fact, write it Tuesday night, finishing it before checking out Wednesday morning while in the motel in Kansas City. However, when I tried to send it, I couldn't get through; something was not right with the connections I had set up on my computer, and I was still mentally dull enough that I couldn't track well enough to find the problem.

So, we headed home, arriving Wednesday late afternoon. All along the way I reviewed what I had written and felt really good about it ---- except for two things: 1) Was it too long? and 2) Was it too "strong"?.

Sensing that the Holy Spirit probably had a hand in its delay, I decided to wait another day before sending it so I could do some rewriting. On Thursday, a very busy day, running here and there getting mail, going to the bank, seeing my father, etc., the day came to a close without my sending it. Frankly, by that time I was not real happy with some of what I had written, and felt prompted that I should just wait and send it on Sunday night at my regularly appointed time.

Then came Friday. Earlier on the trip I had experienced an odd phenomenon with my computer where it would simply shut off for no apparent reason; I mean, no power at all. When I would turn it back on, my "Save" program would immediately bring my writing project back on screen as if nothing had happened. I thought at first it was just a power loss, but my battery should have kept it running.

Well, the same thing happened Friday as I was editing my letter to you. The only thing is that this time the hard drive wouldn't engage when I turned it back on. After scores of increasingly frustrating attempts, I decided I should use the Recovery discs and maybe just reprogram the computer. The message on the screen clearly indicated that doing so would totally wipe out everything on my C Drive. But, since there was nothing there because I had kept all my files on my D Drive, I clicked the mouse to proceed.

Instantaneously I remembered that, while all my files were saved on the D Drive, my Internet software and all my mail files AND address book were on the C Drive ---- including my letter to you! Immediately I stopped the procedure, praying that I had caught it in time.

But . . . . Alas! When I tried to start my computer again, a delightful little message read ---- "missing operating system".

So much for my great letter! And so much for whatever is left on the computer . . . . including (apparently) all that was also on the D Drive which contained, among other things, some 300 digital pictures of this recent trip which I had been unable to back up because I didn't take my Zip Drive with me. (The one hard drive was simply partitioned off into two.)

Well, as you can imagine, I have wrung my hands, pounded my desk, cried out to God for a miracle, shot myself a hundred times, and prayed this was all a terrible dream. I immediately thought of my dear friend Ben, best man at our wedding, who one day threw away all his years of sermon notes simply to start over from scratch. How could he do that!?!??

Therefore, one major project for today is to make an appointment with a company about 60 miles from here who specializes in data recovery and see if they can bring everything back from the grave. Pray with me for a resurrection from the computer abyss.

In the meantime, the Lord has not released me from my original subject, so I'll try to put my thoughts together again for you, asking God for a refreshing to my heart so I can share it as if it's for the first time.

A TRIP THEME:

Each time we take a trip like the most recent one, God seems to run a theme through out its duration about which He wants me to write or to consider for my own ministry. This year is no exception. Even before the trip began, we saw extraordinary emphasis on prayer, particularly "mobile" prayer . . . . prayer that moved territorially rather than locally. By the time we arrived, we knew God was up to something extraordinary, and we knew it would have long term consequences in the future.

So, today, I want to share my heart regarding "History Making Praying", for lack of a better title.

Just what type of praying is that? In essence, I believe it is authoritative, strategic praying, borne on wings of faith, undergirded by strong promptings of the Holy Spirit, confirmed by scripture, and receiving unsolicited verification from other believers, often without prior discussion or contact. It is praying that affects the conditions, surroundings, and plans regarding a particular situation or a region. It is the type of praying in which you know that something is happening that reaches further than that about which you are praying. It is praying that has an air of expectancy and hope which you cannot explain. It is praying that carries with it a burden that is almost unbearable were it not for the confidence that buoys you through the experience.

That is what began to develop on this trip. God seemed to be moving us into new realms of prayer . . . . new at least as far as what was the norm for our typical mission trips to the Balkan region. Jo Ann and I could sense it even in the prayers of our team members. We met twice daily to study the Word, discuss plans, share reports, pray, and minister to each other. It was clear as the trip progressed that something was afoot in every team member, and particularly in the hearts of five or six. God was taking them into the depths of His purposes, and holding them down there until they could breathe no more on their own.

I thought about letting my theme be "Life Changing Praying", but that just didn't say enough. There was more to it than that. History was being altered, and there was an intensity that far exceeded what would be reserved for something God was doing in a single life; we sensed we were seeing things happen that would affect an entire town or city ---- perhaps even a nation.

Clearly what I am trying to explain is often difficult to describe much less understand. So, let me share some examples of this type of international prayer initiative that is so desperately needed in our day.

HISTORY MAKING PRAYERS:

1. During the late 1970's and early 1980's, a group of pastors in a major city in the southwestern United States began praying together for their city of some 450,000 citizens and the various needs and problems that existed. It was a "Christianity saturated" city where many were receiving the message with complacency or were simply ignoring it. As this ever-growing group of church leaders cried out to God, He began to put impressions in their hearts regarding various ministries.

