View Comments (4)

“Protection is an important aspect of the watchman anointing. Watchmen are guards, bodyguards, doorkeepers and, generally speaking, those who protect by covering in prayer.” – Dutch Sheets

We used to live in the city of Virginia Beach, very close to the Atlantic Ocean. Often we were threatened by possible hurricanes that occasionally came up the east coast of the United States. I remember a time when a group of Christian leaders, made up of pastors and intercessors, decided that the threat was too serious. They were on alert as watchmen. They called the region—which included seven cities—to day and night prayer for the protection of our area. God protected each city.

In the Old Testament times, a watchman would keep watch on the walls for enemies or watch after the crops at harvest time (Isaiah 1:6-8; Ezekiel 22:30). We need watchmen to watch over God’s harvest in our cities and protect it as well. Just as God appointed mankind as guardians and watchmen of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2:15, He wants us to be alert watchmen and guard the land where we live.

In an area of Africa, the first Christians were very serious about watchful prayer. Each believer had their own special place outside the village where they could be alone to pray in solitude. They reached these out door “prayer rooms” by walking through their own private footpath through the brush. But when the grass began to grow over one of the trails, they knew something was desperately wrong—someone wasn’t praying.

They were perfect examples of watchmen because they were so concerned about the spiritual welfare of each other. A custom sprang up among them. Whenever one of them noticed an overgrown prayer path, they would go to the person and warn them in a loving way by saying, “Friend, there’s grass on your path!”

God wants you to be an alert watchman just like these villagers in Africa. He wants you to join with others in prayer for your city and for one another. Isaiah 62:6-7 stresses the need to give God no rest, and to pray day and night for the city of Jerusalem:

“I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.”

The same is true for each one of our cities. As you begin to look at your city through the eyes of God and with His heart, realize that it belongs to Him. We read in Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” God wants you to contend for your city in prayer. He wants you to pray for His authority to rule supreme in your city. Although Satan has invaded our cities, through prayer and action we can take them back.

“Watchmen are ordinarily placed on the walls of a city to give notice to the rulers of coming danger. God appoints watchmen not only to warn men—often they will not hear—but also to summon Him to come to their aid whenever need or the enemy may be threatening. The great mark of the intercessors are that they are not to hold their peace day or night, to take no rest, and to give God no rest, until the deliverance comes. In faith they may count upon the assurance that God will answer their prayers.” Andrew Murray

To read the entire article by Debbie Przybylski from Crosswalk, CLICK HERE.