The 8 Prayer Watches: The 3rd Watch

This week, I am going to discuss the third hour of prayer. 3rd Watch 12MN-3:00am The Third Watch of the Night (The Breaking of Day Watch):

• It is time for Spiritual Warfare during this watch. A lot of spiritual activities occur during this time. Pray against Satanic attacks on your life, family members, marriages, churches and communities. We are most vulnerable to the devil’s attacks because at this time we are asleep. In Matthew 13: 24-25, Jesus tells the parable of the sower and how when the men slept, the enemy came and destroyed their wheat.
  
• Pray for divine protection and declare it! Psalms 91: 5-6 states “You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day,6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.”
  
• This watch hour will strengthen your faith. It is the same time that Peter denied Christ 3 times. Matt. 26: 34, 74; Mark 14: 30; Luke 22:34; John 13: 38
  
• Dreams flow during this hour. For many this is how God communicates with them. The devil can also attack you in dreams (nightmares), so always pray before you go to sleep and ask God to keep you from the enemy’s devices.
  
• Deliverance occurs at this time. God delivered the Israelites from bondage during this time and Samson carried the gates of the city, Judges 16: 3-4. During this time the wicked are destroyed and there is angelic intervention.
  
• This is time to pray for marriages and to be married. Midnight is when the bridegroom came for his bride, Matthew 25:6, and this is the time Boaz found Ruth at his feet asleep, Ruth 3: 1-10.
  
• This is the perfect time to make your case in prayer unto the Lord. Wakeup and pray against every distraction and destruction that is robbing you of God’s blessings and provisions on your life, Luke 11: 5-13.
  
• Daniel broke through in prayer for 21 days at this watch hour for a principality to let go of the revelation God was revealing to him. Daniel 10: 13-14 If you are going through a pressing situation, doubt, unbelief or not sure what direction you should be going through, pray like Daniel did for 21 days and ask the Lord to give you a revelation.
  
  Please remember all for these prayer points during these hours of prayer. It will strengthen you and allow the Lord to continue to do a mighty work in your life. Also for more on the third watch, please visit the National Prayer Watch website.

The 8 Prayer Watches: The 1st Watch

At the beginning of the year I wrote a post called The Revelations of Matthew 14: 22-33: The 8 Prayer Watches, that mentioned the 8 prayer watches. Since this month is about defeating the enemy, this will aid you into knowing what to pray for when you are being attacked. For the next 8 weeks I will briefly touch on each prayer watch. This will give you some guidance to grow and be impact full in your prayer life

1st Watch: 6pm -9pm The First Watch of the Night (The Evening Watch):

• During these hours, we regroup from the days activities like work, school and etc. This is the time to be still in front of the Lord, away from the world. In Psalms 46:10 it reads "Be still, and know that I am God;...."


• Mediate and release your anxieties to the Lord in prayer. Issac went out to the field in the evening to mediate. (Gen 24:63 "And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; ...")
  
• This is the time to focus, The Lord uses the evening to purge your fears and anxieties that would keep you from advancing in His perfect plan.


• This is also the time to pray and silence all the voices (curses) of the enemies on your life, family, church, city and nation. Read Psalms 59 During this time the enemy returns to steal your blessings and take hold of the gates of the day. Psalms 59:6 reads, " At evening they return, They growl like a dog, And go all around the city."


• Isaiah 17:12-14 tells us we have the evening tide and it is time to pray that the Lord pass judgement on the wicked and those you would harm our family, community, church and nation.


• Pray for the re newel of the Covenant with God. This is the time when Jesus broke bread between God and Israel (us). Appropriate the provisions in the Blood Covenant and that every covenant you have with God is renewed at this time.
  

I pray that this was helpful and gives you more insight of what to pray for at this time. To learn more about the 1st watch visit the website The National Prayer Watch.