God gave them favor with the "elders" of the city. As a result, the various churches were able to secure abandoned houses, renovate them, and provide them to homeless people as a place to live and try to rebuild their lives. Over a relatively short period of time, as many as 100 such houses were restored to use.

At the same time, a need surfaced for children to have places to play and be safe in certain high crime neighborhoods and poverty areas around the city. The city officials gave the churches permission to conduct children's clubs in every single police precinct station (all 69 of them) with no restrictions on what they could do.

History was being made.

2. During the late 1980's and early 1990's a city in the upper Midwest region of the United States was having a major problem with immorality, crime, and drugs. A small handful of pastors began to meet together to pray. It wasn't long before some 60 of them around the region began to meet and pray for their towns and villages, and also this city of some 100,000 people.

For some time the gatherings centered on praying for each other and for their churches. As God progressively brought spiritual unity and love into the group, their praying began to center on city needs. They began praying about the high crime, especially the number of homicides. Recognizing that many of them were connected to drugs, they also began praying for the twelve major drug figures known to be in the city.

One particular year the tide seemed to turn. During that year there was not one single homicide until December 31 when one person was killed. That year the FBI named that city as the most crime free and safest city in America with a population of 100,000 or more. During that same time nine of the twelve drug major drug dealers were converted to Christ; the other three fled the area in fear. The pastors will tell you that they believe the only reason the one murder took place was because God's people were distracted from their praying because of the holidays.

3. During World War II, the Nazi armies moved in every direction to conquer territories and nations. As they moved outward from their homeland, one of the thrusts took them eastward toward Russia and Ukraine. Poland, Belarus, and other nations fell to their steel-booted march to conquer.

On August 27, 1941 they cut the primary Moscow-Leningrad railway, paving the way for an ultimate invasion of Moscow. The suffering of the Russian people was indescribable. Moving across both Ukraine and Russia, the soldiers of the Third Reich came with deliberate force. Kiev was evacuated on September 19, left to the futile defense of the Ukrainian army. By October 1 the Nazis moved toward Moscow and, according to Russian records, the region was coming under the onslaught of over 18,000 German tanks plus troops.

The fighting was ferocious and the outnumbered Russians valiantly stood their ground. A superior force both in skill and size, the German troops were brought amazingly to a standstill on December 6th. Though secular history books do not record all the facts, there was no military reason for what was about to happen to actually take place.

Instead of fighting on, the German forces turned around and left, and Moscow was saved.

What those secular records don't tell you about is the little band of young men and women in Reese Howell's Bible school in Wales, on their faces at just that time, crying out to God that the killing would cease and that the suffering in Moscow would end. Further Nazi efforts against Russia in July, 1943 also failed. (See "Reese Howells: Intercessor" by Norman Grubb.)

4. Likewise in North Africa, the "Desert Fox" Rommel was about to over run the allied forces with his elite "Africa Korps" of troops and thousands of tanks. On November 20, 1943, the Eighth Army recaptured Benghazi and began to push Rommel backward toward Tripoli. Then on December 13 they attacked in strength and occupied Rommel's main defenses at Mersa Brega only to find that his troops had already begun a rapid retreat even before the Eighth Army began their attack.

A major turning point in the North Africa campaign, it was a clear answer to prayer, for the allied forces had only three days of fuel left. If Rommel had stood his ground for just three more days, history would have been written differently.

Again, what secular history doesn't tell you is the role of prayer. While there were certainly millions of people around the world praying, Reese Howell's little band of students were again on their faces before God crying out for His intervention . . . . at just the time that Rommel began to turn and run. (See "Reese Howells: Intercessor" by Norman Grubb.)

I shared this story in a church in Rijeka two weeks ago on Sunday night, June 10th. Following the services, the pastor, Clifford Luckhurst from England (a missionary in the Balkan region for 23 years), told me about a personal friend who was in General Montgomery's forces who turned back Rommel's attacks. He indicated that the General had called on all his troops to beseech God in prayer that the fighting could cease.

5. In the 1980's believers in Osijek, Croatia, whom God had called out for intercession began to sense He was speaking strongly to them regarding impending danger. As they prayed and sought the Lord, various scripture passages pertaining to "the Assyrian" or "the Assyrian Warrior" came into play. Not knowing the significance of it, they continued seeking clarification. To their amazement they discovered a specific similarity between pictures of Assyrian warriors in their Bibles and the street map of Osijek.

Some time later they began to sense God's direction in how they should pray for Osijek. For some strange and unknown reason they felt they had been told to "cut off the legs" of the Assyrian Warrior. There was a particular thoroughfare through the city that ran directly across that region of the map. They made a prayer walk across the area. Within weeks the corrupt hard-line local government resigned and a more tolerant government was installed.

Then they felt directed to "go to the gates of the city" and pray. There were five major highways into the city. (Incidentally, these routes were identical to the ones used by the Turks in the Sixteenth Century when they invaded.) They went to each location and prayed that God would spare the city and hold back the enemy.

