Call them by name!
January 26, 2013
Therefore said he (Jesus) unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. Luke 10:2
Several years ago Dr. Larry Lea, in his book “Could You Not Tarry One Hour,” expounded on the concept of calling in harvesters and those assigned to our particular place of ministry to come, using the passage of Scripture from Isaiah 43: 4-6.
4 Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life.
5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west;
6 I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth—
Daniel tells us that a king of the north exists as well as a king of the south (See Daniel 11:11). It stands to reason that a king of the east and king of the west may also exist. These kings work to keep those in their domain under bondage to them. Release must come by the demand of higher authorities. Applying the Scripture from Isaiah to prophetic prayer, intercessors have been calling in from the north, south, east, and west those assigned to labor in certain fields.
The Psalmist also recorded:
2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. Psalms 107:2-3
We also know from Scripture that the LORD does indeed have specific places of ministry that have a geographical component to them. Paul’s ministry expressed as much in that he stayed varying lengths of time throughout his missionary journeys depending upon the direction of the Holy Spirit. Paul expressed this in his message on Mars Hill when he said:
And (God) hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation. Acts 17:26
God has a specific place for each of us. A place uniquely suited to the capabilities and anointing(s) we each possess. That place has people who are assigned to us and we to them to minister to, with, or through. Our geographical placement is not accidental. Sometimes however, the LORD will get us in a place we never expected to be. That’s when we find Him to be going by one of His other names: Jehovah Sneaky.
A Further Aspect
One evening, while in intercession, I began calling forth laborers to come from the north, the south, the east, and the west, commanding that they be released to come when the LORD interjected a thought to me. He said, “Call them by name. The ones you are calling forth have names.” It hit me--He wanted me to give names to those whom I was calling forth (not just any names, but allow the Holy Spirit give unction to you). As I yielded to the Holy Spirit, names began to rise from my spirit as I continued to pray. I began to call forth the first names of people and loose them to come from the north, the south, the east, and the west. Some names I called forth in pairs, others were just single names.
A few weeks later, while sitting in church one Sunday morning, I noticed a middle-aged couple come into the service. During the service, I introduced myself to them and learned their names, Paul and Vickie. They had just moved from out of state and had felt drawn to come to that church. He had suddenly received a transfer to a station just a couple of miles from the church. Now you must realize that this church was not close to much of anything. It was in a fairly rural setting. In fact, the church property was formerly a farm complete with a pond, old barns, and some farm equipment. No industry was anywhere nearby. The area was not even heavily populated. It was not a place you would come to and only one place existed in the area that could possibly have had the capacity to transfer employees in or out of that station. This is what had occurred to Paul.
Upon talking with this couple I realized that theirs were two of the names I had called out in intercession just a few weeks before.
They had come in direct response to the call of the Spirit to them, although they did not know it at that time. A short time later I was able to speak with them about their moving to the area and what they felt about the move. They both concurred that they felt it was the will of God that they move and that they find that particular church. I then explained to them what the LORD had instructed concerning the intercession and calling them by their first names. Immediately the lights went on for Vickie. It was confirmation to her that they had, indeed, responded properly to the Spirit of God in making this move, even though they had to leave their adult children and a grandchild behind. Vickie in particular became a great blessing to the church through her many-faceted abilities and anointing. They served at that church for several years before going on to their next assignment.
They were not the only couple or persons who responded to the call of the Spirit to come to that church; others came and the story was very similar. Some came from some distance away, while others were local to the area. Yet all came because of a drawing within their spirits.
When you go into intercession, begin to pay attention to the unction of the Spirit and call out the names that He gives. You’ll be surprised and blessed by the ways the LORD works to bring forth laborers to their chosen assignments. As we labor in prayer for the laborers to come, let us be aware that we are not just quoting Scriptures for the sake of quoting Scripture. Destinies are at stake and men, women, boys, and girls await the call of the Spirit to find their rightful place. Let us do our part as we labor together for the LORD of the harvest…for the harvest truly is plentiful.
Note: All Scripture references from the King James Version of the Bible.
Copyright (c) 2013 - Dr. Ron Horner
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