Images of Prayer Warriors

When I was looking for images for the last post, The Revelations of Matthew 14:22-33: The 8 Prayer Watches, I came across alot of pictures that were interesting, motivating and powerful. Here are a few that I liked:

This cute but potent image is from psalm86.org

My older brother would love this picture from bluejacket.com

Prayer Shield

Discipline Warrior from kmkarate.com

The Lone Warrior

Prayer Tag from Guardian Ministry

Praying in Unity from Praise Chapel

The Revelations of Matthew 14:22-33: The 8 Prayer Watches

Last Sunday, my sister and I were honored to be God Parents to one of my best friends’ 3 beautiful and anointed children. It was such a wonderful occasion and joyous celebration that we started to cry. You could feel the presence of the Lord in the building.

After the dedication, the Bishop of the church gave a very remarkable and potent sermon. I don’t remember the title of the message but it referred to Matthew 14:22-33, Jesus walking on water. I’m pretty sure most of us have read about this miracle in Sunday school or Church. But this little passage means so much more than just Jesus and Peter walking on water. The Holy Spirit revealed to me that Jesus is giving us instructions on how we should be living our lives and keeping our eyes on Him.

So I would like to dissect the passage in a couple of posts to reveal God’s will for us. In verse 25 it reads “Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.”(KJV) Now as I was reading this verse, my eyes were fixed on the "fourth watch". I read a book last year that talked about the third watch, which are the hours between midnight and 3:00 am. During this time satanic powers are heighten, so we are to pray against the works of the enemy. So knowing this, I decided to find out what the 4th watch is all about. While doing my research I came upon this website that describes the 8 prayer watches.

Picture courtsey of National Prayer website

It is from a Church in the Philippians that encourages its congregation to be watchmen. I found this information to be very significant and resourceful. I believe it is essential for Christians to know these things to function well in the Body of Church.

On a personal note, I have been reading the Book of Ezekiel, which is considered the Book of the Watchman. Ezekiel was a faithful prophet, obeyed God’s word and prophesied to people of Judea of God’s anger towards them. I believe God is calling our generation to be Watchmen. I have friends who are devoted to their prayer life and are prayer warriors. Growing in your prayer life is vital because it is our way to communicate with God, hear His word and destroy the enemy’s plan against us.

We as Christians need to educate ourselves on how to pray, when to pray, what to pray for and at times who to pray for. When we pray it just shouldn’t always be about our family and us. We need to pray for our leaders in church/government, our co-workers/bosses/employees, our community, country and people we don’t even know. Prayer is so POWERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!! I am teaching myself not to say, “All we can do is pray.” It sounds like it is the last resort and pitiful. It is the 1st thing you do and you should do it with authority and purpose. Don’t be weak with your prayer like it has a disease. Be strong, healthy, joyful and prevailing when you are praying. We are communicating with the All Mighty God, The God of the Universe, The Creator!!!! Get Excited!!!! He has all the power, not some, but all.

I wonder if the disciples were practicing their prayer life, would they have been afraid? When they saw Jesus on the sea, would they have thought it was a ghost or their Savior? Had they been diligent and praying, while they were on the boat during the storm, they would have had faith knowing everything was going to be all right. You see they had the Master in their mist and yet did not use the power that He had been teaching them to overcome fear and temptation. I strongly believe that if they were active in their prayer life, they would have not fallen asleep when Christ needed them to pray the most (Read Luke 22: 39-46).

So I encourage you to improve in your prayer life and take it seriously. Here is the link for the 8 Prayer Watches. I pray that you will incorporate this in your prayer life and you will start to see changes in your walk, church, community, workplace and home life. I would like to motivate you to start a prayer group in your homes. Like Christ said in Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” There is power in numbers, so be encouraged. We would also like to know about your prayer life and blessings you have received through it.

Heavenly Father, I pray that you lead us to pray and be Watchmen in these end times. Continue to allow your Word to speak to us and instruct us on what we need to do for your Kingdom. It is not about us but it is all about You. I pray that we will take these powerful prayer watches and use them in our lives everyday. I pray for a increase of prayer warriors and valiant men and women, who will not give up and allow the Devil to run rampant in their lives. I pray for all these things with power and authority in the name of Jesus, Amen.