Over thirty years ago while Ron was reading
chapter 22 of the book of Ezekiel our Lord gave him the Scripture Ezekiel
22:30 as a theme for our lives here in Portland, Oregon. Our Heavenly Father called us to “stand in the gap” for
the city.
“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and
stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I
found none.”
(Ezekiel 22:30 KJV)
Ron received a night vision in which he was to stand in front of the
old Pioneer Courthouse at SW Fifth and Morrison streets in downtown Portland
and proclaim the Kingdom of God and the close return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In December of 1978 Ron appeared on the front page of the Oregonian
during a snowstorm using a sign that did just that.
Now that all of our children are grown and out of the house we are
doing this together as a ministry couple.
We call it intercessory evangelism.
We are interceding for an awakening in the Church, that we may wake up
to who God is in us and who we are in Him.
We are interceding for an awakening in the general population of the
city of Portland, the Pacific Northwest, and the Nation.
And now, since 9/11, we are interceding for the safety of the city that
it might not be destroyed by terrorism or in judgment.
As we stand in front of the old Pioneer Courthouse we are also sitting
in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (See
Ephesians 2.)
We are watching to see what our Lord is saying concerning our city
where He has placed us. (See Habakkuk
2.)
We are
literally publicly standing in the gap fulfilling our call to intercessory
evangelism.
Many people think that intercession is prayer but it is far more than that. It involves prayer, worship, and preaching but intercession is something that is with us day and night – 24/7. Our call to intercession for Portland and the Pacific Northwest is with us wherever we are day and night. It affects our very lifestyle. We may even find ourselves awakened in early morning hours with a burden to pray. Intercession involves compassion to see the oppressed set free – physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. So we desire to bring God’s healing presence to others through various ministries such as the Portland Healing Rooms as well as out on the streets.
Here are excerpts from Intercession by Johannes Facius.
“…In
I Timothy 2 .. Paul mentions supplications, prayers, intercessions and
giving of thanks as four different disciplines of the exercise of
prayer. This gives us reason to
believe that there therefore is a difference between prayer and
intercession…
The word means "to go in
between". It describes how
someone deliberately goes in between two parties to intervene in a situation
of conflict and to try to keep the parties apart from one another… It is an
ongoing commitment to remain in a position before God until the case has
been solved. Intercession is in
other words a twenty-four hour position, which means that the intercessor is
before God in a very conscious way constantly, even if he is not able to
actually pray for more than a small part of the time.”
Intercession may call us to fasting with prayer and
sometimes it involves a public stand for righteousness in the midst of the
wickedness – such as at an abortion clinic.
For us it has involved arrest, jail, lawsuits, and public exposure
through the media. Intercession
is not cheap. It has a price. And brethren in the Church often misunderstand intercessors
so there can be some religious persecution as well.
Sometimes intercession involves being a watchman and this can call us
to “blow a trumpet” and sound an alarm.
We have experienced this several times.
When the mayor proclaimed “gay pride” for the homosexuals we met
with the mayor. When the police arrested pro-life picketers and rescuers we
met with police officials. When
the city tried to stop free speech, including preaching, in Pioneer Courthouse
Square we met with city officials and took a case to Federal Court where we
were victorious in a lawsuit which set a Federal Court precedent for the
entire nation.
Now we are in a new millennium and we are under attack by an enemy we
do not understand. Now our intercession involves publicly proclaiming the truth
about Islam at Portland State University so that Muslims in our city may be
saved. This has brought threats
against us and another stand in court in which we prevailed. We must stand for Jesus Christ and the gospel of the Kingdom
of God in a nation that is under judgment and in the midst of war.
We must stand in the gap for our city – for awakening in the church
and in the region. We also
intercede against terrorism and lawlessness and for the safety of our city and
region. We know that many are
standing with us and we thank our Lord for every encouragement in these dark
and dangerous days.
Press The Battle To The Gates
As intercessors we stand in the
gates of our city and proclaim, “Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be
lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of Glory shall come in!”
(See
Psalm 24)
We are interceding for an awakening to His presence in the city and in
the Church. We are calling for
the Lord of hosts, the King of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ to rule and reign
in an awakened church, which is “pressing the battle to the gates!”
Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power and went about doing
good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil.
(Acts
10:38)
Jesus prayed that the glory which was given Him would be given us and
that we would be one. He has also
sent us into the world as the Father sent Him.
(See
John 17:18,22)
The “gates of hell” shall not stand against us freeing those
oppressed of the devil.
We believe that it is time that all brethren gather
in humility with
supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks
and “press the battle to the gates” for an awakening in our cities and the
Pacific Northwest region.
– Ron &
Karen