Urgent Prayer Alert
I have been waiting several weeks to write this prayer alert, making every effort to hear from the Lord as clearly as possible. I try not to write national prayer alerts frequently – only when I feel they are urgent. This is probably one of the most important assignments I’ve ever had. Although it is unusually long, please read it prayerfully and pass it on.
In our partnering with God to turn America back to its Christian heritage and God-given destiny – indeed, to experience another great awakening that will impact every aspect of our culture and bring millions of people to Christ – we are at a great crossroads. I believe we are at the deciding point in the war. While writing this letter I was handed a newsletter of Cindy Jacobs, a prophet and international leader in the prayer movement; she believes this also, stating: “As I pray for the United States, I see that we are at a crossroads where we will either keep the ground we have taken and advance to see our nation transformed, or we will deteriorate at an alarming rate.”
The Battle of the Bulge
A friend of mine likens where we are to the Battle of the Bulge. This battle was an intense counter offensive launched by Hitler in WW II – after D Day, when it looked like the Allies had won the war, Hitler tried one final, desperate onslaught to turn the tide. This caught the Allies by surprise and, though we eventually defeated Hitler’s armies, was for a season demoralizing and very costly to us. Likewise today, an intense counter offensive has been orchestrated from Hell to pull down President Bush and derail the destiny of America. This whirlwind of darkness over America is bringing great national confusion and is causing paralysis even in the praying church.
I have sensed this strong confusion in both the civil and spiritual realms, from leaders on down. It is strong in Washington D.C. – godly governmental leaders know things are in disarray and that something is desperately wrong, but also say that nothing seems to work when it comes to reversing it. Spiritual leaders also know things are not right – that we have lost momentum and that anti-Christ forces seem to be prevailing – but no one seems to know what to do about it. My friend Lou Engle, in a recent prayer alert said, “Wherever I go, I can feel the attitude of resignation, criticism and despair…” Lou’s entire alert can be found at www.justicehouseofprayer.com
The Spirit of Babylon
Chuck Pierce, another friend and internationally trusted prophet connected our desperate condition to the war in Iraq: “the spirit of Babylon is slapping us around.” Iraq is modern day Babylon. Babylon means “confusion,” which is obviously one of the results of this spiritual war. America’s armies had no problem taking out Saddam’s physical army, but we are now dealing with an ancient principality, the spirit of Babylon, which cannot be defeated with natural weapons and strategies. This spirit is currently, though I believe it not be permanently, prevailing against us. As previously stated, the symptoms of confusion and disarray can be seen in the church, on our president and in the nation in general.
A further result of all this on our president is political disfavor. He has one of the most unfavorable performance ratings of any president in history, ranking down with Nixon during Watergate. The cover of one major magazine reads: “How Low Can He Go?” Usually when the economy thrives – and ours is – a president’s ratings are high, (even if he is sexually involved with an intern and lies about it!). But not this president. He has lost his favor and consequently his voice, neither of which will return until certain things occur.
A Dream About the President
Regarding this loss of voice, a pastor related to me a dream he had recently about President Bush. The president was in a jail cell in a desert region. He was very agitated and his bottom lip was torn in half. I believe this desert region represents Iraq and the tearing of the president’s lip pictures my assertion that his voice has been torn from him.
As the dream continued a man grabbed the president from behind, and said, “Let go. Give in.” Snakes then came out of the man’s cloak, wrapped around the president and one of them bit his torn lip. The president fell to the ground and disappeared. The snake then took the form of a woman, looked at the man having the dream (who had run in to try and help the president) and said, “There is nothing you can do to stop this.”
The man in the dream changing into a serpent confirms to me that we are no longer dealing with flesh and blood in Iraq, but with “principalities and powers” (see Ephesians 6:12). They have entrapped our president, stolen his voice and intend to completely destroy his effectiveness. Their ultimate goal is to steal his destiny, which is warring against terrorism and shifting the courts, especially the Supreme Court of America. Though the president has been disabled and seemingly taken out by this spirit, it is not true that there is nothing we can do to stop it. I will address this momentarily.
The Reality of Where We Are
It is vital for us to grasp the magnitude of this spiritual war against America and our president, and also to realize that the forces of evil are currently prevailing, though it need not remain so. If the November, 2006 elections were held today, it is almost certain that pro-life and morally conservative voices would lose some, if not complete, control of Congress. It is also quite likely that if the third vacancy occurred on the Supreme Court now (and I believe it is coming soon), one of two things would happen. Either Bush would bow to the temptation to appoint a moderate because of his weak position; or if he appointed a true conservative constitutionalist like Roberts or Alito, the liberals would be empowered enough to stop the nomination through filibustering or character assassination.
