Sleeping in the Midst of a Storm

For over four months now, Holy Spirit has time and time again reiterated the story of Peter walking on water towards Jesus to me. What a storm! Supplying various viewpoints to this story, God has spoken to me peace, a peace that passes understanding. Recently, however, He took this to a deeper level. May He bless you through this testimony and give you strength to press in and trust Him.

Back in March, Holy Spirit gave me a vision of a stormy cove, battering its waves against an unsteady boat. As the vision clarified, I found myself within the boat looking out into the storm. Those eyes! I saw the eyes of Jesus in the distance peacefully beckoning me. Despite the chaos, I had peace as I walked all the way to Christ, not once losing my gaze.

And He walked towards me also!

As the vision faded away, I asked Holy Spirit, "Why do you speak this to me?" My life had no storms in it at the time, so none of this seemed to fit. "Pay attention to this vision and prepare yourself. A storm is coming."

While looking at the water of a lake two months later in May, I asked Holy Spirit for a word. He told me, "Notice the water."

"What about the water?"

"It's water."

(Duh) "...And??"

"Water did not hold Peter up. Peter did not hold Peter up...I held Peter up."

Wow. Holy Spirit showed me that because of Peter's faith, he walked upon the foundation of Christ--fully supported by God in the midst of the storm--a firm foundation.

"But what about when Peter fell?" I had to ask.

"Still, I picked him up."

Even when Peter lost his peace and faith in the word and foundation of Jesus, God reached out His hand and picked him up.

Recently, God has commissioned me to raise up a culture of prayer in Southeast Texas by raising up Prayer Rooms in every place. This calling has challenged me tremendously, but I cannot doubt His call. He has confirmed it over and over again.

One of the scriptural promises and references that He gave me to work from comes from the story of Nehemiah. I believe that the vision He has given me currently only correlates with chapters 1-4 of Nehemiah, but soon, the vision will extend to the whole story.

In chapters 1-4, Nehemiah becomes burdened with the broken down condition of Jerusalem. While the temple has remained standing, the walls have completely broken down to ruble. God gave me this same burden for Southeast Texas. While the churches and congregations still remain, the wall has broken down. We have not centered our ministries around our pursuit of God. We have not maintained watchmen on the wall to unite us and protect us from attack. We have not sought after the face of God before we seek after the approval of man. Our ministries have lacked and fallen because the people have not prayed.

And like the children of Israel, without a wall, who wants to dwell in the city? The Church has become a place of pain, attack, wrath and dissension instead of peace, love, unity and power.

So Nehemiah repents--for his sins and the sins of the people collectively.

From God's divine grace and provision, King Artaxerxes agrees to support the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Here's the kicker for me. I feel called to this full-time, but the storm comes in this moment of trust in God's provision. Nehemiah felt the fear also. The Word says that, in the presence of King Artaxerxes, Nehemiah "was very much afraid" (Neh. 2:2). However, when the king questioned Nehemiah, Nehemiah "prayed to the God of heaven," recording further in the chapter, "the king granted [provisions] to me because the good hand of my God was on me" (Neh. 2:4, 8).

During the day, I had learned to strengthen myself in the Lord. I could keep my gaze on Jesus in the midst of the storm and walk out the days in trust in His calling and provision. When night approached, a different war seemed to rage within me. Because I am still working through the details of this vision with Holy Spirit, including the legal funnel that I will send support through, I still had doubts. And so, I did not sleep well through the nights, but would awake to God's lovingkindnesses and again strengthen myself in Him.

Holy Spirit reminded me, nevertheless, about Jesus's level of peace. In the midst of a storm one evening while sailing to the other side of a body of water, the disciples completely flipped out. They thought they would surely parish. But they forgot of the power and provision of God, even the God who laid below them in the bottom of the boat, fast asleep!

In the midst of the storm, Jesus had the peace to sleep soundly. I did not have this level of peace. "Holy Spirit, help me to find this level of peace," I cried. And the Lord answered me.

Last night, joining with a missions project at my home church for junior high students, the youth pastor and one of my spiritual guides spoke on this same story of Jesus sleeping in the bottom of the boat.

They pointed out that Jesus had instructed the disciples to sail to the other side. Why would God not provide the way? Surely God knew the storm ahead of them before He called them.

I teared up heavily. Surely the same God who called the disciples to cross to the other side, the One who knew the approaching storm, Who slept through the chaos of it all and Who hushed the wind and the waves, surely He knew what He had called me to and knew the approaching storm and would give me peace, perfect peace.

Matter of fact, before I left for the time of worship, Jesus spoke to my heart those exact words: "Peace, be still!" And, as I mentioned above, He warned me of the coming storm. He made His calling to me clear, knew the approaching storm, and would supply peace in the midst of it.

