My Life As an Intercessory Missionary

A friend recently asked me if at some point, I would share with her my goals in my ministry as an intercessory missionary.  This will be my response to her and to anyone else who wishes to know:

I have one goal, and that is to minister to the Lord.  When David set up the tabernacle in Israel, he hired hundreds of musicians and singers to worship and intercede day and night, ministering to the Lord.  I believe God is restoring that in our day and time, and He's raising up musicians and singers to minister to Him in His end of the age tabernacle.  And we are His tabernacle, His dwelling place.  He says in Isaiah 56:7 that "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations."  And He has a special psalm dedicated to people like me who minister in His tabernacle during the nightwatch, Psalm 134.  "Behold, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who by night stand in the house of the Lord!  Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord.  The Lord who made heaven and earth bless you from Zion!"

I believe that the best thing I can do with my life is to spend it in intimacy with Jesus, sitting at His feet, ministering to Him.  Jesus said that one thing is required of us and Mary chose that better part.  When Jesus was anointed by the woman at Simon's house in Bethany, the disciples criticized her because they thought that bottle of perfume would have been put to better use if it had been sold and the money given to the poor.  But Jesus said that what that woman did would be remembered forever and wherever the gospel was preached it would be told as a memorial to her.

I believe that God has called me to be one of those singers/musicians/intercessors, ministering to the Lord night and day.  Do I love serving, praying for people, doing outreaches, going on missions trips?  Yes, absolutely!  I love the Saturdays that I get to go to church to serve in the food pantry.  God's given me the gift of healing, and I love praying for people and ministering that healing to them.  I love going and handing out bottles of water in Jesus' name and taking part in all kinds of outreaches.  And a very significant part of my heart remains along the Xingu River in Brazil, where I left it in 2006, 2009 and 2011.

All of that is good, and I'll continue to do all those things as Holy Spirit leads.  But I believe that even if I was never to lay hands on one more sick person or hand out one more bottle of water, if I never did any of those things again and devoted my life, like Anna did for 80 years, ministering in the temple, just as many people, if not more, would still get healed, saved, delivered, and touched by Jesus.  And that is because worship and intercession are the most powerful tools we've been given in this life.  I believe that God has called me to be a Levite.  The Levites were the worshipers in the temple.  The worshipers were the people in the army who went out before everyone else.  They were on the front lines.  I want to be one of those worshipers who lead the army of God.  That doesn't mean that I have to always be leading hundreds of people in worship.  I can be alone in the prayer room worshiping with no one else around and I'm still doing battle in the heavenlies and leading that army.  And my prayers of intercession that no human ears hear, praying for the outpouring of God in this city, will move God's heart to come and bring revival and save many souls.

That, I believe, is the main ministry God has called me to, as Psalm 134 says to "by night stand in the house of the Lord."  And just as a side note, standing in the night in the house of the Lord, I think, is one of the greater calls.  I'm not saying that to puff myself up.  I'm saying that because Satan thinks that he owns the night because of the darkness.  But Jehovah never sleeps, Jesus is the light of the world, and He has called me to be that light shining in the darkness.

So yes, I will continue to serve in the food pantry, pray for the sick and all else who are in need, participate in outreaches, and joyfully go to Brazil and everywhere else He calls me, but before I do any of those things, you will find me at the feet of Jesus, wasting my life on Him.