Watchman Prayer , livre ebook

PRAISE FOR
WATCHMAN PRAYER

How different America would be today if only we, as believers in Christ, had been on the lookout for attacks on our country’s spiritual well-being! In Watchman Prayer , Dutch Sheets calls us to the wall to stand guard and pray for the safety and preservation of our homes and our nation.
Bill Bright
Founder, Campus Crusade for Christ Orlando, Florida
Watchman Prayer contains valuable lessons, stories and testimonies from around the world about how a people on the wall can watch and pray to impact cities, nations and, ultimately, the world.
Frank Damazio
Pastor, City Bible Church Portland, Oregon
A seasoned prayer leader who bounds after spiritual truth with the fervor of a bloodhound on the scent, Dutch Sheets hunts for insights whispered by the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit. In his quest he has captured unique truths about prayer, and he generously shares the feast with us in Watchman Prayer .
Jane Hansen
President/CEO, Aglow International Edmonds, Washington
A prayer movement spreading all across the earth continues to gain momentum. Manifold insights are increasing as the Holy Spirit stirs each of us to responsiveness and responsibility. Watchman Prayer will help us answer to this moment.
Jack W. Hayford
Founding Pastor, The Church On The Way
Founder and Chancellor, The King’s Seminary President, International Church of the Foursquare Gospel Van Nuys, California
Watchman Prayer is a summons to all in the Body of Christ to take up positions as watchmen on the walls. Our families, our churches and the nations hang in the balance. This easy-to-read book expresses both the urgency we need in order to pray fervently and the encouragement we need to know that our ministry of intercession is making a difference.
Jim Hodges
President, Federation of Ministers and Churches Duncanville, Texas
All across the earth, God is raising up men and women to watch over the nations, interceding for them in prayer. Watchman Prayer will give them the biblical understanding to effectually fulfill the mandate God has given them. A must-read for intercessors!
Cindy Jacobs
Cofounder, Generals International Red Oaks, Texas
The church militant receives an up-to-date admonishing in Watchman Prayer . This warfare manual should be part of every believer’s library. Read it and fight the good fight of faith.
Rev. Dean (Pappy) Sheets
Middletown, Ohio
Dutch Sheets has done it again! He has given us a book so practical and anointed that we are challenged to retreat to our favorite place of prayer and immediately apply these biblical principles—with every expectation of victory. A wonderful companion to Intercessory Prayer !
Quin Sherrer
Coauthor of How to Pray for Your Children and Praying Prodigals Home Niceville, Florida
Watchman Prayer is like vitamin A for spiritual eyesight—an eye test for watchmen who, with shielded eyes, peer into the mist of eternity. Dutch Sheets is a keen observer, a man who doesn’t miss much. He not only sees but also can decipher what he sees. I feel safer knowing Dutch is out there watching . . . and training others to watch with him!
Tommy Tenney
Author of The God Chasers and God’s Dream Team Pineville, Louisiana
WATCHMAN PRAYER

© 2000 Dutch Sheets
Published by Bethany House Publishers 11400 Hampshire Avenue South Bloomington, Minnesota 55438 www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan. www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Bethany House Publishers edition published 2014
ISBN 978-1-4412-6713-9
Previously published by Regal Books
Ebook edition originally created 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible , © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Other versions used are:
AMP —Scripture taken from The Amplified Bible, Old Testament copyright © 1965, 1987 by the Zondervan Corporation. The Amplified New Testament copyright © 1958, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
KJV — King James Version . Authorized King James Version.
NIV —Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
NKJV —Scripture taken from the New King James Version . Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
CONTENTS

Chapter One Looking for a Few Good Watchmen
Chapter Two God’s Alarm System
Chapter Three Listen Slowly
Chapter Four Watchmen Are Gardeners
Chapter Five Cover Me! I’m Going In!
Chapter Six Watchman—Lay Siege!
Chapter Seven Armed and Loaded with Prayer
Chapter Eight Keeping Watch Over Yourself
Chapter Nine The Watchman’s Ally
Chapter Ten Watchmen Aren’t Watchdogs
Chapter Eleven Establishing a Prayer Ministry
Watchman Prayer Study Guide
Endnotes
Bibliography
Scripture Index
Subject Index
C HAPTER O NE
LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD WATCHMEN

