How to Get Started?

-Pray about a starting date.

-Pray about who God might have join you on this 6 week journey (use it as a small group that actually meets in person once a week or an online email or Facebook group that connects with updates on what you're learning and the direction that God is leading you to pray).

-Pray about and enlist the three who will cover your 6 weeks in prayer (I believe this will be a very significant part of the 6 weeks) and which one of those three will hold you accountable.

-Get a notebook (I personally suggest a cheap spiral notebook that you will be completely free to 'not perfectly' write in, rather than something more substantial that you don't want to mess up. But do whatever makes you ‘happy'.) You can set this up however works best for you: in different sections (I'll provide you with some suggestions) or just day by day (for example: week 1-day 1). You can even start one way and decide to change it later. 

-Once you have your start date, PUT IT ON YOUR CALENDAR and START!

As with anything, you will get out of this what you put into it.  I challenge you to 'do it all!' So make a plan. Things seldom get accomplished without a good plan so decide how this WILL work in your schedule. BUT 'life' will happen and the unexpected will occur so be flexible and don't let the unexpected or a bad day put a stop to your 6 weeks. Just pick it up the next day. Got it?

One last word of encouragement: don't allow this 'list' to keep you from getting started. If you do not have everything by the time your 'start day' comes, don't let it keep you from just getting started. 

(to return to 'watch the ramparts' homepage: click here)

'Watch the Ramparts' Consists of:

10 Simple STEPS:

1) Make a 6 week commitment  (You can focus on anything for 6 weeks, knowing that there is an end in sight.)

2) Enlist 3 people to commit to pray for you (and for this prayer ministry) during this 6 week commitment. They will be available to take requests and pray focused prayers over you as you are called by God to step out in obedience.  This step is key. Prayer is powerful and to be covered in prayer as you pray, power full! Ask God who those three should be, and be open to it even being someone you don't know that well. This may even open up new friendships.

3) Accountability: One of those 3 will also be assigned the job to keep you accountable (this needs to be the one you know really WILL and will not be soft on you and that you feel you can be honest with).

4) Be Committed to be in the Word Daily (with a reading PLAN to keep you focused and accountable.

5) Daily Prayer Time- for your sphere of influence, community, church, school, etc and other specifics as led. This will include using a notebook. 

6) Read a daily devotional that will stretch your faith and your obedience. Each day will be provided as a link on this 'homepage'.

7) ‘Listen’ daily and ‘HEAR’ and write down what God is teaching you, scriptures that speak to you, and how He is leading you to pray.

8) Fast one day each week (however God leads you to)

9) Pray with your spouse (if applicable and possible)

10) 'Watch the ramparts' - there will more explanation of what that looks like in the daily devotionals, but basically this is:

 1) taking this time before the Lord to allow Him to strengthen YOUR rampart (your wall of defense, faith, foundation) 

and 

2) not neglecting to be on the 'watch'/lookout for the enemy's ramparts, how satan is scheming to come against you and your sphere of influence (and church, city, nation) and praying against it in the authority that you have in Christ and His name. 

(to return to 'watch the ramparts' homepage: click here)

'Watch the Ramparts': a 6 Week Prayer Strategy

(Daily links at the bottom of this post.)

"For the eyes of the Lord

move to and fro throughout the earth

that He may strongly support

those whose heart is completely His."

2 Chronicles 16:9

He deserves our whole heart. Therefore our hearts surrendered and fully given to Him and His will should not only be a goal for our own lives, but also a goal in the forefront of our discipleship, mentoring, parenting, and relationships.  

Furthermore, globally we are living in a time of great trouble, strife, demarcation, and shaking, with many in need of the strong support that only He can give. Therefore we MUST have His strong support to be victorious overcomer in 'this present evil age’ (Gal. 1:4).

 May we have a heart completely His that He may strongly support.

This is an invitation to be a part of a 6 week 'community' for the purpose of positioning ourselves to move toward that goal of a heart fully given to Him by feasting on the living Word of God and attending to a few spiritual disciplines that we all, in the midst of the busyness of daily life, need to be refocused on from time to time.

Ramparts are defined as ‘the protective, outer defensive walls of a castle-a means of protection or defense; a bulwark, the most important form of defense’. If we are not 'watchful', our protective 'boundaries' (our unwavering faith and trust in the powerful living God, with Whom all things are possible, and the truth of His Word) can begin to crumble under the weight of this 'world'.

‘Watch the ramparts’ is a prayer strategy with an emphasis on our total spiritual health, in order that we may be encouraged and strengthened to stand firm in the faith and on the firm foundation, Jesus Christ, rather than unwittingly finding ourselves on shaking ground, building nice looking, impressive ‘sand castles’, realizing that we’ve built in a sense with 'sand' (like wood, hay, and stubble: 1 Corinthians 3:10-15) and are unable to withstand the storms of 'misinformation' in this world. 

