“I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem, who shall never hold their peace day nor night. You who remind the Lord, do not keep silent; give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a glory in the earth” (Isa. 62:6-7).
I think it is clear to all of us who are pressing into the Lord presently that we are in a final act of restoration for His church, as though He is forming a new wineskin through His body with a good number of reforms and adjustments in order for His Kingdom to be more effective upon the earth. These reforms will once again properly mobilize God’s body into the works of the ministry and away from the old pew focus that has had most of the ministry works fall upon its leadership. This is one of the major advantages of the church moving back towards a fivefold ministry focus.
From within this context, I would like to address the prayer focus and directives that are already arising in and through us, as many of the reforms in His body are already beginning to take place without us necessarily fully recognizing them as such. This is what is so amazing about this time, whether we agree or not. God is in charge here and moving His body into position. He is bringing these reforms to pass and ultimately as His children, we have a choice to make, speaking metaphorically, to either get on the train or to be left at the station. It’s not that He will love us any less, but that there is so much more for us to gain by fully trusting Him with these changes for His church. In fact, hasn’t it always been like this when God moves in a new and fresh way and many of us get left behind? May it never be this time around in Yeshua’s/Jesus’ precious name, Amen. But the train is already on the move: “All aboard!”
Isaiah 62:6
Regarding this new corporate prayer focus, I have felt impressed of the Holy Spirit that there are two directives in Isaiah 62:6 that relate to prayer and intercession that are significant to our understanding. One in particular, is for the watchmen/women and the other is for everyone else, noted in the above bolded text. One can compare this to the gift of evangelism. While we may not be an evangelist or have this gift, we are all called to witness and share our faith. And the same is true for prayer, for those who are called into the watchmen/women focus and for everyone else.
We are all called to prayer (and not just individual prayer), which must now take a greater priority in His church, more than ever before. In fact, this is one of the main areas of adjustments in the church, among God’s leadership who not only need to lead by example in this most significant area, but also to more fully recognize the call of prayer with these differing focuses.
What’s important to us:
- Not only to recognize the differing focuses of prayer but also the various giftings among us, so we are properly shepherded and guided into them by our leadership. For example, everyone can contribute towards a 24/7 worship and prayer event; or any other type of prayer meeting such as early-morning prayer. That way, the watchmen/women can be called to a more strategic type of intercession that the Holy Spirit is calling us into that requires a greater prayer focus.
- To more effectively empower everyone who is called to know how and where they can serve in prayer and not feel intimidated in any way by those who have a deeper calling in the area. We will emphasize that those who call on the Lord be trained up with this focus in mind.
- To better recognize the calling of prophetic intercession in the church; to raise up more effective training, teaching and equipping in this area for all those called to be watchmen/women, which will have dramatic effects on this end-time reformation that Mashiach/Christ is leading us into with these directives.
For these reasons, I believe this new focus and directive for prayer should be foundational to our approach, and in this light, can help to develop much greater fruit from our works, teaching and training in prayer, as we more effectively guide our brothers and sisters into the right areas of prayer.
The Watchmen/Women Call
In this day, there is a greater call and focus for His watchmen/women through our various prayer assignments and strategies. There is a call to be brought into a greater dependence on the Holy Spirit and to create more Spirit-led environments for these prayer strategies to come forth. For the Lord to put the strongholds of the enemy under His feet through His prayer saints (Eph. 6:12). The Holy Spirit is already leading me into this with a good number of other intercessors with our Reconnection Ministry focus, and we are beginning to receive a small taste of what is to come into this area, as we move into it in greater depth.
Jerusalem
Another major principle that also needs our attention is our focus upon Jerusalem itself. While every prayer need is important to God, the kingdom of God has been established with certain positions; and none greater than our focus on the gospel, which is to the Jew first; then to the nations (Rom.1:16).
As the church reconnects spiritually towards Israel, which appears to be the final act in this reformation, I believe this adjustment and principle also needs to be reestablished in and through our prayer strategies. It will be the same with the kingdom’s outflow, the natural response of which is greater power and blessings into the nations, ultimately bringing the end-time harvest and Israel’s spiritual awakening. This is part of the unveiling of the mystery that Paul refers to in Romans 11:25 along with the power equation of Israel’s spiritual restoration: life from the dead (Rom. 11:15).
However, regarding this realignment, in a sense, it is like David moving the ark back to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6), which had to be done in accordance to the Word of God in order for God’s full blessing to be upon it. The same is true of our spiritual realignment to Israel, as this principle of the kingdom written in Romans never changed and must now be restored. This is significant to our understanding in this place, as in this day, of Israel’s spiritual awakening and restoration; it will help to lay the foundation for world revival.
Look also at the directive of the Scripture in Isaiah related to this positioning, never to be silent and to give both God and ourselves no rest until He makes Jerusalem the praise of all the earth. We must not spiritualize this Scripture, as Jerusalem is not the church here. It is a holy city where our King will come back to reign, and one that we are very much going to have to contend for.in order for Yeshua/Jesus to return. We must consider all that this means means to us as He fully restores us in the one new man, between Jew and Gentile and Israel and the church. {eoa}
Grant Berry is a Jewish believer in Yeshua/Jesus and author of The New Covenant Prophecy and The Ezekiel Generation. He founded Reconnecting Ministries with the specific focus to help the church reconnect spiritually to Israel and considers it vital to the kingdom of G-d in the last days. His message focuses on the unity, love and healing that the Father wants to bring between Jew and Gentile, yet clearly points out the differences and misunderstandings between the two groups. Now is the time to look more carefully into this mystery to make way for healing and reconnection in the Spirit. For more information, please visit reconnectingministries.org.
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