Gratis Mejora de Oración Recursos | Mundial de Operación

Gratis Mejora de Oración Recursos | Mundial de Operación: "- Enviado mediante la barra Google"The attack on
spiritual workers
"Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem
may be acceptable to the saints there" (Rom.15:31)
1.
The onslaught
You need merely scan through Christian magazines to realize the alarming number of spiritual
workers who drop out. Various causes are listed: Increasing immorality; more divorce, a high
stress level; no job satisfaction etc. When you keep in mind that these men (and women) at
some stage in their life testified that they received a clear calling from the Lord, these facts are
alarming. I am convinced that the attacks on spiritual workers are more fierce today than in the
past.
Attacks against spiritual workers mainly manifest as follows:
• Direct demonic attacks against spiritual leaders by e.g. satanists, spiritualists, witch
doctors, etc
• An onslaught to love the world as well as social pressure to compromise, to be popular
and to think and do as the world does.
• Onslaughts from the old man, the flesh in conflict with the Spirit (e.g. Gal.5:13-18)
• There are direct temptations that the spiritual worker must resist.
• In general, spiritual workers are under a lot of stress. Research has shown that ministers
and pastors have some of the highest stress levels in society. They are under heavy
emotional and social pressure. The devil knows that and cashes in on it.
• Each spiritual worker has a specific personality and comes from a specific background. It
is becoming more apparent that the spiritual workers also suffer emotional pain and hurt
from the past. The devil concentrates on unresolved hurt in the spiritual worker's life.
This attack on Christians - and therefore also on spiritual workers - can be summarized as
follows:
• struggle against inner sin (personal sin).
• conflict at social level (sin from outside).
• conflict from above (direct demonic attack).
The truth concerning warfare against Christians is even more true regarding warfare against
spiritual workers. However the attack against spiritual workers is more severe. I do not want to
elevate one battle-field above the other as if to say that there is one global reason to pray for
spiritual workers. A total onslaught is launched against spiritual workers who are attacked from
various directions. My purpose however is not to paint a discouraging picture. We must
confront the problem and do something about it. Hence the purpose of this section.
2.
Reality of the battle
It is probably sufficient to say something about just one area; i.e. the direct demonic onslaught
to portray the reality of the struggle. At one stage I worked with someone snared by satanism
for three years. During that time I became acutely aware of the onslaught against spiritual
workers. This person was one of a group of satanists who of course 'prayed' at night to Satan
at the homes of spiritual workers. Their aim was to render the ministries of those spiritual
workers ineffective and to also ruin their ministries and/or break up their marriages. Sadly, in
some case they succeeded. They even entered the homes of some spiritual workers by astral
travel, attacked their children, initiated arguments and also obtained information which could be
used against the occupants. Sometimes demons were sent to the homes or curses proclaimed
over them.
Many people don't like to hear about these things. If these examples were isolated they could
easily be rejected. However on the contrary report of these kind of attacks on spiritual workers
are received from all over the world. On a flight from Johannesburg to Windhoek a Christian
lady sat next to a woman who seemed to be in a prayer. When the lady had finished praying
she introduced herself as being a Christian as well. She had noticed that the lady was praying
and asked if they could pray about the matter together. The other person laughed and said: 'I
don't think you will want to pray with me. I am a satanist and we pray for the collapse of
minister's marriages at a certain time every day'.
3.
Confirmation from elsewhere
C Peter Wagner tells about a similar incident that a professor John Vaughan
experienced on a flight in the USA. Vaughan also noticed the man next to him earnest
in prayer. On enquiry it appeared that the man was a satanist and he was
commissioned to pray for the fall of Christian leaders (and for the collapse of their
marriages) in New England. In the same book Peter Wagner writes about minister in
Ontario who spoke about the many satanist attacks on ministers while he was there.
One particular satanist cell was honoured because during the previous year they were
instrumental in making five prominent spiritual leaders fall into immorality thus
contributing to the break up of their marriages.
Several ministers whom I know personally who work with satanists from time to time
confirm that these attacks are a reality. Publications over the past six years contain
many examples of these typical onslaughts against spiritual leaders.
These incidents all deal with onslaughts from satanists. However the onslaughts that
spiritual workers experience come from more sources than satanism. It is known that
spiritualists do basically the same things as satanists. At the Lausanne II conference in
1989 various spiritual leaders from Latin America mentioned this fact. Apart from this
the devil is involved in a full scale war against spiritual workers. If he can neutralize
them, tempt them to sin, make them spiritually luke-warm or cause them to work with a
divided heart, he can do considerable harm to the Kingdom of God.
4.
From the mission field
Many an incident tells about witch doctors who took direct action against missionaries.