When the Yugoslav Army began its push toward Osijek, it was abruptly stopped at each of those five locations and could go no further. It turned out to be on the very anniversary dates when the Turks were stopped at the same places. God spared Osijek because of the authoritative intercession of His people while not many miles away the city of Vukovar was nearly totally destroyed.

God responds when His people cry out to Him as intercessors. (Taken from personal testimony of Clifford and Jenny Luckhurst, missionaries to the former Yugoslavia for 23 years.)

6. A similar group of intercessors went to Sarajevo before the war to pray for the city. As they prayed, the Lord seemed to prompt them to "cut the dragon in pieces" (Sarajevo's map has the appearance of a flying dragon.) At that time there were only a handful of believers in Sarajevo, so the responsibility to continue the work by prayer walking across the city on various thoroughfares fell to them.

However, the work was never completed and Sarajevo was besieged for nearly four years. More than 10,000 Muslims lost their lives during the war in Sarajevo alone. The area upon which the least damage was inflicted was the area over which the believers had prayed. (Taken from personal testimony of Clifford and Jenny Luckhurst, missionaries to the former Yugoslavia for 23 years.)

It makes one wonder what might have happened if God's people had followed through with what they had been commanded to do. Today Sarajevo is 90% Muslim with fewer than 200 believers in a city of over 400,000.

7. In the early 1990's an international group of believers from England, Canada, the United States and Switzerland met in Split, Croatia to begin a prayer initiative into Bosnia during the heat of the war and while Sarajevo was still under siege. It was a highly dangerous journey through territory changing hands sometimes by the hour.

Traveling from Split they first went to Mostar, still reeling from the rampaging war going on there, where they joined up with pastor Karmelo Krisonja (sp?) and his small congregation. After a few days of prayer, worship, and strategy planning, they began the journey up the Neretva River valley and then turning northward, through towns and villages such as Konjic, Kakanj, Breza,Travnik (places where I've been just recently), ending their journey of intercession in Tuzla. Everywhere they went, they cried out to God to spare the people, bring hope and comfort, still the fighting, expand His kingdom, and exalt His name above every other name.

By his own testimony, chief negotiator Richard Holbrook acknowledges that up to that time a total stalemate was in place and there was no known solution to the conflict. He admits himself to personal despair and hopelessness.

However, just weeks following this prayer journey, undergirded by tens of thousands of believers around the world, Slobodan Milosovic surprised everyone by offering to discuss the situation and negotiate some type of settlement. A few short months later, in November, 1994, the Dayton Peace Accord was signed.

God responds to the intercession of His people.

8. A middle eastern country was invaded by an army that left its capital city in ruins. Most of the residents had fled to other countries, were in hiding, or had been taken prisoners of war and carted off to distant prisons. Out of a population of some 200,000, only just over 42,000 people still lived in the rubble of that once glorious metropolis.

One man who had been taken captive got a visit from his brother and some friends who were still living there under foreign domination, and the report they gave him so broke his heart that he fell on his face before God and cried out to Him. By some miraculous means he was permitted to return to his home town to visit family and check on the conditions for himself.

He had so impressed the dictator of that invading country that he was granted permission to remain in order to help restore some semblance of order and civility to the city. This was unheard of in that day. He was able to rally many of the people to action, and a major reconstruction project was begun. Completing some projects in record time, the entire series of events, though met with strong opposition from local representatives of the dominating country, ultimately led to a great spiritual revival among the followers of God, and liberation came to the city and the nation not long thereafter . . . . simply because one man cried out to God and asked for Divine Intervention and then responded in obedience. (Full details of this story can be found in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra in the Old Testament.)

A QUESTION:

Now, dear friend . . . . . . why is it that you probably found it easier to believe the last example than to believe the other seven? Simply because it's in the Bible and the others are not?

They are all true accounts, so why the skepticism?

Or maybe it's because we really don't believe God responds to intercessory prayer initiatives today. Maybe in our era or reason and cynicism, we have concluded, even as believers, that God just doesn't do things like that anymore.

Our own hearts condemn us, my friend! The Bible is either true or it isn't. You can't pick and choose. God is either still the same "yesterday, today, and forever", or He isn't. If He isn't, then He isn't God. If He isn't God, then the Bible cannot be true. If the Bible is not true, then our Salvation is a fraud and our message and mission are totally irrelevant. We're wasting our time.

The condition of the Church today is much like it was in the Third and Fourth Centuries. While Constantine was tolerating and legalizing Christianity as another religion, the Church was unknowingly opening itself up to the pagan philosophies of the Roman Empire . . . . .the same Empire that was one of the first to invade the territory now known as Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, and the like.

Little by little the Church began to lose its power and message, thereby losing its influence and credibility. In order to save face, systems, structures, and rules were created to compensate. Many historians believe that once the Church lost its power provided by the Holy Spirit, it also lost its integrity. Without integrity and character, the gifts of the Spirit and the offices of leadership began to disappear. Some of those historians believe that the four (or five) fold offices of leadership recorded in Ephesians 4:11-17 were lost sequentially ---- first apostle, then prophet, then evangelist, then pastor, and teacher (or teaching pastor).

