A Tale Of Two Confrontations
A Tale of Two Confrontations
Good morning, mighty men and women of God!
Deborah and I have been literally moved to tears over the last 24 hours by the courageous outpouring of willingness by family and friends around the world to contend for a miracle in Judah’s thyroid. Thank you for giving freely of yourselves for Judah and the glory of Jesus!
The final round of tests will take place this Thursday, November 20th. Late that afternoon, the Director of Surgery for the entire hospital will review the test results and set forth the plan!
I’ve been reflecting this week on a story that I’ll call “A Tale Of Two Confrontations” because it’s a lesson for all of us who are praying for a miracle in Judah’s thyroid.
I had just experienced a fresh awakening to Christ as a 21-year old in college when I first read the perspective of Rick Joyner on this fascinating passage, Acts 12:1-24. This perspective has shaped my response to attacks of disease on the body of Christ ever since.
In the first 11 chapters of Acts, the early church was a juggernaut, racking up win after win, including the conversion of arch-terrorist, Saul, into the apostle Paul and the conversion of thousands of sinners to Christ.
Seemingly out of nowhere, came a decisive counter-strike by the devil!
“It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”
It’s hard to speculate on exactly what the early church was doing during the imprisonment of James and just before he was killed with the sword. The text gives us very little to go on.
BUT, we do see something VERY special and very powerful after Peter was arrested. The passage seems to suggest that the early church took a much more aggressive approach to the devil’s second attack against their leaders. The church was earnestly praying to God for him.
Oh, to have attended one of those earnest prayer meetings!
A few verses later we read of several remarkable outcomes of their earnest prayers, including: 1) an angelic jailbreak of Peter in the middle of the night before his mock trial and likely execution the next day, 2) an angelic assassination of the wicked Herod just months later, and, 3) the continued expansion of God’s word with power throughout the region.
Their prayers paid off, big time!
SO — the obvious question: what kind of praying was the early church doing to get results like that? What does “earnestly praying” look like?
Deborah and I have thought about this for years.
Thankfully, we find some clues in God’s word!
We would posit the following 3 characteristics of earnest praying that gets results:
1. Militant
A reading of Daniel 10 gives such a fascinating glimpse into what happens in the unseen, spiritual realm when we pray. In response to our prayers, angelic warriors are dispatched from heaven to bring us the answers, sometimes encountering resistance from demonic powers that can literally delay their arrival until we “pray it through,” as the early pentecostals were fond of saying. A careful reading of this text seems to suggest that our words literally escort the will of God to the earth!
2. Authoritative
In Luke 10, Jesus made such a revolutionary statement! “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” When he commissioned his church in Mark 16, he told them he expected them to heal the sick. That’s probably why in Acts 9 Peter authoritatively declared to the cripple, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat” and the cripple did exactly what he was told. We have the authority to declare!
3. Relentless
In Luke 18, Jesus settles the issue once and for all: one or two dispassionate prayers will never do! To win our battles, God expects us to approach his heavenly courtroom and press our case for justice against our adversary. Jesus broke the curse of the law. Sickness, poverty, CANCER: You have no right to torment the people of God! We respectfully press our claims in the court of heaven for relief from the wiles of the rebellious devil and his agents. What could Jesus have said to make our job description more clear? We are to “cry out day and night” to the judge of all the earth, but not to beg for healing. Rather, we’re asking him to dispatch angels, heaven’s law enforcement officers, to overcome the forces of evil on our behalf.
Deborah and I know that setting aside the time to pray is costly. Giving up food to elevate the power of your prayers costs even more!
Only God knows what he has in store for this young man’s future and why the devil has tried so hard to take Judah out.
I’m so excited to see what this investment in Judah’s future will bring in the decades to come!
We honor you, mighty men and women of God! Thank you for partnering with us through your prayers.
To join us in the prayer that we’re declaring daily, click HERE…
Let’s be militant, authoritative, and relentless!
Joyfully,