Worse yet, if the vacancy doesn’t occur until after the November elections and conservatives do lose control of Congress, we can very likely kiss goodbye our current opportunity to shift the Supreme Court of America. This would be the most devastating setback of our day. The consequences are unthinkable. The killing of babies and pro-death culture would continue, God would continue to be unwelcome in schools, government and public life and another generation would spiral further downward into Godless, humanistic relativism. Our God-given destiny in America could be lost indefinitely, perhaps forever. We simply cannot allow this.
Regarding the war on terrorism, if we don’t turn the tide spiritually and do so fairly soon, it will turn into a quagmire that our generation doesn’t have the strength, courage, boldness or selflessness to endure. This is the reality of where we are.
What God Is Saying to the Church
What must happen in the praying church and with our president at this critical time? There are biblical pictures that can help us identify our current position and point us toward the right strategy. First, where is the church and what must we do?
If the praying church does not re-engage in informed, consistent and fervent intercession for our nation and president NOW, we will lose our Battle of the Bulge. Our past victories and the ground we have gained are all on the line. So is our future. We have grown complacent and overconfident, as did the Israelites at Ai. In their attempt to conquer the promised land, Israel had won a great and impressive victory at Jericho (see Joshua 6). However, they grew overconfident and when they confronted the next town – small and insignificant Ai – did not pray for God’s help and strategy. Consequently, God wasn’t with them. The result was a devastating defeat.
We, too, have grown spiritually overconfident and complacent due to our recent victories. Now, like Joshua after the defeat at Ai, we are confused and disoriented (see Joshua 7:6-9). We must re-engage in prayer immediately. Lou Engle, in the above mentioned prayer alert also said, “Maybe President Bush’s legacy and the future of our nation hinge more on our prayers than on the whole political debate that rages now.” Right on, Lou, except I believe we can scratch the word “maybe.” Our future absolutely hinges on our prayers.
What God Is Saying to Our President
What of our president? In biblical context where is he, and what must he do? In Genesis 32, Jacob, Abraham’s grandson and the man who produced the nation of Israel through his twelve sons, came to his own personal crossroads. He, like our president, had come to a great crisis. Years earlier Jacob had connived to attain his brother Esau’s birthright and stolen the blessing reserved for him as the firstborn son. Now, twenty years later, Jacob is returning to face Esau, who has sworn to kill him. On the way, he has a life-changing encounter with God (see Genesis 32:24-32). Several parts of this story parallel where our president currently is and what he must do:
1) Jacob was left alone. Consistent with his conniving nature, which is what his name meant, Jacob’s possessions, servants and family had all been sent ahead to “appease” Esau. Then, in his wrestling with the angel, Jacob’s thigh – a symbol of strength – was dislocated, causing him to walk with a permanent limp. Everything Jacob owned, all of his family and now, all of his strength, was gone. God was allowing him to lose all, at least Jacob thought so, and also removing from him what he had relied on all of his life – his ability to connive (which, again, is the meaning of his name) his way out of trouble and into blessing through his own strength and manipulation.
For our president, I believe this conniving nature of Jacob pictures what occurs so often in the political realm. Not that the political world and those who are a part of it are necessarily evil, but a political spirit is. It is the equivalent of a “Jacob” nature – which we’re all born with – that believes there is always a way to reverse our fortunes through manipulation and control, conniving and self-effort. Some actually prevail through this spirit, but God will not allow Bush to succeed by operating in it. He has, therefore, allowed our president to lose favor for a season and nothing Bush has done can or will reverse this. Politics cannot help him, Rove can’t, his party can’t, and his troops in Iraq and Afghanistan cannot. God wants our president to know that the only one who can help him now is the One who put him where he is: Himself.
This does not necessarily mean our president has sinned or failed. Of course, he is human and therefore imperfect. And like all of us he has a Jacob nature to contend with. But this doesn’t make him a failure in God’s eyes. There is nothing to indicate that God was angry with Jacob but rather that He wanted to move him further toward his destiny, which was to birth the nation of Israel. His Jacob nature stood in the way and God needed to change it. This is what must occur in our president, which brings me to the second parallel to Jacob and our president.