So, I return to the story of Nehemiah and I find this:

But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard it, they mocked us and despised us and said, "What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?" -Nehemiah 2:19

I had heard the same things. The enemy has come strongly against me whispering these lies: "What point is this 'Prayer Room' work? Are you rebelling against getting a 'real' job. You lazy pig!"

But Nehemiah, and now myself, reply this to the enemy:

So I answered them and said to them, "The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no portion, right or memorial in Jerusalem." -Nehemiah 2:20

God has given His blessing, decree and confirmation. He will give us success. Therefore, I will obey, move forward, and build! And to the enemy, you filthy dog, you have NO inheritance in this work!

Later on in chapter 4, the same people come back to attack Nehemiah. This time they plot a secret military invasion. Nehemiah writes, "But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night" (Neh. 4:9).

The people still feared, but Nehemiah makes a stand:

When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: "Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses." -Nehemiah 4:14

Therefore, upon the Lord's decree, I will press in to Him, continue building, station "men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the exposed places," and remember the Lord who is great and awesome. I will fight for this region, for my brothers and sisters, my future children, my soon-to-be-wife, the House of Prayer that God is building. I will set watchmen on the wall.

And you know what? I slept deeply last night, full of peace and joy. And I awoke in the presence of the Lord.

He will provide my needs. He will provide your needs. He will fight for us and build our houses.

"'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts. 'What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"'" -Zechariah 4:6-7

The Call of an Intercessory Missionary

Throughout history, Holy Spirit has called men and women to a life of prayer and intercession. While the Word makes it evident that every believer has the call to pray, some receive a call to devote their lives to pray in the occupation of an Intercessory Missionary.

If you search the Scriptures right now, you will not find the term "Intercessory Missionary." Nor will you find "Youth Pastor," "Nursery Worker," "Secretary," or a host of other occupational titles that we use today. However, this does not discredit that God indeed calls men and women to operate in specific roles.

Before I define the occupation of an Intercessory Missionary, I would like to first make it clear that every believer has received the call to a life of prayer. Then, I will explore a few examples from Scripture of people who filled the role of an Intercessory Missionary. And, finally, I will explain the basics of an Intercessory Missionary.

Every Believer has Received the Call to a Life of Prayer

When Jesus gives the Sermon on the Mount, his teaching on prayer goes out to all believers. He starts His section on prayer by saying, "When you pray..." (Matt. 6:5). Jesus did not teach that only a few should pray. Instead, Jesus taught,

"when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do...for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." -Matthew 6:6-8

All of His teaching on prayer centers upon the believer's position and relationship with God the Father. In fact, the model prayer that Jesus gives in Matthew 6:9-13 starts with Jesus saying, "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven...'" Jesus knew that prayer began with an intimate relationship with the Father, something that every believer has access to.

And we can know that we have this intimate access to the Father. Paul teaches, "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Rom. 10:9). And John writes,

"See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God..." -1 John 3:1-2a

If we have believed in our heart, (a power resulting in righteousness), and have confessed with our mouth, (a declaration of allegiance resulting in salvation), then, indeed, we are children of God (John 1:12; Rom. 8:16-17, 10:10; Gal. 3:26; 1 John 2:28-3:10). According to Jesus's teaching on prayer, you then have all you need to engage in a life of prayer, which is a life of constant communion with the Father.

But some may still lack the knowledge of the call. I believe that Paul wrote to Timothy, "I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension" (1 Tim. 2:8), precisely because many still lacked in the knowledge of God's call on them to pray.

Again, Paul had to write to the church in Thessalonica, "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thes. 5:16-18). He makes it clear: "This is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Paul explains that every believer has received the call to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in everything. The call to a life of prayer resides behind all three of those. "Always", "without ceasing", and "in everything" very obviously point to a continual lifestyle of prayer.

Paul does not mean that every believer should devote themselves to the occupation of an Intercessory Missionary when he instructs believers in this threefold lifestyle. Instead, Paul draws on the principles that Christ teaches on prayer by making prayer into a conversational, communion life with the Father. This involves maintaining a steady dialogue with heaven. Jesus teaches this to His disciples by saying,

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." -John 15:4-5

Abiding in God involves rejoicing always, praying without ceasing for what the Spirit brings to mind, giving thanks in everything, meditating on the Word, and keeping constant fellowship with God. The Word contains an enormous treasury of scriptures on this topic of abiding in Him. Only when we abide in Him can we accomplish victory and see fruits in our lives.

Paul writes, "Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh" -Galatians 5:16

Peter writes, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" -1 Peter 5:8

And James writes, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you..." -James 4:7-8a

The Call to a Life of Prayer in Relation to Giving

In addition to maintaining constant communion with God, however, every believer has received the call to set aside specific time for ministering to the Lord. The call to partake in the Sabbath demonstrates this, along with Jesus's teaching on prayer that "when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret..." (Matt. 6:6).

