This starts with us. We must be the first to give ourselves over completely to the Lord God. No more apathy, no more complacency. We must be in right standing with the Lord which is another way of saying righteous. We must be the first to repent, revive then stand and stay in a state of righteousness. We must fully engage our talents. skills and abilities to point ourselves in the direction of the best version of ourselves and stay on that road for however many days we have left on this earth.
Once this is underway ^^^ we can free ourselves of the notion that we need to go overseas to conduct "missions" for the Lord. America is perhaps one of the nations most in need of missionaries. So not only do you not need to go to some far flung land to fulfill your mission, you dont have to look any further than what is right in front of your face. The Spirit of the Lord has impressed this nobody with our need to pray for those within the expanding circles of influence around us in our daily lives. What is the expanding circle of influence? Those right in front of our face day in and day out. Its family, friends, acquaintances and even people we do not know at all that the Lord brings across our path. This group can be a full time job in prayer. We have been too familiar with this group in the past and not placed the emphasis there that should be there.
Why a renewed importance on our circle of influence? Because we now understand the power that one believer brings with them to the fight:
Mark 11:23
“Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.
Matt 18:19
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
The enemy has successfully dropped the wool over the eyes of generations with the demonic doctrine of the nicolaitans:
Rev 2:6
But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Nico-conquer Laitan-the "laity" or non priestly class=you and me. The Nicolaitan system was setup to disempower the believer and empower the few so called "experts" which are then easily corrupted and subdued. The Word of God clearly tells us that anyone-not just "pastors" and priests can and will walk in power if they believe
“Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.
All of this ^^^ is to establish the importance of one believer added to the fight. How much value can one person who can move mountains bring to the Kingdom? The question answers itself...How much value does one person who agrees with you in prayer bring to the fight? Lets do some math-you plus one new believers equals two:
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
If we want to look at more worldly examples we can evaluate the idea that spiritual beliefs shape political beliefs. Who are the people who vote for demonic agendas? Those without the Spirit of the Lord within them. Change their spiritual beliefs and the politics will follow. In all things, the Lord God has primacy. When we put Him first, everything else falls into place in its correct order.
Todays message is intended to be encouragement to continue to engage. Everything is on the line. What you, the individual believer do, can and will shape the future. The best version of yourself will shape the future. Your prayers will shape the future. The souls you pray into the Kingdom will absolutely shape the future. Let no stone go unturned. If the Lord brings someone across your path-pray for them. Pray for that soul-whoever they are (even people you dont know). In this season, and in the days ahead-every soul will matter.
Pray about everything, all the time. Thats a full time job. Stand in the gap with this servant for the land:
EZ 22:30
“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.
We must stand in the gap for the land for the sake of all that is redeemable-not for all the wickedness the enemy has introduced to it. The battle is not over nor is it a foregone conclusion. The enemy does not get to decide what happens-the Lord God does and the Lord God is looking directly at you and me to decide what He is going to do:
2 Chron 7:14
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
We have all failed and are guilty to varying degrees for what has happened to the land-starting with the servant who writes to you. That means we all must humble ourselves and ask forgiveness for our part in allowing wickedness to make such inroads. We will humble ourselves and pray and seek His face turning from our wicked ways and the Lord our God will hear from heaven forgive our sin and heal the land.
We do this ^^^ and the enemy loses this battle. This servant who writes to you stands in agreement with you in prayer regarding all these things and believes we have already received what we are asking for in prayer.
Mark 11:24
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Glory to God
grace and peace
