Born To Battle

My husband and I attended our son (Nate’s) graduation from Airborne School this past weekend at Fort Benning, Georgia (he got his wings and is now a paratrooper; he graduated from Infantry School in December). While there, we also visited the Infantry Museum at Fort Benning, which is hailed as one of the best Infantry Museums in the world, if not the best. There were a lot of displays of antique weapons, cannons, tanks, uniforms, mannequins dressed in full battle gear, holding weapons, etc. and screens which showed battle scenes and reenactments. As I read some of the statements made by many of the war heroes, I stood in awe of the of their character and commitment; their never give up, never say die, never leave a comrade behind attitudes and their love for their fellow comrades and their country.

I have been taking courses to become a Certified Christian Counselor and have been doing some in-depth studying about the different personality types. I have come to the conclusion that most soldiers, at least infantry soldiers, and most of all, the commanders, are choleric personality types. Most people are a blend of two or more personality types, there are very few pure personality types. I have learned from my studies (in the past and recently) that cholerics are the strongest and most stubborn personality. They have been called “the five star general” personality because they make great commanders. Choleric personalities are not moved by the threat of punishment (it only makes them angry), but only by the promise of reward.

Choleric personalities can be very ungodly and selfish, if not exposed to and taught godly principles in their youth, but when they have been taught and have adopted godly principles, they can become some of the greatest forces for God. If they have not been taught godly principles in their youth, it usually takes divine intervention for them to be saved. I believe the Apostle Paul was probably a choleric personality. He did great damage to the early Christians; arresting them, throwing them in jail and having them killed, prior to his conversion experience, but once converted, he became one of the greatest forces in history for the kingdom of God and the Lord used him to write more of the new testament books of the Bible than any other writer.

As my husband and I were having a conversation with our son this past weekend (who is primarily a choleric personality type), we were talking to him about the unseen forces, the battle that goes on in the spirit realm between God’s angels and the demonic forces. Our son made the statement that he only wanted to battle the enemies he could see, not the ones he couldn’t see. I thought right, you’re called to battle the enemy you can see and people like us (intercessors) are called to battle the forces we can’t see (except when God shows them to us).

Over the years, the Lord has shown my husband and I many situations that we had to pray and sometimes fast over until the break-through came. Although the Lord has given us all authority over the enemy (Matt. 28:18), Jesus said that certain types of spirits only come out or are displaced through prayer and fasting (Matt. 17:14-21). We have found this to be true when dealing with certain strongholds or territorial spirits.

Recently, my husband applied for a new job position and was called for an interview. For some reason, they did not even have a copy of my husband’s resume at the interview (although he had sent them one). Since that time, we have been waiting to hear back on it. On Saturday morning, the Lord gave my husband a dream that a woman had his application locked in a safe, so we began praying and interceding and claiming the scripture that says whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (the heavenly realms) (Matt. 16:19, 18:18-19) and speaking release or loosing over the situation. The next night the Lord gave my husband another dream where he saw an old door that had been sealed shut. He could see that someone had started chopping at the top where the seam was and had cut through a few inches, but there was still a way to go before the door would be able to be opened. We felt that the Lord was showing us that we needed to continue praying until we got complete breakthrough. While driving home, we began praying again over the matter. As I prayed in the spirit, I could sense that my prayers were becoming more intense and reaching a point of break-through. I started seeing a cloud and then a lightning bolt strike something on the ground. A fire started and smoke started rising. It was then that I felt a release from praying and sensed that the Lord was showing us that we had hit our target in prayer.

James 5:16b-18 says: The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available (dynamic in its working). 17 Elijah was a human being with a nature such as we have (with feelings, affections, and a constitution like ours); and he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, and no rain fell on the earth for three years and six months; 18 and then he prayed again and the heavens supplied rain and the land produced its crops (as usual). (The Amplified Bible). Notice it says the earnest (heartfelt, continued prayer) makes the power available. I Kings 18:41-46 reveals that Elijah first told Ahab to “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” Next he went up on the top of Mt. Carmel and bowed himself down upon the earth, put his face between his knees (a birthing position) and began to pray. He then told his servant to go up and look toward the sea. His servant came back and said, “there is nothing.” Elijah told him to go again seven times and the seventh time, his servant said, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is arising out of the sea.” and Elijah said, Go up, say to Ahab, Hitch your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.”

My point in sharing this is that just because God shows you His will and tells you to proclaim it, doesn’t mean that it will automatically happen. God uses our prayers to birth and release His power into the earth. That is why we are told to pray “Let you kingdom come and your will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10). Also, Elijah didn’t just pray one time and stop, he continued to pray until the cloud was formed. Sometimes we have to pray until the breakthrough comes.

We are still waiting to hear the final outcome of the job situation. The people making the decisions have a free will and it is not guaranteed that we will get our desired outcome, but I feel that we have done our part in putting to flight the enemy that was opposing my husband in this situation. I have shared this as a teaching point of how the Lord can lead us in intercession.

I would also like to point out that the infantry is a relatively small part of the armed forces. The majority of the soldiers perform other jobs like mechanics, intellectual technology, etc. Everyone’s position is important. We are all uniquely created by God to do a job in His kingdom (his army).

We are all called to be intercessors. An intercessor is one who prays for others, but there are also different types of intercessors. Some are general intercessors who pray over general needs and lists faithfully, day in and day out. Others are like body guards who feel that the Lord has assigned them to pray for Pastors or Ministers in positions that the enemy would love to take out. There are also crisis intercessors. These are people that the Lord may give a dream or vision or just an impression that they need to be praying for a particular person or situation at a time when there is a crisis going on (like a potential car wreck, etc.). and then there are warfare intercessors. These are intercessors who are called to wage war on demonic forces and defeat them for the kingdom of God, but this is only done as the Lord leads. These are like the Marines or Special Forces being called into the heat of the battle to tear down the enemy’s strongholds and advance the kingdom of God. I hope this gives some insight into the different types of callings and giftings of intercession and how the Holy Spirit can lead us in prayer. God bless you all. Kelly Rowe