Watch and Pray

In Daunting Days, How Will You Answer the Call?

By Jacquie Tyre

The year was 1727. The place was Herrnhut, Germany. The people were a band of Moravian refugees taken in by Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, a Lutheran aristocrat. It was an unlikely mix of people and circumstances except for the love of the Lord that drew them all to watch and pray. As these men and women studied the Scriptures, prayed, and grew spiritually together, God began revealing His will, wooing them into a deeper consecration of devotion to Him.

Count Zinzendorf, while watching over the Moravians, began to study their history, searching out their past to know them better. Along the way, he discovered a rich history of the Word, of prayer, and of prophetic destiny. Zinzendorf discovered documents that spoke of a prophetic word given by John Hus in 1627, declaring that in 100 years Hus’s “hidden seed would sprout forth in revival.”

Hus had sown seeds of the gospel in the Moravians, and these people had been protected through the years by leaders such as John Amos Comenius and now Count Zinzendorf. The “hidden seeds” were ready and prime for awakening! Zinzendorf believed this prophetic word, and he gathered 300 Moravians to watch and pray. God answered with a powerful outpouring of revival fire that gave way to a 110-year, 24/7 prayer vigil to watch and pray for God’s purposes to be fulfilled each day. Out of this vigil came an explosion of missionaries sent to evangelize the lost and to plant churches. They went forth into the world in an unprecedented fashion, and they continue to have an impact on the world today.

Taking Up the Call

This story of Zinzendorf’s call to “watch and pray” encourages and challenges us to take up that call as well. However, we may ask questions such as these:

How do we watch?
What are we watching for?
What exactly are we to do with what we see, hear, read, and perceive while we watch, and how does it apply to prayer?

Watch to See What the Lord Will Say

In my journey as a watchman, the most important aspect has been what I will call the “Habakkuk 2 Watch.” Habakkuk 2 starts out with the prophet declaring his posture and intent:

I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what He will say to me.

It is important to remember that Habakkuk is in a faith struggle. The people of Israel are facing challenges at the hands of the Chaldeans, and Habakkuk is wrestling with the way things are going for the people of God. In his wrestling, he turns to seek the Lord, to “watch to see what He will say.”

In all of our watching, no matter what the situation, we begin and end with seeking to know what God is doing—or what He desires to do. Jesus instructed His disciples to “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness (Matt. 6:33). Seeking the Lord first will protect us against all manner of distraction, discouragement, and deception.

So how do we watch? We watch by seeking the Lord’s face (2 Chron. 7:14; Ps. 27:8; Hos. 5:15), by meditating upon the Word of God (Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:2, 63:6), by listening for His voice (Deut. 32:1–3; Psalm 95:6–8; John 10:3), and by observing the things around us with eyes of faith (Deut. 28–30; 1 Chron. 12:32; 2 Chronicles 6; Mark 4:26–29).

When we have discovered what He is doing, then, as Henry Blackaby says in Experiencing God, we simply join Him in what He is doing. As we join the Lord in prayer, we are entering into a place of agreement with the will of heaven. Our prayers rise with faith-filled confidence toward His will being done on earth as it is in heaven according to the Lord’s model prayer (Matt. 6:9–13).

Watch to See What the Enemy Is Doing

While watching the enemy is definitely a secondary assignment, it is nonetheless important. Unfortunately we can fall into the enemy’s trap of focusing on his diabolical activities to the point of discouragement, fear, and giving in to defeat. We must keep our eyes on the Lord while observing what the enemy is doing.

In Nehemiah 4, when the people of God faced an onslaught of their enemies’ fierce and unrelenting mockery, threats, and accusations, they devised a strategy. Nehemiah 4:9 says, “We prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.” In their watching, they exposed the plans of the enemy. And by faith and determination to fulfill the purposes of the Lord, they completed the building of the wall.

Even in the midst of grave opposition, the children of Israel, under Nehemiah’s lead, stood with the purposes of the Lord. In Jeremiah 1:12 the Lord says, “I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.” As we agree with the Lord, even in the face of the enemy’s resistance, we enter into a partnership with Him and “watch and pray” to see His Word fulfilled.

Watch to See the World around You

David, long before he was king of Israel, watched and prayed. The Philistines had risen up against the children of Israel, and fear had gripped the armies of the Lord under the rule of King Saul. Young David came into camp and observed the threats of the enemy and the fear of the people. Then, out of the place of knowing the Lord’s delivering power, he saw the situation with a different perspective and asked, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

David ultimately stood before Goliath with a slingshot and five smooth stones, and he brought deliverance to the nation. As David watched with eyes of faith-filled confidence in the greatness of his God, he could see beyond the dangers to the hope of God’s power (1 Sam. 17).

In Acts 16:16–18, Paul encountered a girl with a spirit of divination. This young girl followed them around for days, proclaiming words of truth, yet she greatly annoyed Paul. For days, Paul would have been very well aware of the people and events that were going on around him. He was watching in the natural and in the spirit realms, and something did not seem right. While Scriptures do not specifically say that Paul prayed about what was going on, certainly he was in communion with the Lord throughout this entire ordeal, seeking to know what he should do. Eventually, in the time determined by the Lord, Paul turned and commanded the evil spirit to come out of her. And God powerfully delivered her!

