God's mysterious - no, blatant - ways


The first email I read this morning was from a friend in Alabama, a military wife. She urged me to join in the National Call to Prayer. "I don't know how you feel about prophetic words, but this came from a man whom I admire named Dutch Sheets.  He's from Texas, but now has a church in Colorado Springs.  I have heard him speak at prayer conferences before and believe he is a man of integrity.  He issued a call to prayer a few days ago, but I didn't read this until last night.  Our SS class (some of us) met for prayer last night on the steps of the Capitol building in Montgomery to pray for Alabama and we found ourselves praying for Florida and Texas as well.  Then we met in a home and continued praying, and we found ourselves praying for every state in the nation.  Today needs to be a day of prayer and fasting for these elections and against any plan of the enemy of God to hinder that.  Even if you don't read what Dutch says, I hope that you will pray."

Then, before I went to the internet to lookup what Dutch Sheets had to say about this, I got another email, this time from a friend of mine who is the wife of a national congressman to the state of Florida. She included Dutch's message. That's when I took it very seriously. God doesn't just work in mysterious ways, sometimes he works in rather blatant ways as well.

"October 28, 2004
Dear Friends,
Up until now the Holy Spirit has not led me to issue a call to prayer for this year’s elections, as I did in 2000 (others have done so and many are praying).  That began to change this morning as I sensed clearly that the warfare over this election went to another level—big time! As it was in 2000, it is an all-out war in the spirit realm for the soul of this nation and I sense in my spirit that we have not yet broken through into victory. If we lose this war—and make no mistake, we can lose it if at any point we yield to apathy, overconfidence, weariness, or anything else that might cause us to not finish well—the results will be devastating.   Do not make the fatal mistake of laying the results of this election solely on the will and sovereignty of God.  As He did in 2000, God is requiring a partnership with the praying church in order for righteousness to prevail.  We must not allow a faulty theology that simply says “we have asked God to intervene, the rest is up to Him” to give us a false sense of security. Sometimes asking is all that is necessary, sometimes not.  In this battle it absolutely is not.  Just as when Israel did not possess Canaan, and also when Jerusalem missed a visitation from Heaven in Christ’s day, God’s will alone will not decide this election (Hebrews 3:18-19; Luke 19:44). In 1963 we forfeited God’s will by removing His influence from our schools; in 1973 we missed God’s will by allowing abortion to be legalized. And make no mistake about it, our lack of action at this point in time can cause us to miss God’s will and send us spiraling downward again. We must move into spiritual warfare now as never before. There is a persistence that must be exercised, striking the ground until complete victory is assured (2 Kings 13:14-19).  By those who understand the principles of spiritual warfare, there is a kingdom force that must be employed in the spirit until the powers of darkness yield to the forces of light (Daniel 10:12-14; Matthew 11:12; Ephesians 6:12).  There is a binding and loosing that must occur until confusion reigns in the enemy’s camp (Matthew 16:18-19). The kingdom rule and will of God must be released in intercession and declaration until Heaven’s desires prevail on earth (Matthew 6:10).   Don’t let up.  Intensify!  The next 3 days will determine the fate of America for decades—maybe forever. Also, I believe the purposes of God in many nations are at stake, not the least of which is a great harvest of souls around the world.  Take some radical steps. I am changing my schedule and going to Washington DC for the next 3 days in order to pray in the way I believe the Lord is leading me. Though this is not practical for most of you, here are some suggestions for the final 3 days leading up to this election:
1.      Fast.  Some are already fasting; I am asking for thousands more to join them.  Ask God to lead you as to what kind of fast, and use wisdom concerning medical factors.
2.      Join together in prayer meetings and prayer services: the prayer of agreement is powerful—use it.
·         Turn Sunday school classes into prayer meetings.
·         Take time in Sunday services this week for prayer.
·         Have special prayer services Saturday, Sunday, or Monday nights.
·         Move home/cell groups to Saturday, Sunday, or Monday nights and devote them to prayer.
·         Do prayer “conference calls” with friends and prayer partners.
3.      Get up earlier than usual and pray before beginning other activities.
4.      If possible, do a night watch—get up through the night and pray; or pull an “all nighter” if you feel the strength to do so.
5.      Pray Isaiah 22:22! 6.      

Send this prayer alert to every praying Christian that you know. Please give it to your pastor far enough in advance of Sunday’s services so that he can plan. Finally, this is not a partisan issue; it is simply a righteousness issue. God must have a man in office who seeks His face. If all of us do our part, we will prevail in this election and see America take another turn toward righteousness and revival.  

For His Cause, Dutch Sheets "

Posted: Mon - November 1, 2004 at 07:06 AM           |

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