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FINDING
YOUR METRON
A
Teaching to Protect Intercessors Against Backlash
5/13/99
HI Loved
Ones,
At a
conference a few years ago, I overheard a man
worshipping the Lord behind me. As he was worshipping, I
heard the Lord whisper to me, "A man of authority." This
of course stirred my interest and so I had to turn
around and peek! I stared right into the face of a
loving, prophetic intercessor (soon to be Apostle). I
knew his testimony and yes he had definitely earned that
title of a man of authority.
A few
years ago, this powerful intercessor asked the Lord why
so many intercessors were receiving spiritual backlashes
and why they weren’t covered. He asked the Lord this
question for a long time. After unrelenting requests,
the Lord finally answered him: "I will build My
structure."
Frustrated, he said, "Lord, after my asking all this
time and You didn’t answer, then You finally answer, and
you say THIS?" "What does THAT mean?" I laughed when I
heard this, because that sounded so much like God!
Through time and revelation, he understood that God
would build His government, and did not want the
intercessors isolated, but under the covering and
protection of the Apostles and Prophets. He applied this
personally by asking the prayer backing of God’s chosen,
when he was taking on assignments against heavy demonic
forces.
In
recent weeks I also have noticed that the intercessors
are suffering backlash, some severely, and I have
pondered the above and asked the Lord the same question:
"Why is this happening?" The answer was immediate:
operate within one’s metron. This word metron, also has
to do with God’s government.
Metron
comes from the scripture: "But we will not boast of
things without our measure, but according to the measure
(3358) of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a
measure to reach even unto you." (2 Cor 10:13 KJV)
Metron is a Greek word meaning: (3358) metron
(met'-ron); an apparently primary word; a measure ("metre"), literally or figuratively; by implication
a
limited portion (degree).
We are
each given a measure of authority, and it is important
to understand our metron, or sphere of influence and
authority in which He has placed us. We each give (pray,
stand in the gap, and war) according to our own ability.
He doesn’t ask us to give what we don’t have, rather He
asks us to give what we do have. "If you are really
eager to give, then it isn't important how much you have
to give. God wants you to give what you have, not what
you haven't." (2 Cor 8:11-12 TLB) And therefore, it is
important to understand our metron, or sphere of
authority. If you are not sure what your metron is,
hopefully this small outline will help kindle your
thoughts to find it.
1. KNOW
TO WHOM YOU ARE CALLED. Whether you a parent, a teacher,
a pastor a prophet, a public servant, etc you have a
sphere of loved ones in which you have been called to
nurture. If they belong to you, you have the authority
to pray over what they are facing.
"And he
will restore the hearts of the fathers to their
children, and the hearts of the children to their
fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse."
(Mal 4:6 NASB)
2. KNOW
YOUR GIFTS. If you don’t know your calling, your
giftedness can be a mirror of what your cup contains.
The Lord equips whom He sends — what equipment has He
given you? If you have the gift of mercy, your gift
offers mercy for those deserving judgment, needing
forgiveness and or needing healing. If you are a warrior
and you fight demons, your gifts of discernment, hearing
and seeing will reflect that function. If you have the
gift of mercy and have never fought a demon in your
life, God is not asking you to single-handedly tear down
a stronghold. If God has placed within you the tenacity
of a bulldog to knock, knock, knock, ask, ask, ask, then
keep on making supplications! These are all gifts and He
is calling you to function with what He has given you,
not with what He has not.
"For as
we have many members in one body, but all the members do
not have the same function, so we, being many, are one
body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that
is given to us, let us use them…" (Rom 12:4-6 NKJV)
3. KNOW
YOUR ASSIGNMENTS. As an intercessor, I have been given
dreams and visions of specific assignments needing
completion. I then "stand" (pray, war, hold onto His
promise of victory, sacrifice, follow my conscience,
etc) until it is completed. God gives each of us
assignments according to our callings and when we face
enemy obstacles that are a direct confrontation of
completing that assignment, God gives us the authority
and grace to complete it. If you have completed that
assignment, then you have also won that authority for
future battles.
"His
master praised him for good work. `You have been
faithful in handling this small amount,' he told him,
`so now I will give you many more responsibilities.
Begin the joyous tasks I have assigned to you." (Matt
25:21 TLB)
4. KNOW
YOUR MEASURE OF FAITH. We each have been given a measure
of faith, and that faith can grow as He builds it via
spiritual exercise. These faith muscles grow as a direct
result of pressing against resistance. (When we are
standing in the gap and praying, our faith directly
affects the angels freedom to go forth and fight battles
on our behalf.) We are called to stand, and standing
takes some effort in order to resist wavering. That
faith can wobble if we live a life that is not pleasing
Him. Faith and favor are directly related to following
our conscience. The accuser is the first to point out
the flaw and that will affect our faith to stand against
onslaught. Our metron will be no larger than our faith
to be able to stand in His favor.
