Two nights ago I had two dreams. One, an old friend of mine was dying and someone told me to shoot him so he can be put out of his misery. They planned it all out for me and I shot at a wall knowing that he was on the other side. After many shots, I knew he was dead. After it was all over, I realized that he was gone forever and there was no way to bring him back. Regret and sorrow filled my heart as I realized I never told him he needed Christ, I never stood in the gap and prayed for his salvation.
His blood was on my hands.
The next dream I had was that my dad died. It was so real and so vivid. Real memories flooded my mind. I remember doing the dishes and him walking behind me and I got angry and disgusted at his alcohol use and pride. Another memory was when I was 7 or 8, him and I were fishing together on a quiet, secluded part of the lake and I just sat and watched him. I liked being with him more than I liked the fishing. I sat back and watched him cast his pole in the water all focused and determined.. and I realized that my dad would die someday. At that moment I knew that I wanted my dad to always know that I love him so much and I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could. In the dream, I cried like how I would imagine I would if he really did die.. the thing that I was weeping the most about was that I had the ability to communicate with heaven on his behalf, but I didn’t cry out enough.
I awoke from my sleep to the sound of my own wailing and weeping.
I sat up knowing that it is our duty and our vocation to intercede, intervene and stand in the gap for people we know, people we don’t know... things of this nation, of this city and of this world.
Bill Johnson, a pastor from Bethel Church in Redding, California said in one of his sermons, “History is shaped by those who pray, or shaped in the absence of those who could have prayed”
He also said, “God in his sovereignty, chose us to be stewards of a planet, and in doing so we have the responsibility to interact with heaven and that is done through prayer.”
1 Timothy 2:1 says, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayer, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone- for kings and all those in authority, (meaning our president and the decisions he plans on making)
that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (Meaning, God WANTS ALL men to be saved!)
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, "
Prayer positions us to affect the outcome of things beyond imagination. During this time tonight, set aside any hinderances and let us weep for those who weep and mourn for those who mourn.
James 5:16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. (We’ve done that the past couple of days so that’s good..) The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal specific things to pray for while you pray. I’m not saying that praying for the obvious is bad, but go deeper. Shooting arrows in all directions towards your enemy isn’t bad, but you’ll have a better outcome if you seek out the exact targets to hit.
Ask the Lord to burden your heart, have him reveal the unseen.
