They’re Ready to Intercede

by Major Doug O’Brien –
CFOT Principal

Yesterday God called wealthy men to be his servants, merchants to be his deacons, tentmakers to be his apostles, slaves to be his bishops, shepherds to be his kings, and princes to be his prophets.

He called the seventh son of Jacob to secure the frontier east of the Jordan River and he charged him always to be ready to cross the river to help his brothers in Canaan. Chronicles describes Gad and his sons as “brave warriors, ready for battle and able to handle the shield and spear. Their faces were the faces of lions, and they were as swift as gazelles in the mountains.” (1 Chronicles 12:8 NIV)

Today’s lieutenants are technicians, students, accountants, fishermen, military professionals, housewives, and construction workers–all called by God to be his Faithful Intercessors. These are not weekend warriors nor are they overnight wonders. Majors Terry and Linda Griffin and a host of other officers helped train them for battle. But they are not the products of two years’ training only. God’s Holy Spirit was interceding with them, guarding, guiding and gifting them long before they wore cadet’s trim. Their call is the call of God. Their equipment is the armor of God. Their mission is God’s mission. They are God’s Faithful Intercessors.

Like the Gadites of old, these lieutenants are brave warriors, ready for battle and able to handle the shield and spear. Their faces are the faces of lions, and they are as swift as gazelles in the mountains.

Enemies menaced the Promised Land and the heart of God’s people is still threatened today. Secular humanists tear at the fabric of our beliefs and discount our faith-based successes. Government agencies encourage programs that are competitive to ours. Proliferating non-profits aggressively extend their reach into once sacrosanct Army ministries. Who will answer God’s call to stanch the flow of these crippling attacks?

The Faithful Intercessors will answer God’s call.

Technology promised more leisure time and a quality of life unsurpassed by any previous generation. Instead we hear the cry that there is less time for family, less time for leisure, less time for God. Too many people graduate from school uneducated and unprepared for life. Too many people spend more than they have, hoping that the things they buy will make them happy. Too many people confuse status with a sense of self-worth. Who will turn back this perversion of values and lay again the foundations of the people of God?

The Faithful Intercessors will answer God’s call.

True to the Gadites of old, the Faithful Intercessors will protect the heartland and reinforce the field. But their mission is to stake out the frontiers of faith. They will pitch their tent in the wilderness of moral decay. They will stake a claim for the hearts of those who are strangers to God. They will infiltrate the dens of apathy and let loose the transforming power of God’s Spirit. They will take up arms designed to make men captive to Christ. They will be shock troops pushing at the boundaries of the frontier.

They are brave warriors. They are ready for battle. They are able to handle the shield and spear. Their faces are the faces of lions, and they are as swift as gazelles in the mountains.

They are the Faithful Intercessors.