by Len Buttner - We are seeing intercessors and prayer warriors being set in place in the nation. Men and women are being positioned and set as strategic watchmen. They are looking and listening and are being made ready to sound an alarm, to prepare us for the coming of the Lord and the beginning of birth pains; the end is still to come. Isaiah 62:6-7 (NKJV).
From my observations, over the last three to five years, while traveling around the nation of New Zealand, I’ve seen a rise in the commitment to pray regularly and for extended times of prayer in the Church. Believers are seeking God in prayer and desiring a closer intimacy with God sustained by more prayer. Much of the prayer has been about the unity of the Body of Christ and through this intentional corporate prayer to believe for the blessing available to the Church as a united Body.
Further watchmen are rising at this time; those who are seeing the urgency for prayer against the current ungodly world system that is in great need of prayer. The desperate cry for the spiritual welfare of the nation and the urgent reminder from God to remember His promises for New Zealand. We read in Isaiah 62:6 (CJB) “I have posted watchmen… do not keep silent”.
What is God requiring of His courageous watchmen for the Nation?
The Bible refers to these watchmen as guards responsible for protecting cities, towns, the church and key strategic places from any surprise enemy attacks and other potential disasters. Their job is to keep watch, warn the inhabitants of impending dangerous threats and not to be silent. (Ezekiel 33:7).
The prophets’ role as a watchman:
- Is to discern the coming changes in this season and to awaken us from apathy and ‘lukewarmness’ to zeal for the Lord.
- To see the swift approach of end times events and where the Bible warns of a great falling away (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3).
- To exhort God’s people to live faithfully and be discerning of the anti-Christ spirit that is influencing our society away from the truth of God’s Word. (1 John 4:4-6).
- To “make mention of the Lord” in intercession for the Church of God. That the Lord will remember all His gracious promises, just as Jacob did, and like Jacob, to wrestle with Him till we prevail, to “pray and not faint,” and that God will hear “those who pray day and night” to Him. (Isaiah 62:6-7).
These watchmen are also urging the Body of Christ to see the big picture that this is the time of the harvest for humanity. Behold the watchmen must see the fields are ready for the harvest (John 4:35). We have a “kairos” time on our watch, meaning “the right, critical, or opportune” moment for the harvest of souls presently in the nation of New Zealand.
The watchmen in the New Testament have a role to “keep alert” and “awake”, “to watch” and “take heed”. The Greek word for Watchmen is “gregorea” which means “to watch and remain awake”. Today we cannot neglect the fact that spiritual darkness is all around us. Here is a warning for us, as we are in the year 2020, we read in Exodus 20:20, And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”
We read the warning from Jesus prophecy of the end times before His second coming. He tells His disciples then, and for us now, to watch. Jesus repeats the word watch four times through His prayer. (Mark 13:32-37).
Jesus exercises authority in His temple.
The great Redeemer becomes the great Reformer that turns ungodliness out of His house of prayer. In John 2:13-25 Jesus opens His ministry with an act of temple cleansing. Three years later, the temple was defiled again by the “religious business” of the leaders. Matthew 21:12 “Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.
The purpose of the court of the Gentiles, in the temple, was to give the “outcasts” an opportunity to enter the temple and learn from Israel about the one true God. But the presence of this “religious market” turned many sensitive Gentiles away from the witness of Israel. The court of the Gentiles was used for mercenary business, not missionary business. We are hearing the Spirit of God repeat this Scripture to His Church today (Matthew 21:13).
When Jesus called the temple “My house,” He was affirming that He is God and the owner of the Temple. When He called it “My house of prayer,” He was quoting Isaiah 56:7. The phrase “den of robbers” comes from (Jeremiah 7:11) and is part of a sermon that Jeremiah delivered in the gate of the temple, rebuking the people for the same sins that Jesus saw and judged in His day.
Jesus called those in the temple, who were robbing the people of their true spiritual blessing, “a den of thieves”. A den is a place where thieves hide. The religious leaders and some of the people were using the temple to cover up their sins.
What does God want in His house?
God wants prayer among His people (1 Timothy 2:1) because true prayer is evidence of our dependence on God and our faith in His Word and in His power. He also wants people helped (Matthew 21:14).
The needy should feel welcome and should find the kind of spiritual help they need. There should be power in God’s house, the power of God working to change people.
Len Buttner is founder of Eagle Ascend Ministries, which is an itinerant prophetic ministry with a mandate to equip, empower and encourage the church. Len was an ordained minister with Elim for about eight years before stepping out in faith to establish Eagle Ascend Ministries.