2) Jacob’s name was changed to Israel. (See Genesis 32:28) Names represented nature, identity and purpose in those days. That Jacob was after one thing – restored favor and blessing, and God was after another – a nature change, is obvious in the story. Jacob finally realized this when he responded to the angel’s question of what his name was: “The Man asked him, ‘What is your name?’ And in shock of realization, whispering he said, ‘Jacob’ [supplanter, schemer, trickster, swindler]!” (Genesis 32:27, Amplified)
Jacob’s acknowledgment of his condition, equivalent to repentance and confession, allowed God to break off of him the Jacob nature. God then re-named him Israel, moving him into his destiny. Likewise, God has a destiny on our president that cannot be accomplished through politics or human ability. Only the power, wisdom and enablement of the Holy Spirit can equip President Bush to accomplish his destiny concerning terrorism and the courts of America. I want to be very bold and make a statement that may seem unusual regarding a government leader: God has removed favor from our president and is wrestling with him, in order to remove from him all confidence that he can prevail through human strength and methods, including politics. He wants him to walk with a limp. God wants to anoint him for his assignment, giving him a supernatural ability to prevail. To accomplish this, He desires to visit our president in a holy and awesome way, just as He did Jacob. President Bush has an appointment with God!
3) Jacob named the place Peniel, which means “the face of God.” He stated, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved." Jacob’s life was transformed, favor with Esau was given and all possessions were returned. In an interesting irony, the word “appease” (verse 20) – what Jacob was attempting with Esau – and the word Peniel come from the same Hebrew root which means “face.” To appease is to put something in another person’s “face” in order to buy or procure favor. God was in essence saying to Jacob, “You can’t appease your enemy, but you can appease Me. Facing your enemy through the Jacob (political) spirit won’t help you anymore, but facing Me will.”
Likewise, God is saying to our president that He alone holds the key to favor and blessing in this hour. President Bush cannot prevail through appeasement, politics or any other human effort alone. But if he will face God and rely solely on Him, God will visit him face to face, favor will return and the president can fulfill his destiny. We must pray this understanding/revelation to our president and we must birth this holy visitation. For him to live and operate in a political world without being caught up in it will indeed require great revelation and humility. This could come either through God speaking to him personally or by getting the right individual to him with this message. Our responsibility is to pray until it happens. If it does not, our president will not recover and America is in big trouble.
[For a complete explanation, you can order the message I recently shared on this subject, entitled “Jacob at Peniel.” Order it by going to http://www.dutchsheets.org/ and clicking on the link on the home page.]
Nuts! In closing, a final story related to the Battle of the Bulge is pertinent. The Allies chose to stop Hitler’s advance at a place called Bostogne. The 101st Airborne Division, nicknamed “The Screaming Eagles” were assigned, against all odds, to hold Bostogne. The Germans surrounded the 101st at Bostogne and demanded their surrender. Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe’s now famous response was “Nuts.” When the Germans asked for an interpretation of this, the American officer delivering the message said, “It means you can go to hell.”
The Allies then needed the weather to clear up in order to use their air superiority. General Patton ordered his chaplain to compose a prayer asking God to clear up the weather. The next day the skies were clear and our aircraft began to control the air war and destroy the enemy. Before the battle, the 101st’s first commander, Major General William C. Lee, made the following statement to his soldiers:
The 101st Airborne Division, activated at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, has no history, but it has a rendezvous with destiny. Like the early American pioneers whose invincible courage was the foundation stone of this nation, we have broken with the past and its traditions in order to establish our claim to the future. Due to the nature of our armament, and the tactics in which we shall perfect ourselves, we shall be called upon to carry out operations of far-reaching military importance and we shall habitually go into action when the need is immediate and extreme. Let me call your attention to the fact that our badge is the great American eagle. This is a fitting emblem for a division that will crush its enemies by falling upon them like a thunderbolt from the skies. The history we shall make, the record of high achievement we hope to write in the annals of the American Army and the American people, depends wholly and completely on the men of this division. Each individual, each officer and each enlisted man, must therefore regard himself as a necessary part of a complex and powerful instrument for the overcoming of the enemies of the nation. Each, in his own job, must realize that he is not only a means, but an indispensable means for obtaining the goal of victory. It is, therefore, not too much to say that the future itself, in whose molding we expect to have our share, is in the hands of the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division. (Emphasis mine.)
The Screaming Eagles Must Arise Hitler personally orchestrated the Battle of the Bulge. I believe Satan is personally orchestrating his forces in the battle against Bush and the church of America. God is calling the “Screaming Eagles” of intercession to take our stand and win the air war in the heavenlies, stopping the enemy’s advance. Like the Screaming Eagles of yesterday, we can write a history of commitment, bravery, self-sacrifice and victory. “The future itself, in whose molding we expect to have our share, is in the hands of” the church. Satan says we can’t win, I say “Nuts!” We can win this war against terrorism and for the soul of America, but only in the spirit.. If we don’t do so, the greater sin won’t be our president’s but ours – the church of America.
If this word rings true in your heart, pass it on – and PRAY! Pray in church services; hold special prayer meetings; fast and pray; send a prayer team to Washington, D.C. to pray; pause at family gatherings to pray; pray at home groups. Pray, pray, pray.
Let’s do our part and win this war.
Dutch Sheets
