The news on Wednesday came quickly. At first we were beyond belief. But then as one news outlet after another began to cover the events, we quickly realized that not only was a magazine under attack, but our very way of life!
That evening our church already had a prayer meeting scheduled. Members began calling the office to ask if the prayer meeting would continue given the draconian security rules imposed on Paris in the aftermath of the attack. But it is in such times as these that Christians must brave every obstacle and overcome every fear and seek the mercies of God.
As we began to worship that evening, a sobering sense of destiny came upon us all. We wept for the victims; we pleaded for mercy on our nation. And then, as if a soft wind from heaven began to blow upon us, an indignation began to arise within us. Then in a moment we were baptized with holy authority.
We took authority over the demonic powers that would hide the perpetrators. We battled in the spirit to unmask the terrorists. We declared that the Spirit of God would set boundaries around them, not allowing them to flee the country. We bound the spirit of violence over the two Islamic terrorists and declared that they would not be able to do further harm to any other people.
We discovered later that in their haste to leave the get-away car one of the Islamic terrorists accidentally dropped his identity card. Shortly later the police found the car and the ID allowing them to very quickly identify the two brothers.
Thursday the drama in Paris continued with a third Islamic terrorist gunning down in broad daylight a young woman interning with the Police department. The man hunt was on. We quickly sent out prayer points to our members and to our friends around the world. We could sense heaven’s attention was on the situation in Paris. We knew that this was a key moment and history would tell of these events.
Friday morning my future son-in-law was on his way to his morning classes. As he drove down the highway he saw a high-speed car chase going in the opposite direction. The Spirit of God led him to pray and began to declare protection around people. Though he didn’t realize that the police were then chasing the two terrorist brothers in a stolen vehicle, he knew by the Spirit that it was something dreadful. He prayed for the police and declared a safe outcome for them.
We got news that morning that the two Islamic terrorists had hidden in a wooded area not far from our home. They had stolen a car, stopped at a town only 8 miles away and were held up in a printing shop. The news reported a hostage.
We began to pray for God to hide the hostage in His mercy, and that he would be invisible to the perpetrators. We declared his life would be spared.
Then the very sad news came that the police officer’s assassin had gone into a Jewish grocery store in Paris and shot dead three people. A fourth very brave man struggled with the Islamic terrorist in an attempt to grab his pistol, and was shot in the head.
We began praying for that situation. We prayed divine protection over the remaining hostages.
We declared confusion over the perpetrator and wisdom over the police.
In the hours that followed the terrorist decided to call a local newspaper. The police were notified and listened in on the call. When the perpetrator realized that none of his demands would be heeded, he ended the call. But in his confusion he failed to hang up the phone correctly. This allowed the police to continue listening.
After some time the Muslim killer began praying the prayer of the martyr which is traditionally said prior to acts of violence in which they are sure to die. The police, hearing this prayer, realized it was only a matter of seconds before he would open fire on the other hostages. And the order was given to storm the grocery store. The terrorist was killed and not one of the remaining hostages was harmed.
Happening at the same time in the north suburbs near the Charles de Gaule airport the two terrorist brothers were becoming increasingly desperate. Hidden in a cardboard crate was an employee of the shop. The terrorists never found him. But he was able to listen to their entire conversation and through texting notified the police outside of their every move.
He also notified the police that the two Islamic terrorists were in possession of a rocket launcher, which was armed and ready to use. The town where these two were hiding is located right under the air corridor used by civilian aircraft landing at Charles de Gaule airport.
At nearly the same time the assault was given at the Jewish store in Paris, the two brothers stepped out of the print shop and opened fire on police. Their lives were ended quickly and decisively.
Throughout this harrowing experience God led us to pray at every step. We are certain that Christians were praying all over the world. But to see how the Spirit led us to pray very specific prayers that were answered in amazing ways has led us to understand what partnership with God really means. This is our nation, our city. And two of the terrorists dared to come near my home.
It was given to us to partner with the Spirit and play a critical role in the events that unfolded around us.
This is the time for France. The war we thought was so far away has come to our door steps. And we must rise up and fight the battle that has come to us. Destiny rarely falls on us at a time of our convenience. But when it does come we must choose to follow it.
Would you stand with France and the free world at this time?
Robert and Kathryn have been living near Paris, France, since 1988 and have been actively involved in pastoring a local church and in church planting since that time. They are currently the senior leaders of the church Le Bon Berger (lebonberger.net), a multilingual, multiethnic and multi-site church. They currently are the senior leaders of a network of churches in Europe called Horizon Family of Churches. They are also the founders of the French branch, Horizon, in France (horizon-france.com) which was admitted into the Protestant Federation of France in January 2012.
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