Instead, may we allow God to build 'the real thing' in our lives: magnificent castle structures with watchtowers, that we are able to see what is coming and shall not be taken by surprise, and strong ramparts, that we can say 'I KNOW whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able' (2 Tim. 1:12) and I WILL 'contend earnestly for the faith' (Jude 1:3) and be an overcomer and stand firm.  

Please pray about accepting this invitation.

I am so excited to see what God is going to do IN and THROUGH us!

Click on the links below to open:

-Watch the Ramparts consists of:

-How to Get Started?

-As you prepare to start your first week:

-Week 1-Day 1: Hope Comes from the Word of God

             -Day 2: We Must Know the Word of God

             -Day 3: The Big Picture and the Daily Steps of Obedience

             -Day 4: In Process

             -Day 5: He Says, 'I Will Be With You'

             -Day 6: He is Enough

             -Day 7: Hear the Word, Mix It With Faith, and Act Upon It

-Week 2-Day 1: Week 2 Introduction and Free to Obey

              -Day 2: Act

              -Day 3: Freedom From the Power of Sin

              -Day 4: Treasure His Word and Act On It

              -Day 5: Love Enough to Speak Truth

              -Day 6: Trusting In God As Our Protector

              -Day 7: That the Name of Jesus Be Glorified

                         

-Week 3-Day 1:  He Is Able

              -Day 2: Mountain Moving Faith

              -Day 3: The 'Power of One' to Produce Change

                     -Day 4: Overturn the 'Tables'

              -Day 5: Redeemed

              -Day 6: Press Forward

              -Day 7: Use Your Divinely Powerful Weapons

-Week 4-Day 1: Resolve to Know

              -Day 2: The Prayer of the Righteous

              -Day 3: Proclaim Truth

                     -Day 4: Who Will Stand?

                    -Day 5:   Watch
              -Day 6: Be Ready
              -Day 7: Take the Known Steps

-Week 5-Day 1: The Struggle is Not Against Flesh and Blood
             -Day 2: Provoked To Action
             -Day 3: Don't Allow the Naysayers to Deter You
                    -Day 4: Move Forward
             -Day 5: You Are Equipped
             -Day 6: Press Forward
             -Day 7: Go, Make a Difference

-Week 6-Day 1: Awaken, Arise, and Practice What You KNOW
             -Day 2: Neutrality Is Not An Option
             -Day 3: Contend Earnestly for the Faith
             -Day 4: Obey
             -Day 5: Do Your Part
             -Day 6: War
             -Day 7: Ask

Act

Praise… so the rocks don’t have to. (Luke 19:40)

Sing… so the song does not go unsung.

Dance…. so My lead can be followed. 

Just move your feet.  I make things ‘divinely easy’ as you step out in My lead.

You will dance a dance that you 'don't know how to dance' and sing a song you 'don't know how to sing'. I will enable you to climb to heights you can't imagine your legs could take you or your lungs would be able to handle. 

I will be your strength and your breath and your song, even in the night. 

Follow Me and take one step after another, and you won't believe where you'll end up. I will enable and empower each step, and you will flourish as you bask in the bright sunshine of My great love for you, My great 'powerful towards you' love. Bask in it and grow. 

I give you permission to dream. So give yourself that permission.

I give you permission to hope, so hope.

I release to you beautiful new desires and songs and dreams and 'wings' and strong ankles for the 'take-off'. You will 'hit the ground running', and it will not be a run to 'catch up' with Me nor a 'run ahead' of Me. But you will hit the ground running with all the 'tools' and strength you need as I am right by your side. I will never abandon you. My eyes are always lovingly on you, always encouraging you and calling you onward, never ever berating you or your 'running form'.  You are ready to run this race well. 

Be encouraged. Be strengthen. Be LOVED. Hear the call, and ACT. 

Be Appalled at the Enemy's Taunts and Take Action

"Who is this uncircumcised Philistine who should taunt the armies of the living God?"  1 Samuel 17:26

When his oldest brother heard David’s words, his anger burned against David and said, "Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.”

David was misunderstood and accused of evil motives. Do identify with that attack? Are you experiencing it currently? 

God Himself can provoke us to faith and action, and those who have, in fear, been standing by go on the attack 'to put us back in our place'.  Or we just experience the attack of our accuser in our head, 'Who do you think you are?'  

It didn't deter David.

David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine." 

But the 'discouragement' didn’t stop there.  Saul, the king, instructed David, 'You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth." 

True comparisons based on worldly reality!  And this is where we often agree and STOP even dreaming of possibilities, and we lay down the truth of what His word actually says about us and agree with people's worldly opinions.

But David draws on what training he has had, as he has been faithful right where God had placed him, and said, "The Lord God who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." 

David was still choosing to speak faith-filled truth in the midst of others' discouraging words.  Oh Lord, help us do the same! Renew our minds in Your truth!

-Who is telling you that you are not able? 

-Are you being reminded that you have NO training compared to the great 'warrior'......?  

-Are you believing 'them' (even those doubts in your head) or trusting in God who has given you everything you need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3)?  

