
“Stand in the Gap”
As “Watchman on the Wall”
“When You said , ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You , ‘ Your face LORD I will seek!’ ” Psalm 27:8 I have always loved seeking after God. And sometimes He plays hide and seek. He is then calling me to come up higher IN HIM. And many times He takes me to a hidden place, under the Shelter of His Almighty Wings, where I spend glorious intimate time with Jesus, soaking and abiding in Him. Being a very gregarious outgoing people person, loving to teach, mentor, lead and serve the LORD in many different ways for over forty years in church ministry, I could not understand or fathom the changes that were about to take place in my life and personal ministry when God called me to lay everything down! I was totally undone! Soon I learned that out of my zeal and eagerness to serve the LORD, as a leader, I had become more purpose driven rather than passion driven!
Ten years ago the LORD called me apart UNTO HIM and He spoke to me and said, "Sandra, I love you for your faithful heartfelt ministry and how you love Me. And I love your heart and love for people. But now I want you to lay it all down. I am going to teach you how to serve me more effectively in your ministry. I want you to minister out of My heart and My love. And I want you to minister from the passion of Christ! And Sandra, I want you to know that I LOVE YOU FOR JUST BEING YOU, NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU DO! This up close and personal encounter with God, stirred up a renewed passion for Christ within me and I began an amazing journey to learn more about prophetic Intercessory Prayer. And through this time I established a stronger relationship and intimacy with Jesus than I have ever had in my entire life. I had spent two years of intense study on the prophetic gifts, and realized that God was directing and leading me to learn more about the true gift of powerful, prophetic Intercessory Prayer being led by His Holy Spirit. God’s Word and His Holy Spirit are our strongest weapons. And He ask us to wrap ourselves in His whole armor to prepare for spiritual warfare and battle. (Ephesians 5) And PRAYER IS THE BATTLE!
God was calling me forth so I could face the enemy, know the enemy, and come boldly, courageously and confidently before God’s Throne of Grace in fervent prayer, as He tells us in His Word.
I then learned about different kinds of prayer. Confrontational. Breakthrough. Rearguard. Travail. Faith. “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit” Zechariah 4:6
I learned how God will empower us with His seven-fold Spirit when we need it. I learned to pray, praise and welcome the awesome Spirit of God! And instead of running from the enemy, in the sometimes paralyzing fear the enemy had used against me - I STOOD UP AGAINST THE ENEMY, with the Awe and Reverential Fear of our Holy God. Wisdom. Knowledge. Understanding. Counsel and Might. OUR GOD IS HOLY! HE IS A HOLY GOD! HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD! Just take time and praise Him right now! NOW IS THE TIME!
“So they shall fear the name of the LORD from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.” Isaiah 59:19
Praise God! He takes a stand on our behalf! He displays Himself to overthrow the power of the enemy! So boldly we can STAND ON HIS PROMISES, STAND ON HIS WORD and speak and pray His prophetic Word back to Him- as we STAND IN THE GAP AS WATCHMEN ON THE WALL AT THE GATE - interceding in faithful prayer for our families, churches, nation, other nations around the world, especially for Israel. God clearly tells us that He will bless those who pray for and bless His chosen people!
Intercessory Spiritual Warfare Prayer “The victory of the Cross is extended only as faithful intercessors “wrestle” against dark powers and win through the power of Jesus’ name and blood.” Dick Eastman
Too many Christians feel downtrodden and defeated by the enemy’s minions before the battle has even begun. The result is that while we stand passively on the sidelines, the enemy runs completely amok. It is time for all Christians to do an abrupt about-face and start learning how to outwit the enemy of our souls. Scripture says that we are more than conquerors through Christ who strengthens us. Covered by the Blood of Christ we are given the supernatural power of God’s Holy Spirit to pray with authority, power and conviction, offering prayers of submission, repentance, confrontation, faith, wisdom, healing, deliverance and breakthrough and more to stop the enemy dead in his tracks!
