“I am quite nearly in despair!”
Response to the Last Discerning the Times
In the last Discerning the Times, I did indeed express that sentiment! After it was published, I left for a week of vacation with my wife, Laura. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is a favorite destination for us. I was exhausted and discouraged. At the beach, the Lord gave me physical and spiritual rest.
The Holy Spirit mercifully lifted His anointing upon me for high level prayer so that I could just rest. And I did. It was wonderful! But then, as I was driving back through the cotton and sweet potato fields of rural South Carolina, the anointing for intercession returned and I found myself called to pray as before, but this time without the weight and burden of despair.
I was also greatly encouraged to find e-mails from many of you offering words of encouragement. I also received a lot guidance in which I learned about the dangers of this work of high level intercession. Thank you. You can’t know how much I appreciate you. I share one of these e-mails with you from David. His words of wisdom from the Lord touched me deeply. I hope they will encourage you too.
Dear Brad, I am not the prayer warrior that you are, or even that my wife Margie is, but I feel compelled to offer some thoughts in response to your latest Discerning the Times message and request, and especially regarding your statement about being “quite nearly in despair.” Of the four areas that you address, the one I am prompted to comment about is the disastrous downward spiral that our country is on. Suicide indeed! Entirely of our own making, with Satan’s encouragement, of course. I totally agree with your assessment of the problem, and like you, I too am not relieved by the recent “progress” in Washington.
The following quote sheds some additional light: “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse [generous bestowal of gifts] from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship.”
“The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependence back again into bondage.”
– Penned by Professor Alexander Tyler, a Scottish historian, who in 1787 wrote about the fall of the Athenian republic over 2000 years earlier. (From http://home.earthlink.net/~radspot/largesse.htm. Also discussed here: http://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/?p=6522
Back in January of this year, dismayed by the results of the Nov 2012 election and the underlying sentiments of the voters reflected thereby, I wrote the following to our children: “It appears that the window on the values on which this country was built and which made it great is closing – in fact, may have already closed. This poses serious problems for you and your children. Please ponder how you will prepare your children to live productive, upright lives in a country where moral, spiritual, social, cultural, political, and economic decay is accelerating, and appears likely to continue to do so far into the future. May God help us!” And God does help us! It is understandable that those who, like you, Jeremiah, and others, receive special revelations from God, will at times be greatly weighed down by some of the things that He shows you. But in spite of my own overwhelming sense of impending disaster regarding our country, I am not in despair.
Can the tide be turned? Yes, but only if God chooses to turn it. Will He? I do not know. But it gives me great comfort to know that He is sovereign, and that no matter what happens, nothing can separate us from His love. “In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” “I have learned, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content.” What has God called you to? Despair? I don’t think so. Discernment, prayer, and “Joshua work?” Without question! You have been such an encouragement to me, and I hope that I can return the favor just a little. Rest assured that we pray daily for you, the rest of the PRMI staff, your families, and the PRMI ministry, and we will continue to do so as long as God gives us breath. The peace of the Lord be with you, my friend, brother, and mentor. -Dave
What an amazing statement! A call not to fall into despair as I did, but rather to look to Jesus Christ who is the Lord of history. He is our “just God who presides over the destinies of nations.” When I look to Jesus and keep my focus on Him, listen to Him and walk in His guidance, I find no room for despair but rather the urgent call to step into the gap in Moses intercession work and Holy Spirit-empowered action a la Joshua.
As we are faithful in these two roles, it is not only possible but probable that God will turn us away from the tide of destruction and restore us to the way of Life and Truth.
In Christ,
Brad Long
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