IT’S TIME TO DOUBLE DOWN PRAYERS AND SPIRITUAL WARFARE! As a prophetic intercessor, I have been burdened with the urgency to pray and to intercede in this hour. The Lord has led me to pray for specific areas and people and to declare His heart on the matters at hand. A few weeks ago, had an intense dream within a dream, and shortly after this, I heard the words double down in my spirit. It encouraged me to stand firm in my assigned areas of prayer. I want to empower the prayer warriors, intercessors and prophetic voices in this hour to double down in prayer and warfare.
Though we do not like to admit weakness, there are times when we can grow weary in praying and interceding. Whether it be for family members, our region, our nation, or the nations of the earth, every matter matters to the Lord. As we press into God and partner with the Lord in prayer and intercession in bombarding the kingdom of darkness, things can seem to intensify and to worsen in the natural. It can seem as if our prayers are agitating the atmosphere, and they are because we are agitating the darkness with the hosts of heaven and the Presence of God. While the darkness appears to be thickening and gaining momentum, we should not shy away because it is in that time we are to double down in our prayer and intercession beloved saints!
I AIN’T BUDGING, DEVIL! Yes, you read that correctly. A more sophisticated way of saying this is, “My face is set like flint. I will not be moved”. This is what double down means. Merriam Webster defines double down as, “to become more tenacious, zealous, or resolute in a position or undertaking”. Much of the church prays with microwave expectations; we give up after a few “travailing” minutes. Prayer meetings are not exciting to the flesh and sadly because of this, they are vacant of fleshly bodies. There is an unspoken rhetoric among believers that someone else will pray. I would dare say that most believers are of the mindset that prayer is boring. The problem is not with prayer, but with us. We are boring.
The Lord told me one time, “If prayer and intercession are boring, you are doing it wrong”. The Word of God tells us that in our weakness, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words (Romans 8:26). Jesus withdrew from His disciples and the crowds to pray and to intercede. It was a facet of His relationship with the Father, and He continues to make intercession for us in heaven (Hebrews 7:25, Romans 8:34).
Jesus has provided a blueprint to you and I as coheirs with Him. We are to be a praying people, a royal priesthood. Priests pray! Priests stand in the gap between the porch and the altar as hot tears soak their faces and His fiery Spirit captures their tongues to loose the declarations in accordance with the Word of God. Intercessors do not come off of their post and their decrees until they see the manifestation of their prayers. Time does not move them off the promises of God, and when the devil raises the stakes, prayer warriors double down. No, prayer is not boring when you understand that prayer is warfare. Action movies cannot hold a candle to what you and I engage in the spirit when we choose to intercede and to pray.
IT’S TIME TO SHAKE AND VIBRATE THE ADVERSARY! I want to stir you to pray and to intercede. God wants your voice for His Kingdom! Every time you choose to engage in prayer and intercession, you are going into your prayer closet or prayer meeting to obtain the battle plans of the Lord. You are receiving the prayer points of the Head Intercessor and High Priest, Jesus Christ. You are suiting up to go to war on behalf of loved ones and many you will not meet this side of heaven.
Prayer is not a patty cake, and it certainly is not unspoken. The devil would love nothing better than to downplay prayer and strip it of its power. Prayer is an arsenal all by itself. Ephesians 6 speaks of putting on the whole armor of God, assuring us that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
The Greek word for wrestle in this passage means, “to shake and to vibrate”. It also means to engage in hand-to-hand combat. These are close quarters in engaging the enemy, but we need not fear because we are armed and ready for battle. When we choose to engage in spiritual warfare, we are shaking and vibrating these ranks of devils in hand-to-hand combat.
The Lord is encouraging His intercessors and prophets to not only engage in prayer and warfare, but to double down on what we are declaring by faith. Refuse to come off the wall, and refuse to be silent. Get louder with your prayers and your warfare as the darkness tries to intensify. Double down on lost family members and seemingly hopeless situations. Shake and vibrate demonic forces, and do not give in or give up. Get excited about prayer, set your face like flint, and tell the devil, “I ain’t budging”!