Put on the full armor of God and arm yourself with Prayers That Outwit the Enemy!” The enemy cannot overcome God. The Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ have defeated Satan and the demonic forces. It is time for God’s people to rise up, move forward in these end time battles, and invade Satan’s territory, and take back our rich inheritance in Jesus, to further advance God’s Kingdom on Earth. Yes ,we have a heart to win the lost to Jesus, to let people know that through Jesus, we have salvation, eternal life. But we need to ask God for forgiveness because we have not preached the full Gospel of Jesus! Jesus brings restoration, deliverance, freedom and fullness of God and the righteousness of Jesus for us to live a joyful life on this earth daily, a life full of God's mercy, blessings and promises. We need to fully understand the prayer Jesus prayed, "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done. On Earth as it is in Heaven!" This is an amazing, empowering message, that I will write and share soon.
NOW IS THE TIME! It is time that we passionately pursue God and renew our lives and energize our prayer life. In order to be totally free we must die to ourselves. We must experience the death of the Cross. We must not fear this death in our flesh. Such a fear will prevent us from entering into the Resurrection and crossing over into our next level of anointing, power and authority. Part of this death will entail suffering and trials. The truth is that whenever there is warfare in our lives that we will need to press through, there will also be an amount of suffering that we will encounter in overcoming. Through Christ we are more than conquerors! We are overcomers! And it is through this process of passionately pursuing God, that our godly passion originates and is completed. Via this overcoming in the midst of great difficulties, we are able to move into New Dimensions of God’s best for our lives.
(Inspired by Dr. Chuck Pierce’s and Rebecca Wagner Systema’s book, “Prayers That Outwit The Enemy - Making God’s Word Your First Line of Defense.” Also authors of “The Future War of the Church”.)
Notes from Spirit Filled Life Bible that my beloved daughter gave to me.
Intercessors (those ‘Standing in the Gap, Watching and Guarding the Gate)link God’s mercy with human need. God is looking for intercessors to stand in the gap and usher in God’s mercy. Fasting and prayer birth signs and wonders, (Acts 13:1-14:28) as God confirms in His Word. Prayer is the proving ground of our faith.
Unceasing Prayer is the key to Deliverance. (Acts 12:1-17) Great deliverance comes through prayer, sometimes so surprisingly we may find it difficult to believe it ourselves! A prayerful quest for God leads to our finding renewed, restored spiritual strength.
The Weapon of the Sacred Blood of Christ. The blood of Christ provides every believer with the necessary provision to defeat Satan. Praise God! Life, salvation, redemption, restoration, regeneration, reformation, is in the Blood of Jesus. The issue of Blood is right relationship, and our ultimate goal of God’s Covenant. Christ’s Blood is the only God-ordained covering for sin. The Blood of Jesus is forever the only means of right relationship with our holy God. And we must learn to covenant with our God!
Seeing into the invisible discerning the spiritual issues and God’s perspective is a key to victorious praying. Prayer brings revelational insight necessary for spiritual warfare. Intimacy with God in prayer births blessings and victories for breakthroughs. Faithfulness in continuous prayer is needed because spiritual warfare is continuous. Consistency and order in daily prayers are needed for spiritual breakthroughs. Prayer births supernatural boldness, unity, fruitfulness and fullness.
A righteous man’s praying is energized by the Holy Spirit and amazing things happen. Earnestness, intensity and diligence are part of God’s emphasis for prayer. Fasting is referred to as a sacrificial form of prayer and produces results. God may use angels to administer the victory for saints engaged in prayer warfare. It is necessary to take authority in the spiritual realm to impact the natural realm. Trumpets (shofars) have a unique place of sounding spiritual authority. (Numbers 10:1-10) Tears of sorrow, joy, compassion, travail and repentance all have a place in warfare.
THROUGH FAITHFUL, FERVENT INTERCESSORY PRAYER GET READY! GET READY! GET READY! Wrap yourselves in God’s glorious garment of praise! In obedience, thank Him throughout all circumstances, no matter how you feel. This releases the supernatural power of God’s Holy Spirit to work on your behalf and others! Then get ready! Get ready for the suddenlies of God and expect the unexpected! Get ready for not only a breakthrough! Our loving, merciful God answers prayers! He will bring breakthrough, breakup and break out for individuals, and through this He will change people's hearts, lives, churches and nations! NOW IS THE TIME!