[Please join me in praying for our nation and world on Tuesdays this year. This post excerpted from a GiveHim15 post from September 8, 2023.]
“Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them. But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory.” (2 Samuel 23:11-12 NIV)
“He risked his life for a plot of peas.”
Professor Garlock called this “Tenacity in the face of a humble assignment.” One can almost envision the assignments being handed out for the battle that day. “Tom, you guard our leader, David. Protect him with your life! Joe, you protect the women and children. Their lives depend on you, your skill, and bravery.”
Shammah waits anxiously for his noble assignment. What will he risk his life to save? The ark of the covenant? David’s abode? Perhaps all of the livestock? Then it comes: “Shammah! Protect that pea patch over there!”
“Huh? You gotta be kidding!” would have been the response of many warriors. But not Shammah.
“Yes, sir! Only over my dead body will anyone get to the peas!”
God loved it so much He put it in His book! Three thousand years later, we are still reading about Shammah. And I suspect he has a prominent place in heaven, though he obviously won’t care where he is positioned. Tenacity in the face of a humble assignment!
We live in a world filled with people looking for success, fame, fortune, prestige, advancement, power, and glory; they are a dime a dozen, trying to make a name for themselves. Servants, not so much. But you WILL find many of them in the prayer movement. They are fine with closets, back rooms, small groups, lonely trails, and back roads. Nameless and faceless, you’ll recognize these praying servants by their broken hearts, calloused knees, red eyes, and perhaps sword imprints on their hands – not by their faces or names.
Heaven knows them well, however, as does hell. Counterparts of David’s Mighty Men, are Christ’s Mighty Women and Men, tenacious warriors and freedom fighters…in the face of impossible odds, overwhelming fatigue, and humble assignments.
Next time you see one, thank them for their service.
Pray with me:
Father, I thank You once again for the Ekklesia company of intercessors here in America and around the world. Those who know how to partner with You to accomplish Your Kingdom projects and enterprises. You have trained them well, and they are ready for such a time as this. They are the Simeon’s, Anna’s, Epaphras’s, and Cornelius’s of our day.
We pray, now, that You keep them strong and tenacious, full of faith and endurance. May they not grow weary in their doing of good, but become stronger and stronger, just as You describe in Isaiah 40:30-31. Teach them to ride the wind; remind them to wait upon You, drawing Your very strength into their souls and bodies, just as their spirits are renewed every day. Give them great focus and laser accuracy. May each one grow to the same level Paul walked in when he said, regarding the persecution he experienced, “None of these things move me” (Acts 20:24).
And, Father, we continue to make our declarations and decrees over America:
- America shall be saved.
- America’s covenant of trumpeting the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the Earth is alive and well.
- America shall be divinely reset.
- The Kingdom of God in America will survive any shaking.
- The evil forces, systems, agencies, and leaders in our government will be dealt with by God Himself, who rules over the nations.
- Righteousness will return to our White House, Capitol, Supreme Court, and the agencies they control.
- The fear of the Lord will return to our land.
- Justice will be restored.
- Corrupt prosecutors will be exposed and removed.
- The innocent will be vindicated.
- Racism will be removed from our land, as will the people and organizations who foment it.
- Revival will come to the children and youth of America. They will be saved from the evil trying to destroy them.
- Revival will come to all ethnicities and age groups.
- Revival will erupt in the nations of the earth.
- The strength of all past revivals will be combined and released into the earth, destroying millennia-old strongholds, and saving 1 billion souls. This will not be stopped.
We ask for and decree all of these things in the name of Jesus, the Almighty God, whom America has declared herself under. Amen.
Our decree:
We declare that we, the Ekklesia of Christ, have tenacious hearts infused with God’s strength. We never quit, and will not waver.