Called to Be an Intercessory Missionary

Called to be an Intercessory Missionary

Session 1: Why -The Glory of God

I.Series Introduction:

The Lord is restoring the occupation of full time priests who minister before Him in the place of prayer and worship as their primary function in the Kingdom. The term we use to describe this calling is “intercessory missionary” and there are now thousands of these modern day priests serving at houses of prayer all across the nations of the Earth. These ministries have a very specific focus and in order to accomplish their mandate they require full time staff to stand before the Lord all the hours of the day and to help keep the doors open so that others are able to come encounter the Lord. This series introduces the concept, the calling and the lifestyle of the intercessory missionary. Those whom the Lord calls into this glorious reality will experience incredible and rare blessings and will also have to lay down many things in order to build God a place where He is adored night and day.

Why:

In session one we will lay out the primary motivation for building the house of prayer and why intercessory missionaries would give themselves full time to this work.

Who:

Our second session will focus on the calling of God that helps us to identify who is called to do this as their full time occupation.

What:

Lastly we will end by taking a fairly close look at just what it is that an intercessory missionary does all week long.

II.The Necessity of Night and Day Prayer Centers:

The majority of intercessory missionaries will find themselves employed in some sort of a house of prayer that is committed to establishing and maintaining 24-hour worship and prayer. These ministries currently create a context for the modern day priesthood. Before we can move on we need to understand that the sustained presence of night and day prayer centers filling the Earth is not neat it is a necessity. I have listed several points below that speak to this issue. Until each of these points reachesits fullness, and most of them cannot find fulfillment until Jesus returns, then it is essential that there be ministries that labor to see Jesus worshiped night and day.

For a Breakthrough of the Kingdom:

Jesus told us how to get a breakthrough of the Kingdom of God on Earth, it’s just a costly process that most people aren’t willing to do. Night and day prayer centers are just the simplest expression of how to accomplish this; proving a place for us to pool our strength and time to see breakthrough happen.

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up…And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth (Lk. 18:1-8)?”

For His Great Pleasure:

The Lord loves the house of prayer; He desires that we would labor to build Him places where He would be worshiped night and day. He takes great pleasure in this so it is our joy to fulfill this longing in His heart. God was not so much about the building as much as the pleasure that He takes in a dedicated space where night and day prayer comes forth from His people. Night and day prayer centers are filling the Earth with the praise that He delights in.

“Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”…This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord (Hg. 1:3-8).”

For this Generation to Become a House of Prayer:

Currently the Church in the Earth could not yet honestly be called a house of prayer; we’re a house of many things; many of which are things that the Lord has instated. But Jesus prophesied that the Church was headed somewhere, He declared that His house would become a house of prayer; we are that house (1Ti. 3:15). Since this hasn’t yet been accomplished we know that it is part of God’s agenda for this generation that we would grow up into that reality. Having a night and day prayer center just allows for the reality of the house of prayer to spring forth.

“It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers (Mt. 21:13).’”

III.The Great Injustice:

Jesus’ worth is incomparable and immeasurable; He is glorious without match. This means that He is due the highest praise and fullest measure of abandonment. Our Great God is worthy of the deepest level of love expressed by 100% of the population of the Earth all praising Him night and day forever with no break, and more. Anything less than this is a great injustice in light of who He is. This of course is not the case.

Heaven Adores Him Night and Day:

Heaven understands His worth and so the city of the New Jerusalem is established around His throne and He is worshiped unceasingly with great extravagance.

In great numbers:

In Heaven there are countless millions of angels that surround Jesus and declare His worth.

“Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain (Re. 5:11).”

It never ceases:

Perhaps the most extravagant part of the heavenly praise is that day and night, day after day and week after week it never ceases.

“Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come (Re. 4:8).”

With all their hearts:

Their hearts are fully engaged, this isn’t an obligation; just look at the measure of response that comes forth from them again and again.

“Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power (Re. 4:9-11).”

In lavish adornment:

Even the room in which this takes place in is an expression of His worth and the adoration He is due.

“A rainbow…like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders…dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing…Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal (Re. 4:3-5).”

Most of Creation Does Not:

Currently the majority of the planet is far from God and quite uninterested in Him as the one who is most worthy of praise. The heart of he Lord is seen through the Psalms as all of creation is commissioned to worship the Lord. The majority of creation does not even recognize the one true God, let alone worship Him with the measure of attention He is due.

“sing to the Lord, all the earth…praise his name…Declare his glory among the nations…For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise…Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations…the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth…Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad…Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth (Ps. 96:1-13).”

Robbing the Author of Life of His Due:

He is the Author of Life (Ac. 3:15) and the creator of all things (Is. 40:28); we are talking about the very reason for life and He’s not being worshiped constantly. We have 24-hour drive through tacos but the Author of Life isn’t receiving 24-hour praise. We have Muslims worshiping a demon (Allah) five times a day every single day but the redeemed, who will live forever because of God’s infinite mercy, have done nothing to insure that the Author of Life is worshiped as He should be; unceasing adoration would only be the beginning.

The Earth is to be Filled:

Not only is that which He is due not taking place but we are also talking about a prophetic reality that hasn’t found fulfillment yet. The scripture says that a time is coming when the whole world will be filled with His glory and that the sound of His praise will be found in every place. The stated destiny of the nations is to praise God perpetually and yet as of right now we are not.

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Hb. 2:14).”