-Are you trusting in Him who WILL enable you to do all that He calls you to do?!

-Ask Him what He says about who you are.  Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of truth.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.  We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ….” 2 Cor. 10:3-5

-If your thoughts are not lining up with the knowledge of God (and if you are feeling helpless or hopeless, then they are not), use your weapons that are divinely powerful and destroy and take captive, to make them obedient to the truth of Christ.  

May the Armies of the Living God Rise Up In Faith

David comes in the Name of The Lord of Hosts against Goliath’s sword, spear, and javelin and says, 'This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head ....that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that The Lord does not deliver by sword or spear; for the battle is the Lord's and He will give you into our hands." 1 Samuel 17:45,46

 Oh what powerful, faith-filled words. May they be on our lips.  "This day the Lord WILL.......to the glory of His Name!"

Saul and all of Israel were dismayed and greatly afraid of Goliath's taunts (1 Samuel 17:11). But David, who was only sent to find out how his brothers were doing and to take them 'bread and cheese’, came upon the scene and was provoked in his spirit by Goliath's taunts and provoked to action. 

David's 'action' comes out of his utter dismay of "...who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the LIVING GOD?" (1 Samuel 17:26).  

We should be asking that same question today in the midst of warfare.  May we, like David, realize Whose we are (on the side of the Living God), take our stand, and ‘fight’. 

It is truth that "... The Lord is not restrained to save by many or by few” (1 Samuel 14:6).  David was the 'ONE' who rose up and took his place to overcome. 

And as a result, "David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword on David's hand." (1 Samuel 17:49,50)

The Philistine had come "forward morning and evening for forty days" taking his stand (verse 16), so here was a 'suddenly' after 40 days of taunting and fear.

We have, in a sense, closed our eyes and ears to 'the taunting Goliaths' and allowed them to dishearten and intimidate 'the troops'.  

Is God waiting for someONE, someone like you, to stand up today against the taunting evil and show (the earth and the ‘assembly’) that there IS a God and that He is living and active in us and works thru us? (Eph 3:20).

I feel like that question comes with inspiring music that invites us to stand up and be the ones, like the 'to be continued' cliffhanger closing movie credits, a 'wait and see’ who will. 

 Let us be appalled at the taunting against the people of a Living God and at the fear and compromise that surrounds us, and let us take action.

 It is time for some Godly 'suddenlies' to take place. It is time to be strong, to allow the Word of God to abide in us, and to overcome the evil one.  (From 1 John 2:14)

Let us rise up and be the ones.

"This day the Lord WILL...

                        .....so I will...." 2 Sam. 17:46  

Move forward.

-Ask Him to show you where, even in your own life, the enemy is 'taunting' you in ways that have left you 'dismayed and greatly afraid' and have hindered you from moving forward. 

-What does the enemy’s ‘taunt’ sound like for you currently? And what is God’s truth (answer) to that taunt?

-David in this instance is only called by flesh and bone to be a delivery boy, aside from his normal shepherding. How does this encourage you as you come upon situations and feel like 'this' or 'that' is not your 'position' to take care of, or that no one on earth has called you to it? According to flesh, David was not called, and no one believed in him.  They only discouraged him, and we tend to use that as an excuse and reason not to attempt great things.  It’s so important to take God’s perspective over man’s!  What perspectives of yours need to be adjusted?

Who Is This That Should Taunt the Armies of the Living God?

May God raise up a mighty group of warriors who will stand for truth and say, 'Enough!' 

May there be a holy uprising that won't just take what the enemy is doing laying down and saying, 'It is what it is. What can we do about it?' 

May our eyes be opened to truly SEE the outrageousness of all that’s going on in our world that is not of God and see that 'our' response has been: 'Who will fight? Who can? Who can change this tide?’ rather than, as it should be (like David),

‘Who is this that should taunt the armies of the Living God?!’

May the 'armies of the living God' rise up in faith, 'see' the truth of His holiness and His call to godliness in His Word (1 Tim. 6:3), walk in a manner worthy (Col. 1:10), 'see' the attack of the enemy against that very truth, and take up the weapons of warfare for the right hand and the left, weapons that are divinely powerful, and go make a difference! 

He calls us to 'action' and promises to be with us. May we seek Him for strategies for revival.

Pray, fast, and rise up in His bold confidence, trusting in the name of the Most High God and none other, asking, 'What would You have me to do?' And decide to say, ‘yes,’ even before hearing the answer.  

‘The Lord God is my strength 

[my source of courage, my invincible army];

He has made my feet [steady and sure] like hinds’ feet

And makes me walk

[not to stand still in terror, 

but to walk forward with spiritual confidence] 

on my high places 

[of challenge, trouble, suffering, or responsibility].”                               

 Habakkuk 3:19 AMP

-What would He have you do?

-Ask God to show you areas in your sphere of influence (and even outside what you would consider your sphere, this nation for example) where it is time to say, ‘Enough!’.  Ask Him to make you bold with strength in your soul (Psalm 138:3) and show you what He may have you to do about that?