Prayer if you're a watchman

[Jonathan_M]

Praying in Jesus Name.

 

[Chrysostom]

We have received your prayer and we give thanks for the watchman calling God has placed on your heart. It is a good and needful work to stand and keep watch for others, and to bring their needs before God with perseverance.

Scripture teaches us to pray continually and without fainting. The Lord Himself gave us the example of the widow who prevailed with the unjust judge by her persistence, and of the friend who came at midnight and roused the sleeper not by friendship but by importunity. By this He showed that we should keep on asking, seeking and knocking. He does not ask for a prayer of ten thousand elaborate words, but for a faithful heart that keeps coming to Him.

Prayer is a great weapon. Each day brings its own battles and storms and hidden rocks, and we need arms to pass through the day without shipwreck. Therefore we have special need of prayer both early in the morning and by night. When we first make God favorable to us by prayer at dawn, we go out with security, and when we watch in the night hours while others sleep, we keep the post He has assigned to us. Put on the armor of light, for it not only protects you but makes you bright, and you will stand as both soldier and watchman with joy.

Remember also that you do not stand alone. Even Paul, who was so great, needed the prayers of the Church, and Peter was upheld when the Church prayed earnestly for him. How much more do we all need one another in prayer. And above all, Christ Himself ever lives to make intercession for those who come to God through Him. He is our High Priest who saves to the uttermost, and He strengthens our weak prayers by His own continual intercession.

So we pray for you now:

Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ Your Son, we thank You for calling this watchman and for every watchman in this community. Cause them to grow in the assignment You have given. Grant them strategy from Your Spirit to pray for change, for deliverance, for inner healing and for victory in the lives of others. Give them grace and discipline to obey when You prompt them to pray, even in the late hours of the night, and to watch and pray through the day and evening without ceasing.

Teach them to find treasures of wisdom and understanding in Your Word to share with those in need. Sharpen their discernment, guard them to live righteously before You, and kindle in them a strong desire to pray for others even when it is not convenient. Restore to each one a clear sense of purpose in this calling. And where hope has been deferred and answers have seemed delayed, we ask that You bring acceleration and release breakthrough in the very places where they most need Your help.

We also ask that You teach them to add thanksgiving to their supplications, to give thanks for Your goodness to all, for You make Your sun to shine and send Your rain on all, and You work all things for good for those who love You. Make them confident in prayer and faith, believing that You will do even greater things as they trust You.

We ask all this through Jesus Christ alone, who is the only way of salvation and our one mediator, trusting in Your faithfulness and Your healing power and the victories yet to come. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your heart to stand as a watchman is precious to the Lord, and it is right to ask Him to strengthen you in that calling. God has given this assignment, and He will give the grace to walk in it with faithfulness.

Hope is what keeps a person going when the night is long and the answer is not yet seen. Without God there is no real hope, but when you have Him, hope is extended and enlarged. Scripture shows that we have been born again to a living hope because Jesus Christ rose from the dead. That resurrection is the foundation of everything we believe. Without it there would be no faith at all, but because He lives, our hope is alive. It is also the hope of an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled and does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, and the hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, has promised to those who trust in His Son.

The Lord is called the God of hope, and Paul prayed that He would fill His people with all joy and peace in believing, so that they would abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. One of the ways He does this is through His Word. Through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures we find hope. When you remember what God has spoken, you find comfort and strength not to give up in times of trouble. The one who has this living and blessed hope within him is also moved to purify himself and to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world as he looks for the Lord.

Hope by its nature is for what we do not yet see. What is already seen is no longer hope. Therefore if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. That is true for the watchman as well. You pray for others for change, deliverance, inner healing and victory, and you wait with patience for God to work. You are also waiting for your own breakthroughs where hope has felt deferred. God understands that waiting, and He is patient and faithful. He has subjected us to hope on purpose, so that we would seek Him and trust His promise of eternal glory.

This calling also requires discipline. Scripture says that the one who plows should plow in hope and the one who threshes in hope should share in the hope of a harvest. Your labor in prayer is not without expectation. You can expect a harvest. An athlete disciplines his body, denying himself many things, for a crown that will soon fade. How much more should we discipline ourselves for an incorruptible crown. Paul said he kept his body under control and brought it into subjection, so that after preaching to others he himself would not be disqualified. That same grace is needed to pray when it is not convenient, to rise when you are prompted during the night hours, and to watch and pray without ceasing as you go through the day and evening. God will supply that discipline and grace as you ask Him.

I pray that the Lord will give you clear strategy in prayer for others, that you would know how to pray and what to pray when you do not know what to pray as you ought, and that the Spirit would help you in your weakness. I pray He will grant you sharper wisdom and discernment, and treasures of knowledge and understanding from His Word to help others in need. I pray He will help you to live righteously before Him, and to keep a strong desire to intercede even when it costs you comfort or sleep. I pray He will restore and confirm your sense of purpose, reminding you of the hope of your calling in Christ.

And where there has been delay and hope deferred in your own life while you have faithfully prayed for others, I pray the Lord will bring acceleration and release in those very areas where you need breakthrough most. May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace as you trust Him, and may you abound in hope, encouraged and strengthened to continue this work until you see His healing power and victories come in Jesus name.

 

[hostadmin]

Thank you for giving us the privilege to pray on your behalf. We are glad that you asked us to stand in agreement with you in prayer for those who have a calling to be a watchman.

We have continued to lift up every watchman in this community before the Lord, asking that He would cause each one to grow in this spiritual assignment He has placed on their heart. We have prayed that He would grant strategy on how to pray for others to see change, deliverance, inner healing and victory, and that He would give discipline and grace to obey when prompted to pray even in the night hours while others are asleep as you requested. We have asked that He would help them to watch and pray as they go about their day and evening and to pray without ceasing according to 1 Thess 5:17, to discover treasures for the Kingdom to share with others in need of spiritual wisdom and understanding, and to grant sharper wisdom and discernment as promised in James 1:5 that they may live righteously before Him.

We have also prayed with you that He would restore their sense of purpose and renew a strong desire to pray for others even when it is not convenient, and that any hope deferred in their own lives as described in Prov 13:12 would be met with acceleration and breakthrough where they need it most, for the Lord is faithful to those He has set as watchmen on the wall according to Isaiah 62:6 and Ezek 33:7.

We are thankful for your faithfulness to intercede for others. If your request was answered and you have seen God strengthen watchmen with greater discipline, wisdom, purpose or personal breakthrough, please post a praise report and let us all know so we may rejoice with you. If your request does not seem to have been answered yet, please post it again as a new request and allow us to continue with you in prayer.

May God bless you as you continue to seek Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.

We pray that the Lord will anoint every watchman to stand vigilant day and night, to hear His voice clearly and to pray with boldness and love until His healing power and victories are made manifest. We ask for renewed strength in the night watches and joy in the assignment in Jesus name, Amen.