MINISTRY 'MUSTS'

C. Peter Wagner
 

An ever-widening circle of Christian leaders is recognizing spiritual warfare as a vital component of effective efforts to reach the lost, whether in our community or in an unreached people group.

      As I have observed the rapidly changing landscape of contemporary Christianity, five crucial directives stand out. I think of them as ministry ”musts“ for those who desire to participate in the advance of God’s kingdom in the coming years.

 
       1. We must hear the Lord.
More and more people are recognizing that prayer is not just one-way, it is two-way. We do not talk to our Father as if He were a celestial answering machine receiving our voice mail; when we speak to Him, we expect Him to speak back to us.

         Since many of us come from church traditions in which such things were not taught, we need some remedial instruction. Jack Deere, a former Dallas seminary professor who once denied that prophecy and other gifts even existed today, has turned 180 degrees and given us Surprised by the Voice of God (Zondervan).

        Cindy Jacobs, who began hearing the Lord when she was 4 years old, has written The Voice of God (Regal).
 

      2. We must engage the enemy. 
Confronting high ranking demonic powers of the invisible world of darkness is now being called ”strategic-level spiritual warfare. Paul refers to it as wrestling against principalities and powers (see Eph 6:12).

          This method of preparing the way for the gospel by ”warfare prayer“ is now being practiced widely and is even being taught in some seminaries. Dick Eastman’s book The Jericho Hour (Creation House) is an excellent introduction to the role of prayer in evangelization, and my book Warfare Prayer (Regal) provides additional information.
 

      3. We must target our prayers. 
The more accurately our prayers are targeted, the more effective they can be. ”Spiritual mappers“ are combining patient and persistent research with spiritual discernment, attempting to answer three questions:

       1.) What is wrong with this place? 2.) How did it get this way? 3.) What can be done about it? The answers help guide the frontline warriors who are leading the way in strategic-level spiritual warfare.

        The Sentinel Group, led by George Otis Jr., is compiling information about the world of darkness and training spiritual mappers in standardized research methodology. Otis, book the Last of the Giants (Chosen Books) is the first textbook on the subject. I later compiled Breaking Strongholds in Your City (Regal) in which nine leaders contributed
insights.
 

         4. We must remit corporate sins. 
We are now realizing as never before the extent to which poverty, social degradation and resistance to the gospel can be traced back to corporate sins committed in past generations.

        Although some Christians are still uncomfortable about repenting for the sins of our fathers; Christian leaders are rapidly coming to understand the biblical theology under girding identificational repentance. Some also are seeing the immediate healing effects it can have.

       Of inestimable help on the subject of identificational repentance is John Dawson’s watershed book, Healing America’s Wounds (Regal).
 

         5. We must invade the community.
The first four ”musts“ provide us with the arsenal of spiritual weapons. We need to invade our communities on behalf of the kingdom of God. Christians who are spiritually well-armed will not be content barricading themselves in their churches hoping to survive until the war is over. Rather, they will move aggressively into the enemy territory and engage the enemy in spiritual battle.

         As Jack Graham said, ”Revival will come when we get the walls down between the church and the community.“ That is beginning to happen as God shows us how to do praise marches, prayer walks, prayer journeys and other activities that will take us into our communities and advance God’s kingdom.

          A state-of-the art strategy designed for taking a city is outlined by Ed Silvoso in his book That None Should Perish (Regal). ”Prayer evangelism,“ as Silvoso calls his approach, combines strategic level spiritual warfare and saturation church-planting techniques.

          I believe this is the generation God wants to use for the completion of the Great Commission, and He has graciously given us the resources and spiritual equipment to do exactly that.
 
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*Used with permission