Articles

New Levels of Intercession Needed
By Jacquie Tyre

We have entered into a new season and a new level of warfare, unlike what we have seen before, and we must not shrink back or allow the enemy to distract us from the assignments of the Lord in this season.  There is a promised land ahead of us, and much like the children of Israel, after God had removed Moses and moved Joshua into the place of leadership. We must quickly adapt to the new and refrain from looking back to "the way things used to be." 

God abundantly blessed Israel during the time of Moses -- even though they were wandering around in the wilderness due to their own disobedience.  He delivered them out of bondage across the Red Sea, and led them by cloud in the day and a pillar of fire by night.  He turned the bitter waters into sweet, and caused waters to flow out of a rock.  He fed them with manna from heaven and even, rained down quail in abundance when they cried out for meat.  He kept their clothes and their shoes from wearing out, and refrained from killing them off at the intercession of Moses.  He revealed His law and led them by His ways.  He protected and preserved . . . until the generation who doubted God's promises passed away and a new generation was raised up to go in to posses the promised land.  The time of Moses was supernatural.  It was amazing.  It was blessed by God's goodness.  It was evidence of God's grace - amazing grace - toward a stiff-necked and rebellious people. 

The time of Moses and the children of Israel is a time we can relate to all too well.  Like the children of Israel, we have been blessed over the last generation (40 years) in so many amazing ways.  God poured out His Spirit in the Charismatic Renewal, through the Jesus Movement and through many great Spirit-filled teachers (too many to name).  He birthed a renewal of the gifts of the Spirit, restored tongues, prophecy, signs, wonders and miracles.  He released revivals of restoration and refreshing, passion and compassion, along with perhaps the greatest surge of fresh worship and consistent intercession the world has seen since the early church. And, God restored the gifts, function, and office of the five-fold ministry gifts of Ephesians 4 - apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teach - in new and more broadly accepted ways. The movement of Holy Spirit in the last forty years has touched virtually every denomination and sector of the Church in some fashion.

Yet, the impact of the Kingdom of God upon society, particularly here in the United States and in western culture, has been minimal.  In fact, there has been no measurable growth of the Church in any county across the USA!  Thousands who once gathered regularly for worship has scattered, or worse -- departed from following Christ to embracing other religions.  Many shop for a church to attend like they shop for a new car or a new home -- Does it meet my needs? Does it fit my style? Is it "affordable" (not "cost" me to much)?  Is it "comfortable"? Will it "last" -- or meet my needs for a long time, or at least until . . .?

Moses led a people whose personal needs were paramount, and God graciously cared for them.  He led a people who wandered around in the wilderness, blessed by the Lord but not able to enter into the land of promise.  He led a people out of Egypt, but never fully delivered from the Egypt that lived in their heart.  They, as a generation, were motivated and moved by the needs of the flesh, by what their natural eyes could see, and by their own pride (see 1 John 2:16). 

Then, the time came for Joshua - a man who lingered in the presence of the Lord in the tent of meeting after Moses would depart (see Exodus 33:11) - to step into the place of leadership.  It was time to leave the wilderness, cross over the Jordan and enter into the Promised Land.  It was time to move in a new way.  It was time to live in a new way - not the way of the wilderness, but the way of a land flowing with milk and honey, and a land inhabited by the enemy - the "-ites" that had to be defeated and driven out. 

The children of Israel had to SHIFT their thinking (from wilderness dwellers to mighty conquerors).  They had to SHIFT their allegiance (from Moses to Joshua).  They had to SHIFT their appetites (from manna & quail, to milk, honey and the fruit of the land).  They had to SHIFT their expectations (from provision coming by Egypt or out of heaven, to tilling the land and plundering the enemy).  They had to SHIFT their identity (from delivered slaves to ruling possessors). 

It was a TIME OF RADICAL PARADIGM SHIFTING, and IT IS NOW A TIME OF RADICAL SHIFTING!

Nothing is as it has been and we have not been this way before.  Therefore, we must keep our eyes on the Lord and secure our alignments, associations, and connections to insure that we are prepared to move on across the Jordan in preparation of possessing the Promised Land.  It is time to deal with anything out of the last season that would keep you from moving forward in the new.  Ask the Lord to guide you through the SHIFTS of allegiance, appetite, expectation, and identity that are necessary for this new season of war.  Be careful to not presume that you know what to do based on the past.   Remember -- We have NOT BEEN THIS WAY BEFORE!! 

Consider the words of ISAIAH 48:6-7 NASB

    You have heard these things; look at them all.

            Will you not admit them?

           "From now on I will tell you of new things,

           of hidden things unknown to you.

    They are created now, and not long ago;

           you have not heard of them before today.

           So you cannot say,

           'Yes, I knew of them.'

I want to encourage you to press into a new level of intercession.  God is clearly calling us to, what Cindy Jacobs calls, "militant intercession."  The intensity of the last season of intercession will not be effective in the level of warfare that is being unleashed in this hour.  We must learn to operate in the authority and responsibility that Christ has given us -- not independent of each other, but in interdependence based on covenant relationships to function as a well-trained army forcefully advancing the Kingdom against the forces of darkness. 

Find your place of intercession with those who have laid hold of the call of God for this hour to advance with faith, courage, and boldness at the command of the "Captain of the Lord's Hosts" -- committed to do what He says do, when and how He commands.  Secure your alignments for fellowship and function, both are critically important.  Fellowship without function won't advance, and function without fellowship won't last.  Its about covenant connections for Kingdom purposes. 




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