But every individual's time looks different. God has given us each a unique calling and way to spend our time. While all believers are called to devote time to the ministry of the Kingdom and to prayer, God has called some believers to work in the marketplace, an occupation that would only leave an hour or two to the work of prayer daily. Similarly, God calls others to the work of an Intercessory Missionary, who spends four to ten hours a day, or even more, in the place of prayer.

Jesus demonstrates this principle through the story of the widow giving everything she had for the kingdom of God. It reads,

And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins. And He said, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on." -Luke 21:1-4

Jesus did not chastise the work of the wealthy because of their wealth. He spoke badly of the wealthy because they did not give their all to the kingdom's work while the widow gave her absolute all.

Time proportions out much like the giving of our resources. While a simple mite represented the all of the widow, thirty minutes may represent the all of a CEO. We must each decide between ourselves and God what the giving of our "all" looks like. For some, that means that God has called them to the full-time occupation of prayer.

Examples from Scripture: The Anna Calling

One example in particular of someone called to devote themselves to full-time prayer comes from the short story of Anna found in Luke surrounding the story of Jesus's birth. It reads,

And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. -Luke 2:36-38

Anna served in the temple "night and day" through a service of "fastings and prayers" for the bulk of her life. This story reveals that the calling to continual prayer indeed exists, and should surely be viewed as temple service, or an actual occupation. Anna represents the occupation of an Intercessory Missionary. She did the work of the kingdom of God from the place of prayer.

Notice, however, that she did the work of an evangelist from the place of prayer: "she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem." This marks the ministry of an Intercessory Missionary. While devoted first to the place of prayer and intercession, the time spent before the throne of God plunges an Intercessory Missionary into the place of declaration. They simply must speak of His glory and redemption.

Examples from Scripture: The Seraphim

Anna's declaration of God's goodness resembles the work that the Seraphim, or "the burning ones," do in the heavens. Take a look at how John describes the work of these creatures in the Revelation of Jesus:

...and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind...And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME."  -Revelation 4:6, 8

How magnificent! These creatures, "full of eyes in front and behind," had the primary job of gazing up the LORD and declaring His worth. "Day and night they do not cease." For all of eternity, they have gazed and have never exhausted themselves on the beauty of God. Isaiah sees the same vision as John, but describes it this way:

In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory." And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filing with smoke. -Isaiah 6:1-4

Again, how magnificent! The foundations of thresholds of the heavenly temple of God trembled at the voice of these creatures! Image if one of these "burning ones," as their name means, came and gave the message in the pulpit of your church this upcoming Sunday morning. What a Word! May we so speak and so live from the power of the throne of God, the place of gazing upon the LORD and receiving divine revelation.

Because God has established these heavenly "Intercessory Missionaries," if you will, we know that God's heart has this position in mind. God desires for us to sit before Him ministering to Him before we go forward to proclaim.

Examples from Scripture: Mary at the Feet of Jesus

Perhaps my favorite story of one who gazed at the Lord, ministering before Him, comes from the story of Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus. It reads,

Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me." But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." -Luke 10:38-42

So often the Church believes that we can accomplish more through meetings, plans, programs, and budgets than through prayer. Mary, on the other hand, chose the good part, the one thing that Jesus said was necessary. Mary chose to gaze upon the Lord and listen for His word, and Jesus said that Mary's choice would not be taken away from her.

Image having a person such as Mary, Anna, or even a Seraphim or two on the Board of Directors at your church. Such a person who has spent a long amount of time listening and gazing, in prayer and intercession would be considered a highly valued member of the team. Such a call resembles the calling of an Intercessory Missionary.

Defining the Occupation of an Intercessory Missionary

As supplied through the examples above, an Intercessory Missionary does these basic things:

-Works in the place of prayer through fastings, prayers and intercession.

-Operates from the place of prayer to proclaim the kingdom of God.

-Gazes upon and ministers to the LORD, devoting themselves to the ministry of the Word.

In addition to these listed above, an Intercessory Missionary also...

-Combines intercession for social justice with acts of social justice

-Stands in the gap for the Church and the oppressed

Mike Bickle, Director of the International House of Prayer Mission Base of Kansas City, writes,

"The Lord is calling people to a full-time ministry occupation that I refer to as an intercessory missionary. I define an intercessory missionary as one who does the work of the kingdom from the place of prayer and worship, while embracing a missionary lifestyle and focus. Others may define this term a different way. At IHOPKC, as a rule, we ask those who embrace this full-time occupation of 'intercessory missionary' to commit to fifty hours per week, including being in the prayer room for at least four hours a day, six days a week." (This article can be found at the link provided HERE)

Additional Examples from Scripture:

Some additional examples from the Word include:

-The concept of setting watchmen on the wall (Isaiah 62:6-7; Ezekiel 3:16-21, 33:1-9).

