Roll call....

You have seen the scene and probably been in the situation: small children choosing teams. One child, probably a little chubby, hoping he/she gets chosen, bouncy, excited, “Choose me, choose me.” You see the hurt in their eyes. The rejection when they are passed over time after time. A good teacher will watch over their students and make sure that different children are chosen to be the captain each time BUT rejection and pain happen. 

I understand that the schools today want to make sure that no one has hurt feelings and everything has to be fair—but life is NOT fair. Those times of rejection and hurt should be balanced with times of recognition. They can cause us to develop character—or not. They teach us to acknowledge our areas of lack and grow them up into areas of strength—or not. We can handle these times in so many different ways. We can fall into a martyr spirit, a spirit of self-pity, a spirit of rejection, a spirit of revenge, inferiority or a dozen other things or we can let it go and grow into the character of Christ.

How many people feel this way?

The thing is, I see this in churches. The cliques, the groups forming, the
rejection of anyone who will not conform to “their” idea of Christianity, anyone who looks differently, talks differently, resides in a different socio-economic arena, goes to a different church. The “team picking” that brings hurt, rejection, pain. Part of this is human nature. Part of this is demonic. Demons do not have to do too much if they can just plant a thought and watch the “Christians” jump on it, turn it into a religious “truth” and destroy each other. It is sorta like throwing a bone into a pack of starving dogs. People want to be the “top” dog and in their justification of Christianity they destroy whoever doesn’t bow down at their altar.

Several years ago one of my friends, who has several sons, saw one son doing something wrong and said, “Paul come here.” The child was standing in the doorway looking at him but did not move. My friend repeated, “Paul, come here.” The child continued to stand and stare. By now my friend, who is used to his children being very obedient said with a lot more force, “Paul, come here right now.” The child did not budge and my friend’s temper began to rise. His wife, watching this transaction, leaned over and said, “Honey that is Ben.” My friend was completely shocked and totally cracked up—it happens in families. My grandmother used to call it the “grandkid roll call.”

How do these things relate to intercession?

1. It is time to recognize that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. It is time to move to godliness.
2. It is time for us to allow holiness to override our personal wants, desires, attitudes and the cliques in the church.
3. It is time to recognize who the enemy is and stop just spouting running the “demon roll call”, hear from God and speak truth to the situation.  
4. It is time to get into the watch tower, walk the walls, walk through the “streets” of the church and protect the sheep.
5. It is time to take our calling seriously.

Where are you positioned?

What does your watch tower look like?

Are you assigned to a wall? A tower? Inside the walls?

How far do you see ahead?

Are your walls crumbling?

Do you get side-tracked in your calling?

As intercessors we need to be that "hand up" in the spirit, that person who lifts the "too small" child to the drinking fountain of living water. 

Time to pray.....