Today, as we look at the circumstances of the world around us, it can become annoying, overwhelming, and even terrifying at times. However, the Lord makes His grace available to us to watch with eyes of faith and pray for discernment to know how to respond in His wisdom and power, even as David and Paul did.

Watch to See the Redemption of the Lord

Simeon and Anna, in Luke 2:25–38, demonstrate that watching for redemption is a key element of answering the call to “watch and pray.” Simeon was an anointed man who lived his whole life watching for the “consolation of Israel.” The Holy Spirit had revealed that Simeon would see Israel’s Messiah before Simeon died. And upon seeing the Christ Child, Simeon knew his own purpose on the earth was being fulfilled.

In a similar fashion, Anna, a prophetess who did not leave the temple but served the Lord “night and day, fasting and praying,” was looking forward to the “redemption of Jerusalem.” In the Old Testament, Daniel saw from Scripture and understood that the fulfillment of the 70 years of judgment, prophesied by Jeremiah, was near. So he set his face toward the Lord to pray “in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes,” for the Lord to redeem Israel from captivity according to His word (Dan. 9:3).

Then there was Josiah. It was prophesied years before his birth that he would deliver Israel. After the young Josiah became king, the priest Hilkiah brought the recovered Book of the Law to Josiah. When the king heard the words of the law, he repented and commanded that the priests go and inquire of the Lord for him. They went to Huldah, a prophetess who could watch and see what the Lord was doing. After seeking the Lord, she instructed Josiah to pray and worship. His prayer and worship unlocked a great awakening and reformation in the land (2 Kings 22).

In each case, these men and women discerned what the Lord was about to do on the earth, and they set their hearts to watch and pray for the fulfillment of His Word.

Throughout Church history, there have been those who have positioned themselves to watch for the redemption of the Lord to come forth powerfully in their generation and beyond. Men and women of centuries gone by, people such as John Hus, Count Zinzendorf, Father Nash (a partner and prayer warrior of Charles Finney), the hidden prayer warriors of the Welsh Revival, and countless others, saw beyond the natural into the redemption of the Lord. They set their faces to pray for the fulfillment of what they saw by eyes of faith.

Will You Answer the Call to Watch and Pray?

Today, the Lord is stirring many to watch and pray over our cities, our states, and the nations of the world. Will you answer the call to watch over the seeds of awakening and pray for the “hidden seeds” of our generation to spring forth in a mighty revival? Will you look to see what the enemy is doing and pray in agreement with God’s purposes that His Word be fulfilled? Are you willing to observe the daunting situations of our day and pray in bold faith for God’s will to be fulfilled? Will you watch intently for the redemption of the Lord to break in with transforming power? Will you pray expectantly for His presence to awaken, revive, and redeem for His own name’s sake?

With eyes of faith, watch. With hearts filled with His Word, pray. “Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed! For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told” (Hab. 1:5).

JACQUIE TYRE is the president and founder of Kairos Transformation Ministries and CityGate Atlanta. She is the author of Ready for Revival, available at prayershop.org.

Prayer and End-times Warfare By Dave Butts

There is no doubt that we live in an age of terror. The threat of terrorism affects us every time we go to an airport or large sporting event. It affects the policies of nations and the daily lives of individuals. Nations are mobilizing to face this increasingly dangerous threat.

What is the Church’s response to terrorism? It certainly affects us. In some places, the Church has become the target of terror attacks. In order for the Church to fully engage this threat, we must see the spiritual aspect of what is happening. Read the following passage of Scripture from Isaiah, and see if it does not apply to terrorists today: “Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands. Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways. The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace” (Isa. 59:6–8).

Terrorism is not merely a matter of physical struggle. It is a spiritual battle as well. This type of blind violence is indicative of Satan’s handiwork. Jesus said of Satan in John 8 and 10 that he is a liar, a thief, and a murderer. His intent is to steal, kill, and destroy. In Revelation 12, the devil is described as one who leads the whole world astray. He is filled with fury because he knows his time is short.

Because the struggle against terrorism is one aspect of the cosmic war between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the prince of this world, Christians must step up to the forefront of the battle. As in all of our warfare, prayer becomes a major weapon in our arsenal.

Rees Howells and a group of English intercessors gathered regularly to watch and pray over the major battles and events of World War II. There were numerous occasions when God showed them what must happen in advance of the events themselves. These faithful intercessors prayed strategic prayers that changed the direction of military events. God has called His people to be watchmen. We are not to be passive observers or victims in the war against terror. We are to watch and pray. When we read the newspapers, we pray. As we watch the news, we pray.

In this kind of battlefield mentality, our prayers must be militant as well. We must pray for a hedge of protection for those on the front lines of battle. We ask God to protect the innocent. It is at times like this that we ask the Lord of the hosts of heaven to move out against the enemies of God. We pray that the purposes of God will be fulfilled in the midst of these threats.

Our prayers will make the difference in the fight against terrorism. In the darkness of our current situation, God is calling His people to be light. Through our watchful prayer, we release the powerful light of Christ into the battle. Truly, the battle is the Lord’s: “This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s’” (2 Chron. 20:15).

Prayer

O God, help me to watch and pray. Keep my eyes focused on You. Show me other believers that I can pray with over the condition of our nation and the world. Give me insight into the spiritual battles that erupt into acts of terror and violence—and lead me into Spirit-led times of intercession that release Your power into these situations.