School of Prayer: Spiritual Authority, Pt2

According to Jewish thought, Jael was a chaste woman who was permitted to set up a tent but could not pick up a man’s weapons (Deut 22:5). Phinehas could not stay the plague as Aaron did with a censor (Numb 16: 46-50), which only the priest could use. He was a guardian at the door of the temple and protected it from defilement using his spear. David rejected the armor from King Saul. He was not a warrior; he was a shepherd. David's sling, staff, and stones were used to protect his flock. Note that David insisted on using his own tools while pointing out that Goliath's offense was against God and that God would deliver him. It did not matter that Goliath weighed around 600-700 lbs and probably had another 250 lbs of armor and weapons. God was bigger and David used those things consecrated for his individual service before God. Paul wrote that the grace of God was sufficient (2 Cor 12:9). It is sufficient for who we are and what we are dealing with.

Spiritual authority comes when we walk out the love of God in the home with the people we are most vulnerable and accountable. It is the place where the stakes are highest and public visibility is lowest. It is where we have been most wounded, have had the most upsets, and the place where many of the scars we carry have been made. It is the place where most of our imperfections are glaringly on display. It is the place where spiritual authority costs us something. Love cost Yeshua everything. If we are going to walk with God we have to be ok with being wounded by some things.

Our wounds testify that we love people and have a stake in the godliness of others. Scars are a testament that we have been both wounded and healed. When a wound heals, the scar is stronger than the skin around it. When bones break, the healed bone is stronger in the area of the break than in other parts of the bone. Faith and love are also made stronger in our healing. If we do not have any wounds, we have not invested in others. If we do not have scars, we have not grown as a person and our spiritual authority can be constantly compromised. When we love first at home with our spouse, children, and those closest to us, we have the authority to bear the love of God to the world.

Often spiritual authority comes at the expense of our own sense of security. God calls prayer warriors to be on the front line, fight, and wage war. We often cry out when we are placed in conflict and yell persecution, wrongdoing, or foul. We think the presence of stress, problems, or trials is merely spiritual oppression, personal failure, or people problems. God often calls us into conflict and spiritual turmoil because we have the authority to wage war against the enemy. We fight to maintain our place of security and safety and that of our community.

We will experience stress and violation in the process of watching, praying, and interceding. There are places spiritually where we have to let go of our comfort zone and come out of the shadows. Stop fearing the challenges before you. God called us to put our light on a hill for all to see (Matt 5:14-16). That is the cost of being a priest to the nations and standing in the gap.

Spiritual authority is about where God has called us to love others (our sphere or circle of influence) and the tools he has given us to edify others with our gifts. It is not about personal power. It is about showing others the love and mercy of God. God has equipped us so that specific people are ordained to pray certain prayers, stand in specific places, and do specific things. We have been made unique individually, but also corporately interdependent.

Spiritual authority can be hindered in several ways:

1. There is an ethic of authority that pertains to sowing and reaping that lends itself to sustaining our place in God. Being Kingdom minded is about respecting your own place but also about respecting the place of another. We sow into our own authority by biblically respecting others. The moment we begin disrespecting or disregarding others, our place begins to erode.

2. We constantly compare ourselves to others. God did not make us comparable to anyone. We are loved as individuals. We are a peculiar people (1 Pet 2:9)

3. We focus on our individuality and lose sight of our corporate interconnectivity and interdependency.

4. We compromise another’s place by not having boundaries and constantly stepping out of what God called us to do. We cannot trample others or deny them their place in the Kingdom of God. We cannot minimize them, marginalize them, or relegate them to unimportance.

5. We cannot speak against the will and purpose of God in our own life or in the life of others.

6. Spiritual authority is not about being a lone ranger prophet who carries out his/her calling in a vacuum. Spiritual isolationism is not a New Testament model. Or spiritual authority is always linked to the greater work of God. That is why we are better together and operate in our sacred communities.

Rav Calev