The Book Matrix: Transcript - Thank you Intercessory Prayer Warriors!

Author: Tom Freedom
Title: Thank you Intercessory Prayer Warriors!
Plot: A collection of stories combined to reveal the importance of this ministry
Notes:

Listen to "Thank you Intercessory Prayer Warriors" on Spreaker.

Full Transcript
If you have listened to the podcast titled Facing Your Demons in Night Wars, then you know that I'm suddenly taking my dreams very seriously.

Make no mistake, this is a thank you message to Intercessory Prayer Warriors. But before I say thanks, I want everyone to understand the stakes.

Have you ever woke in a cold sweat from a dream about yourself or a friend?
And have you ever been humiliated because after acting on a warning from a dream, you wound up looking like a fool?

I realize now that the reason I didn't take dreams seriously for so many years is because of a very specific series of events in my past designed to teach me to ignore my dreams. And I suspect, this has happened to some of you also. There is a dynamic explained in the movie called Next with Nicolas Cage that explains this phenomenon. He commented that every time you look at your future, it changes. And that's because when we know what's coming, we make adjustments, and that changes everything. Somehow that manages to make sense and yet remain confusing. Meaning that when you have a dream that causes you to make changes, and when those changes alter your future, your dream never comes to pass, which is the point!

I would imagine you prayer warriors understand what I'm explaining all too well.

Somehow I found a way to view that as failure. I'll give you an example: I had a dream and it didn't come to pass and so I thought I failed. But of course since I made changes, it couldn't come to pass. And I don't know why that wasn't obvious to me, but I'll explain:

I once woke in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. This was when I was in my twenties. I immediately prayed for my nephew's safety. I had a strong sense of doom for him. I prayed hard and I was sincere and then I thought what am I doing? Don't just pray, call him and say something, or you will always regret this moment. Don't be defeated by your weakness!

So I called my nephew. I said, "Eric, I just had a dream about you dying. Would you please be careful tonight?" It was 3:00 AM and he was wide awake partying and noticeably intoxicated but also concerned about my dream. In his whole life I had never done that before. And I haven't done it since either. He thanked me sincerely and he said he would be careful and we ended the call and I felt a great sense of relief. Prior to the call I was in a near panic attack and after the call I felt calm and relieved, and I easily went right back to bed.

The next day I called him to check on him; I was hoping for news that would provide an explanation. I asked him how his night went and he said it was completely uneventful; even boring. I reacted to that statement with a sense of total humiliation. I told him about my dream, I asked him if he could think of anything that would explain it, and he assured me, everyone got tired and just went to sleep shortly after my phone call. I felt like such an idiot. He could tell I was rattled by the fact that nothing eventful occurred, and he knew it was the middle of the night and so he emphasized his gratitude that I called and appreciated my concern for his safety. And tried to make me feel better about being a fool.

It only took one more similar experience to break me of this behavior completely. To make me feel so humiliated that for the next decade, I rejected the guidance I received in my dreams from then on. It happened a few years later, while I was still in my twenties and it's not a story worth telling.

I wish I had run into the future version of me. Because I'm about to do you a big favor. We need to remember two things. Number one, we have an enemy and he is crafty. He knows the effect that humiliation has on us. It has a strong, long lasting, potentially devastating effect, that in some cases might last a lifetime. And if he can get us to ignore our dreams, he can do an enormous amount of damage in our lives. And so let's consider the other end of the spectrum. What happened when I ignored a dream I should have acted on?

I did a podcast called Christmas Special: Sweet Dreams where I explain in detail in that podcast that God gave me a dream I ignored and it cause me so tremendous pain. So much so, that I vowed I would never ignore my dreams again. I would rather risk humiliation, then walk into a warzone. And just a few years after that dream, I received a stern warning from God in a dream that if I failed to break off a close relationship, it would result in my death. After the meat grinder I had gone through having ignored the prior dream, I was no longer willing to take that chance. And so I ended a very close relationship, which was very hard, because God had emphasized, that being too nice would get me killed.

And having recently done the podcast entitled Facing Your Demons in Night Wars, having recently read a book on Spiritual Warfare in our dreams, I finally understand the game our enemy plays.

Now I'm convinced that had I ignored the dream about my nephew, he would have died and I would have spent a lifetime feeling responsible for his death, knowing that I might have been able to do something about it, had I listened and obeyed. And you can bet that my enemy, would have used that experience to viciously kick me for decades. But that didn't happen. Instead I prayed, and while I prayed God told me to act; so I did. I called my nephew and told him about my dream and my concern. I wish I had been in the habit of writing dreams down back then so I could share it with you, and see it for myself, but it's a memory that brought me shame and so I pushed it out of my mind.