In such cases magic, black magic, voodoo and even direct physical attacks are made
use of. The rule of this world hates it when the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is
carried out into the furthest dark corners of his World. The spiritual worker who brings
the light of The Gospel will always be the target of such attacks. One of the leaders of
WBT (Wycliff Bible Translators) a few years ago said that they are coming to realize
more and more that the major struggle in Bible translation, especially in the final stages
of the process, is an assault of the evil one. It has become very important to them to
equip each translator to be able to resist the attacks from darkness and Satan does not
want the Bible to be translated because it will enable people to hear the Truth. He wants
to prevent this at all costs and therefore the spiritual worker in this case the translator,
will be attacked.
It is a known and disturbing fact that a large percentage of spiritual workers who go into
the mission field do not complete their first year or return home after a year there.
Statistics of missionaries to Taiwan for example show that 50% of spiritual workers
became ill within a year or became totally despondent and had to go home.
I want to emphasize that this is but one aspect of the onslaught on the work and lives of
spiritual workers and that I do not want to elevate this one area above the others. It
nevertheless gives us a good idea of the reality of the strain on ministers, pastors and
missionaries.
5.
The spiritual answer
The above does not state for one minute that Christians; - spiritual workers for that
matter - are mercilessly handed over to the assaults of the wiles of the devil. The fact
remains though that there are onslaughts, conflicts and temptations and that many suffer
spiritual injury in the process.
What is the spiritual worker's defence against these onslaughts? I can think of a great
many things that provide assurance that they are not delivered into the hands of the
devil, their old nature and the world.
More specifically in what does the Christian leader' safety lie?
• He was purchased by the blood of the Lamb
• He is shielded by God in Jesus Christ
• He has a position of authority in Christ over the forces of evil
• The Holy Spirit dwells in him
• He shares fellowship with other believers
These are only a few points one can mention. There is however another source of
power and protection that I want to mention: The objective, intelligent and continuous
prayers of intercessors for the spiritual worker. Intercession for the spiritual worker is
one of the least utilized sources of spiritual power. The power exists, it is available but is
not utilized or released because it is not prayed for.
The lives and ministries of many spiritual workers will be drastically changed when more
objective intercession is done for them. Where this has already been done the results
are so positive that there can be no doubt about it's effectiveness.
6.
Examples of personal intercessors
Many examples are available of people who can testify to the impact of personal
intercessors on their ministry.
The first case I want to mention is that of Charles Finney. Finney was used by God
during the previous century to lead close on one million people to Christ in the USA. In
his autobiography we often read about two persons who specifically prayed for him.
These individuals were called Nash and Clarey. Wherever Finney went in the USA they
went, mostly without him knowing that they were present. When Finney preached they
prayed. They were his source of power and prayed that the Lord would protect and
mightily use him. The fruit of his ministry can be directly linked to the intercession of
these two men.
Another example is that of William Carey. He was a shoe maker without an education
who went to India during the previous century to tell people about Christ. In his life-time
Carey translated The New Testament into seven of India's languages. Together with a
number of his fellow workers he saw The Bible published in 25 of India's languages and
40 different translations of The New Testament. Carey ascribes this to the intercession
of his invalid sister who remained in England. He wrote to her weekly, telling her his
needs. She brought these needs before the Lord in her room. And God answered her.
The next example is also from the previous century. God call J O Fraser as a
missionary in Lisuland (situated between Burma and China). After some time in the
mission field he wrote to his mother in England making an agreement with her. He
would send them information regularly and work in the mission field. At home she and
her prayer group were to intercede weekly and daily when ever possible. This
agreement remained for many years. Fraser was one of the most successful workers of
China Inland Mission in that time. Why? I believe it was because he had personal
intercessors who were committed to their prayer assignment - namely to pray for Fraser.
Reading this biography Mountain Rain, it is clear that he also ascribes the power of his
ministry to prayer.
J Wilbur Chapman was one of the most successful evangelists of all time. During his
induction sermon the elders of his parish were not at all impressed with his ability to
preach. They asked him to arrive at church an hour early on the next Sunday so that
they could pray with him. Chapman accepted the invitation. It became a standing
appointment with eventually hundreds of members praying for him before every meeting.
Therein lay his strength and brought forth the final break-through.
A current example is that of John Maxwell in the USA. A group of 100 male intercessors
pray for him daily. He maintains personal contact with this group throughout and
communicates personal prayer information to them regularly. He is convinced that he
would not be able to continue his ministry without this group of intercessors. Another
example is that of C Peter Wagner. In his book Prayer Shield he goes into a detailed
discussion on this subject and speaks of his own group of personal intercessors and the
difference it makes to his life and ministry.
In my own ministry I can also see the difference. After the Lord had prompted me over
many years to do so I began to request a select group of intercessors to intercede for
me in particular. They receive personal information about my work, my family etc. on a
regular basis and they have to agree to pray for me daily or at least once or twice a
week on a permanent basis. I acknowledge as my personal intercessors only those who
distinctly prayed about it and sensed that the Lord wanted them to pray for me and
conveyed it to me as such. Since that time a noticeable difference is visible in my
ministry, personal and family life. I know that it works for me. I trust that I will never
have to work without the prayers of personal intercessors in my life again.