Stories of Unsung HeroesThe Phantom Intercessor - 2 Aug 2013
I am flying home from visiting some friends in a restricted access nation. These friends are part of a community of missionaries from all over the world who are serving through various organisations - but these days, they’re finding a deep and beautiful union with one another that crosses every divide. They love one another and are becoming a family with arms open wide to those our Father brings their way.
They’re also praying and worshiping together like it all depends on God, and they’re relentlessly taking their prayers to the streets and the bars, to the sick and the poor, to oppressed and shackled women, to the people living in the mountains and to the Church of their nation. They are heroes to me, and I couldn’t visit and leave one more time without telling their story.
God rests among them! Within a few hours of being with my friends, I felt His presence and heard His voice so clearly – there is a thin place there, where God feels nearer to earth. I rejoiced with them over stories of new believers, a trafficker being tracked down by Jesus, successful business endeavours and favour with the government in acquiring visas and property. Don’t get me wrong – life is not without trial among them: they intercede for members of their community struggling with unknown sicknesses, visa issues, corruption and persecution. However, they are pressing in and seeing measurable breakthrough that can only be attributed to years of hard work of right-relating with one another and with their Father and ours.
They’ve done little stints of 24-7 prayer for years. I’ve joined them at least three times already for these concerted moments, and each time it seems that God paints a miraculous picture that feeds our doubtful souls and soars our spirits to the heavens.
This time, He did it with the sky. As we ended four days of nonstop prayer with corporate worship and testimonies in their 12th floor prayer room, the horizon over their dirty city lit up with the most brilliant sun. My friends who’ve lived there for 10 years proclaimed it the first time they’ve ever seen a full-on sunset in their city.
We danced and laughed and stood at the window taking photos, and we sang with living conviction, “This is what You do, this is what you do-ooh-ooh-ooh.”
One of them said, “People think we’re joking when we say we’ve prayed in new weather here. We’re not joking.” The Kingdom is coming and His will is being done in this city.
I’m returning to my city full of faith and renewed vision to do the same kind of faithful plowing these friends have done, to see the same Lord and Father do the same kinds of miraculous deeds in our midst.
“The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out.” (John 1:5, The Message)
We are really excited that some of our friends mentioned here will be joining us in Dublin from the 17th - 20th October for the International Gathering. If you would like to meet them and hear more of their incredible stories then you can find all the information and pick up tickets for the Gathering in the Dublin13 section of the website.