This, as you recall, led to the Dark Ages, nearly 1,000 years of nothing but institutionalized religion filled with big buildings, pomp and ceremony, and an ever increasing load of performance and rules. (For an excellent treatment of this subject, read "The Open Church" by James Rutz.) Save but for a scattering of true believers, the cause of Christ seemed to be totally eradicated just as it was in Croatia and Bosnia in the Sixth Centuries when the Goths invaded from the Germanic regions to the north and west.

But then, little rumblings began to be felt in certain parts of Europe, and finally it erupted into a giant mighty spiritual revolution as the silence of dead religion was shattered by the sounds of Martin Luther's hammer nailing his 95 Theses on the door of the church in Wittenburg.

And with that radical earthquake, God began to breathe new life into the once dead Church. Progressively God began restoring to the Church both the offices lost, the giftings, and the doctrinal teachings that disappeared earlier in the downward spiral from which she was now clawing her way out into new freedom. The Resurrection was happening again, this time to our Savior's Bride.

Richard Lovelace, professor at Gordon Conwell Seminary, has written an excellent book on the subject, "Dynamics Of Spiritual Life", where he develops that thesis with scholarly style. New Zealander Winkey Pratney also covers this subject in an easily understandable way in his book, "Revival".

So, you may be asking, what does this have to do with History Making Prayer?

Everything.

If the thesis I have noted is correct, then the question arises as to where we are today in that process of restoration to the Church. If these offices, giftings, and doctrines are actually being restored to the church in the reverse order of which they were lost, then where does that put us?

Some would say we are in the "apostolic" era, that is the era of missions and massive evangelism. However, I don't personally think we're there yet simply because it is not wide spread and international enough to be so. While it is certainly happening in some localized or regional ways, I don't believe the Church has even come close yet to seeing the urgency of the Great Commission. Frankly, I believe the "Laodicean Church" still prevails.

What I do see, however, is that we are probably in the last phase of the ministry of the prophet (you know . . . . the one who comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable with his message), and I believe the "doctrine" God is calling the Church back to is that of prayer . . . . . intense, strategic, warfare, authoritative, territorial praying for the Kingdom of God to come in power and destroy the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of this world. When linked to genuine worship and adoration, prevailing prayer becomes, as Frank Laughbach wrote, "The Mightiest Force In The World".

That is why I believe History Making Prayer is the order of the day.

FINALLY:

I've written much too long, friend, so must close. However, before I do, consider this:

What do you think could have happened in Sarajevo if God's people had prayed they way they could have and should have? What do you think could have happened in Vukovar if God's people had prayed the way they did in Osijek?

I'm not saying they didn't pray. I'm just asking what might have been the outcome if History Making Prayer had been in the hearts and on the lips of believers both there and around the world. Prayer that is tenacious instead of tentative. Prayer that is bold instead of boring. Prayer that is focused instead of fragmented. In other words, serious, Spirit directed praying.

One final question:

What do you see in your city? In your life? In your ministry?

Do you see something that needs that kind of praying?

If not . . . . why not? There are plenty of things out there which need that kind of praying. Why don't you see them?

If you do, then what are you doing about it?

I know what I'm going to do about what I've seen recently. If I hadn't already repented for failing to act earlier on what I've known for years, I'd do that. However, since I have, I'm now going to begin ordering my ministry so that it incorporates opportunities to join hands with other believers praying in urgent, faith-filled intercession for the cities and nations of the world.

For every visible problem and condition we see around us, there is a spiritual power behind it causing it to fester, grow, and intensify in strength. No man made technique will ever get the job done. It can be broken only by the kind of praying I'm describing that beseeches the King of Heaven and then storms the gates of hell with the authority of God's Word, the message of God's Salvation, and the power of God's Spirit. It must be something that not only exposes and curses the darkness, but, moreso, proclaims the Light that will extinguish the darkness.

It's time to get on with it.

Whatever else you do this week, dear friend, I hope you'll have an unbelievably exciting one because you took time to get in the battle for the cause that is greater than yours . . . . . the cause of Jesus who came to preach good news to the poor, bind up the broken hearted, restore the bruised and broken, recover sight to the blind, set free the captives, and declare the year of restoration.

Isaiah 61:1-4 is still the order of the day.

Have a great week . . . . and drop me a note when you can.

In His Bond,

Bob Tolliver, Exec. Dir
Life Unlimited Ministries
Copyright June, 2001

<[email protected]>
Do You Get "Shoulder To Shoulder"?

Posted by: lifeunlimited <lifeunlimited@...>

Standing Shoulder to Shoulder Together As We
Fight the Good Fight of Faith

TO SUBSCRIBE send a blank message to <[email protected]> .
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IN EACH CASE you will receive an automated request for confirmation which you must answer.

SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #180 ---- 6/25/01

TITLE: "History Making Praying"

My Dear Friend and Partner in Kingdom Ventures:

I greet you today with the joy and excitement of the Lord flowing again in my bones, much refreshed, and more clearly understanding much of what went on during this most recent trip. I trust you are rejoicing in His goodness. Yesterday as we returned to visit the church where I had previously served for 20 months as interim pastor, I was reminded again that "the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness, O Lord."

I hope you have sensed that same faithfulness of God in your own life and ministry this past week. He has promised to be all that you need, no matter what.

You'll never know the interesting things that have taken place in regard to writing this letter to you. As you remember, one week ago I sent a brief note deferring my letter, and explaining why. By Wednesday all three factors for its delay had been resolved, and I was ready to go.

I did, in fact, write it Tuesday night, finishing it before checking out Wednesday morning while in the motel in Kansas City. However, when I tried to send it, I couldn't get through; something was not right with the connections I had set up on my computer, and I was still mentally dull enough that I couldn't track well enough to find the problem.

So, we headed home, arriving Wednesday late afternoon. All along the way I reviewed what I had written and felt really good about it ---- except for two things: 1) Was it too long? and 2) Was it too "strong"?.

Sensing that the Holy Spirit probably had a hand in its delay, I decided to wait another day before sending it so I could do some rewriting. On Thursday, a very busy day, running here and there getting mail, going to the bank, seeing my father, etc., the day came to a close without my sending it. Frankly, by that time I was not real happy with some of what I had written, and felt prompted that I should just wait and send it on Sunday night at my regularly appointed time.

Then came Friday. Earlier on the trip I had experienced an odd phenomenon with my computer where it would simply shut off for no apparent reason; I mean, no power at all. When I would turn it back on, my "Save" program would immediately bring my writing project back on screen as if nothing had happened. I thought at first it was just a power loss, but my battery should have kept it running.

Well, the same thing happened Friday as I was editing my letter to you. The only thing is that this time the hard drive wouldn't engage when I turned it back on. After scores of increasingly frustrating attempts, I decided I should use the Recovery discs and maybe just reprogram the computer. The message on the screen clearly indicated that doing so would totally wipe out everything on my C Drive. But, since there was nothing there because I had kept all my files on my D Drive, I clicked the mouse to proceed.

Instantaneously I remembered that, while all my files were saved on the D Drive, my Internet software and all my mail files AND address book were on the C Drive ---- including my letter to you! Immediately I stopped the procedure, praying that I had caught it in time.

But . . . . Alas! When I tried to start my computer again, a delightful little message read ---- "missing operating system".

So much for my great letter! And so much for whatever is left on the computer . . . . including (apparently) all that was also on the D Drive which contained, among other things, some 300 digital pictures of this recent trip which I had been unable to back up because I didn't take my Zip Drive with me. (The one hard drive was simply partitioned off into two.)

Well, as you can imagine, I have wrung my hands, pounded my desk, cried out to God for a miracle, shot myself a hundred times, and prayed this was all a terrible dream. I immediately thought of my dear friend Ben, best man at our wedding, who one day threw away all his years of sermon notes simply to start over from scratch. How could he do that!?!??

Therefore, one major project for today is to make an appointment with a company about 60 miles from here who specializes in data recovery and see if they can bring everything back from the grave. Pray with me for a resurrection from the computer abyss.

In the meantime, the Lord has not released me from my original subject, so I'll try to put my thoughts together again for you, asking God for a refreshing to my heart so I can share it as if it's for the first time.

A TRIP THEME:

Each time we take a trip like the most recent one, God seems to run a theme through out its duration about which He wants me to write or to consider for my own ministry. This year is no exception. Even before the trip began, we saw extraordinary emphasis on prayer, particularly "mobile" prayer . . . . prayer that moved territorially rather than locally. By the time we arrived, we knew God was up to something extraordinary, and we knew it would have long term consequences in the future.

So, today, I want to share my heart regarding "History Making Praying", for lack of a better title.

Just what type of praying is that? In essence, I believe it is authoritative, strategic praying, borne on wings of faith, undergirded by strong promptings of the Holy Spirit, confirmed by scripture, and receiving unsolicited verification from other believers, often without prior discussion or contact. It is praying that affects the conditions, surroundings, and plans regarding a particular situation or a region. It is the type of praying in which you know that something is happening that reaches further than that about which you are praying. It is praying that has an air of expectancy and hope which you cannot explain. It is praying that carries with it a burden that is almost unbearable were it not for the confidence that buoys you through the experience.

That is what began to develop on this trip. God seemed to be moving us into new realms of prayer . . . . new at least as far as what was the norm for our typical mission trips to the Balkan region. Jo Ann and I could sense it even in the prayers of our team members. We met twice daily to study the Word, discuss plans, share reports, pray, and minister to each other. It was clear as the trip progressed that something was afoot in every team member, and particularly in the hearts of five or six. God was taking them into the depths of His purposes, and holding them down there until they could breathe no more on their own.

I thought about letting my theme be "Life Changing Praying", but that just didn't say enough. There was more to it than that. History was being altered, and there was an intensity that far exceeded what would be reserved for something God was doing in a single life; we sensed we were seeing things happen that would affect an entire town or city ---- perhaps even a nation.

