No, this doesn't mean we're to get out our guns and rifles. It means we're to enter into prayer. Paul reminds us in 2Cor.10:4(Amp), "For the weapons of our warfare are not physical (weapons of the flesh and blood), but they are mighty before God for the overthrowing and destruction of strongholds."
Many Christians readily accept that "the end is here" and that it's "God's time to judge the earth." Until God says otherwise, we're to occupy this earth until He comes. The word "occupy," is a military term that means to "hold back any area that has been gained, so that it is not retaken." Jesus gave a Parable about what we should pay close attention to in these times of trial, in Luke18:1(Amp), which says, "Also Jesus told them a Parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to turn coward (faint, lost heart and give up)."
I hear others say that, "God is done with America" or "It's over for us." I don't believe that God is anywhere near done with our country, but I do believe that the Church has been asleep and the enemy has retaken much of the ground we were supposed to occupy, until His return. We've been so busy trying to be nice and politically correct, so as not to offend. We've forgotten that we're warriors who are called to be the salt and Light to this world. This nation was founded and dedicated to God, by those who came before us. We have surrendered it over again to the enemy, when we should have occupied it for God.
The Church has tried fitting into to society and tried to blend with everyone else. We have forgotten who we've been called to be. We've allowed the world to take over our schools and children, giving back the ground that was given to us by those who prayed, fought and stood against the enemy. Like Israel of old, we've become comfortable in our little camps, forgetting how we became safe and secure through God's covenant.
We have truly been "redeemed from the Curse of the Law," but the Curse is still here and will dominate, if we don't choose differently. We are "in this world, but not of this world." We believed that if we're like the world, then the world would come into salvation. However, the more we became like the world, the less we resembled God's Kingdom, so that the world sees no difference between the Church and the secular world.
Our warfare isn't against man and the natural things we see, but against the spirit realm of darkness, which has fostered the chaos and evil things we see around us. The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write in Eph.6:12(Amp), "For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood (contending only with physical opponents), but against the powers, against the master spirits who are the world rulers of this present darkness (against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly supernatural sphere)."
God may have called you into the ministry, but that means more than being behind a pulpit. God gives us Gifts to do the work of His ministry. The Gifts aren't as important to Him, as the people He bought them for. God explains why He gave these Gifts in Eph.4:12-13(Amp), saying, "His Intention was the perfecting and full-equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), that they should do the world of ministering toward building up Christ's Body (the Church). That it might develop until we all attain oneness in the faith and incomprehension of the full and accurate knowledge of the Son of God, that we might arrive at really mature manhood, the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's Own Perfection (the measure of the stature and the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him)."
Paul writes about the Armor of God in Eph.6:10-19(Amp), which is our prayer armor. This is where the battle for mankind and the salvation of men is being fought. It doesn't matter what kind of preacher we have or what denomination we belong to. Without prayer, no ministry can stand. Your pastor can only be on one place at a time and what he knows is mostly held to his/her flock. We must take God's Light into our workplaces and neighborhoods, feeding those who don't know the Word and salvation. We're to pray and intercede for God's Church, for the world and for our pastors, so we can restrain the enemy. We need to intercede, so we can take back the territory God has gained through those who came before us, both in this nation and the world.
***I belong to Intercessors for America/The Informer ifa@ifapray.org which gives us leaders to pray for every day. Every Tues. we pray at 12:15 EST & tomorrow we're praying to restrain satan. There are many places on the prayer wall (where someone prays 24/7) for intercessors to join. Perry Stone's Global Prayer Center prays online and in-person every Thurs. @ 6p.m. EST. You can pray along or ask for prayer at PERRYSTONE.ORG/Pray. There is no distance in the Spirit realm & you can join liv e at 6:30 p.m. @Christian Life Center 12749 State Route E Chaumont, NY 13622
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