You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand,

A royal diadem in the hand of your God.

Isaiah 62:3

I got a new book today: Waging Prophetic Warfare by Jennifer LeClaire. I realized some of what I write is based on prophetic intercession such as listening to God for how He wants us to pray and then praying that way. Often we will be praying the promises back to God. What I didn’t realize is sometimes God will give us a burden or we will feel a way that isn’t normal to us, so we will pray. I guess I knew that but often wasn’t recognizing it when it happened. Like this morning. The enemy was sending accusations whenever I would see a certain person at work. At the same time, this was a signal from the Holy Spirit to not only break off the negative thoughts, but to pray for her…that maybe these were the thoughts she was having about me or others. But I didn’t recognize it and therefore I thought it was my own thoughts. Now to be honest, this is a person I have had issues with, but still some of the thoughts were totally uncharacteristic of how I would normally think. I was confused but instead of praying, I went with it. I steered clear of her.

Do you ever feel like you live in the tension of wanting your prodigal to return to the Lord and so you cry out in prayer and then when nothing happens you want to give up praying and just say “You’re trusting God” I would suggest that this tension is normal, but is a tactic of the enemy. This may be the Holy Spirit signaling you to pray in the Spirit and to ask for wisdom. James 1:5 says, If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without fault, and it will be given to him. The only catch? We must ask in faith believing we will get the wisdom we just asked for. Wisdom is valuable when you are in a spiritual battle and need to gain victory. Wisdom brings joy (Proverbs 3:13) and the joy of the Lord is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10). You will need strength to win the battle against complacency or hopelessness or discouragement, and wisdom to know what God is wanting you to do next.

I think of Isaiah 62:1 where Isaiah says, For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent…till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. And v.6-7, …You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth. Isaiah was prophet when Israel was destroyed, but he didn’t live to see the destruction of Judah or the restoration 70 years later. I can imagine he may have lived with a tension of wanting something so much but having absolutely no control to make it happen. He lived solely for God…to relay His messages of the coming destruction if they didn’t repent and later the restoration in the future. As I read Isaiah, some of the restoration seems to be at the end of the exile, but some of it seems to be for the end times.

For us who have not seen the restoration yet, our hope is to pray and give the Lord no rest. I combine this with the parable in Luke 18:1-8 about the persistent widow. Isaiah knew the outcome even though he didn’t live to see it all come to pass, but the persistent widow had no idea how her persistence would pay off. She wasn’t given the outcome ahead of time. But the Bible gives us so much hope when it says in v.7, And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Along with Psalm 37:4, Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

So know that in times of discouragement, you can break it off in the name of Jesus and ask for wisdom and the ability to persevere until your prodigal is a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand and a royal diadem in the hand of our God. Your discouragement may just be the tactic the enemy is using to keep you from praying at a time when God wants to give you a fresh anointing for praying and a new strategy or a specific promise to claim.