Clearly what I am trying to explain is often difficult to describe much less understand. So, let me share some examples of this type of international prayer initiative that is so desperately needed in our day.

HISTORY MAKING PRAYERS:

1. During the late 1970's and early 1980's, a group of pastors in a major city in the southwestern United States began praying together for their city of some 450,000 citizens and the various needs and problems that existed. It was a "Christianity saturated" city where many were receiving the message with complacency or were simply ignoring it. As this ever-growing group of church leaders cried out to God, He began to put impressions in their hearts regarding various ministries.

God gave them favor with the "elders" of the city. As a result, the various churches were able to secure abandoned houses, renovate them, and provide them to homeless people as a place to live and try to rebuild their lives. Over a relatively short period of time, as many as 100 such houses were restored to use.

At the same time, a need surfaced for children to have places to play and be safe in certain high crime neighborhoods and poverty areas around the city. The city officials gave the churches permission to conduct children's clubs in every single police precinct station (all 69 of them) with no restrictions on what they could do.

History was being made.

2. During the late 1980's and early 1990's a city in the upper Midwest region of the United States was having a major problem with immorality, crime, and drugs. A small handful of pastors began to meet together to pray. It wasn't long before some 60 of them around the region began to meet and pray for their towns and villages, and also this city of some 100,000 people.

For some time the gatherings centered on praying for each other and for their churches. As God progressively brought spiritual unity and love into the group, their praying began to center on city needs. They began praying about the high crime, especially the number of homicides. Recognizing that many of them were connected to drugs, they also began praying for the twelve major drug figures known to be in the city.

One particular year the tide seemed to turn. During that year there was not one single homicide until December 31 when one person was killed. That year the FBI named that city as the most crime free and safest city in America with a population of 100,000 or more. During that same time nine of the twelve drug major drug dealers were converted to Christ; the other three fled the area in fear. The pastors will tell you that they believe the only reason the one murder took place was because God's people were distracted from their praying because of the holidays.

3. During World War II, the Nazi armies moved in every direction to conquer territories and nations. As they moved outward from their homeland, one of the thrusts took them eastward toward Russia and Ukraine. Poland, Belarus, and other nations fell to their steel-booted march to conquer.

On August 27, 1941 they cut the primary Moscow-Leningrad railway, paving the way for an ultimate invasion of Moscow. The suffering of the Russian people was indescribable. Moving across both Ukraine and Russia, the soldiers of the Third Reich came with deliberate force. Kiev was evacuated on September 19, left to the futile defense of the Ukrainian army. By October 1 the Nazis moved toward Moscow and, according to Russian records, the region was coming under the onslaught of over 18,000 German tanks plus troops.

The fighting was ferocious and the outnumbered Russians valiantly stood their ground. A superior force both in skill and size, the German troops were brought amazingly to a standstill on December 6th. Though secular history books do not record all the facts, there was no military reason for what was about to happen to actually take place.

Instead of fighting on, the German forces turned around and left, and Moscow was saved.

What those secular records don't tell you about is the little band of young men and women in Reese Howell's Bible school in Wales, on their faces at just that time, crying out to God that the killing would cease and that the suffering in Moscow would end. Further Nazi efforts against Russia in July, 1943 also failed. (See "Reese Howells: Intercessor" by Norman Grubb.)

4. Likewise in North Africa, the "Desert Fox" Rommel was about to over run the allied forces with his elite "Africa Korps" of troops and thousands of tanks. On November 20, 1943, the Eighth Army recaptured Benghazi and began to push Rommel backward toward Tripoli. Then on December 13 they attacked in strength and occupied Rommel's main defenses at Mersa Brega only to find that his troops had already begun a rapid retreat even before the Eighth Army began their attack.

A major turning point in the North Africa campaign, it was a clear answer to prayer, for the allied forces had only three days of fuel left. If Rommel had stood his ground for just three more days, history would have been written differently.

Again, what secular history doesn't tell you is the role of prayer. While there were certainly millions of people around the world praying, Reese Howell's little band of students were again on their faces before God crying out for His intervention . . . . at just the time that Rommel began to turn and run. (See "Reese Howells: Intercessor" by Norman Grubb.)

I shared this story in a church in Rijeka two weeks ago on Sunday night, June 10th. Following the services, the pastor, Clifford Luckhurst from England (a missionary in the Balkan region for 23 years), told me about a personal friend who was in General Montgomery's forces who turned back Rommel's attacks. He indicated that the General had called on all his troops to beseech God in prayer that the fighting could cease.

5. In the 1980's believers in Osijek, Croatia, whom God had called out for intercession began to sense He was speaking strongly to them regarding impending danger. As they prayed and sought the Lord, various scripture passages pertaining to "the Assyrian" or "the Assyrian Warrior" came into play. Not knowing the significance of it, they continued seeking clarification. To their amazement they discovered a specific similarity between pictures of Assyrian warriors in their Bibles and the street map of Osijek.