At any rate, I now understand this phenomenon completely. This is what I believed happened: again, we have an enemy and he's crafty. I suspect that when he saw that I had prayed for my nephew, and that I had called him, he knew his plan to bring him harm would fail, and so he aborted it. After all, what is the point in running a plan that has no hope of working? But being the crafty opportunist that he is, he settled for a concession. Since he couldn't have me kicking myself for the death of my nephew, he would get me kicking myself for being an idiot. Because he knows, that I have no way of knowing what would have happened, had I not obeyed God's instruction. And this gives him carte blanch to spin a lie.

And so he aborted his plan. He ensured the night was completely uneventful leaving no trace of the idea that would have brought Eric harm. And the night having been innocuous and uneventful, would ensure that when I called to follow up, I would be confused, surprised and humiliated. And so my enemy had me kicking myself for several years afterward, especially whenever important dreams came up, so that I would ignore them because of my shame. Which was all just a clever trick.

This podcast is titled, Thank You Intercessory Prayer Warriors! And so I honor you today with this story that explains that I know how thankless your job can be. And so I will share another story. The purpose of this story is to reaffirm in your mind that what you do matters. It has a real, meaningful impact on the lives of others, and so I implore you, please do not give up! Don't stop! Don't fall for the tricks! What you do is very im

You may have noticed that in my picture I'm wearing a leather superman jacket. I thought that jacket was a symbol of having lost 100 pounds. Because I saw the jacket, and bought the jacket when I weighed 275, knowing it wouldn't fit until I lost a lot of weight. Last night God explained something to me in a dream that I will never forget.

When Jesus was on the earth, he loved and forgave everyone except a very specific group of people. The Scribes and the Pharisees. He had a very specific problem with them. Since everyone is a child of God, made in his image, he loves us all. But God is also capable of hate. And the one thing he hates is when one of his kids hurts another one of his kids. He hates that. And so his problem with the Scribes and Pharisees was the pain that those kids inflicted on his other children. And oppositely God loves his kids who love and bless his other kids. And no one does a better job of that than his intercessory prayer warriors.

I've had many dreams in which I fly and save people and do some amazing things, and since I discovered that our dreams are a Spiritual battleground, this tells me that the work I do that blesses others has literal saving power. I believe my dreams are a reflection of being a teacher, and generally resisting bitterness, anger, hatred, and the negative powers of darkness that have been trying to overcome me my whole life. However, I feel I have been a terrible intercessory prayer warrior, and I now see that God places a very high value on that ministry.

If anyone is a Superman, it's God intercessory prayer warriors. If you are listening to this message, that means you. Because this message is a honeypot. The title attracted you, and so perhaps maybe right now you aren't living up to your capacity, but by the end of this message I hope to inspire you so that you will not give up and even redouble your efforts to make a bigger impact in your calling.

And so I finish this message with a final story.

I don't get the impression that the devil likes my podcast channel very much. I've had some disturbing experiences since I began this ministry, and I think they are summed up well in the podcast entitled, The Miracle in the Scarlet Car. I believe that podcast does a great job of driving home, the pressure I've experienced lately as a result of this channel. And one night I woke up in a panic for myself, and I uttered a God inspired prayer that was the best prayer of my life. I called out to God, and asked him to reach out to his prayer warriors and bring them into agreement with me because I needed help immediately. I didn't know what the enemy had planned for me, but I knew it wasn't good. And so I begged for prayers from God's prayer warriors and I know he woke them up to pray for me. And I wouldn't be surprised to discover that you were one of them, and that God brought you here so I could thank you myself for what you did for me that night.

Just last night I had the opportunity to return the favor to someone. I had a dream about a man I don't know. In a situation I didn't understand. But I had a sense of urgency on his behalf and I woke and prayed until I felt a sense of peace that I had done enough to release him from the devil's power. And so if there is anything I'm ashamed of, it's not that I take my dreams too seriously now. It's that this was the only time I had ever done that.

Ladies and gentlemen God wanted me to make this message so that I could deliver this message to you on his behalf. Thank you for being an intercessory prayer warrior. Your job is a difficult one. It is often thankless. On February 14, 2020, men and women like you saved my life. Don't think that goes unappreciated!

God bless you! And keep fighting the good fight!

It is written: let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

As always, thank you for listening. Have a brilliant week. And y'all come back now! Ya here?

Podcasts mentioned in this study

Listen to "Night Wars [30 Mins]" on Spreaker.