“My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty (Ma. 1:11).”

Filling the Void:

We want to be confronted with the serious void that currently exists on this topic. There is a major gap between the reasonable, necessary and called for establishment of 24-hour corporate worship realities and the near nonexistence of those places.

He’s not worshiped 24/7 in our city.
He’s not worshiped 24/7 in our region.
There are only 3 places where He’s worshiped 24/7 in the nation.
There are only a handful more across the whole Earth.

IV.The Unchanging Reality of His Worth:

Each of us can come up with a dozen reasons to do away with any responsibility as to why we should ensure that Jesus is worshiped night and day. But not one of these excuses addresses His inalterable worth.

Regardless of the Obstacles:

We will all face many difficulties in our life circumstances over the years but hard times do not change the fact that Jesus is still worthy of night and day prayer. Our involvement may shift season to season but our individual obstacles don’t address His worth, no matter what is going on in our lives He is worthy of us helping build this glorious reality.

No Matter Our Life Goals:

Each of us has goals and things that we want to pursue in life. But our plans aren’t bigger than His worth. Whatever we are trying to accomplish in life that may pull and tug at our time it couldn’t possibly do away with Christ’s worth to be praised night and day. We should structure our life goals in such a way that we are able to continually contribute to the beautiful mandate of Christ’s unceasing adoration.

Despite What Others Think:

Not everyone will appreciate your dedication, in fact many will misunderstand you and you will face minor but continual persecution for your efforts to see Christ exalted night and day. But there is no amount of trouble that anyone could cause us that decreases Christ’s worth of being worshiped at all times.

How We May Feel:

As time goes on we may feel like we are loosing vision, we may get bored with the routine, many things can contribute to us growing weary. But none of this addresses His worth. Our fickle hearts will often tell us to quit but He is just as worthy on our least envisioned day as He was the moment when things made the most sense and we were full of clarity and joy to see His name praised night and day.

Setting Ourselves Before Him:

The only reasonable way to approach His worth is to decide that He is worthy no matter what and so no matter what comes our way we set ourselves before Him to participate in building Him an altar. It takes a tremendous amount of people to build the human workforce necessary to organize night and day prayer. If everyone who had reasons not to participate didn’t there wouldn’t be a single person left to work with.

V.Commissioned to Build Him Something Together:

This ministry has been given a clear mandate to build King Jesus something rare, something beautiful and something perpetual; literal 24/7 prayer led by live worship. We’ve been called to do this beautiful thing together with everyone pulling their weight and everyone helping to build.

Not Able to Do it Alone:

It makes sense that none of us could give Him what He is due by ourselves alone. To even begin to touch His worth we would have to labor at it together.

Some will do this Full Time:

There will be some that will feel called to give themselves to the Lord in this way as their full time job. This will make up for maybe 10% of those who get involved but these full time missionaries will carry the bulk of the weight so that there exists a place for the 90% majority to get involved in and be able to participate in.

Most will Give of their Spare Time:

As far as time commitment goes most people wont come on missionary staff with us they will serve in some lesser capacity that is just as important to the success of this ministry. Instead of making this their job they will choose to give up portions of their spare time to help us build night and day prayer and worship before the Lord.

VI.Responding to the Commission:

He is calling us into this reality and watching each season at how we as a ministry and we as individuals are responding to Him. I know that it isn’t easy; I know that are plenty of real reasons to shrink back and take ourselves out of the fight but He has commissioned us together.

Some Real Numbers:

Sometimes I can’t help myself but to look at how simply it really would be to accomplish this major part of our ministry mandate. What I’m about to state is certainly an over simplification of how things would probably actually look but to make it really easy to communicate I’ve given a real life number scenario of what it would take. If we had 20 missionaries (of which we already have 12 right now) and then we had another 200 volunteers that would commit to just one 2 hour prayer meeting per week (of which we already have about 70 now) then we could fulfill our mandate of a 24/7 live worship led prayer meeting with a measure of strength. That would put an average of at least 5 or more people in every single prayer meeting (84 per week) who were on Sacred Trust (this number “5” doesn’t account for a growing number of volunteer staff members who serve on 2 or more meetings per week, for visitors in the room or for whoever else might happen to be around on any given prayer set).

Assessing Our Motives:

However we found ourselves around here and whatever category we may fall into there are a few questions that we need to ask ourselves as individuals around this ministry. It’s okay for there to be secondary answers to all these questions but it’s a good thing to allow a message like this one to assess our motives and our primary concerns. If the Lord called you here then help us do the thing that He called us to do.

What do you think that this ministry is trying to accomplish?
Why do you think that are you here in this season?
What are your reasons for helping or not helping us build prayer?
What changes can you make to help with our primary mandate?

Our Corporate Purpose:

The reason this ministry exists isn’t primarily as a teaching ministry, though I hope we continue to grow in that way. Our main purpose isn’t to provide a great community but I think we’re a good one. The reason that Jesus commissioned The Prayer Room into existence is that we would call every person old and young, great and small into building a night and day prayer and worship reality for His great name.

Sharing the Responsibility:

Missionaries are the ones that will spend the most time doing this but the responsibility is to be shared amongst us all. Let’s all do our part at whatever role we can play and then lets all go out and get those other 130 volunteers and 8 missionaries and see Jesus get His due and be worshiped in Arlington, Texas 24/7 for the very first time since the beginning of creation.