Some time later they began to sense God's direction in how they should pray for Osijek. For some strange and unknown reason they felt they had been told to "cut off the legs" of the Assyrian Warrior. There was a particular thoroughfare through the city that ran directly across that region of the map. They made a prayer walk across the area. Within weeks the corrupt hard-line local government resigned and a more tolerant government was installed.

Then they felt directed to "go to the gates of the city" and pray. There were five major highways into the city. (Incidentally, these routes were identical to the ones used by the Turks in the Sixteenth Century when they invaded.) They went to each location and prayed that God would spare the city and hold back the enemy.

When the Yugoslav Army began its push toward Osijek, it was abruptly stopped at each of those five locations and could go no further. It turned out to be on the very anniversary dates when the Turks were stopped at the same places. God spared Osijek because of the authoritative intercession of His people while not many miles away the city of Vukovar was nearly totally destroyed.

God responds when His people cry out to Him as intercessors. (Taken from personal testimony of Clifford and Jenny Luckhurst, missionaries to the former Yugoslavia for 23 years.)

6. A similar group of intercessors went to Sarajevo before the war to pray for the city. As they prayed, the Lord seemed to prompt them to "cut the dragon in pieces" (Sarajevo's map has the appearance of a flying dragon.) At that time there were only a handful of believers in Sarajevo, so the responsibility to continue the work by prayer walking across the city on various thoroughfares fell to them.

However, the work was never completed and Sarajevo was besieged for nearly four years. More than 10,000 Muslims lost their lives during the war in Sarajevo alone. The area upon which the least damage was inflicted was the area over which the believers had prayed. (Taken from personal testimony of Clifford and Jenny Luckhurst, missionaries to the former Yugoslavia for 23 years.)

It makes one wonder what might have happened if God's people had followed through with what they had been commanded to do. Today Sarajevo is 90% Muslim with fewer than 200 believers in a city of over 400,000.

7. In the early 1990's an international group of believers from England, Canada, the United States and Switzerland met in Split, Croatia to begin a prayer initiative into Bosnia during the heat of the war and while Sarajevo was still under siege. It was a highly dangerous journey through territory changing hands sometimes by the hour.

Traveling from Split they first went to Mostar, still reeling from the rampaging war going on there, where they joined up with pastor Karmelo Krisonja (sp?) and his small congregation. After a few days of prayer, worship, and strategy planning, they began the journey up the Neretva River valley and then turning northward, through towns and villages such as Konjic, Kakanj, Breza,Travnik (places where I've been just recently), ending their journey of intercession in Tuzla. Everywhere they went, they cried out to God to spare the people, bring hope and comfort, still the fighting, expand His kingdom, and exalt His name above every other name.

By his own testimony, chief negotiator Richard Holbrook acknowledges that up to that time a total stalemate was in place and there was no known solution to the conflict. He admits himself to personal despair and hopelessness.

However, just weeks following this prayer journey, undergirded by tens of thousands of believers around the world, Slobodan Milosovic surprised everyone by offering to discuss the situation and negotiate some type of settlement. A few short months later, in November, 1994, the Dayton Peace Accord was signed.

God responds to the intercession of His people.

8. A middle eastern country was invaded by an army that left its capital city in ruins. Most of the residents had fled to other countries, were in hiding, or had been taken prisoners of war and carted off to distant prisons. Out of a population of some 200,000, only just over 42,000 people still lived in the rubble of that once glorious metropolis.

One man who had been taken captive got a visit from his brother and some friends who were still living there under foreign domination, and the report they gave him so broke his heart that he fell on his face before God and cried out to Him. By some miraculous means he was permitted to return to his home town to visit family and check on the conditions for himself.

He had so impressed the dictator of that invading country that he was granted permission to remain in order to help restore some semblance of order and civility to the city. This was unheard of in that day. He was able to rally many of the people to action, and a major reconstruction project was begun. Completing some projects in record time, the entire series of events, though met with strong opposition from local representatives of the dominating country, ultimately led to a great spiritual revival among the followers of God, and liberation came to the city and the nation not long thereafter . . . . simply because one man cried out to God and asked for Divine Intervention and then responded in obedience. (Full details of this story can be found in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra in the Old Testament.)

A QUESTION:

Now, dear friend . . . . . . why is it that you probably found it easier to believe the last example than to believe the other seven? Simply because it's in the Bible and the others are not?

They are all true accounts, so why the skepticism?

Or maybe it's because we really don't believe God responds to intercessory prayer initiatives today. Maybe in our era or reason and cynicism, we have concluded, even as believers, that God just doesn't do things like that anymore.

Our own hearts condemn us, my friend! The Bible is either true or it isn't. You can't pick and choose. God is either still the same "yesterday, today, and forever", or He isn't. If He isn't, then He isn't God. If He isn't God, then the Bible cannot be true. If the Bible is not true, then our Salvation is a fraud and our message and mission are totally irrelevant. We're wasting our time.

