The Warrior Heart

Early Thursday morning Congress did what I knew they would. Vice President Pence did, as well. A few members of Congress who had planned to protest some states’ electoral votes, decided to renege after having received the violent treatment that thousands of Americans have been experiencing for several years now. Not that it would have mattered, the same result would have occurred. Please don’t misunderstand my cynicism about Congress members’ response to the rioting – I condemn Wednesday’s violence in the strongest terms. But many of us, unlike some of the hypocrites in Congress, have been condemning the violence for years now, when it was NOT being done to us personally. I’m sure the thousands around the country who have lost jobs, homes, businesses, eyes, the ability to walk and more, are grateful to hear some of the members of Congress finally condemn the violence. I still haven’t quite figured out, however, how idiots storming the Capitol suddenly meant voting illegalities that needed to be contested, no longer mattered. 

On a serious note, I realize Wednesday’s occurrences have devastated some believers so much that they’ve lost the will to fight. The faith of many has been shaken. While I understand – days like Wednesday are a gut punch – my response is simply that for me, nothing has changed:

1. My faith is in God, not in any particular way He might reverse the election.
2. I have many credible dreams and words that have been given to me (at least 40-50) from credible prophets encouraging me to stand. This includes at least 8-10 that have said it will look like it is over, when it isn’t. Incidentally, I would be fighting just as hard without the prophetic words and dreams. What I believe in would still compel me to stay in the fight. 
3. I am doing this for God, His purposes for America and the nations; and I’m fighting for the coming generations, including the unborn. Not for Donald Trump.
4. I’m confident there were enough illegalities to have affected the election outcome.
5. And if – God forbid – we don’t prevail, I’ll be able to say I never gave up. One day, I’ll look 10 million more aborted babies in the eye (that many more abortions WILL occur if the left takes over this nation) and tell them, “I didn’t quit on you!”

For those who agree with me on these points and still possess a heart to fight, here are a few thoughts from my book, The Way Back, regarding the warrior spirit.

“At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, General George Washington instructed his troops: ‘The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of brave resistance or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die.’ The warrior spirit was essential in order to win America’s freedom.

“This kind of warrior’s heart is also necessary in Christianity. The Kingdom of God is full of paradoxes – seeming contradictions. This is one of them: though called to possess the quality of love more than any other, even to the point of laying down our lives (1 Corinthians 13) and pursuing peace with all men (Hebrews 12:14), we believers are also called to be spiritual warriors (Ephesians 6:12-20).

“General Patton once said to his troops, ‘You must acquire the warrior’s soul.’ What strong and appropriate charges Washington and Patton gave their soldiers! It seems that far too many Americans have lost the warrior’s soul, both naturally and spiritually. Most people want someone else to do their fighting for them. Warriors, on the other hand, fight when necessary, and push forward. They are willing to war for what they love and believe in. 

“In the Old Testament God shares examples with us of warrior hearts. They are examples, not because we are called to force His will on people, but so their internal traits can be applied to our spiritual battles. 

“One such example was Benaiah, one of David’s ‘mighty men’ and on my list of favorite Old Testament characters (see 1 Chronicles 11:22-24). This heroic and bold warrior killed a lion. It seems the marauding lion was threatening a village in Israel, which motivated the villagers to set a trap by digging a pit, then baiting the lion into it. Okay, so now what? Without today’s tranquilizing methods, how would they dispose of the lion? Cage it and move it to another region? Or perhaps kill it using spears, arrows, or even stones? Several options were possible – just stay out of the pit!

“Not Benaiah.

“For some reason, incomprehensible except to the warrior’s heart, this soldier didn’t want to kill the lion from above. ‘Out of my way,’ he shouted. And before anyone could stop him, Benaiah jumped into the pit – ‘on a snowy day,’ scripture adds for good measure – and killed the lion (see 2 Samuel 12:20).

“Warrior? I think so.

“Eleazar was another David-inspired warrior. ‘He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword, and the Lord brought about a great victory that day,’ (2 Samuel 23:10). What amazing determination and tenacity! In defending the nation of Israel, Eleazar fought past his weariness, and when no longer possessing the physical strength needed to control his hand, he held onto the sword with his heart! When the battle was over, Eleazar’s comrades waded through the bodies and peeled his hand from his sword

If you are weary in this battle for the soul of America, my advice to you is to grip your sword with your heart.

“The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him. The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is His name. In Your faithfulness You have led the people whom You have redeemed; in Your strength, You have guided them to Your holy habitation.” (Exodus 15: 2-3, 13 NASB)

Give Him 15 minutes in prayer: 

• Ask God to awaken a warrior’s heart in you.
• Be honest with God, expressing your weariness, but also drinking of His presence for renewed strength and will to fight.
• Draw strength from spending time in God’s presence and with other like-minded believers.
• Ask Holy Spirit to make you one who has the tenacity and persistence to persevere, even to the extent of having your sword molded into your hand as you wield it for the cause of Christ.
• Boldly declare that He is your strength and your song, express your praise to Him because of His unending faithfulness.

A prayer you can pray:

Father, it is an honor to partner with You as You turn this nation back to You and restore us to our wonderful destiny. As we move through different phases of the process, we ask You to give us the ability to be unwavering in our faith. And when we do waver we ask You for strength to move back into positions of faith. And we are confident You will give us this strength.

We pray for those who were traumatized by Wednesday’s violence. We pray that any spirit of fear attempting to grip them would not be allowed to do so. We pray for any who were injured that they would fully recover. And we pray for the families of those who lost their lives. Give them peace and healing, we pray.

And Lord, we continue to pray for righteous government in this nation. We ask You for government leaders who honor life from conception to death. We ask for leaders who will honor your definition of marriage, and of a man and woman. We ask You to send a spirit of awakening and revival to America that restores our national soul. And Lord, because we believe his policies lineup more with your ideals and principles, we ask You to do a miracle and give Donald Trump four more years as president. Please do not allow those who oppose You to rule over us. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Decree:

I decree that the sword is gripped in my hand and I will not let go until we see God’s will come to pass for America.