-Paul's embrace of day-and-night prayer and call to widows to this ministry

(1 Thessalonians 3:10; 1 Timothy 2:1-8, 5:5; 2 Timothy 1:3).

-The establishment of full-time worshipers in the tabernacle of David (1 Chronicles 9:33, 16:37, 23:5, 25:7; 2 Chronicles 8:12-14, 31:4; Nehemiah 11:22-23, 12:44-47).

More support from scripture along with more details on Intercessory Missionaries can, again, be found at Mike Bickle's article, titled "The Call to be aFull-Time Intercessory Missionary".

End-Time Prayer Movement Coming to the Golden Triangle

As the second coming of Jesus approaches, Holy Spirit will raise up a powerful prayer movement in the Body of Christ. How do I know this? Jesus taught on it in Luke 18:1-8 saying,

“…will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night...? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

Isaiah prophesies that the Son of Man will indeed find faith on the earth because He will have established it, writing in Isaiah 62:6-7:

“On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the LORD, take no rest for yourselves; and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”

Isaiah teaches that 24/7 prayer ministries will rise up and continue until Jesus returns to restore Jerusalem as a praise in the earth. Likewise, in John’s account in the book of Revelation, a golden bowl full of incense represents the prayers of the saints (Revelation 5:8), and this incense will go up before God and release the seven trumpets at the end of the age (Revelation 8:1-5).

Prayer all of a sudden got serious, right? Actually, the prayers of the saints have always been this serious. In Exodus 32:11-14, we see Moses interceding on behalf of Israel. Moses asks God to remember His covenant and relent. What a large portion of the Church may find radical about this passage is verse 14: “So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.” Because of this passage and the Holy Spirit at work within me, I believe that the Church can accomplish far more if we wait on God and intercede for the needs around us in the place of prayer before we act in the place of justice. The Body of Christ must act in the place of justice (Isaiah 58); however, if we do not first live in the place of prayer, our attempts are simply humanitarian attempts and are not fueled by our love for God (Isaiah 30:15; Matthew 7:21-23; 1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

When Mary sat at Jesus’ feet listening to His word and Martha became offended with Mary, Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:38-42). Jesus reveals to us that gazing upon Him moves His heart to action. In this same way, the Seraphim burn before the throne of God with the primary task of gazing upon Him and declaring His glory (Isaiah 6:1-7; Ezekiel 1; Revelation 4:5-11).

The apostles saw great need in devoting themselves to prayer. So much so, that the position of Deacon came about just so that the apostles could more diligently serve (Acts 6:1-4).

“It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” –Acts 6:3b-4

After Jesus commissioned them to wait for the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem, the apostles continually devoted themselves to prayer in the upper room (Acts 1:4-5, 12-14). Still gathered together in one accord, the apostles witnessed the power of waiting upon the Lord through prayer and fasting when the Holy Spirit fell on them at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47). We can see that they understood the power that prayer has over a region in Acts 4 when Peter and John were arrested for teaching and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. When released, “they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them” (Acts 4:23). The Word then says that “they lifted up their voices to God with one accord…And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:24, 31).

This passage reveals how God desires for us to partner with Him. We wait for His guidance and power and intercede for His influence and breakthrough in the place of prayer, and then we operate in the place of justice and proclamation of the Gospel, “filled with the Holy Spirit” and speaking “the word of God with boldness.”

It is in this place of prayer and intercession that I believe God has commissioned me. Let me make myself clear, not everyone is called as an intercessory missionary. The best ministry that any individual can do is the ministry that God has called that person to. We must embrace God’s individual calling on our lives and not despise our own ministry by imitating that of another.

God has called me to establish a culture of prayer within the Southeast Texas region, starting with the Golden Triangle area. The vision is to raise up “Prayer Rooms” within individual congregations. After one Prayer Room establishes the culture within that congregation, I will follow the Spirit to establish the culture within the next congregation. At God’s appointed time, the Prayer Rooms will come together to form a House of Prayer for the Golden Triangle area. While 24/7 is the goal, it is not the vision. The vision simply comes from a desire in God’s heart for prayer and intercession to rise up from this region.

Behold, Jesus has said to us, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:36-38; Luke 10:1-23). Will you join with me in asking the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers as we prepare the way for the coming of the LORD? If you are interested in partnering with me financially or feel called to take part in this vision in any way, please send me a message on Facebook or at timothyturner1595@gmail.com.

Peace be with you,

Tim Turner

Intercessory Missionary/Forerunner