The condition of the Church today is much like it was in the Third and Fourth Centuries. While Constantine was tolerating and legalizing Christianity as another religion, the Church was unknowingly opening itself up to the pagan philosophies of the Roman Empire . . . . .the same Empire that was one of the first to invade the territory now known as Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, and the like.

Little by little the Church began to lose its power and message, thereby losing its influence and credibility. In order to save face, systems, structures, and rules were created to compensate. Many historians believe that once the Church lost its power provided by the Holy Spirit, it also lost its integrity. Without integrity and character, the gifts of the Spirit and the offices of leadership began to disappear. Some of those historians believe that the four (or five) fold offices of leadership recorded in Ephesians 4:11-17 were lost sequentially ---- first apostle, then prophet, then evangelist, then pastor, and teacher (or teaching pastor).

This, as you recall, led to the Dark Ages, nearly 1,000 years of nothing but institutionalized religion filled with big buildings, pomp and ceremony, and an ever increasing load of performance and rules. (For an excellent treatment of this subject, read "The Open Church" by James Rutz.) Save but for a scattering of true believers, the cause of Christ seemed to be totally eradicated just as it was in Croatia and Bosnia in the Sixth Centuries when the Goths invaded from the Germanic regions to the north and west.

But then, little rumblings began to be felt in certain parts of Europe, and finally it erupted into a giant mighty spiritual revolution as the silence of dead religion was shattered by the sounds of Martin Luther's hammer nailing his 95 Theses on the door of the church in Wittenburg.

And with that radical earthquake, God began to breathe new life into the once dead Church. Progressively God began restoring to the Church both the offices lost, the giftings, and the doctrinal teachings that disappeared earlier in the downward spiral from which she was now clawing her way out into new freedom. The Resurrection was happening again, this time to our Savior's Bride.

Richard Lovelace, professor at Gordon Conwell Seminary, has written an excellent book on the subject, "Dynamics Of Spiritual Life", where he develops that thesis with scholarly style. New Zealander Winkey Pratney also covers this subject in an easily understandable way in his book, "Revival".

So, you may be asking, what does this have to do with History Making Prayer?

Everything.

If the thesis I have noted is correct, then the question arises as to where we are today in that process of restoration to the Church. If these offices, giftings, and doctrines are actually being restored to the church in the reverse order of which they were lost, then where does that put us?

Some would say we are in the "apostolic" era, that is the era of missions and massive evangelism. However, I don't personally think we're there yet simply because it is not wide spread and international enough to be so. While it is certainly happening in some localized or regional ways, I don't believe the Church has even come close yet to seeing the urgency of the Great Commission. Frankly, I believe the "Laodicean Church" still prevails.

What I do see, however, is that we are probably in the last phase of the ministry of the prophet (you know . . . . the one who comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable with his message), and I believe the "doctrine" God is calling the Church back to is that of prayer . . . . . intense, strategic, warfare, authoritative, territorial praying for the Kingdom of God to come in power and destroy the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of this world. When linked to genuine worship and adoration, prevailing prayer becomes, as Frank Laughbach wrote, "The Mightiest Force In The World".

That is why I believe History Making Prayer is the order of the day.

FINALLY:

I've written much too long, friend, so must close. However, before I do, consider this:

What do you think could have happened in Sarajevo if God's people had prayed they way they could have and should have? What do you think could have happened in Vukovar if God's people had prayed the way they did in Osijek?

I'm not saying they didn't pray. I'm just asking what might have been the outcome if History Making Prayer had been in the hearts and on the lips of believers both there and around the world. Prayer that is tenacious instead of tentative. Prayer that is bold instead of boring. Prayer that is focused instead of fragmented. In other words, serious, Spirit directed praying.

One final question:

What do you see in your city? In your life? In your ministry?

Do you see something that needs that kind of praying?

If not . . . . why not? There are plenty of things out there which need that kind of praying. Why don't you see them?

If you do, then what are you doing about it?

I know what I'm going to do about what I've seen recently. If I hadn't already repented for failing to act earlier on what I've known for years, I'd do that. However, since I have, I'm now going to begin ordering my ministry so that it incorporates opportunities to join hands with other believers praying in urgent, faith-filled intercession for the cities and nations of the world.

For every visible problem and condition we see around us, there is a spiritual power behind it causing it to fester, grow, and intensify in strength. No man made technique will ever get the job done. It can be broken only by the kind of praying I'm describing that beseeches the King of Heaven and then storms the gates of hell with the authority of God's Word, the message of God's Salvation, and the power of God's Spirit. It must be something that not only exposes and curses the darkness, but, moreso, proclaims the Light that will extinguish the darkness.

It's time to get on with it.

Whatever else you do this week, dear friend, I hope you'll have an unbelievably exciting one because you took time to get in the battle for the cause that is greater than yours . . . . . the cause of Jesus who came to preach good news to the poor, bind up the broken hearted, restore the bruised and broken, recover sight to the blind, set free the captives, and declare the year of restoration.

Isaiah 61:1-4 is still the order of the day.

Have a great week . . . . and drop me a note when you can.

In His Bond,

<[email protected]>
Do You Get "Shoulder To Shoulder"?