Be Careful What You Watch For
The only thing worse than shopping is watching someone shop. Except for my wife, of course. I don’t mind at all following her around a mall for two or three hours. I show my interest periodically with pleasant little grunts—“Umph”; “Uh-huh”; “Ahh-hum.” Sometimes I get downright wordy—“Yes”; “No”; “Sure”; “HOW MUCH?!” I’ve gotten pretty quick at correcting that one: “Wow, what a deal!” I hastily add. About the closest thing I can compare “shopper watching” to would be watching a sewing match.
Which is why I’m sitting in the food court writing while my wife and youngest daughter, Hannah, shop. It’s one of those outlet malls where they sell you the flawed stuff “on sale.” My oldest daughter, Sarah, who is 10 years old, is with me, reading. She doesn’t like shopping, either—yet. I informed her on the way to our “food court refuge” of the gene in her—which God gave all women—that simply hasn’t kicked in yet. Told her not to worry, it’ll happen. (I first shared this story several years ago in my book Intercessory Prayer . Sarah’s shopping gene has since fully kicked in. She has matured nicely in this essential aspect of womanhood. I’m still eating in food courts—by myself now—and “umph”ing once in a while.)
In my studies of this genetic plague—most of them done through conversing with other men in food courts—I have discovered that no one knows for sure when the gene kicks in or what triggers it. It can hit anytime between the ages of 6 and 13. Sometimes it happens in the middle of the night; they just wake up with the shakes—flu-like symptoms. When it happened with Hannah, I was ready to anoint her with oil, until my wife, Ceci, informed me it wouldn’t help.
“What do you mean it won’t help?” I asked in surprise. “Of course it will.”
“No,” she said, “it’s her shopping gene kicking in. We’ve got to get her to a mall—fast.”
Mom was right, of course. She usually is. Hannah came home proudly holding her shopping bag, looking like she’d just caught her first fish. Women! Who can figure?
To prove my point, I just counted the men and women in the food court and surrounding stores—26 females and 9 males. Half the males were kids that had been dragged there against their wills. Another was writing—yours truly—and the rest were grunting, “Uh-huh.” I felt sorry for one guy; he actually looked like a zombie. I think he finally cracked under the stress. Either that or he was suffering from food-court food poisoning.
Ceci and Hannah are back now, getting something to drink and showing us their “deals.” I’m grunting. Ceci is merely dropping Hannah off so she can run back for one more thing. Seven-year-olds—apprentice shoppers—can’t always keep up with the pros. They haven’t had enough aerobics classes, for which the real motivation is shopping conditioning. (Hannah’s stamina has increased remarkably since then. Ceci assured me regularly during my daughters’ growing-up years that they were both right on schedule in this all-important phase of development—she urged me “not to worry.” The thought never crossed my mind!)
Why couldn’t God have made women to like normal things, such as sitting in a woods for days in sub-zero weather, waiting for a deer or elk to walk by? Now that’s my idea of exciting watching! . . . Or watching a football game! I’m not into TV too much—unless it’s a good sporting event. Ceci doesn’t always understand me in this area, but she is kind about it. “Who are you rooting for?” she sometimes asks.
“I don’t care who wins,” I often reply.
“Are these any of your favorite teams?”
“No, not really.”
“A favorite player or two, perhaps?”
“Naw, I don’t know much about these guys at all.”
“Then why are you watching the game?” she asks with a quizzical expression.
“Because it’s football,” I reply as patiently as I possibly can. Sometimes people can’t figure out the obvious. I’ll tell you what puzzles me—why she and my two daughters like to watch stuff that makes them cry. Go figure!
Many kinds of watching take place: TV watching, parade watching, watching the clock, stock market watching, bird watching (ranks right up there with sewing matches to me) and a thousand other things. I like to watch kids laugh. I hate to watch people cry. I’ve watched individuals born; I’ve watched others die.
I once watched a lady in San Pedro, Guatemala, look for a watch. It was her husband’s—he died in the earthquake of 1976. So did three of her kids. All she and her surviving infant