"It may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by You." I have bawled my eyes out singing this song over my family, my brothers, my sisters, my people who are preparing their hearts to meet Jesus in Afghanistan right this second. Tomorrow. Next week. What if our prayers determined what surrounds them? Do we believe in the power of prayer? It's time.
Jesus, we beg you to move. We beg you to shine!
How do they feel? Are they together, singing praise at the top of their lungs. Confident their fate is sealed by the blood of the lamb? Are they running from house to house, begging their friends and family to pray to Jesus to forgive their sins and save them as they face the reality of meeting Him? What would you be doing? The Taliban is coming. That has been declared. You have had the last twenty years to learn about Jesus, to be exposed to the gospel, to follow Him, to disciple and be discipled. That's a pretty young faith, but I imagine it is light years ahead of its time—people who know what they have been rescued from value their freedom differently.
My fellow Americans, we have a vital role RIGHT NOW. We get to reject this as a political issue or an over-there issue, and we get to activate our prayer life like maybe we never have before. As you post "pray for Afghanistan," actually hit your knees and do it! Fall to your face. Beg the God of angel armies to shock the world with Glory through the lives of these saints, these potential martyrs, our family. Beg the Lord to GLOW through them. To shine and blind the enemy with the light of Heaven.
Father, your ways are not our ways. I am so tempted to lament the waste of American lives for the past twenty years if it all falls apart mere weeks without us, but I reject that temptation. I am so tempted to be angry that we are there or angry at the fact that we are leaving, but I reject that temptation.
Can we picture the little girl who learned to read a Bible and pray that she can comprehend that God sees her as worth fighting for? I live in a military town and have sent off many Godly men and women to this war. I hope today you can reevaluate your sacrifice as a spiritual one and pray for the faces you still see. That is the kind of battle worth fighting.
I fix my eyes on the author and finisher of our faith. I stand as an intercessor for believers who have used the reprieve of the past twenty years to grow house churches-full of believers who need our prayer cover like never before.
We fight our battles in heavenly places. We do not fight flesh and blood but principalities of darkness, and we fight it by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. We fight it with praise to the One who controls the universe. We fight it by caring more about others than ourselves.
We fight it like valiant warriors.
We fight it because we have been fought for.
We fight because victory is ours.
Today, this week, this month, many of our family will face an enemy who will pridefully cheer at their assumed defeat. But evil can never defeat my brothers and sisters. They will either be victorious in this life or when they open their eyes, their faith will be made sight. They will see Jesus cheering for them as they cross their finish line.
My cry isn't just for them. My cry is for the next person who would give their life to Jesus. My cry is for the next sinner who would find freedom. That is what the enemy wants to stop, and I stand in the gap for them. I intercede for them. I beg you to join me. Cry over the lives of the people in Afghanistan. Let yourself imagine how they feel; imagine what each moment is like right now. Put yourself in their shoes. Play worship music loud, cry out to Jesus to let His people glow in a way that multitudes would repent and give their lives to Him. Pray for them to be surrounded. In Jesus' name, Amen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBl84oZxnJ4
*map source: BBC 8-15-21