"For
through the grace given to me I say to every man among
you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to
think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God
has allotted to each a measure of faith." (Rom 12:3
NASB)
"Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before
their enemies, but turned their backs before their
enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction.
Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy
the accursed from among you. Get up, sanctify the
people, and say, 'Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow,
because thus says the LORD God of Israel: "There is an
accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand
before your enemies until you take away the accursed
thing from among you." (Josh 7:12-13 NKJV)
5. KNOW
YOUR PATTERN OF SUCCESSES. When entering into new
territory, the Lord will build your faith with
confirmations, to help you to understand His approval of
your moving ahead in prayer. If you can look back and
find a link of similar prayer successes, this will be a
good indicator of your metron. We have a fellow at our
church who began getting Words of knowledge of prayer
needs. He took courage and started sharing what he
believed the Lord was saying. Each time he did this,
someone responded and he prayed for them. Each time they
received answers to the prayers. This is a good
indicator through a pattern of success, that he has been
given a metron to pray for those whom he receives Words
of knowledge.
"I will
drive them out before you little by little, until you
become fruitful and take possession of the land." (Ex
23:30 NASB)
6. KNOW
YOUR OPPONENT. It is true that your greatest gifting
(and or promise) will also be your greatest testing.
Sometimes if you are suffering a backlash it is because
the devil considers you a threat and he knows you are
influencing his domain. If that is the case, be
encouraged that you are making a difference. I know a
man who bound the territorial spirit over Kosovo in
Jesus Name. Suddenly he was standing in the west,
looking east across Europe to Kosovo. He saw a small
ball of light from Kosovo, shoot straight towards him
and hit just above his head at someone standing right
directly behind him. (He figured it was his angel.) I
told him that his prayer must have had an impact or
threat for the enemy to have noticed!
"Then
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan River,
being urged by the Spirit out into the barren wastelands
of Judea, where Satan tempted him for forty days. (Luke
4:1 TLB)
7. KNOW
REVELATION. The Lord will send you supernatural
revelations of your portion. This comes through the many
ways to hear Him and they puzzle together to give a good
indicator of your sphere of influence. Ask Him for
revelation to teach you your metron.
"But the
anointing which you have received from Him abides in
you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as
the same anointing teaches you concerning all things,
and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught
you, you will abide in Him." (1 John 2:27 NKJV)
8. KNOW
YOUR COVERING. God is raising up His government, and He
is divinely moving His chosen leaders into place. If the
leaders are saying to pray corporately against a demonic
stronghold, then that is the covering and guidance in
which to safely operate your gifts. Corporately means
standing in one accord with other believers against a
common cause. There is a synergistic effect when joining
with others of likemindedness to fight a common enemy.
"You
will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the
sword before you. Five of you shall chase a hundred, and
a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight." (Lev
26:7-8 NKJV)
I close
with a precious forwarded story that has a 2 fold theme.
It reflects the heart of any true covering appointed by
God, and it also reflects the Lord’s heart to us all:
"A
mother took her 8 year old son to a great concert hall,
black tie event to hear Paderewski the famous
composer-pianist. The boy became restless waiting for
the concert to start so as his mother visited with
friends he slipped from her side and onto the stage. He
was drawn by the Steinway and climbed up on the stool
and stared wide-eyed at the keys. He placed his small
trembling fingers in the right location and began to
play "Chopsticks." The roar of the crowd was hushed as
hundreds of frowning faces turned in his direction.
Irritated and embarrassed, they began to shout: "Get
that boy away from there. "Who'd bring a kid that young
in here?" "Where's his mother?" "Somebody stop him!"
Backstage the master overheard the sounds out in front
and quickly put together in his mind what was happening.
Hurriedly, he grabbed his coat and rushed toward the
stage. Without one word of announcement he stooped over
behind the boy, reached around both sides, and began to
improvise a counter melody to harmonize and enhance
"chopsticks". As the two played together, Paderewski
kept whispering in the boy's ear: "Keep going, don't
quit, son. keep on playing.. don't stop....don't quit."
And so
it is with us. We hammer away on our project, which
seems about as significant as "Chopsticks" in a concert
hall. And about the time we are ready to give up, along
comes the master, who leans over and whispers: "Now keep
going; don't quit. Keep on...don't stop , don't quit!"
Hang in
there!
Lovingly,
Sandy
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