A Pastor’s Prayer
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10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
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Title: A Pastor’s Prayer
What we read here is Pauls desire for the church at Philipi
And I find it to be a prayer that I pray for you, often!
Grow in knowledge and judgement
Be excellent
Filled with the fruits of righteousness
We have talked a lot in the past about spiritual warfare and conquest
I said years ago: the most important spritual warfare you will ever do, is doing the little things right every day.
I said recently that true spritual warfare is getting the people of God into the mind of God.
It’s not casting our devils, binding and loosing, discerning or prophesying - it’s dealing with the flesh!
God has been working on us for a little while about this… this past year he has been gently pulling the church a little more into the battle.
This past couple months we have entered into something completely new.
A new level of authority.
God is beckoning to us as a church… to walk into this new dimension.
One of the things that God has released me to to is include you in my ministry outside TLC.
Because of the things that I have been involved with, much of my covering has come from outside the church.
I have not asked you to be involved in my preaching out, pastoring other young pastors, district work.
After I came back from the rally in Omaha a couple weeks ago, God released me to ask you help to cover me.
Lesson I learned: you are very powerful. I not only need you to cover me, I want you to cover me in prayer.
There is a right way to cover and a wrong way.
One will lead to victory, one will lead to me doing triage on you in the middle of the battle when I should be focused on the battle instead of you!
COVERING:
Horizontal covering.
Team mate protection - I got your back and you have mine!
This is an elite army unit advancing on the enemy in perfect formation, covering each other!
Eye’s out, alert for outside threats.
Vertical covering - authoritative
This is command, thousands of miles away issuing orders as they watch what is going on through satellite coverage! This is overwatch.
Eye’s down, alert for all threats, outside and inside
My family and I need you doing A, BUT you can’t do B for me or my family!
You can’t do B for the church family either!
This has been the toughest chapter of my life and ministry…
I need someone here that God can wake up in the middle of the night and lead them into prayer for my family!
I am asking for you to cover me and my family!
This is new! Here is the problem with new:
1 Corinthians 16:9 “9 For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.”
It is like a video game, with each new level comes new challenges, new enemies, new obstacles, new powers to find.
And it takes a little while to find the new “power ups”, SO YOU SPEND SOME TIME LOOSING… pressing reset!
In these times you are week and vulnerable!
This is where covering comes in! - Vertical and horizontal!
Not only am I asking for you to cover me and my family, BUT YOU HAVE TO START COVERING EACH OTHER!
In the tactical world there is a term - your three foot world - everything in the 3’ space in front of them…
We as a church have been living in our 3’ world… we have brother in arms wounded in the fight and MOST are not even aware!
And we live our lives completely oblivious to anyone outside these walls!
In warfare terms we are not caring for our wounded and not protecting civilians!
With what God is asking us, we have to shift our priorities to something other than our personal worlds!
One of the new things I have observed and felt are the Revelation Gifts manifesting more than ever these last few months…
We will find time and teach about this as soon as possible…
Principles of Discernment:
ALL gifts opperate in Love.
When the gifts start operating, (especially the revelation gifts) you take one of two roles - You either become their intercessor, or you become their accuser.
90% or more of what God tells you is to be prayed about! NOTHING ELSE!
You don’t share with your spouse, best friend, prayer partner - FOR ANY REASON.
You are abusing the gifts and in the moment you share what you “feel” you become the accuser of your brother!
You have have now come into unity with the Spirit of the AntiChrist - Revelation 12:10
THE ONLY PERSON TO TALK TO IS ME as the vertical covering!
When God shows you something, you are the soldier on the flank engaging the enemy before your brother even knew he was in danger!
If you don’t handle it proper, you are the equivalent of the soldier who sees the enemy but does not engage, willingly allowing his brother or sister to be exposed to the enemy!
God will never reveal to you the character weaknesses of those you are called to horizontally cover unless you are also called to vertically and authoritative cover them.
You cannot look out and in at the same time without a calling to do so.
God will not show you my faults or you will not follow me.
The closer you get to someone, the more you observe. That’s not discernment, it’s observation. DON’T PERVERT THE GIFTS!
You may observe character flaws but that’s the issue of the leader not the Gift of Discernment.
As God can trust you as an intercessor, you will start to feel attacks, pressures, battle fatigue of those covering you vertically
God will help you see the vulnerable spots so you can protect
My pastor’s greatest vulnerability (also his greatest strength) is his love for people
He will be at the church counseling and praying for ppl at 1 and 2 am…
There are days when I feel his weariness and know that he is vulnerable.
THAT’S WHEN I PRAY PEACE AND REST FOR HIS MIND FOR HIM AND HIS FAMILY.
Weariness is often a result of not understanding how to opperate in the Gifts, but trying anyway!
1 Corinthians 9:26 “26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:”
BEST ADVICE for an obervation or the gift of discernment
SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND PRAY
IF IT PERSISTS, TALK TO ME
The enemy has taken advantage of our ignorance…
There has been an attack on us that we have not experienced in all the years I have been here.
There has been a spirit of division trying to drive wedges between individuals, families and friends and I am here to expose it and stop it.
It has coupled with spiritual arrogance and I am shinning the light on it as well!
This is spiritual warfare!
Stop nit picking everything
Stop being over sensitive and offended
Stop being frustrated and angry
Stop holding ppl to different standards
Start imagining the devil looking for a place to put a wedge in and start hammering away.
splitting wood - look for an already weak spot and that is wear you place the wedge!
This is why you have been
Fussing with your spouse a little more than normal…
Been critical of things you are not normally critical of…
Taking issue with things that have been said when you know it was not meant the way you choose took it…
Short with your kids…
Short with your co worker…
Angry with random stranger…
My kids are off limits!
KNOW THAT YOU KNOW, RECOGNIZE AND DEAL WITH IT!
The enemy has a wedge in his hand, trying to find a crack in who we are, DON’T LET HIM FIND ONE IN YOU!
Conclusion:
Find your place, your lane and live there!
